turning the page | books i’ve changed my mind about
Hello and welcome back to Hardcover Haven, my dear friends! I hope you are doing well, and if not, I hope brighter days head your way soon!
As I enter my tenth year of book blogging (*squeals* oh my fucking god!!!), I’ve read many, many books and, naturally, over the course of doing so my reading tastes, thoughts, feelings, and opinions have evolved quite a bit. So it’s only natural and normal that my opinions on certain books, series, and authors I’ve read may have changed over the years as well. And today I want to talk about a few!
Now, as a quick note, a lot of these opinions of mine are ones that’ve changed in the negative direction, but that’s not to say you’re awful if you enjoy these books/series/authors. We’re allowed to have different opinions about books, even if those opinions are STRONG ones. I might now think some of these are trash and you might think they’re the greatest gift from god and they changed your life for the better. I’m not here to say that’s wrong, I’m just here to give my honest opinion.
So, without any further ado, let’s talk about the books, series, and authors I’ve changed my mind about!
RESOURCES TO HELP CHANGE THE WORLD
Before anything: FREE PALESTINE!!! 🍉 For over half a century now, the Israeli government has been enacting a genocide against the Palestinian people. This is more than something that started on October 7, 2023. It’s not complicated. It’s genocide. And it’s important that we witness, raise our voices, protest, and fight against it in any way possible. Below are a list of resources to help educate yourself on Palestine, as well as to donate to aid the Palestinian people. In addition, I’ve added some Palestinian influencers and journalists you can follow to learn more from and who keep track of what’s going on. Peace to all and keep fighting the good fight!
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
AID AND ASSISTANCE DONATION RESOURCES
JOURNALISTS & INFLUENCERS
- Motaz (journalist)
- Bisan / Her Backup Account (journalist)
- Plestia (journalist)
- Subhi (influencer)
FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE ✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼
literally every single colleen hoover book i’ve ever read
Lissen…I was young and had trash taste once and I’m not even gonna deny it cause y’all can pull the receipts from Goodreads. BUT I’VE SINCE LEARNED MY LESSON, OKAY?! Looking back, the CoHo books I read (those being Confess, November 9, and Ugly Love) were…cringey at best and downright problematic at worst. And, let’s be real, they all fall towards the “at worst” side of that spectrum…I will say, though, my will broke with Ugly Love, which I gave 2.75 stars out of five stars, and which scarred me with the line about That Couple’s baby’s balls…*shudders*…That was literally the last CoHo book I picked up (thank god and good riddance!).
the acotar series by sarah j. maas
Admittedly I haven’t finished ACOWAR or read ACOSF (nor have I read the novella—and, no, after thoroughly spoiling myself I don’t think I can handle reading it seeing as it’s apparently just weird erotica interspersed with shopping montages), but when I first read ACOTAR, ACOMAF, and the first half of ACOWAR, I thought it was, like, the best thing since sliced bread (maybe that should’ve been a warning sign, though, considering I have celiac disease and can’t have most bread…?). But in retrospect, the series definitely isn’t as mind-blowing as I once thought it was. I guess my main reason for feeling this way is that the series wasn’t the best written, especially in regards to its continuously flip-flopping characterization of characters like Tamlin, Rhysand, and even Nesta. I feel like Maas had one idea when she set out writing the series and then kept changing the direction based on what she felt like fans wanted and because of that the series started to feel less authentic and more like a giant cash grab. Obviously I can’t say whether or not that’s the literal truth, but that’s kinda the feeling I get, especially after reading and watching in-depth, hours long recaps of the novella and of ACOSF (let’s all thank god for those from cari can read!)…
Then there’s also the fact that Maas seems to have patterned Rhy’s physical appearance after that of a stereotypical Middle Eastern man and initially gave the Night Court a very stereotypical “Middle Eastern flair”…all whilst being a Zionist…which is…Y I K E S…
the shadowhunter books by cassandra clare
I read my first Cassie Clare book (City of Bones) 16 years ago when I was just 13 years old and for most of my teen years I loved Clare’s Shadowhunter books/series…Then I read Lady Midnight…In fairness, I didn’t hate the book, but I did notice that Cassandra Clare tends to recycle character personalities and traits. For example, the main characters of The Mortal Instruments are an artist (Clary) and a blonde haired warrior (Jace) who are friends with a black haired girl who’s a lot more girly (Isabelle) and then the main characters of The Dark Artifices are (you guessed it!) an artist (Julian) and a blonde haired warrior (Emma) who are friends with a black haired girl who’s a lot more girly (Cristina). And, beyond the physical similarities and having the same hobbies, the personalities of Emma and Julian were pretty darn similar to those of Jace and Clary! It felt like lazy writing and it just made me disillusioned about the entire interlocking series. Admittedly, I’m currently reading Chain of Gold and I’m enjoying it much more than Lady Midnight, but that doesn’t mean I don’t notice that Clare’s writing style, including the tropes and character archetypes she employs, hasn’t changed at all even after over a decade of writing this series…
ruined and avenged by amy tintera
Okay, let’s finally talk about a change in the positive direction! When I first read Ruined and its sequel, I had mixed feelings. At the time, I loved the plot and the characters, but I wasn’t as gung-ho about the actual writing style of the book. Looking back, I think I judged these books too harshly, especially the first book, Ruined. Was the writing the finest writing a la that of a Nobel Prize winning literary fiction? Um. No. Obviously not. BUT!! Tintera did a great job making an intricate plot and complex characters accessible to teens, and, seeing as this is in fact a YA trilogy, I’d say that her writing is pretty good for what the demographic requires!
