I have a shameful secret… ready??
I’m very average in my tastes. I tend to enjoy the books everyone enjoys. I can’t think of one unpopular book I loved but I can think of some I liked… So, I’m going looser this week. I will be curious to see what everyone else chooses.
Next week’s topic is going to be much easier on me.
Top 5 Tuesday was started by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm!
The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
We were ALL so excited for this book. I feel like everyone was talking about it. A spy story. A love triangle where the two boys fall in love. Everything about it sounded awesome.
Unfortunately, the majority of readers were disappointed. On Goodreads, it has one of the lowest ratings on my read shelf. I admit, I was slightly disappointed too, just not as much as everyone else. I thought the book could have been better, but I also thought it was pretty solid for Cale Dietrich’s debut book. I gave it 3.5 – 4 stars.
I putting my money on Dietrich growing with each new book.
The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti
I’m a little surprised more people didn’t enjoy The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett. I’d be the first to admit it wasn’t perfect, but it was solid. I thought it had a unhappy main character who fixated on the disappearance of the popular girl. I appreciated the relationship that wasn’t supposed to be perfect. I thought in some ways it was a decent portrayal of being a teenager.
Armada by Ernest Cline
I’m just going to come right out and say it: I feel that Armada was unfairly persecuted because it followed after Ready Player One.
RPO was such a phenomenon. It’s beloved, and with good reason. It’s a really freaking good book. Unfortunately that meant whatever Ernest Cline wrote next was going to be microscoped, and that happened to be Armada. Many said it was too similar to RPO, but what was similar I thought was just Cline’s style, Sci-Fi gamer fiction.
I really believe (in my gut) if Armada had come first it wouldn’t have rated so low.
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
My theory on Landline is that YA was what made Rainbow Rowell popular and Landline is a huge departure from Rowell’s YA books: Eleanor & Park and Fangirl. Mainly it was different because it’s about a married couple in their 30’s. I think women like me, who worry about keeping their marriage fresh, and having the opportunity to converse with our husband from the past, feels extremely romantic and sweet. Seriously, I thought it was kind of awesome.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
I’m honestly not sure why this book has a lower rating. Maybe it has something to do with the lack of depth to the story, even with one of the characters having cancer. Perhaps readers thought it was too casual… I’m not sure.
I just know that this reader really liked it. To date, it’s one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. I also liked how it wasn’t a book about cancer, even when one of the characters was sick. I will admit that towards the end, I could have used a bit more seriousness (which the movie gave me). Still, overall I still gave this one 4 stars.
Birdie Bookworm 
I haven’t read Armada yet but I’m excited to get round to it! The people I know who don’t usually read sci-fi ‘geeky’ kind of books have said that Armada isn’t as good as RPO. But the people I know who love sci-fi have said that it’s equally as good as RPO, if not better! Either way, I’m really looking forward to reading it.
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I thought it was really good! I truly do think that the biggest issue is that RPO was first, and overshadowed the second book. Probably especially because RPO introduced a lot of people to sci-fi (especially gaming) fiction, and so when they read the second one they couldn’t separate the stories.
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Landline made my list as well! I loved it so much! And I think it gets a bad rep because it’s so far removed from her YA books. I actually prefer her adult novels! And it’s funny you said that about Armada. I think I would have rated it higher if it had come out before RPO as well. I ended up really liking Armada though. It felt like a more gamer version of the movie Pixels…. and better!
Thanks so much for participating – added you to the list 🙂
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I busted out laughing when I saw Landline on both of our lists! I love her YA books, but I think her adult books are just as good. She has a way of really nailing human connections. I loved how she wrote Georgie and Neal’s life together, and how they came back together.
I liked Armada too. I didn’t like it as much as RPO, but I didn’t tank it the way others did. When you’re debut is as massive as RPO was, it’s not easy to surpass it. Armada was still a solid enjoyable read.
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Such a great point. It’s the connections and emotions she writes about in her adult novels that make me love them. They’re all so real and it doesn’t feel forced
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[…] Birdie Bookworm […]
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Well Wendy I haven’t read any of these! So I cant’ really comment this time but hey everyone has his/her own taste 😉
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It’s hard to say which you should read, since most people weren’t happy with them, haha. I guess you’ll just have to trust my judgement.
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I have a copy of Armada that I’m still really looking forward to getting to. I’m not expecting it to be as awesome as RPO, though. That’d be kind of silly to expect.
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I agree! Magic like RPO is hard to duplicate!
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I think whenever I do get around to reading The Love Interest I’m going to be pleasantly surprised because all the reviews I’ve read have been so terrible and left me with really low expectations. The complete opposite of hype 😀
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LOL!! Well hopefully it makes you more like me. You can see the flaws, but you can also see the potential. 🙂
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I loved Me & Earl & the Dying Girl so much and can’t wait to read another of Jesse Andrews’ books. I liked Landline but then couldn’t really relate to it and The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett is a book that I’ve been wanting to read since it’s release. A great list :).
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I don’t get how Me & Earl & the Dying Girl doesn’t have more positive reviews. It’s so freaking funny!
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