A Tag: Nope!

Hi, and thanks for stopping by.

Today's post is another tag - I've watched quite a few book-tubers doing this tag (specifically, Roya Eve Reads's was great, watch it here - plus she has a great accent!) and it's a lot of fun - I usually try to reserve this space for positivity, but we all need a little rant now and again, right?! Let's get onto the questions!!

A nope ending: an ending that made you go nope either in denial, rage or simply because it was crappy.

This is so easy for me - Nicola Yoon's Everything, Everything (possibly a controversial, unpopular opinion, I'm aware!!). I really enjoyed the majority of this story (although it still would have probably only been about a/4 star read for me, not 5) but then the twist at the end was revealed (involving Maddie's mother, that's all I'll say) and I absolutely hated it. I'd go as far as to call it a cop-out, quite frankly. 

a nope protagonist: a main character you dislike/who drives you crazy

For this I'm going to say Alice from Ann Brashares's The Last Summer (of You and Me) - incidentally, I also despised the love interest, Paul, from this novel. Alice herself, though, was self-deprecating (not in a funny, witty way, just in an attention-seeking, self-pity way) and almost completely lacking in personality or individuality. Also, I got sooo sick of how patronisingly and pityingly she spoke about her sister Riley, who was far superior a character to her in every possible way. 

a nope series: a series that turned out to be one huge pile of nope – after you wasted all that time and energy on it or you gave up on it before finishing

I much prefer standalone novels to a full series, and often if I know a first book is only the first in a long (or short) line of stories, then I might avoid reading it altogether, unless it really sounds like something special. So, due to that, I've read very few series of books. I do remember when I was a good few years younger, however, receiving the entire set of Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging books as a gift after loving the film, but after reading one, I never got around to the others, because I didn't enjoy them as much as the movie - weird for me.

a nope pairing: a popular ship you don’t support

This is a difficult one for me, because I tend to love most of the popular ships - they're mostly popular for a reason, right?! I guess I'd say that, and please don't hate me here, I promise I'm a HUGE JK Rowling fan, I never really massively connected with Ginny as a character. I guess because Harry is our hero, I never really thought of him in a romantic way, and the scenes where he and Ginny are getting closer were just odd to me. More of an issue in the films, admittedly.

a nope plot twist: a twist you didn’t like or didn’t see coming

This could easily be the end of Everything, Everything again, but for the sake of variety I'll talk about Amanda Robson's Obsession. Sorry, but this has to be one of the worst books I've read in a very long time. I gave it one star this summer. The "plot twists" were so terrible because THEY WEREN'T PLOT TWISTS. They were repetitive and created absolutely NO tension or surprise.

a nope decision: an character decision that you made you shake your head

In the Hunger Games series, Katniss is a great, strong female character and I really loved her. But when it came to making romantic decisions, I just felt like she made so many mistakes. Sure, a girl's entitled to her own opinion, but WHY the hell did she ever kiss Gale? I mean, if we're talking movies, I get it, Liam Hemsworth is gorgeous, but the characters themselves just had ZERO chemistry to me. Besides that, she is so cold to Peeta - big mistake!!!

a nope genre: a genre you will never read

I'd like to say never say never, but realistically I don't see myself ever getting into science-fiction. This is more so because I struggle to understand the world-building and scientific stuff, which is pretty much the bread and butter of it, right?! 

a nope book format: a book format you hate and avoid buying

I wouldn't say I hate or even avoid buying any particular format of book - plain old paperback is my favourite, then hardback then e-book.

a nope trope: a trope that makes you go nope!

Characters falling in love too quickly. Insta-love is the worst - it's unrealistic, does characters and the more general writing no justice and just makes me physically cringe! Cut it out in 2018 please writers!!!

a nope recommendation: a book recommendation that is constantly hyped that you refuse to read

Well, again I'm going to say never say never, but I've heard a lot of really crappy things about the way in sexuality is written within some of SJM's books. I've also seen some complaints on Twitter about the way she interacts with readers?! This could be rumours, but if it isn't, that is so totally unacceptable. However, some people also RAVE about her books as being totally amazing. I don't think I'd ever buy them and contribute, but I might get them from the library should I ever see them there.

a nope pet peeve: a writing cliché that makes you roll your eyes

The clique characters. By this I mean beautiful but nasty popular cheerleaders, handsome but horrible jocks, ugly geeks etc. It is SO ridiculously cliched and unimaginative, and actually, pretty offensive!! Come up with something new, please!!

a nope love interest: the character who wasn’t a viable love interest

I just recently read Forever by Judy Blume and I thought that Michael, the protagonist's love interest (first boyfriend, person she loses her virginity to, first heartbreak, etc.) was a complete idiot. He was not even a tiny bit charming, attractive, funny, kind or exciting - to me, at least. I also had massive issues with the way he was so pressurised about sex - NOT okay.

a nope book: a book that just shouldn’t exist at all

I've spoken a lot about this book before - I'd have to say BA Paris's Behind Closed Doors. I know a lot of people who thought it was a brilliant adult, domestic thriller, but for me it was so incredibly dark that it made me feel physically uncomfortable and I really just wish I'd never read the thing at all, to be quite honest.

So there's some no-holes-barred negativity for you! I'd be really interested to know what you agree & disagree with me on, what are your answers to these questions and if you have any other opinions about any of the books I've mentioned here - please do leave a comment down below, I'd really love to hear from you!! 

If you've enjoyed this, then TAG, you're it! Send me a link once you've answered these questions for yourself - my twitter is @ECbookblog. 

Till next time

Katie