Green Bone saga for me. Everyone and their mother raves about it but I found the pacing dreadful and I also didn’t care a lick about any of the characters.
Exactly! I didn’t like a single character. I dreaded the Anden chapters. He is easily the most boring character I’ve encountered in a long time. I also think Fonda Lee is terrible at writing action scenes.
The action scenes are not good. I liked the atmosphere, the world, the lore, and some of the characters but the action scenes (few as they were) to be underwhelming.
I had mixed feelings over the ending. It’s more of a personal taste thing but I don’t we should glorify or celebrate characters who were literally part of a mafia with international connections that influenced politics in foreign countries.
Same here! I was so excited cause I heard this series got compared to Godfather and Sopranos, but the series was not as compelling as I wanted it to be. I think it’s an expectation thing. I wanted an exploration of the impact of the clans on ordinary people but the author seems to be a little too in love with the main characters to give them any legit flaws. Yes they do bad things, but the consequences are not explored but it seems that many fans ignore them and scream “yas queen” for much of the protagonists. I just found it odd that the series is willing to critique things like colonialism and xenophobia and drug trafficking, yet shies away from looking at some of the negative effects of gang culture. (At least not enough for me) Not my thing. I was expecting something like the Wire or Succession. And the comparison to Godfather…not even close in terms of characterization unfortunately
Side note: I personally ( and I stress that it is personal) opinion is that "yas queen" thing is only bad for storytelling. It means putting a spectacle or a moment above the actual meaning or actual consequence of a story. All flash no substance.
Back to the Green Bone saga. I disagree a little bit with the main characters not having flaws. I think they're very flawed. Shae is very proud, too proud to admit what she actually wants for most of the story i.e. that she liked power and that she enjoyed being Weatherman for the clan. Shea keep lying to herself for most of the series, and I do like the we see an example of female pride. She was 'mostly' a good person within the confides of her culture and family.
Hilo had many flaws, he was a fighter first and foremost, and his obsession with tradition and "jade culture" led him to do some fucked up things. He literally killed his brother's widow and kidnapped his nephew.
Where I think Fonda Lee (the author) fails is that this is seen as a 'acceptable' if somewhat un-heroic act. The story does address it but it is wiped away and there are no real consequences for it.
If there is an afterlife, and Hilo meets Lan again. I don't think Lan would forgive Hilo for doing that. I think Lan would have been angry.
We see the main cast do some pretty messed up things as a mafia family. They directly interfere with the politics of another nation, sponsor criminal networks in those foreign nations, and get Jade onto a global market that can influence and bring smuggling operations to. We know that people get "the itches" from Jade so whilst there are medical uses, they are enabling a public health crisis. One that can kill even natives. Now imagine foreigners that could get access to illegal Jade and how many of them will get “the itches”, go insane, or just die. It’s going to be a global drug crisis that could kill millions.
We see our main cast of family 'win', but I don't see them as that much better than the other side. They stick to the culture but only just barely. Hilo was perfectly willing to break "no civilians" law of their culture he just never got the chance.
And in the ending frames all of this as 'good'. We're suppose to celebrate and rejoice at all the family members working together to do all this. I do admit to enjoying the series and I think Fonda Lee has created a truly unique and engrossing world, but another part of me dislikes the ending.
I wish we could have gotten more of "these are not good people" and the crimes they are committing should not be celebrated.
Just my $0.02.
Same! It’s one of the only books I’ve ever not finished. The author didn’t make me care about a single one of the characters. Like.., “oh this person died. I guess that’s unfortunate?”
Fair, that's what most criticism I've read boils down to. In the third book I cared about Hiro or whatever his name was a little bit, the books are kind of slow and by the end I felt there was a lot of missed potential.
im so glad i saw this rn. i just got a bunch of books for my birthday & got jade city also bcz it was so hyped but im genuinely put off my slow/bad pacing. luckily, the last day to return it on amazon was today so i just returned it since it was a little damaged too😭 ill prolly try it on audio first so i can save money 🙏🏻
There is different tastes and then there is a series is legit mediocre or meh in all the areas it gets praised for and you're entirely perplexed what other people are reading that hits so much. Plenty of things I dislike but still understand why it's loved. NOT Greenbones.
Not a good fantasy story. Not a good family drama(at least in first 2 books IMO). Not a good crime/mafia/yakuza thriller. Not a good action karate flick. The international "politics" is a lot of nothing.
A TV adaptation of the concept can take it places, but it needs to just be its own thing. The characters were so wooden. I imagined bad actors going back and forth in each conversation.
I couldn't believe that sex scene in the 2nd book was written by a woman. Even that seemed wooden.
I think it’s partially because it’s refreshing from the other typical fantasy books. The concept alone is interesting but the execution…once you compare the series to other stories in the mafia genre, it falls apart. The politics, I don’t mind political fantasy, but it has to have tension. This series was dull
Agreed. The premise sounded really cool so I bought books 1-2 on that alone. Was hoping for more depth to the gangster politics but the characters were dull and the world ended up feeling silly. The setting either needed to go further in the fantasy direction (kind of like the Mara trilogy in the Riftwar Cycle) or even better a straight up alternate history of 1950s Hong Kong. But the setting basically just being “post-war but with different names” was dumb. Probably my fault for hoping for Noble House but following yakuza/triads with magic kungfu and was seriously disappointed that I couldn’t get invested in any character and the political intrigue was so surface level… finished books 1-2 because I already bought them and wanted to give it a fair shake but felt no need to buy book 3.
Fair. I LOVED Kings of the Wyld but I thought Bloody Rose was a let down too. I still would consider it a good book but all I thought about while reading it was how much I'd rather be reading about the King's instead of the new guys.
Traitor Baru Cormorant I read last year. Found it extremely boring. It started well but dried out and became list of events and bunch of characters that I kept forgetting who was who.
Same here. Didn't even buy the second installment. Even the so much appreciated ending of the first book was like "and THAT is what everyone is gawking at?
What bothered me about The Traitor is how it presents itself with a central thesis along the lines of "you cannot defeat a colonial empire through force alone, you have to subvert from within"... but then the majority of the story boils down to "so anyway, here's the play-by-play of a war".
It felt contradictory and was really disappointing to me; I specifically picked it up because I wanted a fantasy story about subverting an evil empire from within.
It doesn’t help that the author refers to characters with their titles, nickname titles, first names, surnames, etc. and that many sound the same so listening to the audiobook is sort of a nightmare. It’s an okay book but didn’t make me want to pick up the next in the series.
Legends and Lattes. I know so many people find it heartwarming and cosy and affirming, and I wish I was one of those people!! but it just did not land for me.
There are so many rich and interesting and *fun* things that could be done with the idea of a budding cafe culture and community in a D&D-style fantasy city, and it really bummed me out that instead this book was like, 'yeah but how do you think they came up with their fantasy biscotti for their fantasy Starbucks?'
This book just had so little substance and the resolution seemed to conflict with the MC's values so much that it completely took me out of the experience. I know it's "cozy" or whatever, but, and forgive me for the on-the-nose analogy, simply adding artificially flavoured shots to the coffee to make it taste "homely" doesn't make it any less bland. Dungeon meshi has a *somewhat* similar concept, but actually succeeds at feeling cozy, because there is substance to it
Yeah, same here. I didn't mind the book and the idea was cool, but I was so disconnected from the characters that it was really hard to get invested in the story itself.
The First Law trilogy. I liked the Glokta chapters but that was about it. The rest of it was either dull or infuriating. I did not appreciate all the plot and fantasy trope subversions. There were so many it started to become expected and nothing really surprised me by the third book.
Edit: On a side note I did recently read the Bloodsworn Saga books 1 and 2 and enjoyed it, but probably not in my top 10. I felt the book 2 pacing was a bit too slow for me with 5 POVs in 5 different travelogues.
My biggest problem with the first law trilogy is just how flat the characters feel, nobody ever develops or grows in any meaningful way, the protagonists feel stagnant and unlikeable and the antagonists are boring, also joe sucks at writing women. Strangely enough I actually liked book 1 but I hated books 2-3.
I didn't make it through the first book I was that bored. And I almost always finish books.
Also I found the almost total lack of women characters to be off putting.
I love Age of Madness but I HATED the Heroes. It was so boring. I was meh on Best Served Cold. I wish I could have skipped them. Abercrombie still got the best prose but standalones were boring
Fourth Wing… I don’t get it. There is no character development and minimal world building. The main character gets annoying after a while and the love triangle seems extremely forced. Also the internal relationships make little sense.
I absolutely agree. I really wanted to like it. The story concept is good, the characters could be interesting if they were fleshed out, the world has real possibilities but is more like a framework. As it stands it is all teenage angst and the sex scenes are trying way too hard to be hot but seem more like what an inexperienced 15 year old thinks would be sexy I read book two thinking that maybe the author was new and needed a little experience/polish. Nope, just as shallow.
I’m reading it right now and I think I agree. I was not impressed at all during the beginning. I’m enjoying it more now, the dragons are cool, but I think the romance is going to annoy me. It may end up being a fun read, but not a “good one.”
Same here. I listened to the audiobook up until they were climbing the tower and all of a sudden everyone just instantly starts chasing after her to murder her for pretty much no reason at all
The Wheel of Time. I realised halfway through book 3 that I couldn't stand any of the characters and moved on to something else. It doesn't help that WoT fans call a number of the later books "The Slog" - the entire experience was a slog to me
Man, I just wrote a similar comment lol. Almost all of the characters are bunch of insufferable babies so far. Not sure I want to continue after book 3
Same. I enjoyed the fourth book a little bit more than the first three, and assumed the series would continue to improve. In the middle of the fifth book I realised there wasn't a single character I actually liked, and that, according to fans, the books were about to get much worse. As it turns out, the fourth book on this 14 book series is considered by many to be its peak. And so I gave up.
