Five Friday Favourites: Not-So-Favourite Popular Books


Five Friday Favourites is a weekly event hosted by Book Badger, where once a week, a five favourites subject is posted and everyone is welcome to join in. You can find out more about Five Friday Favourites and the future subjects here.




Cruel Beauty
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Ancient old guy with teen girl...
I know people really loved this one but it just didn't work for me. I don't really understand all of the love for this book and the romance within in. I just found Ignifex to be one of the worst love interests I have ever come across. He isn't one, he's just a giant douche. Plus, he is hundreds of years older than our teenager narrator who he then sleeps with. That's not romantic, that's gross. If you want to check out my review then you can find it here. 



Splintered (Splintered, #1)
Splintered by A.G. Howard

Me throughout the entirety of the book. 
This book has an amazing cover and that was what first drew me to it at work. I then saw it was a book that would go into the world of Wonderland and I got really excited. I just find Wonderland really fascinating and scary and thought this book would rock. The author perfectly crafts this dark and dangerous Wonderland but I realised I don't do strange and weird. It was just too strange, too freaky and too weird and it didn't work for me. I also didn't really like any of the characters, Alyssa annoyed me, Jeb was just meh and don't even get me started on Morpheus. If you want to read my review of Splintered you can find it here.


Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I'm sure the Gestapo just LOVE picnic stories!
I know, I know! This is one of those books that has a huge hype around it, so much love given to it and so many people love the friendship in this book. It's one of those books that had so many people weeping. And then there was me. I wanted to either fall asleep or throw this book across the room in frustration. This book wasn't interesting, it was really boring. It also didn't really make much sense historically and therefore it just felt really, really, really unbelievable as a story. Yeah, I'm sure the Gestapo are just going to let you sit there and spend hours writing pages and pages about boring picnics and a love of motorbikes. Give me a break. Plus, I felt nothing at the end. Not even one tear. If you want to read my review/rant for this one then you can find it here.


Every Day
Every Day by David Levithan

How I came to feel about D.L.
I really loved the whole concept of this book and thought it sounded fascinating. I started to really enjoy it at first but then it just went quickly down hill for me. The author seems to write a story that is all about accepting people for who they are, regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation, religion or anything else. Now that is a beautiful message to have in a book. But then he has a character who's fat and this is how he chooses to describe them:
"his size comes from negligence and laziness, a carelessness that would be pathological if it had any meticulousness to it. While I'm sure if  I access deep enough I will find some well of humanity, all I can see on the surface is the emotional equivalent of a burp."
Way to practice what you preach. VOMIT! Not a fan, won't be reading your books again if your message is accept anyone for who they are no matter what, unless they are fat and then they're clearly the most disgusting human being on the planet. LOVELY. If you wish you read my review of this one then you can find it here.

Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

To those who found this romantic.
I just don't get why this book became popular, I'm sure the hype convinced people that they loved this even if they really didn't. It's not well written, in fact is laughable just how bad it is. It's not a romantic story at all, it's yet another book romanticising controlling relationships with partners who are basically abusive in the way they treat their partner. I hated Anna, I hated Christian and I hated the fact that this was Twilight fanfiction. This had over 500 reserves at my work at one point and that is just sad. This is why hype is such a bad thing, I'm sure there are decent, well written erotica out there but this just isn't one of them. 




One chance to win a Kindle Fire HDX, to enter go here.

You can also enter my 1,000 Bloglovin followers giveaway below. For full details go here.






My Weekly Book Haul: 24/05/2014
Signed, Skye Harper by Carol Lynch Williams: Review
Discussion: How Book Series Made Me Their Bitch
Top Ten Tuesday: Mind-Blowing Book Endings
Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Review
Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Godzilla 


at

32 comments:

  1. Kindlemom30 May 2014 at 01:02

    It is always so interesting to me to see what one person loves and what another hates (or vice versa). Just goes to show that even if we love or hate similar books, there are still lots out there that we will never agree on (collectively speaking of course!).

    I admit, I like and even loved some of the books on your list and others I have read yet but I love how interesting your reasoning was for each dislike and even though I liked them, I can totally see your point about them too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:10

      I know, I love how different peoples tastes are and what one person loves another person totally hates. A lot of them I think come from being ruined by the hype, my expectations were so high that anything I didn't like really bugged me more than it probably would if I had heard nothing about the book before reading it.

