Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Top Six Books That Were Hard For Me To Read





I'm kind of a black sheep with this one, since I know so many people who loved it!  I guess I just didn't really know what it was about going in, and being in the mind of...slight spoilers? of someone who is going a bit crazy SERIOUSLY stressed me out to the point where I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish.  It freaked me out to a level that really surprised me, and I officially have started going through my Goodreads TBR shelf and taking off anything similar.





The Book Thief - Markus Zusak


Does this one really even need an explanation?  I was so scared to start this book because I knew how much trauma was going to be involved that it took me five years to work up the courage to read it!







Again, does this one need an explanation?  Besides all the spoilery things I won't mention, finishing this book meant an entire era of my life was over.  Growing up with the Harry Potter books meant that...well it felt like I literally grew up with him.  So once this series was over, he was moving on from Hogwarts - and I was moving on to college.  Those of you who are my age and grew up with the books too probably understand how momentous it felt, in a way that's rather difficult to capture in words.





Mansfield Park - Jane Austen


Oh man.  The things shipping the wrong ship can ruin.  This pretty much turned my world upside down - I freaking LOVE Jane Austen!  ...except this book.





A Tangled Web - L.M. Montgomery


It's easy to forget what era L.M. Montgomery is from when you reminisce on her Anne of Green Gables series.  It's hard to get past that when you find incredibly sexist, and just...mind blowingly racist opinions in this book.  The last page of this ends on what I honestly think is probably the most offensive thing I have EVER read - and this is including youtube comments - and it is really hard to swallow that coming from one of you favourite authors.  I doubt any of you can fully understand just how beyond offensive the statement is - so take a gander at this review - the quote is whited out so just highlight it to read what literally the last lines of this book are. (Be warned - don't read this if you want to keep your beloved image of LM intact)






I can probably count the number of books I've DNFed on two hands.  I just don't DNF. Ever.  So the fact that this one was a DNF should say a lot.  I was pretty bored/disgusted with the story already, but when I got to the vampire child/woman in a child's body I was like...NOPE. NU UH. NOT READING THIS.

15 comments:

  1. The Book Thief is on my list this week. I found it so tough to read but I did really enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Natasha @ Tea in the TreetopsSeptember 30, 2014 at 3:27 AM

    The Book Thief made quite a few lists this week. I felt the same way about The Boy in the Striped Pyjama's - beautiful book, but heartbreaking.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Haha, I love your gif usage! ;) I've seen The Book Thief on quite a few lists this week - I don't know what it says about me that it didn't make mine. :| I just read that review and... wow. I don't think I'll be picking up any L.M. Montgomery any time soon!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was on my list as well - for exactly the reasons you listed. It is so difficult to put into words what it felt like to have grown up with Harry and his friends and then to have it just be OVER. It was heartbreaking and wonderful and all the feels.

    My Top Ten Tuesday

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh man, AWESOME list!! I should have put up Wilde Awake too! You know my feelings on that. I was also going to throw up The Book Thief, but I put it on every list, so I went in a different direction. Also, Code Name Verity was hard to read. So much so that I put off Rose Under Fire for almost a year. And whoa. That LM Montgomery quote. Holy. That's kind of how I felt when I read Peter Pan. Yikes. (I love the Octopus gif BTW). Here's mine: http://www.rexrobotreviews.com/2014/09/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-were-hardl.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dealthy Hollows was hard to read, cause the ending was such crap.
    My TTT
    http://hauntedgravebooks.blogspot.com/2014/09/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-were-hard-to.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yeah, I definitely think it was well worth the read, but it was really, really hard to experience!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh man I forgot about that one! I didn't know much about it going in, so that ending totally felt like I got punched in the stomach! Yeah that was a tough one for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you! I had fun looking them up haha. Books just don't effect everyone the same way - I actually felt pretty bored for about 2/3 of The Book Thief. It was a sneaky book that way - I didn't realize I cared until it was too late haha! And yeah. I mean Anne of Green Gables tends to be relatively forward thinking for the era, so reading this - which was written much later - was a TOTAL shock to my system!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yeah - all of that. That entire sentiment is exactly how that went for me hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm so glad I started blogging, because until that happened, most people's response to my description of Harry Potter was a range of confusion and fear haha

    ReplyDelete
  12. You know, The Book Thief tends to only make my lists that were traumatic haha. I'm not sure I've forgiven it for being that traumatic. I'm not even sure I loved it, which seems like blasphemy. But that could just be because I'm still feeling reproachful haha. Yeah, from what I've heard about Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire they're also traumatic (...probably why I still haven't read them even fully expecting to love them). It's been so long since I read Peter Pan! Native American racist stuff?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yeah, I have some mixed feelings on the epilogue, although I don't hate it. Mostly I just don't think about it haha

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh man, you're such a youngster! I got so absorbed I read it too quickly and missed a bunch of really important information, so I feel you haha. And I'm definitely still recovering from havoc The Book Thief wreaked on my bookish soul.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh yeah. Some of it was very very uncomfortable.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for leaving a comment! You've totally made my day :D

I love talking to you guys, so I always respond to comments. Be sure to check back!