Kristi at The Story Siren wrote a post recently about books that just didn't work for her and I asked her if I could do the same and use her idea-and she's so sweet she said yes!
Even though I'm a librarian and I know there's a reader for every book, there are some books that just aren't for me-even when reading as a librarian. I tell my teens to not waste their time with books they aren't enjoying and I think I should follow my own advice. I do branch out and read outside of my typical genres, but sometimes I'm just not into a book and I can't bring myself to finish it. My teens love when they can debate with me over a book and argue why they love it! So just because I didn't like these books doesn't mean you won't! (Actually all three of these have rave reviews around the blogosphere, so I guess I'm the weird one!)
The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell
-The premise sounded unique-the son of a supervillain finds out he's also half superhero and has to go live with his father and learn about being a superhero. There's not too many superhero YA books, but this one just didn't work for me. I found Damien to be annoying, obnoxious and really hard to relate to-most likely because he was grew up as a supervillain so you were cheering for the bad guy-but I just found him not very likeable. Plus, there's going to be a movie version on Disney Channel so I was expecting something a little younger, but this one is not Disney Channel in book and I'm sure there will be many many changes when it hits the small screen to make it more tween-friendly.
Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda
-There just wasn't enough action or dialogue to keep me interested in reading this one. It was sort of a slow start too and if a book isn't really grabbing me, then I have a hard time finishing it. I've read rave reviews on other blogs though, so it's just my personal reading tastes I guess-I actually have some teens I think would be perfect readers for this one and I'm eager to get their feedback.
Fire by Kristen Cashore
-I know, I know-I expected to love it too! But I just couldn't bring myself to finish it-or even really get all that interested. I didn't like Fire, there were too many characters to keep straight and after listening to Graceling with a full cast, Fire on audio just wasn't the same. I tried reading it, I tried the audiobook and I couldn't do either. I hope to get around to reading it at some point-I might have to read it for my state book award committee, but I just didn't love it as much as I loved Graceling or Katsa and Po.
Any books that you're just not that into?
Even though I'm a librarian and I know there's a reader for every book, there are some books that just aren't for me-even when reading as a librarian. I tell my teens to not waste their time with books they aren't enjoying and I think I should follow my own advice. I do branch out and read outside of my typical genres, but sometimes I'm just not into a book and I can't bring myself to finish it. My teens love when they can debate with me over a book and argue why they love it! So just because I didn't like these books doesn't mean you won't! (Actually all three of these have rave reviews around the blogosphere, so I guess I'm the weird one!)
The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell
-The premise sounded unique-the son of a supervillain finds out he's also half superhero and has to go live with his father and learn about being a superhero. There's not too many superhero YA books, but this one just didn't work for me. I found Damien to be annoying, obnoxious and really hard to relate to-most likely because he was grew up as a supervillain so you were cheering for the bad guy-but I just found him not very likeable. Plus, there's going to be a movie version on Disney Channel so I was expecting something a little younger, but this one is not Disney Channel in book and I'm sure there will be many many changes when it hits the small screen to make it more tween-friendly.
Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda
-There just wasn't enough action or dialogue to keep me interested in reading this one. It was sort of a slow start too and if a book isn't really grabbing me, then I have a hard time finishing it. I've read rave reviews on other blogs though, so it's just my personal reading tastes I guess-I actually have some teens I think would be perfect readers for this one and I'm eager to get their feedback.
Fire by Kristen Cashore
-I know, I know-I expected to love it too! But I just couldn't bring myself to finish it-or even really get all that interested. I didn't like Fire, there were too many characters to keep straight and after listening to Graceling with a full cast, Fire on audio just wasn't the same. I tried reading it, I tried the audiobook and I couldn't do either. I hope to get around to reading it at some point-I might have to read it for my state book award committee, but I just didn't love it as much as I loved Graceling or Katsa and Po.
Any books that you're just not that into?
YES, right now I am forcing myself the finish The Red Pyramid, mostly because I want to like it so much, but also because I hear the ending is much better.
ReplyDeleteI also had a hard time getting into Perfect Chemistry, but I haven't given up on that one yet, I will try it again later.
Jana-I'm finding myself in the same situation with Red Pyramid! I like it, but not as much as Percy and it's just sooo long. I might try it on audio since I really enjoy one of the narrators.