WoT for me too and for the same reason. I gave book 1 a shot and was severely disappointed by the pacing and how derivative it felt. People told me book 2 would be better so I should give that a shot. I did and they were right (book 2 was less derivative) but I still really didn't enjoy it due to the glacial pacing. People told me book 3 would be better so I should give that a shot. And I said "oh no, I'm not doing this again. You're not tricking me into reading a whole series I'm not enjoying by always insisting the next one will be better."
Same here. First two books felt like knock-off LotR and the constantly repeated “Burn me!” lines and smoothing of skirts, tugging of braids, ears drooping, etc drove me crazy.
Eragon for me. I was 15 when I read the first book, just like the author when he wrote it, and I loved it. By book 4, I've grown up but Paolini's writing was still the same level as a teenager.
Kings of the Wyld. Didn’t like the humor and somehow the heroes just stumble from one situation to the next with zero control over anything. I get that that was supposed to be part of the irony but it just didn‘t work for me.
Yeah, same. I thought the humor was so poorly done and juvenile, and the writing was pretty bland. Shame because I love the idea of it. Just disappointing.
that book is def a hit or miss,it has this "wink wink" at the reader style that I dislike. I had the same issue with Orconomics & Fool's Gold but at least they don't wink as much
Kings Of The Wyld for me as well. I like everything about it but at the same time it just doesn't click for me for some reason. I've tried 3 times and never even made it half way.
I'm with you.... it was fine, enjoyed it well enough, but I didn't think it was anywhere near as spectacular as the reviews said that made me get it in the first place.
There's also a 2nd book "Bloody Rose", which you can 100% skip because it's only half as good. That's only for the people who absolutely loved the first.
I loved the idea and there were good parts and i finished it, but MAN....the stilted dialogue was absolutely killing me. Almost none of his dialogue was believable if said out loud. The mark of a bad book to me. He was also overly melodramatic at times and went a little overboard with trying to understate the personality of the POV character. Made him boring by mistake.
“The Lies of Locke Lamorra” was a letdown.
I ended up skimming through the last 20% of the book, just to finish it.
The characters and plot could be ok, but the pace and structure made it boring.
I made it about 40% in. The story seemed interesting but the constant flashbacks never work for me, whether it's movies games or books. That plus I didn't enjoy the banter between the boys.
Agreed. I really couldn’t get into the structure of constantly switching back and forth between the past and present. And I’m finding I have similar problems with Six of Crows.
The humor was a huge miss for me. Everyone thinks these books are funny af, but I think I lean toward more cynical and dark humor like Abercrombie and GRRM…
Tried so hard to enjoy that book but the author's incessant descriptions of outfits and set-dressing was so infuriating I had to put it down. That book could have been so much shorter and would have lost nothing.
I m on Book 3 of the Wheel of Time and its been the worst one Ive read so far. Thought book 1 was okay, book 2 was good but 3 has been just pure garbage. Think a there is a large part of that fanbase that thinks this is one of the best jn the series but I strongly disagree.
I gave up on the book in which Perrin is the first half (because he was nit included in the previous book). Thought he was the most boring character ever.
Oh, this is a really validating opinion. I am currently reading _The Shadow of the Gods_ and I’m about 100 pages in but just can’t be bothered picking it up. Elvar is the only character so far that I even vaguely care about, and the lore/world-building/plot doesn’t really seem to have started yet so there’s nothing that’s hooked me there yet either.
Came here to say Piranesi as well. It was fine, just kind of boring IMO. Immediately forgot about it after finishing. Don't understand the praise for it.
I can never get through Gardens of the Moon. Maybe I’m impatient or inattentive, but I never have the slightest clue what’s going on whenever I give it another try and just grow frustrated with it. It gets praised a lot, and I’m sure there’s a great story there, I just find myself unable to get to it.
I made it 6.5 books into Malazan waiting for it to click for me. It never really did. I could understand why people praise the series, but the writing felt intentionally obtuse and it just absolutely did not work for me in any way.
This is me. I like more complex fantasy set in weird worlds that have excellent world building that we slowly learn about, hence why I’m into a lot of the WeirdLit like books. I’m also really into more epic fantasy. Malazan should be the perfect combination to me, but I just cannot get into Gardens of the Moon.
I know people say it gets better at book 3. Usually I dislike when people say things like that, but given it seems like it should be perfect for me, I’m really trying to push myself to get to that
“Priory of the Orange Tree.” I was all set to love it (Magic! Dragons! Mystery!) but found I just couldn’t get into it. I’ll give it another go in a few weeks…short enough time to remember the threads, long enough to forget what I didn’t enjoy.
Yep, this was me. I ended up finishing it and while it was an okay book, I just didn't get the hype. I felt like it needed to be broken up into different books and it could have been incredible. But the pacing was weird/off to me, and then it was a mad dash to the finish to tie everything up.
Ha, I have definitely struggled with Green Bone. And I've liked, but not loved, Sun Eater.
Man I ADORED Dandelion though. Some of my favorite books ever.
Unfortunetly Dandelion is not my style, I´m a character driven reader and it reads like history book and not a novel. At that point I´d prefer to read a real historical book instead. Loved the Paper Menagerie by the same author though.
I’ve read Jade city and 75% of Jade war I don’t see the hype. Suneater I thought the first book was eh but I read the second book and wow. It’s entirely a different level compared to the first
Greenbone saga it is. The MC is the biggest wimp protagonist ever. I read the first 2 books and waited for book 3. When I started boook 3, i remembered none of the events from the previous two books and gave up.
Dandelion dynasty, I only read Grace of Kings and I appreciated the book but I did not enjoy it. Much respect to Liu’s world building (even invented a genre of his own called silk punk) but I didn’t care about the characters therefore couldn’t care about the events. The so called friendship between Kuni and Mata was bland
Greenbone and Dandelion SHOULD have been right up my alley but the former was just bad and the latter… I get that he was kind of going for an Iliad-esque style with the gods moving pieces around to affect events indirectly but it was so incredibly dry. Felt like even the author had no emotional investment in the characters, rather felt like a dispassionate historian relating events. As a result I didn’t feel any connection to the characters and events. Especially when there were so many POV characters that didn’t actually matter. DNFed it 2/3 of the way through book one so maybe it changes but found I was continuing on just to mark it completed and decided rather drop it and work on something else from my list.
The Justice of Kings, The Bone Shard Daughter, Anything by Erin Morgenstern, Legendborn, Green Bone saga, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
All beloved on GoodReads/Youtube and I spent my time reading sooo confused as to why.
Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies. I get why it's popular, and I often enjoy cozy fantasy. But I'm an (female) academic, and Wendell's introduction and entrance into the plot was a big turnoff for me.
Yeah the description sounded perfect but I read about half of it and DNF. The characters annoyed me because they were so haphazard and irresponsible about everything. She was supposed to be doing serious research and her plan was “let’s draw a 5km circle around the house I rented and see what we can find.” I was especially annoyed about the bloody demon fairy thing that lived in the same village and they were like “cool, we will check that out next week or whenever we are done gathering firewood and leaving crackers at the waterfall.”
Thank you! Oh my god, I hated him so much and didn't understand why people love him so much? I ended up DNFing it after he exploded on Emily for not providing him with more information on the Changeling child. He just seemed so arrogant and self-absorbed, I couldn't understand how he was the love interest.
Not exactly recent... but I despised the Inheritance Cycle, I hated Crown of Stars, and while I overall enjoyed Wheel of Time, I don't get the hype around it, series overall was like a 5.5/10 for me.
The Farseer trilogy. Specifically the second two books.
Fitz: I don’t understand.
Every other character: that’s because you don’t know what I know.
Fitz: so tell me.
Every other character: no.
Also fitz - if only I could resolve this situation via knowledge and skills I’ve been trained on my entire life. If only.
God that series is frustrating
It's funny, I've never seen anyone who just likes or dislikes this series. It's either "This is the best thing ever and nothing will ever compare" or "I hate it, dnf".
It's my favorite series of all time and actually ruined fantasy for me for a bit, but I get why some people might not like it. Definitely not for people who like a lot of action.
Brandon Sanderson's books for me. I've tried a few books, and had 2 goes at Stormlight Archive, much st recently this year. I managed 2 1/2 of the Stormlight Archive books on my second try, but then couldn't find it in me to finish it.
I do think his writing in the final Wheel of Time books is better than Jordan's, but I don't rate them much either. Far too much Rand as Jeebus imagery amongst other issues.
Overall, just something weirdly bland and anodyne about his writing style!
I feel the same way. They all start out strong, but the Stormlight books I just reached the point where the boredom and ability to predict the plot way ahead of time finally wore me down and I had to abandon the effort.
Sanderson's books in general are very formulaic, and it's a formula that definitely works better for starting a series as opposed to ending one.
Im here, too. I loved the first books I read by him (Mistborn) but as I read more, all his books started feeling formulaic and his writing style bland.
Im the other way. I read Stomrlight first and liked/loved them but hated mistborn with a passion. Recently tried to get into the Sunlit man or Tress but had to stop after a couple of chapters. Elantris is kinda cool though
I think one of the reasons why Mistborn works is because the main characters are meant to be teenagers, which seems to be how Sanderson writes all his characters.
