The Unpopular Opinions Tag (Don't Hate Me)

Well, this is going to be fun, because I am now going to bare my soul to you. Revealing opinions that aren't exactly popular can be.... dangerous. BUT. There is a probably chance that someone out there shares one of my unpopular opinions, and can commiserate with me.

However, I do tend to enjoy the trends, so when I say I 'don't' like something, it means I kinda liked it but not as much as everyone else.

I was tagged (a long long time ago*) by Cait at Paper Fury, and this loverly tag was originated by TheBookArcher.

1. A popular book or series that you didn't like:

I thought that The Fault in Our Stars was okay (ha. ha.) but not stupendous. John Green is a lovely writer and clearly very well-read, but the plot and characters just didn't do it for me.

2. A popular book or series that everyone seems to hate but you love:

I actually don't know if I have one for this. Also, if something is popular, how can everyone seem to hate it? *shrugs*

3. A love triangle where the main character ended up with the person you did NOT want them to end up with OR an OTP that you don't like.

I tend to be super lucky when it comes to shipping people. My little ships almost always survive - I'm cool that way. Also, a lot of my current ships are in series that aren't finished yet*, so I don't know if they are going to be successful or not. So I'm going to go with the second one - an OTP that I don't like.

So I just recently read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. And though I understand that the Feyre/Tamlin thing is kind of a necessity (it is a beauty and the beast retelling after all), I think they have lots and lots of issues. I'm not super AGAINST this pairing. I'm just not OHMEGAWD in love with it, is all. Not OTP material.

*Three years ago, little classics-only Sophia would never have thought she would be writing such a phrase. She only read series in which all the books were out (and the authors were dead). (I got spoiled that way because I basically binge-read everything then.)

4. A popular book genre that you hardly reach for:

Contemporary is very rare here. But I just won the June NOVLbox, which was full of summery contemps, so that may change. I also never read adult thrillers, adult horror, or erotica.

5. A popular or beloved character that you do not like:

Augustus Waters. NOPE.
Mr. Darcy. NOPE.

6. A popular author that you can't seem to get into:

I was about to say John Green, but then I realized I've only given him one try (with TFIOS) and can't really announce that I "can't get into" his writing until I at least give him another chance. Looking for Alaska, here I come!

So I'm going to have to say Rick Riordan. I read the first two Percy Jackson books a long long long time ago, and somehow it just fizzled out for me. I found other things more interesting. Maybe I'll give him another chance too eventually?

7. A popular book trope that you're tired of seeing:

Messed up parents. Dysfunctional families.

Awkward nerds (there is such a thing as a cool nerd, you know. I AM ONE*).

Siblings that hate each other.

Love triangles (there, I said it).

*at least I like to think so.

8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading: 

Oh so many, actually. Let's begin:

                                                             

(Good, got those over with. Now to some less obvious ones, that I might actually read eventually, but they're not at all first priority.)

    


9. A movie or T.V. show adaptation you prefer more than the book:

This is very very rare for me. This is probably the only one, and it probably happened because I watched the movie first.

The movie is cute and heartfelt and romantic and honest and adorable and natural. The book felt a little too stiff? I don't know. It's been a while.

10. A popular style of cover you can't stand:

(this was added by cait, and i am very glad it was, because i approve wholeheartedly with this addition. not only because it makes it a nice, ten-question tag.)

So it's not that I necessary can't STAND these covers. I just like creative ones more. Especially hand drawn ones, or minimalist ones.

But I don't really like people on my covers, whether it be faces:

Or bodies:

I found this premade book cover and it made me laugh. It is a style of cover I despise:

Also, what's with this trend of people floating in water? It's just weird.

      


And (correct me if I'm wrong but...) I looked up the GoodReads synopses for all of these. None of them have to do with water or mermaids, from the look of it, except Imaginary Girls, and that one only just barely.

I tag the following lovely bloggers:
(I don't think any of them have done it yet?)

Katie at Spiral Bound
Bennet at My Sky of Paper and Ink
Skylar at Life of a Random

...and YOU, if you want it!

What unpopular bookish opinions do you have? Spill them in the comments! I won't judge.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

So I wrote this review last month and forgot to post it. Wow, go me.

Anyway, the MOST important thing that I have to say here is:

I met the author!

Look --

The book was lovely, the event was lovely, Sabaa was lovely, everything was lovely. <3

Laia is a slave. 

Elias is a soldier. 

Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

Something to know is that this book was advertised as a standalone. BUT. There is a definite possibility (if the publishers cooperate) that this will be a series. I wish I knew this before reading the book because that ending was a little too open for a standalone, in my opinion. But as series starter, it's totally fine.

My favorite thing about this book is the worldbuilding. It's kind of a mixture of ancient Rome and the ancient middle east, I think, so two thumbs up for not just Western-Europe-Fantasy! I'm always game for some non-medieval-Western-Fantasy. And the depth of this world was just marvelous. I felt totally comfortable in it and such a part of it. I absolutely adore when you can FEEL the world around you - smells and tastes and sounds and everything.

