Totally Didn’t… Book Tag

totally-didnt-book-tag

I was tagged by Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks to do the Totally Didn’t… tag. It seems like a really interesting tag and I’ve been wanting to do it for a while now. Check out Aimal’s post and her blog if you haven’t already. She has some great answers! This was originally a Youtube tag and it was created by Chami @ ReadLikeWildFire (go Aussie Booktubers!)

TOTALLY DIDN’T… NEED TO HAVE A SEQUEL/SEQUELS:

the-heirthe-siren

Why? WHY?

Okay, I was kind of okay with having one more book – a companion. But when it was announced that instead of having a companion, we were getting a companion duology, I kind of blew up with rage. Imagine Anger from Inside Out. That was me when I found out about The Siren.

[edit]: Turns out The Siren isn’t the title of the last book. It’s a standalone by Kiera Cass. But my point still remains.


TOTALLY DIDN’T… NEED TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE POINT OF VIEW:

me-before-you

Me Before You was great. It gave me all the feels and I loved everything about it… except the random perspective changes.

This book is written almost entirely in first person from the point of view of Lou, our main character. But then there would be one random chapter out of nowhere from the perspective of a side character. And everytime this happened, it was a different side character. Why?


TOTALLY DIDN’T… NEED TO CHANGE COVER ART THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE SERIES:

the-iron-trialthe-copper-gauntlet

Okay this isn’t really a cover change but a cover problem that Australians are facing with The Magisterium series. Basically what’s available in Australian bookstores is the US cover (tall paperback) for The Iron Trial, and UK cover (mass-market size paperback) for The Copper Gauntlet. If you cant make the covers match, at least make the size match!


TOTALLY DIDN’T… NEED A LOVE TRIANGLE:

twilight

Sorry to those of you who are Team Jacob, but this love triangle did not need to exist at all. Jacob had no chance anyway.

New Moon did not have to exist. The whole series could have been half as long if Jacob wasn’t involved.

The series could have been so much better. Why, Jacob Black? Why?


TOTALLY DIDN’T… NEED THIS BOOK TO BE INCLUDED IN THE SERIES:

sinner

I could have answered this question with New Moon, but I can’t have that much Twilight in one post… so I choose Sinner.

This is technically a companion and not really part of the series but I thought it was such a pointless book. I liked Cole and Isabel separately in the Shiver trilogy so I thought I would enjoy Sinner. I ended up really disliking the two of them together and the book was just a bit blah.


TOTALLY DIDN’T… NEED A CLIFFHANGER:

every-day

I usually marathon series so I don’t really have a big problem with cliffhangers.

Every Day is a standalone contemporary novel so it has more of an open ending than a cliffhanger. But I feel like the book wasn’t fully resolved and there could potentially be a sequel. Of course, there’s Another Day, which is a companion, but that ends in the same spot…


TOTALLY DIDN’T… NEED TO HAVE JUST ONE POINT OF VIEW:

I don’t really have an answer for this. I mean, simple is best right?


TOTALLY DIDN’T… NEED THAT MUCH HYPE:

dumplin

I enjoyed Dumplin’ but I didn’t think it was amazing. Most reviews I’ve seen have raved about this book but I thought it was just a little bit better than okay. Review here.

There was so much hype surrounding this book months before it was released. It was also picked up by Disney to become a movie so I was kind of expecting amazing things.


TOTALLY DIDN’T… NEED A RELATIVE BOOK REFERENCE:

throne-of-glass

When I first heard about Throne of Glass, it was described as The Hunger Games meets Game of Thrones.

So I’ve never actually read The Hunger Games and I’ve never watched Game of Thrones or read the GRRM books… but I think the Throne of Glass series speaks for itself. I don’t think it needs to be compared to anything else because it’s such an epic series!


TOTALLY DIDN’T… DESERVE MY TIME:

fans-of-the-impossible-life

I had SO many problems with Fans of the Impossible Life. Check out my review to hear all of my thoughts.

There were just so many messages in the book that I thought were problematic and wrong to send out to young readers. The book romanticized mental illness and non-consensual sex, and I just don’t think that’s okay.


I TAG:

24 thoughts on “Totally Didn’t… Book Tag

  1. fiddlerblue says:

    Great choices, Jenna 🙂 Ugh, book references are often so out-of-it. I remembered Falling Kingdoms ruined for me when they compared it to GoT, and they weren’t similar at all.
    I haven’t heard of The Siren yet. I’ve seen Heir and they said it’s okay? I stopped reading the Selection series after The One. And yes to what you said about New Moon *hides from Jacob’s fans* It just didn’t click for me -.-

    Liked by 1 person

    • Jenna @ Reading with Jenna says:

      They only recently announced the title and cover for The Siren. The Heir was okay… but the MC was the most annoying and frustrating character ever. It was pretty much The Selection all over again but with a really bratty princess. But now that I’ve read The Heir… I feel like I have to read The Siren to see where the story goes. *sighs* It’s just so totally unnecessary but it brings in money.

      I know that Jacob ends up playing a part in the treaty and everything but I just don’t understand why he needed to be brought in. I don’t think he ever had a chance with her anyway.

      Like

      • fiddlerblue says:

        Aww, it’s like Season 2 of a reality tv series then. I think I will definitely skip it, haha good luck with The Siren :p I guess you are one of those people who needs book closure? I have a friend who needs to read every book released, even if she didn’t like it, just to find out what happens.

        well, he did add a lot of drama to Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, but the one thing I didn’t like about Jacob was him falling for Renesmee, my brain refused to accept what he was feeling for her, lol.