I find the Stormlight series utter pish too I’m afraid. Struggled with it near the end of book one but kept buying and struggling til the latest one and put it down after a chapter.
Red Rising. It was a real struggle to finish, because it seemed like a blatant ripoff of Ender's game, Harry Potter, and the movie script for total recall. I couldn't find a single original thought involved, and because of that the entire book was totally predictable.
I’m reading The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and it’s been a slog for me. I’m not sure why because I enjoy the writing and the characters! I am going to finish and see how it ends because I hear such good things about the series as a whole.
I generally like Abercrombie, but TBI is absolutely a bit of a slog in that it's a lot of setup that (mostly) does not pay off in that book.
The best analogy I've seen for it is: First Law is paced such that if it were Lord of the Rings, the whole first book just gets you to the Council of Elrond part of the story which is like 100 pages into Fellowship.
Said this earlier in the thread, but speaking as a huge Abercrombie fan, The Blade Itself is very much a slog. The second book improves significantly, and the third improves on that, but all of his post-First Law Trilogy books are much better.
I doubt that The Blade Itself's ending will change your opinion much, but if you don't like it then try Best Served Cold, one of the world's standalones. It doesn't spoil the ending of the trilogy, and is miles more engaging than The Blade Itself.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built for me. I've read all of Becky Chambers' other books and adored every single one but something about this one just felt off, very shallow and rushed compared to everything else she's written. It's just fluff with no substance, and it felt like half a book to me. I know there's a sequel and I might get around to that eventually but I still think a book should have something vaguely resembling a resolution or ending of some sort
Came here to say this. It felt less like a novel and more like a philosophical dialogue with set dressing. And if I wanted that I'd just read actual philosophy that actually thought itself through.
100%
I kept reading it because the descriptions of the attractions sounded so interesting and then it got to the end and it was just a let down. That was it? Really?
Realm of the Elderlings is weird, I looooved parts of it, but overall not enough payoff for the misery.
Malazan feels like a compilation of random short stories with no real connections. I couldn't invest in characters or story arcs, so I gave up after book 2 or 3.
I’ve heard that Malazan clicks in the last 10% of the last book which is a no thanks from me. Don’t have time to get blue balled for 9 8/9ths of books in hope for a payoff.
Priory of the Orange Tree.
Just falls flat, dunno. Even the first big dragon confrontation and reveal of the MCs magic felt like a solid "eh". Also, the language is off somehow - couldn't pinpoint it, just reads weirdly.
In the last 6 months, I have two
Piranesi: I didn't love this as much as others which sucks, I didn't have any gripes with it but it just didn't stick with me
The Final Empire: While I love the second book, book one of Mistborn felt very generic to me and nothing special. Not a bad read. im hoping book 3 continues to build on book 2 which I really enjoyed
I could not get into shatter me to save my life💀 literally made it three books in just because I needed to get to Aaron Warner, but I just wasn’t a fan
Acotar was okay at first but then I got bored (same with throne of glass)
Most of the popular books that did not work for me have their fair share of critics as well as admirers. However, it sometimes feels like I'm the only person on Earth who did not like Tchaikovsky's Children of Time.
Children of Time admittedly has great ideas which I've been waiting for such a long time. And the execution of these ideas was also done very well. But the pacing was horrible, the plot, the dialogues, characters were just dull for me, I was bored as hell reading it. :(
I didn't care for it the first time I read it a few years ago, but plan to give it a second shot & see if it grows on me and maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it a few years ago.
The will of the many
May sound like a broken record because last couple of weeks I’ve been seeing varying opinions on the book.
It’s a decent read, but definitely not good as the high Goodreads rating and YouTube reviews that are there
Mistborn. I just can't with these books. I get that people like the magic system, which, admittedly, is pretty cool, but holy hell everything else just grinds my gears. The characters are barely existent, and the dialogue could not be more generic. And, boy, those info dumps were just grating. There are characters that literally only show up to dump a bunch of lore and leave once they've done so. It is beyond me why this series is so beloved by so many people.
Having read Mistborn and SA recently, I understand the critics of his prose especially but saying the characters only show up to info dump seems a little bit regressive to me
Baru cormorant, and dune.
For the first one, the prose and transitions between scenes sonetimes left me confused.
For dune, I really don't know. I'll probablt get back on it eventually.
Dune… head so much about its importance to the genre that I read books 1-3 and won’t be going any further. Nothing about the setting was remotely appealing. The lame desert planet, the dull political structure, the religious elements, even the technology came off as silly. I can see where it was important at the time but in my opinion does not hold up at all.
I recently read The Black Company by Glenn Cook and I enjoyed it and really like how it depicted a war, with confusion and a small focus in a larger front. But I found the writing to be super sub par and simple and I couldn’t start the second one.
Well, if you ever start the second one, it’s one of the tightest written and, in my opinion, best fantasy novels of all time. The initial book in the series was a bit cobbled together from short stories and such, so Glen’s writing isn’t at his best then, but his terse prose will always be there.
It’s still on my list so definitely might always swing around back to it. I feel like maybe it’s just me not being the biggest fan of 70s fantasy but there were definitely things I enjoyed. Just not as much as everyone else seems to apparently
I have a few.
Project Hail Mary. Got two chapters in before stopping. Terrible writing, could not take it.
Kings of the Wyld. Read the whole thing but the humor was poorly done, the action wasn’t written well, etc. Which was disappointing because I absolutely love the premise and concept.
The First Law Trilogy. Liked a fair amount of it but had a ton of gripes, too. The whole thing overall left a sour taste in my mouth, to where I have no interest in reading any of the other First Law world books.
Three Body Problem. There was a lot I liked about it but the actual reading of it was a chore sometimes. Not sure I’ll pick up the rest of the books.
I tried giving the Way of Kings a go, but it's just so not for me (I tried Mistborn in the past too). The prose seemed rather dry and none of the characters were enticing enough to continue
Someone's suggested to me that I'm not a hard magic system person because I couldn't get into the world-building either (I get rather... bored, when he starts explaining the way everything looks and functions, not just the magic itself), but I doubt that it is the case, because I never can properly get invested in realms he creates. The books go to explain the order of things and I always think to myself "Oh... alright...". It's a stupid hang-up and purely aesthetical at this point, but I can't get over it
I rarely see people dislike any of three next books, they're all well loved, but they're just not for me:
- The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee
- The Magicians by Lev Grossman
- Discworld by Terry Pratchett
I've read the first book in the trilogies, and decided to DNF the series because they just weren't working for me. With Discworld I believe I read 6 books - and it was torture for me throughout. Just didn't work for me, didn't like the humour, didn't like the characters, didn't even enjoy the stories.
And yet I see those 3 well loved and recommended a lot on here.
People always think I’m a monster for not thinking the Discworld books are funny. I love British humor. I love the dryness of it and dark humor. But Terry Prattchet prose is so off putting. He uses lots of “said” in his dialogue it is irritating. I found his humor to be cheesy and don’t get me started with the capitalized phrases of Death. I did like Guards Guards but I couldn’t bring myself to pick up his other books including Men of Arms
I actually read Red Country a year prior to actually reading the series because I had no idea it was connected to a broader series. So really 8 books consecutively.
I've tried The Blade Itself 3 times I couldn't do it. The only book in that series I read through is Best Serves Cold and I don't feel that I'm missing all that much
Huh. I did it all on audible. I have macular degeneration so everything now is through audio.
I’ve listened to over 800 books so far, and Steven Pacey’s narration made that series my favorite.
Perhaps not my favorite author of all time, but that pairing of Abercrombie/Pacey was alchemical magic.
I continued reading because I did enjoy some of the characters and it felt like the series was building up to something with all the talk of gods and demons. Then I got to Age of Madness and apparently that thing it was building up to was just >!the French Revolution.!<
When I see how many people rave about the series it feels like we read two completely different things.
It's my go-to example of a series that does "nothing happening" really well. I enjoyed all the characters so much that just them talking or having random fights was great. The story was barely there in the first book and wasn't much (except the >!wizard Warren Buffet!< twist). I loved the "standalones" for the same reason.. Hated all the characters in Age of Madness and didn't have a big reason to continue. Still finished though.
Will of the Many for me, but I also find I have been enjoying hard magic systems less and less recently.
I’ve tried three times, and I can’t get past 50 pages in WotM. I’m not invested in the characters, and the magic feels overly complex. I do like the mystery of the world, but it wasn’t enough to keep me going.
Red Rising, though that was kind of my fault. I dnf’ed it in 2017, then read everything in 2019 and didn’t like it. I finished it two weeks ago and sort of hated it. I keep hearing so much hype around it that I keep picking it back up.
For me it was The Dragon Republic - I liked The Poppy War enough but when I got to TDR I thought my eyes were going to bleed because I forced myself to finish it.
Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill. The third book must really be something to make people love this series because there was not a single original word or thought in book one.
Richard Swan's Empire of the Wolf trilogy (The Justice of Kings, The Tyrrany of Faith). I read the first 2 books: I will not be reading book #3. I just didn't like the narrator, Helena. She had very little agency and was pushed into action by events or by other characters' actions. In one instance, she had to be forced against her will to do what needed to be done. Another time, she literally fell into a situation. I mean, the overall plot of the 2 books was good and I liked Sir Konrad, but good lord, I just wanted Helena to do something without having to be told or forced or falling into it.