So, friends, those are some books I’ve changed my mind about. It’s really interesting to analyze how my tastes and perspective have changed over time, and I’m proud of how I’ve grown! I try now to focus a lot more on books by and about marginalized individuals, be them people of color, queer folk, disabled and/or neurodivergent people, religious minorities, and/or low-income folk, and I’m really happy with that change. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a good book and a cup of chai calling my name! Until next time, dear friends…
spill the beans, friends!
- Do you have any books you’ve changed your mind about?
- How has your reading taste changed over time?
What a great post Lila, agreed I’ve seen how my tastes have changed on books a lot over the last few years and if I were to revisit YA fantasy from the 2016’s / 2017’s (like SOC) – I’d probably have more in-depth critiques than I did before – But I love that I can look back and think about them differently because I’ve grown as a reader, that’s what makes reading so awesome! Such a fantastic topic (reposting my comment bc I’m not sure it went thru😭✨)
Thank you so much, I’m glad you enjoyed my post! 😀 I think one of the awesome things about being a reviewer/book blogger/book influencer is that your reading track record can provide a good snapshot of who you used to be and it’s really amazing to see how you grow and change over time. I have lots of love for Little Literary Lila—she might’ve had slightly questionable taste in books, but she was growing and learning with everything she read and was passionate about sharing her insights (just like I still am today haha)!
Ooh that’s a great comparison between Jace/Clary and Julian/Emma, I never really noticed it! When I read I definitely felt really familiar but I thought because there are many returning characters and how it’s set in modern world rather than the historical era 😂 I still love Shadowhunter series, I still enjoyed TDA but not as much. It does felt really similar to TMI at times but what grates me is that there’s sooo much character POV! I don’t feel the need to know what’s everyone problem, thoughts and feelings are at all times 😭
Hey that’s totally fair! I still have a fondness for Clare’s Shadowhunter series, I’m just slightly more aware of it’s flaws, lol! That’s a fair point about all the POVs too—I’m currently listening to Chain of Gold and it does indeed sometimes the flow of the progression of the plot is slightly interrupted by how many different POVs there are. It doesn’t bother me too much, but I can definitely see how it might irritate other readers.
Lol, hard agree on the ACOTAR series! I mean, I never liked it much in the first place and was mainly reading it to be in the know, but I did like ACOMAF back in the day – I was so blind 😂😂 And I also agree on Cassandra Clare heavily recycling her plots! Lady Midnight was actually one of my favorites, though – it’s The Last Hours that I’m more skeptical about 😬🙈 But I still enjoy rereading the original Shadowhunter books, even if they have their flaws!
Yeah, I’ve fallen quite out of love with Sarah J. Maas’s book (and her apparent politics don’t help either 😬). I still think the Throne of Glass series was actually wuite good for what it was, but I think I’m falling out of love with ACOTAR and Crescent City wasn’t my favorite. It just feels like her later series are more fan service-y cash grabs and that doesn’t make for good, authentic storytelling, if that makes sense?
When it comes to Cassie Clare, in fairness I think she recycled less from TMI to TID—those early series were still pretty orginal! I’m currently listening to Chain of Gold, though, and while I’m enjoying it, there are definitely heavy similarities to previous series.
I actually started despising Throne of Glass from Heir of Fire onwards, much more so than any of Sarah J. Maas’s other series 🙈 The cash grab thing was already really prevalent there, in my opinion! It was so weird for her to suddenly switch from a YA story about assassins to the same smutty fae world she already had in ACOTAR, and I was not a fan!
And yeah, The Last Hours was definitely the series where I started noticing sinilarities to Clare’s other books most! I actually really liked Sword Catcher, though – it was so nice to see her doing something different! So if you haven’t read it yet, I actually would recommend it!
That’s totally fair. I think my reasoning is just that I felt like the world of Throne of Glass was much more in depth and fleshed out than that of ACOTAR, and the characters were a little less like “Here are my perfect main characters!” and had more apparent humanity and tangible flaws. But I can DEFINITELY see where you’re coming from and how that could’ve been really jarring. In fairness, I accidentally only read the first third and the last third of the fourth book (the book where Maas changed the series into more of a fae romantasy) and COMPLETELY missed the much smuttier middle section of the book, because the audiobook copy I was listening to had a MASSIVE skipping error where the middle section of the audiobook was just completely missing (but not in a way where it was super obvious that any content was missing?). I only realized this happened AN ENTIRE YEAR LATER when, AFTER I read the fifth book, a YouTuber I watch mentioned a smutty bath scene in the fourth book and I was like, “…Uuuuuuh??? Did I miss something big????” Turns out I had, indeed, missed something big 😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂 That story is hilarious! But that just goes to show how much unimportant, smutty filler content is in those books at this point! Like, if you didn’t notice anything was amiss, there clearly wasn’t any plot there that the story couldn’t have done without!
That’s definitely a fair point 😂
I liked seeing what books you’ve changed your mind on! I definitely have some titles that I used to love back in the day, but now I no longer like them 😄 The Shadowhunters books are definitely among those, I read The Infernal Devices and TMI (except for the last book) but have no interest in reading any of the other books 😂