        Like

  2. Lydia Tewkesbury says:

    Thanks for the tag 🙂

    I haven’t read Dumplin’ because it doesn’t come out in the UK for a while yet, so I don’t really have the right to an opinion, but I wonder if the hype is down to the lack of diversity in YA in general more than the novel itself. It’s pretty rare to read a YA book not about a skinny girl who doesn’t know how beautiful she is (because the right boy hasn’t told her yet).

    Liked by 1 person

    • Jenna @ Reading with Jenna says:

      I think it’s definitely hyped up because of the diversity. And also the fact that Dumplin’ enters a beauty pageant. I can see it being a really great movie but the book for me was not as good as I had expected it to be. I hope you enjoy it though when it’s finally released in the UK 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Summer @ Xingsings says:

    “I can’t have that much Twilight in one post” made me laugh. (It seems like your posts have been making me feel that way lately, haha.) Okay, so I had no idea The Heir was just a companion to The Selection… I totally just thought it was another installment in the series ever time I saw a review pop up on my WP reader. But in my defense, I haven’t read that series yet… so yeah. But oh no, sigh. These companions of companions are just unnecessary and pretty annoying. Even though Cassandra Clare has a few herself. Actually those are considered spin-off series, I think? I don’t know. I love it. I know that some people are sick of shadowhunters… and admittedly, I am a little too… but I love her writing, character building, and storytelling too much. 😀 Anyway, thanks for the tag, Jenna! (And I think I saw your twitter post about accidentally publishing this before? My hand has slipped published a post in the past as well. XD It was pretty embarrassing, since it was just a post with a title and no content.)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Jenna @ Reading with Jenna says:

      Haha it’s good that you find it funny too. IT’S NOT JUST ME 😀 And oh gosh, I was in panic mode after I published by accident yesterday. I was like… “nobody will notice if I remove it for now… oh wait all the pingbacks NOOO”

      If you haven’t read The Selection yet, I will steer you away from it. It’s like a combination of bad writing and reality tv-style drama. Epic Reads has done The Selection with Dolls videos for each of the books, if you’re interested in what happens without reading the books. They’re super funny and really accurate! 🙂

      I actually don’t mind that there are so many Shadowhunter books. I LOVE the world and the characters. And I like being able to make connections between the characters. I’m really looking forward to The Last Hours, even though the first book won’t be out until 2017… Will ❤ Jem ❤ But at least we get Lady Midnight early next year! Plus I really love collecting all of Cassie Clare's books. The hardcovers look so beautiful on my shelf ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      • Summer @ Xingsings says:

        Even though you warned me it was about dolls. I was majorly creeped out. Dolls. shudders But oh my gosh, this series sounds ridiculous… I think the only reason I’d read it now is if I cave a buy a cheap copy because the cover is pretty? I have a severe case of I-buy-books-because-they’re-pretty syndrome. XD

        And oh my gosh, I’m so excited! Since I think I love TID world more, I am so excited for TLH. I’m sure TDA will be very good, but I wasn’t as invested in Emma’s character when she was in the last TMI book.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Jenna @ Reading with Jenna says:

          Same! When I see a beautiful, shiny hardback I just HAVE to buy it. It’s pretty terrible. I saw the prettiest signed hardback of Goliath by Scott Westerfeld the other day and I just had to have it… but Leviathan and Behemoth were only available in paperback (signed too). Ugh, Australia is so stupid… the hardbacks for Books 1 and 2 were out of print but Goliath is printed ONLY in hardback. So I can’t even make them match. I bought them all anyway but now I’ll have to buy the US hardbacks online in order to have a matching series.

          I love TID so much more as well! I like the setting and characters more. I also wasn’t very into Emma in TMI, probably because she was only 12? Hopefully I’ll be able to connect more with her now that she’s older in TDA. I wish TLH was being released first though. James Herondale just seems like my kind of guy haha 😀

          Liked by 1 person

          • Summer @ Xingsings says:

            The Australian publishing industry and book market really perplexes me… And good point! It’s been a while since I’ve read that CoHF (okay, so it hasn’t been that long…) that I totally forgot Emma was so young. AND LOL. Let’s face it, we’re all smitten with the Herondale boys.

            Liked by 1 person

  4. Josephine says:

    I am so frustrated that here in Australia we have problems like then cover problem. I’m going to have to resort to buying The Copper Gauntlet online! (Although I’ve bought so much on Book Depository that I can’t remember the last time I entered a bookstore).
    And I totally agree with your thoughts on the Throne of Glass series. The reference to The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones was just not needed. I wouldn’t even compare the series to either of those series!

    xoxo 💋

    Liked by 1 person

    • Jenna @ Reading with Jenna says:

      I’ve been wanting to read The Copper Gauntlet for such a long time! I was at the pre-launch event in Sydney but I didn’t even end up buying a copy to commemorate the event because of the cover and size differences! I’m just glad that I can still get a matching cover for it, but I don’t think the paperback version will be out for a while T_T

      I’m so glad that you’re loving the Throne of Glass series btw. Your tweets actually make me fangirl so hard! ❤

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Anette says:

    “The Hunger Games meets Game of Thrones” is quite hard to live up to, it definitely creates too high expectations, at least for me. I agree that Twilight didn’t need that love triangle, even though I was Team Jacob back when I read the books. I have since come to my senses and realized both Jacob and Edward are morons, hahaha.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Ayunda says:

    I agree about the love triangles! And I actually quite prefer book without multiple point of views because a lot could go wrong with using that method. But at the same time there are a lot of books that I love that are in multiple characters’ point of views! So it really depends on how the writer could pull it off 🙂

    Like

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