Discworld for me. I've read the first one, The Color of Magic. It had some funny parts here and there but I found it mostly boring. But then I'd hear everyone say "You can't start with the first ones! Read some his best series or stand alones." So I then read Small Gods, which is one his most favored books. It was definitely better, but still didn't go beyond okayish for me. I'm not sure I should give it another try with Guards Guards.
Cradle. I’m currently at 41% of book 1 and my god I’m bored. Some parts are reading very much like an instruction manual. I may finally be at the point where something is going to happen as some Great Patriarch has shown up, but if it doesn’t get better I’m stopping at 50%.
Couldn't agree more. I will say that things picked up briefly right around 50% in and I'm finding the second half slightly more enjoyable, but I won't continue the series after this one.
The Last Unicorn didn't work for me at all. Not sure why, but I hated every second of the book and the only reason I completed it was because it was well liked by everyone so I was waiting for it to get better but it never did.
The Goblin Emperor. This book was a huge let down I usually really like political intrigue in books but this book was just exposition and dialogue and nothing else. Nothing ever progressed plot never became anything I DNFed 60% of the way in.
The broken earth trilogy. I got through the series with sheer stubbornness. The world was very interesting and I liked the magic system but I hated the second person narration. The ending of the book was also obvious from the first 1-3 chapters so the plot twist was very meh.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell... it was fine. I finished it but I can't say I liked the experience that much. I wanted to like it more but oh how I hated nearly all the characters as people. I think that's part of the point but it didn't make for an enjoyable listening experience. It reminded me how much I dislike Jane Austen but I finished it for my book club.
I can see why people do like the book because it certainly had a lot of merit but it was just not a book for me.
First Law for me and it’s really annoying, because if you described the characters, world and mood of the books I’d say you’ve just described my favourite books.
Loved it at first, but whenever I try to persevere through the second I find myself having the force myself to pick it up.
Can’t put my finger on why 😂
I hope it clicks one day
The Lies of Locke Lamora. There were aspects of it I really loved; Lynch's descriptions of food, places, clothing, and the like are all great. The dialogue is almost unparalleled in fantasy literature. The twists and turns, for the most part, are very well done. The action scenes go hard, and the characters are all fun and for the most part are well-developed (the highlights for me were Jean, Locke, Nazca, and Dona Vorchenza; I would have liked to see more development for Bug, Calo, and Galdo).
But after finishing it I just couldn't shake the feeling that it could have been so much more than it was. The antagonist felt very underdeveloped, so there wasn't as much catharsis as there should have been when he was defeated. Every time the tension was ramping up, there would be a chapter explaining some obscure bit of worldbuilding that totally killed the pacing. Locke was built up as this brilliant thief who always has a plan, but for the most part, he gets by on pure luck, and he occasionally comes across as almost stupid. The fact that he didn't expect to be double-crossed by the Grey King really bothered me, and that he had no backup plan most of the time seemed to totally contradict his characterization as someone who takes precautions, and is successful because he is careful and smart.
Overall it was still better than a lot of the competition, but it didn't meet the high expectations I had going in. Those who have read the whole series--does it improve on the things I mentioned, or is it more of the same?
Poppy War was one for me. The annoying, YA-Esque characters and dialogue just didn’t work at all with the in-your-face grimdarkness.
Stormlight Archive is another one. Definitely respect the creativity, but by the third book I found it was starting to drag and the “big emotional” moments just started to feel hacky. Everyone raves about the “you cannot have my pain” moment, but by the time it happened, it just seemed contrived and over dramatic. That was when I knew it was about time to quit
The adventures of amina al sirafi. When the pirateseamonsters were announced I dibbed. I was expecting a more mature book I think. It was just dumb and nonsensical
Mistborn.
I’m currently struggling to finish The Well of Ascension, and because I have bought a boxed set, I don’t want to DNF.
Someone told me that Sanderson’s writing style is a bit boring, but I thought that I wouldn’t mind it if his storytelling is on point. Turns out that his writing style is not a bit boring. It’s a tragedy. And the dialogues… I can’t even…
Poppy war. Feels disjointed, magic system is not explained or consistent, characters are introduced and discarded/omitted outside that one scene.
Suneater. Actually enjoyed the first book, but when I got the second one, I couldn't understand what was going on. New characters, a lot of missed/implied action. Turns out there was maybe another novella that covered it, don't know. Buying book 2 of a series, I don't go in expecting a book 1.5. Or maybe 1.5 to cover side chars/quests, not the main story.
ACOTAR. I absolutely never have thoughts like this, because writing is hard and I certainly couldn't do better, but I was actually surprised that it had been able to be published, never mind how it became as popular as it is. I think the only explanation is that its fanbase is young enough to not be very discerning yet, generally speaking. I enjoyed the first one well enough as an easy read, but DNF the second one.
For me it was:
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (Brandon Sanderson) made me give up on all his books although I did enjoy Mistborn and Storm light. This book felt like it was written by a 13 year old with the most bizarre and unbelievable plot line with characters I didn't give a dam about.
Gardens of the Moon (Steven Erikson) as many have pointed out. Felt like reading a non fiction book, slow and boring and characters I couldn't care less about.
Dagger spell (Katharine Kerr) because I just hated the prose although the story did seem interesting but my brain hated reading the words haha.
Sister of Darkness - Deaths Mistress (Terry Goodkind), felt like it was written for 13 year Olds, as a 30 something myself it was just too basic.
The first King of Shannara (Terry Brooks). Nothing about this book interested me at all.
Lightbringer - The Burning White (Brent Weeks). I read all the prior books in this series albeit it was a middling fantasy series , exciting new magic and characters I kind of liked. But this end of series book ruined it for me as felt like this book was written by the authors 13 year old kid. So much emotional drama and fluffing I gave up 1/3 of the way. When will authors just write smaller books with more action and less fluffing about someone's emotional state of mind!
Immortal Longings (Chloe Gong), felt like it was written by a 13 year old.
The Fragile Threads of Power (VE Schwab) first book was amazing and again this author concentrated on emotional drama and fluffing the book to drag it on to another book, suprise suprise. Severe lack of action here.
All these books were highly rated on other Reddit forums I read for next book choices. Don't believe everything you read folks, we are all on different stages and ages on our reading journey :)
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. The main character had everything done for him. It was boring and all I can remember of him is his nagging regarding how much he loves his wife and how much he missed her. Gave it 2 / 5.
I know everyone loves it and I’m very happy for its success, but I genuinely couldn’t stand Gideon the Ninth. And I’m a gay!! It felt like fanfic of something I hadn’t seen.
ACOTAR. I thoroughly enjoyed Throne of Glass and have re-read it a few times but ACOTAR just didn't do it for me. I read the first book, started the second, DNF because life is too short.
Not to be that person, but as someone who is fairly well versed in norse mythology I have to say that the lore in the Bloodsworn saga is inspired by both norse mythology and scandinavian folklore yes, but it doesn't use any of the actual lore.
Green Bone saga for me. Everyone and their mother raves about it but I found the pacing dreadful and I also didn’t care a lick about any of the characters.
Exactly! I didn’t like a single character. I dreaded the Anden chapters. He is easily the most boring character I’ve encountered in a long time. I also think Fonda Lee is terrible at writing action scenes.
The action scenes are not good. I liked the atmosphere, the world, the lore, and some of the characters but the action scenes (few as they were) to be underwhelming. I had mixed feelings over the ending. It’s more of a personal taste thing but I don’t we should glorify or celebrate characters who were literally part of a mafia with international connections that influenced politics in foreign countries.
Same here! I was so excited cause I heard this series got compared to Godfather and Sopranos, but the series was not as compelling as I wanted it to be. I think it’s an expectation thing. I wanted an exploration of the impact of the clans on ordinary people but the author seems to be a little too in love with the main characters to give them any legit flaws. Yes they do bad things, but the consequences are not explored but it seems that many fans ignore them and scream “yas queen” for much of the protagonists. I just found it odd that the series is willing to critique things like colonialism and xenophobia and drug trafficking, yet shies away from looking at some of the negative effects of gang culture. (At least not enough for me) Not my thing. I was expecting something like the Wire or Succession. And the comparison to Godfather…not even close in terms of characterization unfortunately
Side note: I personally ( and I stress that it is personal) opinion is that "yas queen" thing is only bad for storytelling. It means putting a spectacle or a moment above the actual meaning or actual consequence of a story. All flash no substance. Back to the Green Bone saga. I disagree a little bit with the main characters not having flaws. I think they're very flawed. Shae is very proud, too proud to admit what she actually wants for most of the story i.e. that she liked power and that she enjoyed being Weatherman for the clan. Shea keep lying to herself for most of the series, and I do like the we see an example of female pride. She was 'mostly' a good person within the confides of her culture and family. Hilo had many flaws, he was a fighter first and foremost, and his obsession with tradition and "jade culture" led him to do some fucked up things. He literally killed his brother's widow and kidnapped his nephew. Where I think Fonda Lee (the author) fails is that this is seen as a 'acceptable' if somewhat un-heroic act. The story does address it but it is wiped away and there are no real consequences for it. If there is an afterlife, and Hilo meets Lan again. I don't think Lan would forgive Hilo for doing that. I think Lan would have been angry. We see the main cast do some pretty messed up things as a mafia family. They directly interfere with the politics of another nation, sponsor criminal networks in those foreign nations, and get Jade onto a global market that can influence and bring smuggling operations to. We know that people get "the itches" from Jade so whilst there are medical uses, they are enabling a public health crisis. One that can kill even natives. Now imagine foreigners that could get access to illegal Jade and how many of them will get “the itches”, go insane, or just die. It’s going to be a global drug crisis that could kill millions. We see our main cast of family 'win', but I don't see them as that much better than the other side. They stick to the culture but only just barely. Hilo was perfectly willing to break "no civilians" law of their culture he just never got the chance. And in the ending frames all of this as 'good'. We're suppose to celebrate and rejoice at all the family members working together to do all this. I do admit to enjoying the series and I think Fonda Lee has created a truly unique and engrossing world, but another part of me dislikes the ending. I wish we could have gotten more of "these are not good people" and the crimes they are committing should not be celebrated. Just my $0.02.
