Friday in Review: Top Five Popular Books I Can't Stand (an unpopular opinion post)

Happy Friday everyone! So yesterday I saw this booktuber do two whole videos on popular books she doesn't like and I thought it was really fun. I love unpopular opinions, even if I disagree with them haha. It did hurt my heart a little bit that she didn't like The Cruel Prince because I love that book and series so much but I could (kind of) see where she was coming from. Anyways! I thought it would be fun to try that on here since I literally have no books to review right now... July's been a super slow reading month for me.

These are all my own personal opinions, I hope I don't offend anyone but if I do, I'm sorry haha (also slight spoiler alerts for some of these! Especially the House of Hades book!) 

1) The Mortal Instruments.

My number one all time least favorite popular book/series is The Mortal Instruments. I can't tell you how much I can't stand this series!! To be honest, I loved the movie that came out a few years ago and I loved the TV show. I really do like the idea and premise of the books. I even like the characters! I just can't stand Cassandra Clare's writing. It's really bad guys... Another to be honest moment: I barely got through the first chapter of book 1. The writing was so bad I couldn't even stand to read the rest of the book or the series. That first chapter turned me off so much that I refuse to read any of her books anymore. I don't even care if people say her writing got better. It doesn't matter to me. I just am not for it. Anyways, that is my least favorite super popular book and it's all cause of the writing. Though, I mean the fact that Cassandra Clare could get that book published and it passed editors and everything gives me hope that my (much better written books) have a chance at success if hers could become so popular.

2) Divergent.

The only reason I got through the first book was because it was such a big deal and again, I liked the idea and the premise and the characters. The writing wasn't as bad as The Mortal Instruments, so I managed to get through the first book. But I only got halfway through Insurgent and then didn't even bother with Allegiant. The writing was just that bad and seemed to digress as the trilogy went on. For me, the writing style and just writing in general is a huge factor in if I enjoy a book or not. That and plot holes and things that don't make sense. Those are my big three things that turn me off of book. I actually really enjoyed the movie and the Insurgent movie, but the books... just no. That series turned me off of all of Veronica Roth's books. Again, I just can't bring myself to read anything she writes no matter how popular they become.






3) Blue Lily, Lily Blue and The Raven King.

OK... I have a big confession to make.... I never finished the Raven Cycle. *cringes* It took me several attempts to get into book one but once I did I was hooked. Like Maggie's writing is beautiful and amazing and her characters are so messy and broken and I love them so much. Plus Blue? I've never related to a character so much in my life! Like she is so much like me its crazy. I really did enjoy The Dream Thieves. Ronan is quite the interesting character and Blue Lily, Lily Blue was a good read. But... something happened between The Dream Thieves, me reading Blue Lily, Lily Blue and starting The Raven King. I became disenchanted with the whole series. And if I'm being totally honest its because I found out that two particular characters get together that I wasn't a fan of. Usually I don't let failed ships or whatever get in the way of me enjoying a series but with this particular couple I just... couldn't. Plus I think, though Maggie's books are amazing, the plot took a long time to develop. It was very slow and by the time I got to The Raven King I found myself trying to remember why I even cared about what happens to these characters.

 4) The Hunger Games.

To be fair, I devoured this whole series and loved them when I read them. I watched all the movies (except for the last one). I totally fed into the whole Hunger Games thing. But something happened between reading book one and watching the movies and I realized how disturbing they were. I'm kind of shocked I even read those books and wish I hadn't just gone along with what was popular. Really I only read the books and loved them because everyone else did and I wish I hadn't. They were just super dark and disturbing and very messed up. And yeah, I can appreciate what Suzanne Collins was trying to do. I can appreciate that she made us think about the future and deeper themes and all that but... still. Sending kids into an arena to kill each other? That's a little much. And then the whole mutations and mutant creatures? Thinking about those things years later really turned me away from the series. That was just horrible and messed up. I haven't read the books or watched the movies since and don't plan to ever again.



5) The House of Hades. I freaked out when Nico appeared in the Heroes of Olympus series as Hazel's brother. And when I say freak out, I mean freaked out! Like squealed and hugged the book and everything. I was so excited. But then I believe it was either The Mark of Athena or The House of Hades (I haven't reread the series in a while) where you find something out about Nico that I was not OK with. It made me want to cry and totally destroyed the series for me. I skimmed over the last book just so I knew what happened but didn't actually read any of it I was so mad. Rick Riordan made Nico gay and I'm sorry but I wasn't and still am not OK with that. He ruined my favorite character and therefore ruined the Heroes of Olympus series for me. I'll forever love the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Nothing can ruin that for me. I can just pretend the second series never happened when reading those books ;) But yeah, literally that book is one of the very few books that ever made me so mad I almost stopped reading it and completely stopped reading anything that Rick Riordan published because I knew from that moment on he was going to have plotlines and characters that I don't agree with and don't want to read about.
At first I was psyched about this series!! Especially after I found out Percy was going to be in book 2 and in the whole rest of the series. I love Percy so much 😍 But you know who I love just as much (if not a tiny bit more?) Nico di Angelo. Ever since his appearance in The Titan's Curse I've loved the one and only son of Hades. He was (and still is) one of my favorite characters. Now with this opinion, I guess I'm going to get a little political. I try not to get all into that stuff on here because I don't like conflict and I don't like the idea of someone getting mad in the comments and freaking out at me. But I'm just going to be honest here. I

So there you have it. Five of my least favorite most popular books. Honestly, I think number five should be number one but oh wells. Just know that one is probably on the very top of my most despised books haha This was pretty fun! I love talking about my unpopular opinions so maybe I'll have to do this more often!

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

What do you think of my line up of popular books I'm not a fan of? (And please, let's keep the comments nice OK??) What are some popular books you didn't buy into?