      Delete
  2. Anna (herding cats-burning soup)30 May 2014 at 04:19

    Oh bleck to 50. That was hands down the worst thing I've ever read. I'm still sitting on my review because I just couldn't be nice enough lol I've not read any of the others. And...I think I'm okay with that ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:26

      Haha, I can't wait to read your review then! Be sure to link it up when and if you write it. Any 50 hate gets mega love from me! :)

      Delete
  3. Anonymous30 May 2014 at 10:40

    Ooh, I loved reading through your choices for this week, Charnell! I'm sorry you didn't like any of these...except maybe Fifty Shades, haha. I plan on reading all of these minus Fifty Shades. Thanks for sharing. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:40

      Well, when you do, I hope you enjoy them all way more than I did ;)

      Delete
  4. The Bookish Manicurist30 May 2014 at 10:43

    Aw, shame about Code Name Verity, it's one of my all-time faves! But I agree with 50 Shades and I haven't even read it!

    Mands @ The Bookish Manicurist

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:41

      I just did not get Code Name Verity, I was bored for the majority of the book. I seem to be the only one though.

      Delete
  5. Unknown30 May 2014 at 16:50

    I haven't read any of those books, but they also never really caught my attention. And now, I'm kind of glad I haven't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:41

      Haha, well I know a lot of people loved them all but they just weren't for me.

      Delete
  6. Julie S30 May 2014 at 16:51

    I felt the same way as you about Every Day. Such a judgey book. Splintered, yea it was overwhelmingly out there. I still haven't decided how I feel about it. Great list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:43

      I know!!! That book really got to me, definitely didn't practice what is was trying to RAM down my throat, haha.

      Delete
  7. cleemckenzie30 May 2014 at 19:07

    I've been meaning to look at Cruel Beauty, sort of a sex reversal on Harold and Maud, but maybe I won't. It does sound creepy and summer is not for creepy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:44

      It was really creepy to me, I was not a fan of the romance in it at all.

      Delete
  8. Amanda Gray30 May 2014 at 19:42

    Oooosh, some good books here! I'm a little disappointed over Cruel Beauty, I haven't read it yet, but I had planned to eventually, same goes for Splintered, but I think I'm still tempted enough to try it anyway, more fool me maybe! ;) Fifty Shades, never tried it, never want to, no thank you.
    Great list though hunny! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:48

      Most people love it, so you will probably be fine! I really hope you like them if you end up reading them. Yup, wish I had stuck to my guns and not read it. Stupid book hypes!!!

      Delete
  9. Snapex30 May 2014 at 20:40

    Ah man, I'm sad you didn't like Cruel Beauty, I've been really looking forward to reading it and actually plan on doing it next month. Hope I feel different, although hearing about the hundreds of years older man and the teenager does make it creep =/

    Yet again, haven't read Splintered yet. I'm actually really looking forward to that too haha. Damn you, why can you like the ones I want to read so it doesn't fill me with dread at the though of picking it up? ;). (joking of course haha)

    haven't read Code Name Verity either but I know it happens to be a very well loved book. I keep being put off it thought so there must be a reason for that haha.

    I happened to really like Every Day, but I can fully understand why you wouldn't like it because the author is in a way trying to send a message across that at first seems nice and great until you really look deep enough.

    not going to risk going into a very long rant again, for my opinion on Fifty shades, just read my reply comment to yours on my FFF haha.

    got to say though, I love your use of gifs. you always pick the right one and have it well times, I on the other hand would just put one of celebrities I fancy all the time haha

    Great list hun :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:55

      I hope you enjoy it more than I did. Everyone seems to love the romance but it freaked me out a bit too much. Not a fan.

      I will lower your expectations for them all and then they won't disappoint you like they did me. See, I'm doing you a service ;)

      Code Name Verity just really, really, really, really, really, REALLY bored me!!

      His message was nice until you really look and see that he doesn't practise what he preaches. He was very judgemental towards certain groups of people. Like the religious and the fat. Now, I'm short and slim and I am also an Atheist but I was just offended that he couldn't even practise what he was ramming down my throat for the whole book.

      I WILL. STUPID FIFTY SHADES!

      Haha, thank you! I love gifs. I try not to overuse them but it's hard!!!! They're just so much fun.