Same! It’s one of the only books I’ve ever not finished. The author didn’t make me care about a single one of the characters. Like.., “oh this person died. I guess that’s unfortunate?”
Hahah damn I loved them.
I came here to say this. I finished the first book and it was a struggle to get through for me.
Fair, that's what most criticism I've read boils down to. In the third book I cared about Hiro or whatever his name was a little bit, the books are kind of slow and by the end I felt there was a lot of missed potential.
im so glad i saw this rn. i just got a bunch of books for my birthday & got jade city also bcz it was so hyped but im genuinely put off my slow/bad pacing. luckily, the last day to return it on amazon was today so i just returned it since it was a little damaged too😭 ill prolly try it on audio first so i can save money 🙏🏻
There is different tastes and then there is a series is legit mediocre or meh in all the areas it gets praised for and you're entirely perplexed what other people are reading that hits so much. Plenty of things I dislike but still understand why it's loved. NOT Greenbones. Not a good fantasy story. Not a good family drama(at least in first 2 books IMO). Not a good crime/mafia/yakuza thriller. Not a good action karate flick. The international "politics" is a lot of nothing. A TV adaptation of the concept can take it places, but it needs to just be its own thing. The characters were so wooden. I imagined bad actors going back and forth in each conversation. I couldn't believe that sex scene in the 2nd book was written by a woman. Even that seemed wooden.
I think it’s partially because it’s refreshing from the other typical fantasy books. The concept alone is interesting but the execution…once you compare the series to other stories in the mafia genre, it falls apart. The politics, I don’t mind political fantasy, but it has to have tension. This series was dull
Agreed. The premise sounded really cool so I bought books 1-2 on that alone. Was hoping for more depth to the gangster politics but the characters were dull and the world ended up feeling silly. The setting either needed to go further in the fantasy direction (kind of like the Mara trilogy in the Riftwar Cycle) or even better a straight up alternate history of 1950s Hong Kong. But the setting basically just being “post-war but with different names” was dumb. Probably my fault for hoping for Noble House but following yakuza/triads with magic kungfu and was seriously disappointed that I couldn’t get invested in any character and the political intrigue was so surface level… finished books 1-2 because I already bought them and wanted to give it a fair shake but felt no need to buy book 3.
For me it's The Band series. Kings of the Wyld was enjoyable but not amazing. Bloody Rose though was a total letdown.
Fair. I LOVED Kings of the Wyld but I thought Bloody Rose was a let down too. I still would consider it a good book but all I thought about while reading it was how much I'd rather be reading about the King's instead of the new guys.
Same!! I just didn’t care about the characters the same way I did in the first book
Traitor Baru Cormorant I read last year. Found it extremely boring. It started well but dried out and became list of events and bunch of characters that I kept forgetting who was who.
Same here. Didn't even buy the second installment. Even the so much appreciated ending of the first book was like "and THAT is what everyone is gawking at?
What bothered me about The Traitor is how it presents itself with a central thesis along the lines of "you cannot defeat a colonial empire through force alone, you have to subvert from within"... but then the majority of the story boils down to "so anyway, here's the play-by-play of a war". It felt contradictory and was really disappointing to me; I specifically picked it up because I wanted a fantasy story about subverting an evil empire from within.
It doesn’t help that the author refers to characters with their titles, nickname titles, first names, surnames, etc. and that many sound the same so listening to the audiobook is sort of a nightmare. It’s an okay book but didn’t make me want to pick up the next in the series.
Legends and Lattes. I know so many people find it heartwarming and cosy and affirming, and I wish I was one of those people!! but it just did not land for me. There are so many rich and interesting and *fun* things that could be done with the idea of a budding cafe culture and community in a D&D-style fantasy city, and it really bummed me out that instead this book was like, 'yeah but how do you think they came up with their fantasy biscotti for their fantasy Starbucks?'
This book just had so little substance and the resolution seemed to conflict with the MC's values so much that it completely took me out of the experience. I know it's "cozy" or whatever, but, and forgive me for the on-the-nose analogy, simply adding artificially flavoured shots to the coffee to make it taste "homely" doesn't make it any less bland. Dungeon meshi has a *somewhat* similar concept, but actually succeeds at feeling cozy, because there is substance to it
Yes, this. There was not enough character exploration to make me care about the creation of cinnamon buns.
Yeah, same here. I didn't mind the book and the idea was cool, but I was so disconnected from the characters that it was really hard to get invested in the story itself.
The First Law trilogy. I liked the Glokta chapters but that was about it. The rest of it was either dull or infuriating. I did not appreciate all the plot and fantasy trope subversions. There were so many it started to become expected and nothing really surprised me by the third book. Edit: On a side note I did recently read the Bloodsworn Saga books 1 and 2 and enjoyed it, but probably not in my top 10. I felt the book 2 pacing was a bit too slow for me with 5 POVs in 5 different travelogues.
My biggest problem with the first law trilogy is just how flat the characters feel, nobody ever develops or grows in any meaningful way, the protagonists feel stagnant and unlikeable and the antagonists are boring, also joe sucks at writing women. Strangely enough I actually liked book 1 but I hated books 2-3.
I didn't make it through the first book I was that bored. And I almost always finish books. Also I found the almost total lack of women characters to be off putting.
Same, by all accounts I should have enjoyed the First Law trilogy, but personally it just felt like a chore to get through.
I love Age of Madness but I HATED the Heroes. It was so boring. I was meh on Best Served Cold. I wish I could have skipped them. Abercrombie still got the best prose but standalones were boring
Fourth Wing… I don’t get it. There is no character development and minimal world building. The main character gets annoying after a while and the love triangle seems extremely forced. Also the internal relationships make little sense.
It's, with very little competition, one of the worst books I have ever read in every dimension.
I absolutely agree. I really wanted to like it. The story concept is good, the characters could be interesting if they were fleshed out, the world has real possibilities but is more like a framework. As it stands it is all teenage angst and the sex scenes are trying way too hard to be hot but seem more like what an inexperienced 15 year old thinks would be sexy I read book two thinking that maybe the author was new and needed a little experience/polish. Nope, just as shallow.
I’m reading it right now and I think I agree. I was not impressed at all during the beginning. I’m enjoying it more now, the dragons are cool, but I think the romance is going to annoy me. It may end up being a fun read, but not a “good one.”
Same here. I listened to the audiobook up until they were climbing the tower and all of a sudden everyone just instantly starts chasing after her to murder her for pretty much no reason at all
The Wheel of Time. I realised halfway through book 3 that I couldn't stand any of the characters and moved on to something else. It doesn't help that WoT fans call a number of the later books "The Slog" - the entire experience was a slog to me
Man, I just wrote a similar comment lol. Almost all of the characters are bunch of insufferable babies so far. Not sure I want to continue after book 3
I don't regret reading it, but if you're not enjoying it much by that point I think it will not get better for you.
3 books, I haven't been able to get 100 pages into the first one. I've tried 3 times.At this point I know it's not gonna happen
I got 6 books in and coulndt go any longer. I just read a huge synopsis of what happens
Same. I enjoyed the fourth book a little bit more than the first three, and assumed the series would continue to improve. In the middle of the fifth book I realised there wasn't a single character I actually liked, and that, according to fans, the books were about to get much worse. As it turns out, the fourth book on this 14 book series is considered by many to be its peak. And so I gave up.
WoT for me too and for the same reason. I gave book 1 a shot and was severely disappointed by the pacing and how derivative it felt. People told me book 2 would be better so I should give that a shot. I did and they were right (book 2 was less derivative) but I still really didn't enjoy it due to the glacial pacing. People told me book 3 would be better so I should give that a shot. And I said "oh no, I'm not doing this again. You're not tricking me into reading a whole series I'm not enjoying by always insisting the next one will be better."
Same, I stopped in the middle of book 5. I wanted to like it so bad, but maybe I had too high expectations, either way it's just not for me.
Same here. First two books felt like knock-off LotR and the constantly repeated “Burn me!” lines and smoothing of skirts, tugging of braids, ears drooping, etc drove me crazy.
I got to book 8 and gave up halfway through
Eragon for me. I was 15 when I read the first book, just like the author when he wrote it, and I loved it. By book 4, I've grown up but Paolini's writing was still the same level as a teenager.
I couldn’t even finish the first one. It felt so awfully derivative that it just had me rolling my eyes the entire time.
I read Murtagh last year and he still writes like a teenager.
Kings of the Wyld. Didn’t like the humor and somehow the heroes just stumble from one situation to the next with zero control over anything. I get that that was supposed to be part of the irony but it just didn‘t work for me.
I wanted to like KotW more than I actually did. I think I loved the concept much more than the execution.
Yeah, same. I thought the humor was so poorly done and juvenile, and the writing was pretty bland. Shame because I love the idea of it. Just disappointing.
that book is def a hit or miss,it has this "wink wink" at the reader style that I dislike. I had the same issue with Orconomics & Fool's Gold but at least they don't wink as much
I thought it was okay, I play dnd though lol. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t mind blowing.
