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Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
Best Reads and Recommendations
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Most popular books you just didn't like
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I haven't read the Magicians. I gave Dresden a second book but quit the series after that. I did like both Codex Alera but the first two books of that series were barely enough to keep me going. It did get much better the last four. I really liked the Aeronaut's Windlass.
I'd have to say Caraval and The Handmaid's Tale for me. I'm slightly obsessed with dark circus settings, so when i started to see good reviews coming in for Caraval i was super excited, but it was just.... bad in my opinion haha. And i was made to study the Handmaid's Tale for my A-levels so I think that probably explains it.
I don't know if Ivanhoe counts as Fantasy or not, but I remember reading it in high school about 45 years ago. I don't know what I expected, but I did not expect to meet a constant stream of characters I had heard about in other books / fairy tales. I blasted the book in my report, and my teacher wrote that I should avoid Scotland, since Sir Walter is apparently revered there.
The Catcher in the RyeThe Time Traveler's Wife They both are uninteresting and has no meaning for me.
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Catcher in the Rye makes my all time list for overrated. One of the least interesting books ever.
I was not a big fan of The Name of the Wind. I didn't enjoy the characters and found the entire story to be meandering and rather dull. And I don't find the writing ad beautiful as a lot of people seem to. I haven't had any urge to continue the series. (And since book three may or may not ever come about, I don't think I'm likely to change my mind.)
C.P. wrote: "I was not a big fan of The Name of the Wind. I didn't enjoy the characters and found the entire story to be meandering and rather dull. And I don't find the writing ad beautiful as a lot of people ..."I know what you mean it took me 6 months to finish Name of the wind and it was my first book going into full on epic fantasy and it took a lot out of me when I finished and I rated it highly when in reality I think it should have been between 3.5 to 4 and I haven't had motivation to pick up the 2nd book and I'm honestly not sure I will
I read it rather quickly I think...it was February of 2015 I believe. I also rated it rather high initially, though I wasn't really enjoying it. I think I've lowered my rating to a 3 (from a 4) and I'm not really sure that I liked it enough for that high of a rating. It just didn't work for me.
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I'm sure I said this on the thread months ago, but I can't get into Sarah Maas. Her characters show such illogical decision making that it drove me bonkers! Inconsistency of character and 180s in their thought processes made me put each series down even though I liked the concepts.
Niki Hawkes wrote: "Catcher in the Rye was... different. Nothing happens, it goes nowhere, and yet it was kind of interesting. One of my first and only forays into classic fiction literature lol. Gimmie dragons. I'm..."
I can only agree about Sarah J Maas. I just finished Throne of Glass this week and I was not impressed. The plot looked interesting but the writing and the characters were just so disappointing. I don't think I will ever finish the series.
Niki Hawkes wrote: "Catcher in the Rye was... different. Nothing happens, it goes nowhere, and yet it was kind of interesting. One of my first and only forays into classic fiction literature lol. Gimmie dragons. I'm..."
I've never read catcher in the Rye but I heard about it and it doesn't seem interesting you know childhood rebellion is good when your young but when your older and realise its stupid sometime.
I think my first classical literature book I think was Of Mice and Men which I liked even though it was part of the English curriculum so we were essentially beaten to death with it :) :)
As for SJM I've seen a lot of young adult readers praise her so much for making a strong female character and whatnot and I think she's a hit to my generation and younger who read YA fantasy but if you've seen my luck with young adult then you know I'm not interested in her books at all.
I tried to read Throne of Glass a few years ago...didn't make it to 50 pages before I had to stop. I just could not connect with anything. I haven't had any interest in trying again. Or in reading her other series.
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I've read the first two ToG books. I didn't hate them simply because one of my daughters was reading them at the same time. It's YA 101 fantasy and I agree the character's thought process is all over the map and yet....I have young teenage daughters whose thought process is all over the map. :)
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I have to say Sarah J Maas actually got me into reading, as that's how I came across the online book community (such as Goodreads). Whilst i don't think her books are amazing or well written... They were entertaining to me at the time and I do have huge respect for her because of how she has influenced me to start reading often :D Despite this... I still can't bring myself to finish Empire of Storms xD
There are too many for me to remember. The more recent ones are The Grisha Trilogy (I was so uninterested I haven't even finished the third book), Caraval and The Light We Lost.
Books that made me barf:Throne of Glass this is why I hate YA
Kushiel's Dart what a torturous boring crap
Prince of Thorns this book made me hate post-apocalyptic fantasy subgenre
The Shadow of the Torturer the main character was so annoying and the story was convoluted
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms thank goodness NK Jemisin grew much much
better.
Dragonflight oh gods the way the main female character was treated...and the godawful names with apostrophes...
And last but not least...Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two. I can't even...I am still livid.
The Cursed Child was quite awful, I agree.
Old Man's War by John Scalzi was a bad book. First two thirds were awful, last third was ok though. I really have no idea why people like him so much...
Yes! I read that this year, really hoping to love it, and just found it extremely underwhelming.
Let's see.The Sword of Shannara - Derivative.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Made it through..but...ugh.
A Wizard of Earthsea - Made it through, but no urge to continue. (Probably several others like this).
I think I generally am having difficulty lately with some of the older materials. They just don't speak to me.
I loved the Hitchhiker's Guide and everything by Douglas Adams when I was 12/13 years old. I've tried picking them up as an adult and they just aren't as good anymore. I've had a similar reaction to some of my favorite classics like anything by Alexandre Dumas or a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court. Loved them as a kid. Reread them even. Now I can barely look at them. *shrug*.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman I HATED, and Gaiman is one of my favorite authors (I have kind of a love hate relationship with him though. Half of his books I LOVE, but the other half I really, really don't like at all haha). A lot of people think it's his best work though.
