Hi everyone! I’m back with another Top Ten Tuesday for you all this week, courtesy of the lovely ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s prompt is Top Ten Books I Feel Differently About After Time Has Passed, which is an interesting one, but also a pretty tricky one, for several reasons. One because I haven’t done many rereads recently and I feel like rereading is usually the best way of telling whether you have changed your mind about a book, and two because I’m usually pretty confident in my rating when I review a book. So this topic may be a little difficult for me, but I’m going to try, because like everyone, I’m sure I have books that I read once that I think of more or less fondly than I did when I initially read them. I might not make it to ten this week though!
- The Death Cure-James Dashner-When I first rated this one, I rated it 5/5 but after talking to my friend about it, I realised that I had a lot more problems with it than initially thought I did and with time, I’ve realised that it wasn’t as great as I thought when I first read it. I’d probably rate it more like 3/5 now.
- The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins-Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot of love for this book and this series, but now that I’ve read more dystopia, I’ve realised that it’s not one of my favourites in the genre. When I first read it, I probably would have rated it 5/5 if I’d had Goodreads, but when I did get Goodreads, I rated it 4, which is probably a pretty fair rating for how I feel about it now.
- Divergent-Veronica Roth-Admittedly, I wouldn’t change my rating, I still think 3 stars is fair for what I feel about the book, but I still feel slightly differently about this book than when I first read it. I think a) the fact that I’ve read more dystopia since then and b) the end of the series kind of changed the way I feel about it. Sure it’s a decent book, but I’ve read better ones in the same genre.
- Heartland Books-Lauren Brooke-I read these books as a kid and I loved them then, but after seeing the TV series which is changed quite a lot from the books, I think that if I read them now, I wouldn’t like them as much, because I’m a lot older and more mature now and the books, as far as I remember them, were quite simplistic and childish.
- The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe-CS Lewis-I loved this book when I was younger, but I’m not sure how I would feel about it if I reread it now. I didn’t realise all the religious undertones in the book when I first read it and being non-religious, I’m not sure I would like it as much if I read it now.
- Uglies-Scott Westerfeld-I liked this book when I first read it, I gave it 4/5 stars but after reading the rest of the series, I don’t think I would love it quite as much now as I did when I read it first. I would still like it because it was an interesting concept, but the slang that was used in it was really rather annoying!
- The Scorpio Races-Maggie Stiefvater-This isn’t so much a “my opinion on this book has changed”, it’s more of a “I’d like to read this book again to see if my opinion changed”. I wasn’t that keen on this book when I first read it, but since then, I’ve read and loved The Raven Cycle, so I’d like to go back and read this book to see if my opinion on it has changed at all.
- The Blood of Olympus-Rick Riordan-Looking back, I think I might have been a little harsh on this book as a knee jerk reaction to the lack of Percy. As series finales go, it was actually a pretty good one and I reckon if I reread it now, I might bump it up at least 0.5 rating. Don’t get me wrong, I still hate Jason and Piper, but I shouldn’t have let my negative feelings towards them cloud what was actually a decent series finale.
- The Medusa Project-Sophie McKenzie-I loved these books when I first read them, back when I was about 14 but they were my first Sophie McKenzie books and I’ve read better books by her since then. When I first rated them, I would probably have given them 5 stars but that was pre-Goodreads. When I got Goodreads, I rated them 3-4 stars and I reckon that’s probably a fair judgement as to how I feel about them now.
- The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants Series-Ann Brashares-I really liked these books when I was a younger teenager, but they’re very chick-flicky and summer romancey and I don’t reckon that I would like them as much if I read them now as I did when I was 12/13.
I stuck to ten this week! I was kind of struggling when I got to about 6, so I figured I wouldn’t try and go over ten! What books do you feel differently about now, whether it be positive or negative? Do we share any? Let me know in the comments! Next week’s topic is supposed to be Beach Reads Week, but since I’m not planning to go to the beach this summer and I’m not really big on typical beach reads, I’m going to do Top Ten Books I Plan To Read This Summer as my topic. That’s next week, but in the meantime, I’ll have a new Wishlist Wednesday post for you guys tomorrow, my first in a while, so stay tuned for that.
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The first Maze Runner book never clicked with me at all. It’s one of the few times I actually preferred to the movie to the book.
I have to admit I feel the same way. It took me a while to get into the book, and I feel it came across better on the big screen.
I feel exactly the same way about the Chronicles of Narnia! As a child, I loved the stories and the magic and the characters, and obviously didn’t notice any religious allegory until I later saw the films. I think if I read the series now I would not be able to overlook the religious elements and enjoy them. You’re right about Uglies– it’s a great series, but it’s kind of cringe-worthy how many times they say “bubbly” in the books!
