Lovers of YA discussion

We've all had those great expectations smashed. Really high rating, all your friends loved it and yet you didn't.

For Me These Were:
Looking for Alaska
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Matched
Anna and the French Kiss

Heart of the HomeAmy & Roger's Epic DetourThe Marked Girl

Looking for Alaska wasn't my thing really
You by Caroline Kepnes (everyone gives this a really high rating, I gave it two stars).

and weren't as good as I expected.

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child-The writing quality and characters... Man:(

The wrote: "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child-The writing quality and characters... Man:("

I agree with you I didnt enjoy The Cursed Child. It lacked JK Rowling's writing magic as it was written by a playwright not her. I also found it was a bad mixture of all the books and she was just craving the needs of fans. Don't hate me for saying this but it ruined the series for me and I never want to see the play. :)

Did not like If I Stay's sequel Where She Went. Thought it was awful. The first book was beautiful and sad, the second one was just sad. I was depressed while listening to Adam talk about how his life is in ruins, and really upset that Mia and him didn't work out, but mostly because Adam was a wreck and I just wanted him to shut up. (read the audiobook b/c it was the only copy my library had for some reason)

Also didn't like Before I Fall just because of the ending. The ending made me so mad I considered throwing my kindle across the room, but then reconsidered due to it being expensive to replace.

The Maze Runner!

Super famous, etc. etc. but I found it soooooooo dull and dry, btw I think James Dashner probably is one of the worst YA writers I have ever read!! (Don't hate me!)

His writing style is so stuffy and inaccessible (and slow- who can make a book like this slow without trying?!? argh!)

Ashley wrote: "Did not like If I Stay's sequel Where She Went. Thought it was awful. The first book was beautiful and sad, the second one was just sad. I was depressed while listening to Adam talk about how his l..."

Really? I thought Where She Went was pretty good, because based on how he talks in If I Stay (pretty much saying he'd do anything for her) he would probably be gutted if she left him like that... it seemed realistic to me, and I'm a sucker for a happy ending so....

Wanna have a debate? :-D

Bookcrazy wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Did not like If I Stay's sequel Where She Went. Thought it was awful. The first book was beautiful and sad, the second one was just sad. I was depressed while listening to Adam talk ..."

Nope lol, no debate necessary, everyone has their opinions. This is a popular book many ppl loved, I just happened to hate it. I think it's realistic that he would be upset since he stayed with her through her recovery and she basically ditched him. But the extent of his devastating sadness is a bit much, especially since it has been years. Don't get me wrong I've had a horrible break up, but people move on. It's as if Adam can't move on even a smidgen, even though his band is doing well and he has a new boo. Also her complete lack of emotions is scary....Although it could be that the reader for the audiobook did a terrible job and just portrayed both of those characters horrible in the reading. I'll leave it as 80% bad sequel 20% reader for the audiobook was too monotone with Mia and too depressing with Adam haha

Ashley wrote: "Bookcrazy wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Did not like If I Stay's sequel Where She Went. Thought it was awful. The first book was beautiful and sad, the second one was just sad. I was depressed while liste..."

Haha well you have got sympathy from me cuz I HATE audiobooks. Like I would never, ever listen to one. So I agree with the 20% part

It was sadly the only format the library had of this book haha. I try my best to read books in paper format or at the very least on the kindle. Some audiobooks are good though and have great readers :) I believe I "read" the Percy Jackson series through audiobook format and Fablehaven. They had great readers who made the story come alive! Alas that's not the same for every audiobook, and probably is the case with "Where She Went."

Ashley wrote: "It was sadly the only format the library had of this book haha. I try my best to read books in paper format or at the very least on the kindle. Some audiobooks are good though and have great reader..."

:( I am sad for you. But seriously, ignoring the debateable terribleness of Where She Went, I never cry when I read books, and in If I Stay the way she found out that Teddy died and her reaction actually made me cry... did u have the same thing?

The first book brought me so many tears I should have had a tissue box near me. There are few books and movies that can bring tears to my eyes and even rarer for them to spill over, but yes! Her whole situation and finding out every single member of her family was dead from the car crash except for her was just devastating :/

I know!! But I find some books are stupid-devestaing, like the ones where everything that can go wrong does. Those just make you get irritated not sad. But this one... and the way she prefixed it, it was as sudden for the reader as it was for her. So sad! And Adam's speech? I almost cried there too. Maybe one the of the most gorgeous paragraphs I have ever read, ever. I needed the second book, I think, because I needed them to be okay.

Eleanor & Park - It was so boring and predictable. I couldn´t relate to the characters and I couldn´t care for them or their story.

Lorali - I don´t know if this really counts as a popular book but there were a few recommendations from booktubers. I once again, could not connect to the characters and the structure and plot didn´t flow. The ending made it all the effort I put into reading it not worth it.

The wrote: "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child-The writing quality and characters... Man:("

I so agree, I wanted to like it but couldn't and as I read on - the angrier I got.

I am still doubting whether I even want to read Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, I have just heard to many terrible things about it. Would you suggest reading it or not?

Cordelianne wrote: "I am still doubting whether I even want to read Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, I have just heard to many terrible things about it. Would you suggest reading it or not?"