ReplyDeleteShiver by Maggie Stiefvater! I know I am all alone out there with this one. I wanted to love it, but boy oh boy, it was not for me. Of course, I will pick up the next one just to make sure
ReplyDeleteMegan-I've felt that way-that I'm the only one that didn't love a book. When I first started blogging Audrey Wait came out in paperback that had tons of rave reviews from bloggers-and yet I just couldn't finish that one. I kept thinking about how Delilah of the song "Hey There Delilah" isn't on E! or People every day, so I guess I had a hard time believing that because Audrey's ex wrote a song about her she was now famous. I just found it boring and not fun-and I really felt all alone in not enjoying it!
ReplyDeleteFire was same for me as well. It was just an okay read, nothing like Graceling.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Renegade X. I had a hard time getting into BEFORE I FALL, but it has received rave reviews everywhere! I liked it more by the time I finished, but I had to keep pushing. :-)
ReplyDeleteLike Shannon, I just couldn't get into Before I Fall. I tried it twice before finally giving up. I think I got to page 156. When I found myself checking how many pages I had left after every page, I knew it was time to quit trying. That was the most I have read in any book I didn't finish because I had read so many great reviews that I thought it had to get better. For me, it didn't.
ReplyDeleteShannon and Kathy-I haven't tried Before I Fall, but I'm not sure I would really like it-that's why I haven't read it yet. I know that I'm looking at the page numbers and wondering when the book will end (or in books where I go searching for dialogue because there's so much description and I just don't care!) I know it's not a book for me and I put it down.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Megan. I tried to read Shiver, but it just didn't work for me! So I gave up on it. I also gave up on Inkheart, it was so boring. Yeah, I'm really picky when it comes to books. So another one that I couldn't finish was Gone (the scie-fi series by Michael... something?).
ReplyDeleteI forced myself to complete Cindy Ella and Fang and Dreamland and Someone Like You and SO MANY OTHERS!
I'm a bit late but my pick would be Wings. I couldn't get into the story in general, but there's this part where one of the characters (one of the protags) realizes "evil" people are disfigured and deformed (like the trolls in the book) and good people are beautiful and symmetrical. That whole line of thinking really bothered me. I understand that doesn't necessarily reflect the writer's belief. Still. The book seemed like something I would have picked up in middle school and back then I felt like I was living through characters in books (is that too dorky? ;). I also have a pretty severe form of scoliosis that I was 100% paranoid about in middle school - even though nobody else could even see that, I felt like I looked like a circus freak. I think reading a book like this, that says disfigured people are evil trolls, would have hurt so much. As an adult, I can roll my eyes and move on. But as a kid I would have internalized that way too much. Yay for authors who are brave enough to write all different kinds of beauty. I think the best kind of beauty is a little bit twisted. :)
ReplyDeleteSophia Lee-I haven't read Gone, but it's so big I don't want to start it!
ReplyDeleteNatalie-I wasn't impressed by Wings either-I thought it felt MG too and I just didn't care for the characters. I don't remember that exact passage in the book, but I was worried about looks (I was very quiet and nerdy in school) in middle school, so I think it would have bothered me as well.
I'm actually having a hard time getting into any of the books that I've picked up in the past few days. I guess that's okay since they're all library books and I had such a great long streak the past few weeks with awesome reads. Do you ever feel guilty that you can't get into a book? I kinda feel bad. I know a lot of hard work went into each story and I wish that I could appreciate every book I read just for that fact. Unfortunately, that's just not possible, but at least I can assume there are others out there who are enjoying these books. (Oh, and I'm usually a "forcer" too, but it sucks forcing myself to read something I don't care for.)
ReplyDeleteKris-my husband is a forcer too-and it drives me nuts. He'll hate the book but make himself finish!
ReplyDeleteI do feel guilty, especially if it's a book that I've been following the author's blog before it came out and like the author but then don't like the book!
I felt the exact same way about Fire! I loved Graceling so I expected to love Fire, but I never really got into it. Because I had read such strong reviews about Fire, though, I made myself finish it thinking that it would get better, but by the time I turned the last page, I was even kind of confused as to what had happened. Graceling remains one of my favorite books, though.
ReplyDeleteMy big book this year that I had this feeling with is Before I Fall. Absolutely did not like it and didnt get the hype at all. And mostly I feel this way about just about every paranormal book that comes out right now which I know is painting a wide brush on paranormals but none of them really jump out for me anymore. The Mark by Jen Nadol in particular I felt this way about.
ReplyDelete