After seeing Mud and Stars post on the Unpopular Opinions book tag, I thought it would be a great way to finally post something after a bit of a break. In between getting over my post-uni depression and trying to combat my writing anxiety, I have not had much confidence to write anything. But oh boy, can I write a ranty post! So bring in the unpopular opinions and let the words start rolling.
A popular book or series you didn’t like
This one was super hard because, as it turns out, I seem to hate a lot of books other people seem to love…. In the end, I settled for anything written by John Green, but honourable mentions also go out to Ready Player One and Girl, Interrupted. Although I did use to really love John Green and owned all of his books, the more I read, the more I began to really not like any of the books. The Fault in Our Stars was the final nail in the coffin and I don’t understand why there is so much hype around him when his characters all suffer from a chronic case of Samey Mc-Sameface.
A book or series everyone hates but you love
I had to do a little bit of research for this one as I seem to be quite out of the loop as to what/who people don’t really like. Whilst looking through many lists of most unlikeable protagonists for the “unlikeable” protags top 5 Wednesday today, I was shocked to see that Pride & Prejudice came up time and time again as one of the most hated books. I’ll admit that I really didn’t like the book when I was forced to read it in secondary school, but when I had time to breathe and actually read the book on my own terms, I absolutely fell in love with it. To this day, Pride & Prejudice remains one of my favourite books (and films) of all time and I own a very lovely hardback version of it which lives on our favourite books shelf in the front room.
An OTP you don’t like
This one was a hell of a lot easier, but I simply couldn’t decide whether I disliked Tris/Four or Hermione/Ron more. In the case of Tris and Four, it was more a matter of my dislike for Tris as a character. I do not enjoy her particularly as the lead character but really liked Four. The idea of them both together just… urgh. Also, I don’t know many people who like the Hermione and Ron pairing. It was just one of the worst decisions Rowling could have made. Well.. at least she acknowledged she fucked up in this instance.
A popular genre you never reach for
I have never been a massive fan of the fantasy genre and don’t think I have actually ever read many fantasy books for this reason. There’s just something about the genre that I can’t seem to get into, but do massively respect the amount of world-building that goes into them!
A beloved character you do not like
I have always been rather tentative to admit this, as I have seen some pretty spiky reactions in the past from the Sansa fans. But I literally cannot like Sansa Stark a single ounce. Her sections in the GoT books were one of my least favourite sections and I simply cannot understand why so many people seem to like her. To me, she is just a massive wet mop who is a bit useless and I never took to her because of this.
A popular author you can’t seem to get into
For similar reasons to my lack of attraction to the fantasy genre in general. I really respect Terry Pratchett as an individual and as an author, but just cannot seem to get into his books. Where other’s find them enjoyable, exciting and inspiring, I just found them horrifically dull and just couldn’t commit to reading any of them.
A popular trope you’re tired of seeing
I really cannot stand YA love triangles. It is one of the most offputting things for me, and I believe, paints YA women in a negative light. I struggle at times with YA romance in general, for similar reasons as my issue with love triangles, as I often find them depicting young women as manipulative, indecisive, and selfish. Not to mention, they are almost always an exact replica across different books…
A popular series you have no interest in reading
Anything which has a cover like this, I instantly will not read it. I am so incredibly bored of seeing YA books pouring out onto the shelves which look exactly the same, and which have storylines which don’t sound super different to me. I was incredibly upset to see this trend emerge post-Twilight and have absolutely no interest in reading any of them.
A movie or TV series you like better than the book
I immediately thought of the LOTR’s for this! I’ve tried for years to finish the books, but could never get past the second half of the Two Towers. I am a massive fan of the LOTR’s films, even owning the extended editions, but Tolkien‘s writing absolutely bores me to tears.
What do you think? What are your thoughts? I’m sure there are a few people who will definitely disagree with me!
Red Rocket Panda 
Great answers! Ohh it upsets me so much that anyone could hate Pride and Prejudice – I’m with you on that one. Also I never understood Ron and Hermione – for me it felt a little bit incestuous!
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I knoowwwww. When I saw Pride and Prejudice coming up repeatedly in the top 10 most unlikeable books it hurt my heart. I love the book so much and don’t understand where all the hate comes from.
On Ron and Hermione, it just felt so awkward and forced. And if even Rowling admitted that it shouldn’t have been a thing then… yeah. Definitely shouldn’t have happened, especially given that Ron treats her so awfully
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That hurts my heart too! What were the reasons given for this hate?! I totally agree – Ron really doesn’t deserve her. It felt awkward and forced in the books, but even more so in the movies. I cringed so much.
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I am SO HAPPY you put John Green on here. I liked his writing when I was 16-18 and then I realized how tropey and annoying it was. I read The Fault in Our Stars ~4 years ago and despised it. I also read Girl, Interrupted recently and didn’t really enjoy it, which surprised me. I think I was expecting too much out of it. I didn’t hate it, I just wasn’t impressed.
Probably the only thing I disagree with you on is Sansa Stark, who is the love of my life. I can see why people might not like her, but I really enjoy her character because she’s a survivor and is starting to learn how to play the game. I relate to her on a certain level because she was a naïve little girl with no defenses and lost her innocence pretty quickly, but she’s still making it through somehow.
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That’s exactly what happened with me. I had almost his entire book collection up until TFIS and when I read it I just really hated it. I started actually looking at what other people were saying about him as an author, and started to notice their criticisms about him basically rewriting the same characters over and over, and just creating quite vapid, 2D stories. Once I spotted those things, all love for his books so rapidly fell away.
In terms of the stuff about Sansa, That is entirely understandable 🙂 i have a friend who loves Sansa for the same reasons & runs fan content about her! I think the reason I dislike her is that i feel the exact same way you do about Sansa, but with Arya. I saw myself so much in Arya and really enjoyed her sections of the books as she grew & started having to fight for her own survival. So then, when I returned to Sansa I just found myself getting irritated with her in the same way she irritated Arya?
But I can also see why there are people who admire her so much
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That makes sense! I can never fault people for disliking characters unless their criticisms are awful (saying you dislike her is fine, people saying she’s the worst character ever and deserves to die is a liiittle too much). It’s funny because I started off loving Arya and then kind of started to dislike her because obsession with revenge began to bore me. But I see why people like her!
And yeah, John Green’s writing just became so… boring and repetitive to me. The way he talks about and writes women kind of icked me out, too. I haven’t kept up with him in ages so maybe he’s changed his tune a bit on that account, but I can definitely say he is not for me.
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