Initially I started browsing through my reviews, but the list grew so rapidly that I am forced to admit I am usually on the unpopular side of ratings. Malice, which I am reading now, is a prime example of this fact.
Another one that I didn't enjoy was City of Stairs. This first book was ok, but I just didn't get why people loved it so much. I liked the sequel even less.
I think I'm on the verge of gating the Mortal Instruments series. If there's anyone who is a big fan of it, I'm sorry. It's just that I don't see the main protagonist being independent. And there's the Midnight Witch, which I think it's ok but I couldn't follow it.
Let's see....Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two I get angry and bitter every time I see it on a shelf in a store. It is horrendous.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane I just don't get Neil Gaiman. I liked American Gods for the most part but I just don't think Gaiman is for me.
The Handmaid's Tale The lack of quotation marks annoyed the hell out of me and I just couldn't follow the story.
Gone Girl I hated everyone in this book.
I couldn't stand reading any of the Harry Potter books. They were essentially required reading during my son's elementary school days and I struggled to get through the 1st and 2nd, and couldn't pick up any of the others.
If I StayCaraval , ugh
Twilight (to be fair though, I was much older than the majority of its young teens of a fanbase when I first read it)
Exit West (Man. I don't give books as low a rating as 2 stars. This one for me deserved it)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I was 17 years old when I had to read this for high school English. I slogged through it, but couldn't really connect with it at all!Clearly, I didn't have the maturity to appreciate its genius :-)
The Eye of The World: Incredibly boring and I hated basically all of the charactersDune: so boring, even though the worldbuilding was great
Six of Crows: I expected more given the hype it gets but it was just mediocre in my opinion
The Black Prism: wasn't a fan of the characters and it just didn't grab me
Kings of the Wyld: Not my kind of humor
Warbreaker: I know many people love this but I just found it pretty mediocre to be honest
Malice by John Gwynne. I hated every word of it. Warbreaker was also underwhelming. While not a bad read, it's a very generic Sanderson novel
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The entire Shades of Light series: A Darker Shade of Magic etc. That series had an amazing premise and the weakest delivery.
Station Eleven. What was the point of this book, nothing was properly developed, and all the interesting things have been done many times before and much better.
Nevernight. I have never read a book that tried so hard before, but it just seemed ridiculous to me.
Saul the Heir of Isauldur wrote: "Malice by John Gwynne. I hated every word of it. Warbreaker was also underwhelming. While not a bad read, it's a very generic Sanderson novel"
Glad I'm not the only one with Warbreaker!
Yanique wrote: "Oh boy... the following books I immediately sold to my used book store. The entire Shades of Light series: A Darker Shade of Magic etc. That series had an amazing premise and the weakest delivery..."
Yanique wrote: "Oh boy... the following books I immediately sold to my used book store.
The entire Shades of Light series: A Darker Shade of Magic etc. That series had an amazing premise and the weakest delivery..."
I'm with you there on the Shades of Light. It was one of those rare ones for which I went with DNF.
And I Darken is at the top of the list for me. I haven't come upon any other book till now that made me so spitting mad.
Can't think of any other at the moment but The Wise Man's Fear - one of my most hated books while The Name of the Wind is one of my absolute favourite books!
MaliceReady Player One
Harry Potter (yeah i said it)
I love Harry Potter, but I can get that, Diana. If I were reading them for the first time as an adult I'm sure I wouldn't much like them.
I agree about The Catcher in the Rye. Basically anything about disaffected rich white boys is going to have me yawning. Most such works from the 1920s like The Great Gatsby. I even reread it to be sure my dislike wasn't just colored by youth.I can think of plenty in fantasy as well.
The Lies of Locke Lamora - hated all the characters
Percy Jackson - reluctant reader residue
Cinder - painfully bad writing, predictable, culturally obtuse
American Gods - just wasn't for me
A Darker Shade of Magic - fun premise, disappointing delivery
Makes me wonder why I pay attention to ratings at all.
Andrew wrote: "I've got two: The Magicians by Grossman and Dresden Files by Butcher. Only read the first book in both series, and they were two of the least enjoyable reading experiences imaginable, albeit for di..."I couldn't stand the book the Magicians but I'm a big fan of the show. One of the few times the show/movie is better than the book.
The Lord of the Rings was painful. I’ve never experienced anything so boring. It took me months to read and it was more or less a nightmare. The movies are fantastic. Seems like what Tolkien needed was an editor. I don’t disagree that the bones are great, just mega snooze.
Felina wrote: "The Lord of the Rings was painful. I’ve never experienced anything so boring. It took me months to read and it was more or less a nightmare. The movies are fantastic. Seems like what Tolkien needed..."Yeah... I read those as a teen and I don't know how I did that. I really liked The Hobbit on the other hand!
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I also really liked The Hobbit. I’ve read it many times. It moves. It has pep.
I'm not really enjoying Piranesi much. It's a short book and I've only managed to read 85 pages in almost a week. I should probably DNF but I'm stubborn and want to know if I've guessed the mystery right or not.
See, you guys need to have Andy Serkis read them to you! I had never read them before and I listened earlier this year and I really enjoyed them.The hype around Fourth Wing makes my brain hurt. That book was not good. When I see a post with book recommendations and I see the poster touting how good this book is I know that I cannot trust their judgement and move it along lol
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Ugh I really, really disliked The Magicians. Super boring and the characters were really unlikable.