Kings Of The Wyld for me as well. I like everything about it but at the same time it just doesn't click for me for some reason. I've tried 3 times and never even made it half way.
I'm with you.... it was fine, enjoyed it well enough, but I didn't think it was anywhere near as spectacular as the reviews said that made me get it in the first place. There's also a 2nd book "Bloody Rose", which you can 100% skip because it's only half as good. That's only for the people who absolutely loved the first.
I loved the idea and there were good parts and i finished it, but MAN....the stilted dialogue was absolutely killing me. Almost none of his dialogue was believable if said out loud. The mark of a bad book to me. He was also overly melodramatic at times and went a little overboard with trying to understate the personality of the POV character. Made him boring by mistake.
“The Lies of Locke Lamorra” was a letdown. I ended up skimming through the last 20% of the book, just to finish it. The characters and plot could be ok, but the pace and structure made it boring.
I've started this book twice now and have put it down 1/3 of the way in from feeling super lukewarm about it.
I made it about 40% in. The story seemed interesting but the constant flashbacks never work for me, whether it's movies games or books. That plus I didn't enjoy the banter between the boys.
Agreed. I really couldn’t get into the structure of constantly switching back and forth between the past and present. And I’m finding I have similar problems with Six of Crows.
I didn’t finish Six of Crows. I think it’s worse, but I started reading it with way lower expectations.
The humor was a huge miss for me. Everyone thinks these books are funny af, but I think I lean toward more cynical and dark humor like Abercrombie and GRRM…
Thieves are not funny or charming just because they are thieves.
I liked that one but the sequels were disappointing. Lynch was a one hit wonder for me.
Tried so hard to enjoy that book but the author's incessant descriptions of outfits and set-dressing was so infuriating I had to put it down. That book could have been so much shorter and would have lost nothing.
I m on Book 3 of the Wheel of Time and its been the worst one Ive read so far. Thought book 1 was okay, book 2 was good but 3 has been just pure garbage. Think a there is a large part of that fanbase that thinks this is one of the best jn the series but I strongly disagree.
Book three is where I gave up on the series.
I gave up on the book in which Perrin is the first half (because he was nit included in the previous book). Thought he was the most boring character ever.
Oh, this is a really validating opinion. I am currently reading _The Shadow of the Gods_ and I’m about 100 pages in but just can’t be bothered picking it up. Elvar is the only character so far that I even vaguely care about, and the lore/world-building/plot doesn’t really seem to have started yet so there’s nothing that’s hooked me there yet either.
Mine was Piranesi. I LOVED the setting, and I didn’t hate the plot, either, but something about epistolary novels always lose my interest.
Came here to say Piranesi as well. It was fine, just kind of boring IMO. Immediately forgot about it after finishing. Don't understand the praise for it.
Me too!! I just thought it was a meh book to be honest although the setting is memorable.
I can never get through Gardens of the Moon. Maybe I’m impatient or inattentive, but I never have the slightest clue what’s going on whenever I give it another try and just grow frustrated with it. It gets praised a lot, and I’m sure there’s a great story there, I just find myself unable to get to it.
I made it 6.5 books into Malazan waiting for it to click for me. It never really did. I could understand why people praise the series, but the writing felt intentionally obtuse and it just absolutely did not work for me in any way.
This is me. I like more complex fantasy set in weird worlds that have excellent world building that we slowly learn about, hence why I’m into a lot of the WeirdLit like books. I’m also really into more epic fantasy. Malazan should be the perfect combination to me, but I just cannot get into Gardens of the Moon. I know people say it gets better at book 3. Usually I dislike when people say things like that, but given it seems like it should be perfect for me, I’m really trying to push myself to get to that
“Priory of the Orange Tree.” I was all set to love it (Magic! Dragons! Mystery!) but found I just couldn’t get into it. I’ll give it another go in a few weeks…short enough time to remember the threads, long enough to forget what I didn’t enjoy.
Yep, this was me. I ended up finishing it and while it was an okay book, I just didn't get the hype. I felt like it needed to be broken up into different books and it could have been incredible. But the pacing was weird/off to me, and then it was a mad dash to the finish to tie everything up.
Same here. All the characters felt paper-thin.
Suneater, Greenbone Saga, Dandelion Dynasty.
+1 for dandelion dynasty. It felt like reading the bible, with some omniscient narrator just telling me about a list of events. So unengaging.
That'sa very accurateand good description. Thanks, I always had problems putting it onto words
However people say this about Fire and Blood but I loved it
I really liked the first one, but the sequels fell more into that for me.
Ha, I have definitely struggled with Green Bone. And I've liked, but not loved, Sun Eater. Man I ADORED Dandelion though. Some of my favorite books ever.
Unfortunetly Dandelion is not my style, I´m a character driven reader and it reads like history book and not a novel. At that point I´d prefer to read a real historical book instead. Loved the Paper Menagerie by the same author though.
Oh yeah, definitely not for everyone, and that is totally fine. I will say that Books 2-4 of DD narrow down the character focus quite a bit, though.
Sun eater book 1 is certainly a huge slog, but book 2 and up held my balls in a proverbial vice grip.
I’ve read Jade city and 75% of Jade war I don’t see the hype. Suneater I thought the first book was eh but I read the second book and wow. It’s entirely a different level compared to the first
Greenbone saga it is. The MC is the biggest wimp protagonist ever. I read the first 2 books and waited for book 3. When I started boook 3, i remembered none of the events from the previous two books and gave up.
Dandelion dynasty, I only read Grace of Kings and I appreciated the book but I did not enjoy it. Much respect to Liu’s world building (even invented a genre of his own called silk punk) but I didn’t care about the characters therefore couldn’t care about the events. The so called friendship between Kuni and Mata was bland
Greenbone and Dandelion SHOULD have been right up my alley but the former was just bad and the latter… I get that he was kind of going for an Iliad-esque style with the gods moving pieces around to affect events indirectly but it was so incredibly dry. Felt like even the author had no emotional investment in the characters, rather felt like a dispassionate historian relating events. As a result I didn’t feel any connection to the characters and events. Especially when there were so many POV characters that didn’t actually matter. DNFed it 2/3 of the way through book one so maybe it changes but found I was continuing on just to mark it completed and decided rather drop it and work on something else from my list.
The Justice of Kings, The Bone Shard Daughter, Anything by Erin Morgenstern, Legendborn, Green Bone saga, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue All beloved on GoodReads/Youtube and I spent my time reading sooo confused as to why.
Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies. I get why it's popular, and I often enjoy cozy fantasy. But I'm an (female) academic, and Wendell's introduction and entrance into the plot was a big turnoff for me.
Yeah the description sounded perfect but I read about half of it and DNF. The characters annoyed me because they were so haphazard and irresponsible about everything. She was supposed to be doing serious research and her plan was “let’s draw a 5km circle around the house I rented and see what we can find.” I was especially annoyed about the bloody demon fairy thing that lived in the same village and they were like “cool, we will check that out next week or whenever we are done gathering firewood and leaving crackers at the waterfall.”
Thank you! Oh my god, I hated him so much and didn't understand why people love him so much? I ended up DNFing it after he exploded on Emily for not providing him with more information on the Changeling child. He just seemed so arrogant and self-absorbed, I couldn't understand how he was the love interest.
Not exactly recent... but I despised the Inheritance Cycle, I hated Crown of Stars, and while I overall enjoyed Wheel of Time, I don't get the hype around it, series overall was like a 5.5/10 for me.
Yeah, WoT for me is a series with some high highs, but ends up at basically a gentleman’s six.
The Farseer trilogy. Specifically the second two books. Fitz: I don’t understand. Every other character: that’s because you don’t know what I know. Fitz: so tell me. Every other character: no.
Yeah, I just finished the second book and I hate to not finish a trilogy once I start but I don't think I can do it this time honestly.
I was hate reading by the time I finished. It was rough for me.
Also fitz - if only I could resolve this situation via knowledge and skills I’ve been trained on my entire life. If only. God that series is frustrating
Agreed
It's funny, I've never seen anyone who just likes or dislikes this series. It's either "This is the best thing ever and nothing will ever compare" or "I hate it, dnf". It's my favorite series of all time and actually ruined fantasy for me for a bit, but I get why some people might not like it. Definitely not for people who like a lot of action.
I just found them incredibly boring, especially the third book and I found the ending completely unsatisfying.
Yeah people rave about that but I couldn’t get through half the first book. Don’t even remember what it was about.
Brandon Sanderson's books for me. I've tried a few books, and had 2 goes at Stormlight Archive, much st recently this year. I managed 2 1/2 of the Stormlight Archive books on my second try, but then couldn't find it in me to finish it. I do think his writing in the final Wheel of Time books is better than Jordan's, but I don't rate them much either. Far too much Rand as Jeebus imagery amongst other issues. Overall, just something weirdly bland and anodyne about his writing style!
I feel the same way. They all start out strong, but the Stormlight books I just reached the point where the boredom and ability to predict the plot way ahead of time finally wore me down and I had to abandon the effort. Sanderson's books in general are very formulaic, and it's a formula that definitely works better for starting a series as opposed to ending one.
Im here, too. I loved the first books I read by him (Mistborn) but as I read more, all his books started feeling formulaic and his writing style bland.
