This topic is a bit of an oxymoron isn't it? Just because you disliked a book doesn't mean you couldn't appreciate it for what it is or be glad that you could say that you finally read it. I have encountered a few of those kinds of books during my reading journey, and after seeing this prompt, I thought it would be an interesting topic to form a discussion around.
This idea was originally a Top Ten Tuesday topic that was created by That Arty Reader Girl, so all credit goes to them as far as I am aware.
Here we go!
A fairly recent read, I had been meaning to read The Magicians for a long time after having watched the premiere, and the premiere only, episode of the show in 2015. This sounded like something that would work for me as it involved a magic school, which is usually never a disappointment. Usually, however, is the key word here, because I did not like this one bit. This was not what I expected it to be nor did I enjoy what it was instead.
And yet though, I put it on this list, and here's why. I am still glad that I read this only for the fact that I saved myself more disappointment. If I let it stew any longer and let the hype build up more, I would have been even more upset by the time I eventually read it. I am also glad I read it because it really showed that, in the end, good reviews don't mean much until you read the book for yourself, because you can have the complete opposite opinion as the majority.
Ah, The Princess Diaries, what a wonderful movie, but a considerably less wonderful book. In this case, I am glad that I read this because I was then able to compare the book to the movie, and could then say that the movie was infinitely better than the book. I thought that the changes the movie made were for the better as I did not particularly like how the characters were portrayed in the book.
This one is a bit more complicated as I read it not once, but twice. I absolutely loved this series when I was younger, and I thought it would be a good idea to re-read it again now that I am older to see how it holds up now. Turns out, young me was way wrong because this book just wasn't it at all. Am I still glad that I re-read it though, yes? It showed how much my reading tastes have changed over time, and also showed me how little my tolerance is for annoying main characters.
In this case, I am talking about the entire The Wicked + The Divine series as a whole. Now, as someone who studies ancient history and loves mythology, I though that this would be right up my alley, and to a small extent it was. While the first volume blew me out of the water, it took a very steep nose dive from there and never recovered. Again though, I am glad that I still read this as, even though I didn't enjoy this for the most part, I got to see what all the hype was about surrounding this series.
The first Stephen King I picked up, 'Salem's Lot quickly made me realize that he was not the author for me, which is exactly why I am glad I read it. I found it unnecessarily long and dry, which wasn't what I was expecting from him. I am happy that I gave him a shot, and then another one as I ended up reading It too, but I think it is best if I stay away from his books.
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