My other favorite thing was the sheer amount of twists in the plot. I literally had NO IDEA what was coming next - anything could happen. Up until the ending, I was entirely unaware of where things could go. This goes for the love triangle/rhombus too... but more on that later.

As I said, the ending kinda disappointed me, but now that I know it's a series, I'm totally cool with it.

My other favorite thing (this whole book is a favorite thing) about this book were the characters. It is told in a dual POV - on one side we have the slave Laia and on the other, the soldier Elias - and their voices were adequately different and understandable.

I found Laia quite a unique character. In these sorts of YA adventures, it's customary to have a heroine who learns to stand up for herself and is badass and heroic and lovely. Which is fine. But seriously, if I was in their shoes, I'd probably curl up in a ball and die. (Seriously, would you survive even the first minute of the Hunger Games? Don't kid yourself. And as much as we appreciate Tris' ability to sacrifice herself over and over again in Divergent - would you?) But Laia is scared. She's feels she has to do something, and save her brother, but she's too scared for her own life to make the right move most of the time.

And frankly, I'm like that too. If a situation comes up where it's asked of me to risk my life to save someone I love - would I? It's a freaky thought, and I hope I'd never have to face it. I wouldn't doubt my desire to save the person - just like Laia so wants to be brave - but I might hesitate just too long and then they're dead. Laia resonated with me so much because I feel like I'd be the exact same in the situations.

Elias is also interesting, but he's more of your traditional YA hero. He has a mindset different from those around him, and is trying to change the way society works. He wants to make the bloody traditions of the soldiers' castle less brutal - and not only less brutal, but completely Good and Ethical. I found his drastically differing opinion a bit of a struggle to believe, since he grew up among these warmongers, so it seems odd that he wouldn't grow up with at least a bit of acceptance of "the way things are." He gets mad at his friend Helene for agreeing with the twisted mindset of their cohorts but - Helene has been trained to think that way. It's her life. It's the only thing she knows.

Where did Elias get this idea that killing people is All Bad, when he grew up in a place that raises people to be killing machines? I get that there's an innate aversion that we are born with when it comes to killing other humans, but it's not all Nature, right? There's Nurture too.

Anyway, that's a minor complaint. Elias is lovely.


Not only did the main characters have requisite depth, all the other surrounding characters had it too. I LOVE THIS. This is authorly skill.

Talking about characters.... the villain was OH SO CREEPY. Those villains that just have 0% concern for human life just freak me out, and she was one of them. But she wasn't shallow and "just evil" either. She had a killer backstory (no pun intended) and I love it. 

Let's talk love rhombus, because - yup - there is one.
Somehow, I don't mind it, though. Usually, when there's a love triangle/square/whatever, I ship people almost immediately and stick with the same ship for the rest of the story. (And, not to brag or anything, but my ships rarely sink. So I will continue with this method.)
BUT. In Ember, I have no extreme-OTP-ohmygawdthey'reperfecttogether. Nope. I still haven't figured out who's best for whom. I LOVE THIS. Since I'm so used to being able to predict who'll end up with whom, I love this unpredictability.

At first I was mad because the ending kinda resolved the rhombus but not really, because two people were left in the corners without a pairing. (Is that a spoiler? I hope not.) But as a series I'm excited to see where this goes. Thumbs up to logical writing out of the love stories and legitimate deep characters which just made it real. There wasn't a "bad boy" vs "nice boy" choice which IS SO REFRESHING. I realized I wasn't rooting for one over the other. I MYSELF WAS CONFLICTED AS MUCH AS THE CHARACTERS WERE. Good job, Sabaa. 

Highly recommended. Go read it now. NOW.

Have you read Ember? What did you think? And what's your opinion on badass heroines? Where do you think the line can be drawn between fearless/awesome and realistic?

Top Ten Tuesday: Fairytale Retellings

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by the fantastic people over at The Broke and The Bookish! Covers link to Goodreads.

Today's topic is Fairy Tale Retellings! Along with the rest of the YA-readership and -writership, I am in LOVE with retellings. There's something comforting about having characters you (kinda) know from fairy tales popping up in your books, but then there's also the suspense of seeing how the author is going to twist it all. IT'S SPLENDID.

Here are my top ten retellings that I'm hoping to read sometime soon! Tell me which ones I should bump up to the top of my TBR.

1. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman and Chris Ridell


I've never read any Neil Gaiman and this one just looks so magical. It's a combination of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, which sounds like perfection!

 

 2. Winter by Marissa Meyer


OBVIOUSLY this has to be on the list. I am dying to know how this series finishes and also really really want to fully meet Winter. I know we've technically been introduced to her already but I don't feel like I've fully understood her character yet. *flails around because NOVEMBER*
 


3. Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth


So I kind of just fell in love with this cover. This is most definitely on my TBR solely because of cover love. It made me think of old Europe and magic, and it wasn't until after I had added it to my TBR that I realized it was a Rapunzel retelling. It's both (French) historical fiction AND a retelling. And has a gorgeous cover. Triple check marks!
 

4. Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen


Another cover love addition. This one is a middle grade retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but I've heard it's not what you'd expect. It's apparently much darker, and there is more than one Beast. Mysteries abound! I'm very excited to read this one.
 



5. Valiant by Sarah McGuire


Does anyone actually remember the fairy tale of the Valiant Little Tailor? I think I vaguely do. Anyway that's what Valiant is a retelling of. It looks like a cute middle grade, and the protagonist is a girl. It hope it's good! (Also - cover love strikes again?)




6. Mirrored by Alex Flinn



This one is a modern retelling of Snow White. (I'm seeing lots of Snow Whites on this list!) I don't really know much about it other than that. It comes out this September.


 


7. A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston


If I said anything before about cover love, ignore it. THIS IS WHAT TRUE LOVE FEELS LIKE. I mean, look at that script! *collapses from the sheer beauty* Also, I've never read a retelling of A Thousand and One Nights, but I loved the stories as a kid, so I'm so ready for this.

 

8. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

More A Thousand and One Nights retellings! These seem really popular lately, which I am TOTALLY cool with. I've also heard nothing but excellence about this one so I am dying to read it.





 9. Dorothy must Die by Danielle Paige

Does The Wizard of Oz count as a fairy tale? IT DOES NOW, because I said so. Everyone says this book is magical and dark and creepy and just wonderful, so I've got to read it, right?





10. Never Never by Brianna R. Shrum


I am also saying that Peter Pan also counts as a fairy tale, because. Ever since I read Peter and the Starcatchers as a kid, I have had a soft spot for Peter Pan retellings. Will I like this one? I hope so.


NOTE: I had previously put Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher as #10 on this list, which is NOT a Peter Pan retelling, as far as I can tell. The confusion is forgiveable, I hope, since both Never Nevers are being released under a year of each other (the Hoover and Fisher was out last January, and the Shrum is out this September). Why do publishers do this? So confusing.


Which of these books have you read? Which should I read? Which are also on your list? Tell me ALL in the comments!

July // Cake + Crime Scenes

~WELL. July was OVERFLOWING WITH JOY AND FUN.
SUCH a good month for me. I went beaching with friends, ate chocolate cake on my sister's birthday, and made things glow in organic chemistry lab. My sister made her own birthday cake and it was delicious and rich and chocolatey - and it didn't have any wheat or sugar in it! My sister is a magic paleo sorceress who makes good things out of ingredients that shouldn't make good things.

~ALSO this month I met up with Skylar from Life of a Random! I've never met up with a blogging friend in real life, so this was quite exciting. And it wasn't as awkward as we both expected it to be - three cheers for socially-adept introverts!

~As I mentioned above, I did make something glow in chemistry lab. It was a substance called luminol and is used in crime scenes to detect blood. It glows an eerie sort of blue. Here is an image I found on the internet  of a crime scene where someone was obviously murdered in the bathtub:

In our lab, it just looked more like this:

Weirdly enough, when I was in London, my sister and I went to an exhibit on forensics where they talked about luminol as a blood-detector, and I actually made a note about it in my phone. I didn't realize that we would be actually MAKING THE STUFF in organic chem lab until last week when I finally read the procedure. HA. Now I know all about it for future novels. (Obviously I took organic chemistry lab as research just so I can write about magic potions in my novels. And now crime scenes.*)

*It was actually a prerequisite for medical school. But that just sounds boring.

LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS THIS MONTH

First off, I won the June NovlBox, and it arrived this month! Look at all the books I got from it:

The Prince of Venice Beach by Blake Nelson

Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando

Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood (ARC!)

Those Girls by Lauren Saft

Rules of Summer by Johanna Philbin

Then, my uncle stopped by to drop off Island of the World by Michael D. O'Brien, which is huge and intimidating. My uncle said it's like Tolkien and Dostoevsky and Tolstoy and CS Lewis all wrapped into one, which kind of creates GIGANORMOUS expectations. Just a bit. 

I also went to the library to get Days of Blood and Starlight and Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor because I am an unapologetic binge reader. Yup. 

Click on the photos to go to their instagram versions.

 

 

Katie from Spiral-Bound introduced us to Riley, a character from her current WIP. Basically, because I'm lazy and never got around to writing a Beautiful People post in the last two months, I'm sending you to read hers, because it's awesome and Riley is badass.

Skylar from Life of a Random posted pictures from our meetup this month! Go check them out!

Cait from Paper Fury asked: why do we unfollow blogs? It's sad, but we do. It's a necessary evil.

Meeting Online Friends IN REAL LIFE! 

{Skylar from Life of a Random and I talk about what to expect when you meet up in person with someone you've only known online}

Rook by Sharon Cameron // Swashbuckling Dystopia wheeeeee!

{This review is basically lots of Scarlet Pimpernel gifs}

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Recently Acquired Tomes

{This is obviously not up-to-date anymore!}

How was your July? Did you learn any secret spy skills like I did? (If you ever find yourself in need of a blood-stain detector, hit me up.) And which of my new books should I read first?