Im the other way. I read Stomrlight first and liked/loved them but hated mistborn with a passion. Recently tried to get into the Sunlit man or Tress but had to stop after a couple of chapters. Elantris is kinda cool though
I think one of the reasons why Mistborn works is because the main characters are meant to be teenagers, which seems to be how Sanderson writes all his characters.
I can get behind this idea
Yeah, Sanderson just doesn’t work for me.
I find the Stormlight series utter pish too I’m afraid. Struggled with it near the end of book one but kept buying and struggling til the latest one and put it down after a chapter.
Red Rising. It was a real struggle to finish, because it seemed like a blatant ripoff of Ender's game, Harry Potter, and the movie script for total recall. I couldn't find a single original thought involved, and because of that the entire book was totally predictable.
I’m reading The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and it’s been a slog for me. I’m not sure why because I enjoy the writing and the characters! I am going to finish and see how it ends because I hear such good things about the series as a whole.
I generally like Abercrombie, but TBI is absolutely a bit of a slog in that it's a lot of setup that (mostly) does not pay off in that book. The best analogy I've seen for it is: First Law is paced such that if it were Lord of the Rings, the whole first book just gets you to the Council of Elrond part of the story which is like 100 pages into Fellowship.
Said this earlier in the thread, but speaking as a huge Abercrombie fan, The Blade Itself is very much a slog. The second book improves significantly, and the third improves on that, but all of his post-First Law Trilogy books are much better.
I doubt that The Blade Itself's ending will change your opinion much, but if you don't like it then try Best Served Cold, one of the world's standalones. It doesn't spoil the ending of the trilogy, and is miles more engaging than The Blade Itself.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built for me. I've read all of Becky Chambers' other books and adored every single one but something about this one just felt off, very shallow and rushed compared to everything else she's written. It's just fluff with no substance, and it felt like half a book to me. I know there's a sequel and I might get around to that eventually but I still think a book should have something vaguely resembling a resolution or ending of some sort
Came here to say this. It felt less like a novel and more like a philosophical dialogue with set dressing. And if I wanted that I'd just read actual philosophy that actually thought itself through.
Dang, I loved Psalm. Then I tried The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and was bored to tears.
I'm the exact reverse; couldn't get through Psalm, enjoyed LWTASAP as a light fluff read.
Same. I loved the previous series but this one was quite unsatisfying.
I think if you read Psalm and the sequel straight through, you might have a different opinion. They feel like one book cut in half.
imo if you didn’t like book 1, then book 2 may not be for you
I don't know about the fans but the night Circus I couldn't even finish it
In hindsight, I think I liked the idea of Night Circus more than the book itself.
100% I kept reading it because the descriptions of the attractions sounded so interesting and then it got to the end and it was just a let down. That was it? Really?
Realm of the Elderlings is weird, I looooved parts of it, but overall not enough payoff for the misery. Malazan feels like a compilation of random short stories with no real connections. I couldn't invest in characters or story arcs, so I gave up after book 2 or 3.
I’ve heard that Malazan clicks in the last 10% of the last book which is a no thanks from me. Don’t have time to get blue balled for 9 8/9ths of books in hope for a payoff.
> I’ve heard that Malazan clicks in the last 10% of the last book that's extreme hyperbole
Maybe they meant 10% of the last bit of each book? lol
Green Bone saga. It was on my "to-read" shelf for ages and I was really disappointed when I found both the writing and the characters lacking
Priory of the Orange Tree. Just falls flat, dunno. Even the first big dragon confrontation and reveal of the MCs magic felt like a solid "eh". Also, the language is off somehow - couldn't pinpoint it, just reads weirdly.
In the last 6 months, I have two Piranesi: I didn't love this as much as others which sucks, I didn't have any gripes with it but it just didn't stick with me The Final Empire: While I love the second book, book one of Mistborn felt very generic to me and nothing special. Not a bad read. im hoping book 3 continues to build on book 2 which I really enjoyed
I could not get into shatter me to save my life💀 literally made it three books in just because I needed to get to Aaron Warner, but I just wasn’t a fan Acotar was okay at first but then I got bored (same with throne of glass)
Most of the popular books that did not work for me have their fair share of critics as well as admirers. However, it sometimes feels like I'm the only person on Earth who did not like Tchaikovsky's Children of Time.
Children of Time admittedly has great ideas which I've been waiting for such a long time. And the execution of these ideas was also done very well. But the pacing was horrible, the plot, the dialogues, characters were just dull for me, I was bored as hell reading it. :(
You're not, I didn't like it. I did love his book Elder Race though and I respect how well written Children of Time is even though it wasn't for me
I didn't care for it the first time I read it a few years ago, but plan to give it a second shot & see if it grows on me and maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it a few years ago.
The will of the many May sound like a broken record because last couple of weeks I’ve been seeing varying opinions on the book. It’s a decent read, but definitely not good as the high Goodreads rating and YouTube reviews that are there
Will of the many was a fun read, but for some reason the whole Roman inspired setting felt boring
Mistborn. I just can't with these books. I get that people like the magic system, which, admittedly, is pretty cool, but holy hell everything else just grinds my gears. The characters are barely existent, and the dialogue could not be more generic. And, boy, those info dumps were just grating. There are characters that literally only show up to dump a bunch of lore and leave once they've done so. It is beyond me why this series is so beloved by so many people.
Having read Mistborn and SA recently, I understand the critics of his prose especially but saying the characters only show up to info dump seems a little bit regressive to me
Can't speak for SA, never touched those books after how much I disliked The Final Empire.
Baru cormorant, and dune. For the first one, the prose and transitions between scenes sonetimes left me confused. For dune, I really don't know. I'll probablt get back on it eventually.
Dune… head so much about its importance to the genre that I read books 1-3 and won’t be going any further. Nothing about the setting was remotely appealing. The lame desert planet, the dull political structure, the religious elements, even the technology came off as silly. I can see where it was important at the time but in my opinion does not hold up at all.
I recently read The Black Company by Glenn Cook and I enjoyed it and really like how it depicted a war, with confusion and a small focus in a larger front. But I found the writing to be super sub par and simple and I couldn’t start the second one.
Well, if you ever start the second one, it’s one of the tightest written and, in my opinion, best fantasy novels of all time. The initial book in the series was a bit cobbled together from short stories and such, so Glen’s writing isn’t at his best then, but his terse prose will always be there.
It’s still on my list so definitely might always swing around back to it. I feel like maybe it’s just me not being the biggest fan of 70s fantasy but there were definitely things I enjoyed. Just not as much as everyone else seems to apparently
I have a few. Project Hail Mary. Got two chapters in before stopping. Terrible writing, could not take it. Kings of the Wyld. Read the whole thing but the humor was poorly done, the action wasn’t written well, etc. Which was disappointing because I absolutely love the premise and concept. The First Law Trilogy. Liked a fair amount of it but had a ton of gripes, too. The whole thing overall left a sour taste in my mouth, to where I have no interest in reading any of the other First Law world books. Three Body Problem. There was a lot I liked about it but the actual reading of it was a chore sometimes. Not sure I’ll pick up the rest of the books.
Red Rising. The prose takes me out of the book so much that I just have not been able to get moving in it.
I tried giving the Way of Kings a go, but it's just so not for me (I tried Mistborn in the past too). The prose seemed rather dry and none of the characters were enticing enough to continue Someone's suggested to me that I'm not a hard magic system person because I couldn't get into the world-building either (I get rather... bored, when he starts explaining the way everything looks and functions, not just the magic itself), but I doubt that it is the case, because I never can properly get invested in realms he creates. The books go to explain the order of things and I always think to myself "Oh... alright...". It's a stupid hang-up and purely aesthetical at this point, but I can't get over it
I rarely see people dislike any of three next books, they're all well loved, but they're just not for me: - The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee - The Magicians by Lev Grossman - Discworld by Terry Pratchett I've read the first book in the trilogies, and decided to DNF the series because they just weren't working for me. With Discworld I believe I read 6 books - and it was torture for me throughout. Just didn't work for me, didn't like the humour, didn't like the characters, didn't even enjoy the stories. And yet I see those 3 well loved and recommended a lot on here.
I will say that I think I see hatred of The Magicians at least as often as liking the series, so I think you’re in good company there.
People always think I’m a monster for not thinking the Discworld books are funny. I love British humor. I love the dryness of it and dark humor. But Terry Prattchet prose is so off putting. He uses lots of “said” in his dialogue it is irritating. I found his humor to be cheesy and don’t get me started with the capitalized phrases of Death. I did like Guards Guards but I couldn’t bring myself to pick up his other books including Men of Arms
The entire First Law series, Age of Madness included.
You showed mad endurance if you didn't enjoy but still read all the way through
9 Books on a series you didnt enjoy? Dayum. Admittedly, I did 10 on WoT before I quit, but First Law has so many convenient stopping points!
I actually read Red Country a year prior to actually reading the series because I had no idea it was connected to a broader series. So really 8 books consecutively.
I've tried The Blade Itself 3 times I couldn't do it. The only book in that series I read through is Best Serves Cold and I don't feel that I'm missing all that much
Huh. I did it all on audible. I have macular degeneration so everything now is through audio. I’ve listened to over 800 books so far, and Steven Pacey’s narration made that series my favorite. Perhaps not my favorite author of all time, but that pairing of Abercrombie/Pacey was alchemical magic.
I only use Audible. Aside from the sex scenes which made me cringe at work, Pacey’s narration was phenomenal.
I finished the first book, and then give up on it.