      Delete
    2. Snapex30 May 2014 at 22:11

      In all honesty, I can see myself being freaked out by the romance but at the same time being ok with it. Some of my favourite romances in books/films/tv is shall we say questionable. Like Angel and Buffy in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, it has to be my favourite romance of all time and I know its different because he's a vampire so obviously he's old but the fact that he's something like 270 and she's around 16 when they first met doesn't change it for me. I know, I'm weird.

      haha you are indeed. I will lower my expectations for them and hopefully not dislike them too much

      Really? probably not going to pick that up any time soon now haha

      oh no I completely agree with you, one of my biggest ever pet peeves is someone who tries to force religion on someone in one breath and in the other goes against what they believe (and justifies it), I'm not at all religious, I guess in the grand scheme of things I would be called an atheist too. But for as long as I can remember, more so since high school as I had to be subjected to a girl constantly preaching Christianity to me in art every week, I've hated when people do it. (she used to preach all the time about how she was going to wait till marriage and how important it was to her. Turns out that was out the window at age 16. haha)

      HAHA bless ya :P

      I agree, I've recently come across a website completely dedicated to gifs and I can use as many Damon Salvatore (from the Vampire Diaries) as I like, the temptation is there and it's so hard to keep myself from doing it haha.

      Delete
    3. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 22:49

      I think it's just a lot easier to overlook when they look the same age, it seems less creepy to us all for some reason.

      I know, everyone loves it but I was falling asleep.

      Haha, isn't that always the way. Gah, I hate being preached too, Once a book tries to do that to me it instantly puts me off and I mark the book down. I know I probably shouldn't always do that but I do.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous30 May 2014 at 21:31

    I haven't read any of these, although 50 Shades made my list (lumped in with Twilight) under "I Refuse to Read". :P
    The only one you've listed that I'm even interested in is Code Name Verity, just because I really love history. I'm going to give it shot some day, but I won't feel bad if I don't like it. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 21:55

      If you ever do then I would love to see what you think of it. Fifty Shades is just HIDEOUS.

      Delete
  11. Allie @ Little Birdie Books30 May 2014 at 22:17

    YES CRUEL BEAUTY. Thank you!!! SO many people were swooning over this and I read it and was just like -_- the world makes no sense. The guy was a massive arse and there was no development and I just . . . no *shakes head*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm30 May 2014 at 22:51

      THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! So happy that somebody else felt that way about Cruel Beauty, I honestly felt like the only person.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous31 May 2014 at 06:53

    Hahahahahaha. ← That's what I did the whole time I read this post. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm31 May 2014 at 23:50

      Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! Unless you were laughing at my terrible taste in books ;)

      Delete
  13. Unknown31 May 2014 at 07:54

    I also didn't enjoy Every Day as much as I thought I would. The whole premise sounded so interesting and I loved the whole 'falling in love with a person rather than a gender' aspect of it. However, I found too many unexplained or not explained enough plot holes and could not get behind the romance at all, as I didn't feel any chemistry or sparks between the characters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm31 May 2014 at 23:54

      I thought that whole aspect was really sweet too. I found a lot of plot holes too and just didn't enjoy the book. I never got the romance in it, didn't buy their feelings at all.

      Delete
  14. Jenna1 June 2014 at 02:05

    Cruel Beauty doesn't really appeal to me, but the audiobook was free on SYNC so I downloaded it. Might as well give it a try since it's free, right? Code Name Verity was so boring I couldn't finish it. I can't believe it's so popular. I just don't understand. The others don't interest me at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm2 June 2014 at 22:01

      YAY!!! So happy that someone else found that book really boring, I was falling asleep reading that one. How can you say no to a free book? ;)

      Delete
  15. Olivia's Catastrophe12 June 2014 at 20:39

    Haha what's so funny about this post is that I have just read a blog which has positive reviews about most of these books. I thought splintered had a very good cover which was making me drift towards it... but maybe not. As for 50 shades... I have seen nothing but bad reviews about that and I doubt I want to pick it up seeing as I don't do erotica at all. Nu-uh. Anyways, thanks for telling me what to dodge around, although I might try a few just to see for myself ;)

    http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2014/06/city-of-heavenly-fire-book-review.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm12 June 2014 at 22:55

      I know, I am a terrible person but I hated them all. I definitely recommend seeing what you make of them, these books are really popular and a lot of people loved them. I'm clearly just miserable.

      Delete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, it always makes my day! Because of time restraints, this is now an award free zone but thanks so much for considering me! Feel free to leave a link to your own blog and I will come visit.