Sorry haven't read Harry Potter but I'm living proof you can survive without it!!! Haha

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, thus I read The Cursed Child. I read it because I felt I had to say I read it. Kind of like knocking it off some kind of bucket list of reads. I knew I shouldn't have huge expectations as the entire thing was not written by J.K. Rowling, the reviews prior to reading were not favorable, and the fact that it is a screenplay. My biggest complaint: there is ZERO character development. My #1 love for Harry Potter is the way J.K. Rowling really lets me see, feel, know her characters. I felt no connection to the main character, Harry's son. All I felt for him was that he is an spoiled ass. The story was rushed, predictable, boring, and the climax (if you can call it that) was laughable. BUT, I read it and you should to. I just feel like as a Harry Potter fan you should say you read it. LOL! Silly, I know. I even own it, for my collection, but know I will never pick it up to read it again. :(

Katherine wrote: "The wrote: "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child-The writing quality and characters... Man:("

I so agree, I wanted to like it but couldn't and as I read on - the angrier I got."

Jade wrote: "We've all had those great expectations smashed. Really high rating, all your friends loved it and yet you didn't.

For Me These Were:
Looking for Alaska
[book:Will Grayson, Will Grayso..."

Yes, finally someone who didn't like Looking for Alaska. I mean I liked it but it was not anywhere near the hype it got.

Cordelianne wrote: "I am still doubting whether I even want to read Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, I have just heard to many terrible things about it. Would you suggest reading it or not?"

I would suggest reading it and if for nothing else you can decide if it was good or bad for yourself. And since Rowling is basically by this point a classical author (I'm kidding a little but still incredibly famous) it is worth reading something else than the original HP series.

Mocking jay was so hard to Finnish for me..

ALL of the Twilight books did not live up to the hype and neither did the Hunger Games books.

Stephanie (R-A) wrote: "ALL of the Twilight books did not live up to the hype and neither did the Hunger Games books."

I agree that neither was all they're hyped to be, but please don't class them together. At least The Hunger Games doesn't teach that if your man leaves you, you may as well just throw yourself off a cliff after sitting around in a depressed haze for 3 months.

, ,

Amateur writing. The last one isn't as popular now, but it had a really high rating when I read it. It seemed like everyone was raving about it at the time.

Joy wrote: "Stephanie (R-A) wrote: "ALL of the Twilight books did not live up to the hype and neither did the Hunger Games books."

I agree that neither was all they're hyped to be, but please don't class them..."

They both had terrible romances in them though. Yes, the Twilight books made Bella absolutely pathetic, but Hunger Games was bad in another way: Katniss got with Peeta basically because he was there, not because she actually ever really fell in love with him. It was super awkward to me. She basically just says, "Well, I wanted to have sex and he was the one who was there." I feel like that book needed another chapter or two to fully flesh out her recovery.

Not to mention, that Katniss makes ONE decision in the very beginning and then EVERYTHING ELSE just happens to her. Sure she deals with it, but she doesn't choose very much and is pushed into almost every situation the whole entire series. In that respect, Bella is a little (teeny tiny bit) more developed because at least she makes choices. But I thought both series were terrible on the whole in terms of female role models and in the romance department.

I didn't like or and so far I've DNF'd anything by Leigh Bardugo that I started. I read the sample of Where She Went and decided immediately I had no interest in it.

As far as Katniss and Peeta goes, I don't think she used him just because he was around. I think she needed him because he was the only person who could understand what she had been through, meanwhile Gale didn't care about anything except rebelling against the capital. If anything, Gale was the one who just assumed she would be there for him. The first time I read Mockingjay I was so upset by the last scene, but after having read the series a couple more times I can see why the boy who threw her the bread is the one she was meant to end up with.

Farren wrote: "I didn't like or and so far I've DNF'd anything by Leigh Bardugo that I started. I read the sample..."

I can kind of understand that, and I get the "meant to be aspect" Suzanne Collins was going for, but I think to really nail that ending something more needed to be written. I never really got the sense that Katniss chose him because he understood what she had been through, and that's why I think it needed to be a chapter or two longer to explain the recovery process and the growth in their relationship properly. It was too quickly done.

Stephanie (R-A) wrote: "Farren wrote: "I didn't like or and so far I've DNF'd anything by Leigh Bardugo that I started. I ..."

I agree that it's definitely one of those books that could have been fleshed out more. Personally, what I got out of it was that Gale represented a life full of anger and Peeta represented peace.

When she was with Gale (after the trauma of the first games), they always ended up fighting or pushing each other into making angry decisions.

Peeta helped her to see life from a different perspective. When she spends time with him, she's able to see her own shortcomings realistically. She's also able to discuss things with him and for them to reach a decision together.

I thought she could have been "meant to be" with either of them when it came to feelings. When she chose, she chose which kind of life she wanted. A life of peace and growth and moving forward instead of a life of anger and resentment and looking back. It wasn't about the guy. It was about her.

Paper Towns
Looking for Alaska
Crossed (Matched #2)
House of Night Series
Breaking Dawn (Twilight)
Fifty Shades of Grey Series

Illuminae. It was not for me.

People are going to hate me for this, but I couldn't get into the Harry Potter series. I don't know if it's because I'm past that point in my like or what. I also can't get into Sarah J. Mass. Again I'm not sure why, but they just don't hold my attention.

I hear amazing things about the book Soundless but I really dodn't like it and found it difficult to connect with

I didn't like , , , , , , or much

I couldn't finish the Tiger's course serie. The first is ok. But the secound is not good. And I didin't what to read more books about love triangles. The one that I did love was in the infernal divices.