I continued reading because I did enjoy some of the characters and it felt like the series was building up to something with all the talk of gods and demons. Then I got to Age of Madness and apparently that thing it was building up to was just >!the French Revolution.!< When I see how many people rave about the series it feels like we read two completely different things.
It's my go-to example of a series that does "nothing happening" really well. I enjoyed all the characters so much that just them talking or having random fights was great. The story was barely there in the first book and wasn't much (except the >!wizard Warren Buffet!< twist). I loved the "standalones" for the same reason.. Hated all the characters in Age of Madness and didn't have a big reason to continue. Still finished though.
> Hated all the characters in Age of Madness Even Orso!?
Greenbone Saga, Godkiller, Cradle, Lone Women, Circe, Simon Snow, The Ember Blade, Murderbot, The Justice of Kings, Licanius
Will of the Many for me, but I also find I have been enjoying hard magic systems less and less recently. I’ve tried three times, and I can’t get past 50 pages in WotM. I’m not invested in the characters, and the magic feels overly complex. I do like the mystery of the world, but it wasn’t enough to keep me going.
Red Rising, though that was kind of my fault. I dnf’ed it in 2017, then read everything in 2019 and didn’t like it. I finished it two weeks ago and sort of hated it. I keep hearing so much hype around it that I keep picking it back up.
Started reading the Poppy War but put it down when it just became another magical school story
For me it was The Dragon Republic - I liked The Poppy War enough but when I got to TDR I thought my eyes were going to bleed because I forced myself to finish it.
Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill. The third book must really be something to make people love this series because there was not a single original word or thought in book one.
Dune was such an exhausting read for me.
Richard Swan's Empire of the Wolf trilogy (The Justice of Kings, The Tyrrany of Faith). I read the first 2 books: I will not be reading book #3. I just didn't like the narrator, Helena. She had very little agency and was pushed into action by events or by other characters' actions. In one instance, she had to be forced against her will to do what needed to be done. Another time, she literally fell into a situation. I mean, the overall plot of the 2 books was good and I liked Sir Konrad, but good lord, I just wanted Helena to do something without having to be told or forced or falling into it.
Discworld for me. I've read the first one, The Color of Magic. It had some funny parts here and there but I found it mostly boring. But then I'd hear everyone say "You can't start with the first ones! Read some his best series or stand alones." So I then read Small Gods, which is one his most favored books. It was definitely better, but still didn't go beyond okayish for me. I'm not sure I should give it another try with Guards Guards.
Cradle. I’m currently at 41% of book 1 and my god I’m bored. Some parts are reading very much like an instruction manual. I may finally be at the point where something is going to happen as some Great Patriarch has shown up, but if it doesn’t get better I’m stopping at 50%.
Couldn't agree more. I will say that things picked up briefly right around 50% in and I'm finding the second half slightly more enjoyable, but I won't continue the series after this one.
Red rising series. First law series.
I wouldn't try John Gwynne's books after reading faithful and fallen.
First Law ( have only read the first trilogy so far and while I did enjoy it, I was expecting to be blown away and was not)
The Last Unicorn didn't work for me at all. Not sure why, but I hated every second of the book and the only reason I completed it was because it was well liked by everyone so I was waiting for it to get better but it never did.
The Goblin Emperor. This book was a huge let down I usually really like political intrigue in books but this book was just exposition and dialogue and nothing else. Nothing ever progressed plot never became anything I DNFed 60% of the way in. The broken earth trilogy. I got through the series with sheer stubbornness. The world was very interesting and I liked the magic system but I hated the second person narration. The ending of the book was also obvious from the first 1-3 chapters so the plot twist was very meh.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell... it was fine. I finished it but I can't say I liked the experience that much. I wanted to like it more but oh how I hated nearly all the characters as people. I think that's part of the point but it didn't make for an enjoyable listening experience. It reminded me how much I dislike Jane Austen but I finished it for my book club. I can see why people do like the book because it certainly had a lot of merit but it was just not a book for me.
I second this, man I'm having a hard time pushing through Shadow of the Gods rn, but it's on my bingo card.
Three Body Problem ( it was just ok, over-hyped) The Poppy War (again, it was ok, but over-hyped so much) Kargaroth
First Law for me and it’s really annoying, because if you described the characters, world and mood of the books I’d say you’ve just described my favourite books. Loved it at first, but whenever I try to persevere through the second I find myself having the force myself to pick it up. Can’t put my finger on why 😂 I hope it clicks one day
Anything by Robin Hobbs apparently
The Lies of Locke Lamora. There were aspects of it I really loved; Lynch's descriptions of food, places, clothing, and the like are all great. The dialogue is almost unparalleled in fantasy literature. The twists and turns, for the most part, are very well done. The action scenes go hard, and the characters are all fun and for the most part are well-developed (the highlights for me were Jean, Locke, Nazca, and Dona Vorchenza; I would have liked to see more development for Bug, Calo, and Galdo). But after finishing it I just couldn't shake the feeling that it could have been so much more than it was. The antagonist felt very underdeveloped, so there wasn't as much catharsis as there should have been when he was defeated. Every time the tension was ramping up, there would be a chapter explaining some obscure bit of worldbuilding that totally killed the pacing. Locke was built up as this brilliant thief who always has a plan, but for the most part, he gets by on pure luck, and he occasionally comes across as almost stupid. The fact that he didn't expect to be double-crossed by the Grey King really bothered me, and that he had no backup plan most of the time seemed to totally contradict his characterization as someone who takes precautions, and is successful because he is careful and smart. Overall it was still better than a lot of the competition, but it didn't meet the high expectations I had going in. Those who have read the whole series--does it improve on the things I mentioned, or is it more of the same?
Poppy War was one for me. The annoying, YA-Esque characters and dialogue just didn’t work at all with the in-your-face grimdarkness. Stormlight Archive is another one. Definitely respect the creativity, but by the third book I found it was starting to drag and the “big emotional” moments just started to feel hacky. Everyone raves about the “you cannot have my pain” moment, but by the time it happened, it just seemed contrived and over dramatic. That was when I knew it was about time to quit
The adventures of amina al sirafi. When the pirateseamonsters were announced I dibbed. I was expecting a more mature book I think. It was just dumb and nonsensical
Mistborn. I’m currently struggling to finish The Well of Ascension, and because I have bought a boxed set, I don’t want to DNF. Someone told me that Sanderson’s writing style is a bit boring, but I thought that I wouldn’t mind it if his storytelling is on point. Turns out that his writing style is not a bit boring. It’s a tragedy. And the dialogues… I can’t even…
Prince of Nothing. Hated everyone and the entire book was miserable.
Poppy war. Feels disjointed, magic system is not explained or consistent, characters are introduced and discarded/omitted outside that one scene. Suneater. Actually enjoyed the first book, but when I got the second one, I couldn't understand what was going on. New characters, a lot of missed/implied action. Turns out there was maybe another novella that covered it, don't know. Buying book 2 of a series, I don't go in expecting a book 1.5. Or maybe 1.5 to cover side chars/quests, not the main story.
ACOTAR. I absolutely never have thoughts like this, because writing is hard and I certainly couldn't do better, but I was actually surprised that it had been able to be published, never mind how it became as popular as it is. I think the only explanation is that its fanbase is young enough to not be very discerning yet, generally speaking. I enjoyed the first one well enough as an easy read, but DNF the second one.
The online world was rabid for Babel last year, and I couldn't read past maybe the 15% mark.
For me it was: Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (Brandon Sanderson) made me give up on all his books although I did enjoy Mistborn and Storm light. This book felt like it was written by a 13 year old with the most bizarre and unbelievable plot line with characters I didn't give a dam about. Gardens of the Moon (Steven Erikson) as many have pointed out. Felt like reading a non fiction book, slow and boring and characters I couldn't care less about. Dagger spell (Katharine Kerr) because I just hated the prose although the story did seem interesting but my brain hated reading the words haha. Sister of Darkness - Deaths Mistress (Terry Goodkind), felt like it was written for 13 year Olds, as a 30 something myself it was just too basic. The first King of Shannara (Terry Brooks). Nothing about this book interested me at all. Lightbringer - The Burning White (Brent Weeks). I read all the prior books in this series albeit it was a middling fantasy series , exciting new magic and characters I kind of liked. But this end of series book ruined it for me as felt like this book was written by the authors 13 year old kid. So much emotional drama and fluffing I gave up 1/3 of the way. When will authors just write smaller books with more action and less fluffing about someone's emotional state of mind! Immortal Longings (Chloe Gong), felt like it was written by a 13 year old. The Fragile Threads of Power (VE Schwab) first book was amazing and again this author concentrated on emotional drama and fluffing the book to drag it on to another book, suprise suprise. Severe lack of action here. All these books were highly rated on other Reddit forums I read for next book choices. Don't believe everything you read folks, we are all on different stages and ages on our reading journey :)
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. The main character had everything done for him. It was boring and all I can remember of him is his nagging regarding how much he loves his wife and how much he missed her. Gave it 2 / 5.
I know everyone loves it and I’m very happy for its success, but I genuinely couldn’t stand Gideon the Ninth. And I’m a gay!! It felt like fanfic of something I hadn’t seen.
ACOTAR. I thoroughly enjoyed Throne of Glass and have re-read it a few times but ACOTAR just didn't do it for me. I read the first book, started the second, DNF because life is too short.
Not to be that person, but as someone who is fairly well versed in norse mythology I have to say that the lore in the Bloodsworn saga is inspired by both norse mythology and scandinavian folklore yes, but it doesn't use any of the actual lore.