Glad you feel the same way! I was worried people might get a bit mad if I said the reason I don’t think I’d like it anymore was because of the religion aspect. Yeah it really is! I mean I love the concept but some of the slang is definitely cringe-worthy.
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Thank you!
I feel the same way about Divergent. The more I contemplate it, the less I like it.
Yeah, I wasn’t that keen on it to begin with but I’ve read books that I’ve loved much more now.
It is interesting to see how our opinions on books change as we get older, especially books we loved as kids. There are a few series on your list that I want to reread someday to see if I enjoy them as much as the first time I read them. Great list!
Yeah it really is. I don’t regret any of the books I’ve read though, because whether I liked it or I didn’t like it, all the books I’ve ever read have shaped me as a reader. Thank you!
I loved Hunger Games too when I read them years ago and I wonder what I’d think about them now.
I haven’t actually reread them, so there’s a chance I do still love them as much, but given my love for some dystopia I’ve read more recently, I doubt it.
I initially really liked Uglies too. I wonder if I’d change my rating as I didn’t like the rest of the series as much!
Maybe! I mean I would have to reread it to be sure that my rating had changed, but I reckon it probably would have.
Divergent is on my list this week too! I loved it when it came out, but I really didn’t like the third book and that diminished my love for the entire series. Also, I wonder if I read it now, if I’d still love it as much as I did then. Because when I read it it was one of my first dystopian books and I’ve also read abit more of them now.
I was kind of iffy about it when I first read it and having read the rest of the series, and other dystopias since then, I don’t think I’d like them if I reread them.
I also added Narnia to my post for the same reasons, but I completely forgot about the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! It’s one series that I want to reread to see how it ends (I never finished it) and to see if I still like the characters.
Glad I’m not the only one! I almost forgot about it, but I was looking at my shelves to see what else I could add to my list and I remembered that one.
I feel the same about The Hunger Games series and Divergent which is a shame because I loved these books when I first read them. I think hype can sometimes ruin a book for you. Love your choices. Our TTT is you want to take a peek – http://twobookthieves.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/ten-books-that-we-feel-differently.html
I still love The Hunger Games, just not quite as much as when I first read it. Divergent, I was always iffy on, but I reckon if I read the series over again, I’m not sure I’d really like any of the books. Thank you!
I should have had Divergent on my list, too. I loved it until I read the rest of the series. Kind of ruined it for me.
My TTT: http://www.anovelglimpse.com/2016/05/24/top-ten-tuesday-ten-books-i-feel-differently-about-after-time-has-passed/
We all forget some! I was always a little iffy, but looking back, I really didn’t like it, or the rest of the series as much as I initially thought.
The Hunger Games books are the same for me. Loved them when first reading them but now I realise that there are many things about them that are just… bad. Great post đ
It’s not necessarily that I even think they’re bad….it’s just I’ve found other books in the genre that I like better! Thank you!
I bought divergent on a whim – the British cover did me in. And then waited to have all books before starting reading. Then news about last book made me wait, then let got terribly spoiled. So now I’m just waiting for all to settle. I’m curious about what the all grown up me will think.
You may like them more than I did, I don’t know. I’d give them a chance though and make up your own mind.
My opinion of the Heroes of Olympus went up too! I felt the books were kinda too long and draggy while I was reading them?? But in retrospect = I LIKE. *flails* and omggg I’m re-reading The Scorpio Races right now and I SWEAR IT’S EVEN BETTER THE SECOND TIME YOU TRY IT. PROMISE NOW.
That’s great! I liked the first four, it was just the last one that I was a bit iffy on but in retrospect, I was being a bit harsh. That’s good to hear. Hopefully I will get a chance to reread it at some point.
I feel the same way about the Hunger Games. At the time it was great, but now that time has passed, I only think they were pretty good books and would probably rate them 4/5 as well.
Yeah it’s just a result of being more well versed in the genre now than I was when I first read it.
I actually liked The Maze Runner more when I read it for the second time! At first I couldn’t even finish it at all and when I read it later, I liked it! It’s not as good as other books I’ve read, but still enjoyable!
I think a lot of books just get less fun when we grow up and read different things. When you’re young and you haven’t read much, anything seems fun. Then you grow up and read more and realise how many amazing other things are out there. đ
That’s good to hear! If I had time before The Fever Code was released, I’d reread all of them, but I have so many books on my TBR, I’m not sure I will! Yeah I totally agree on that.
I remember worrying about how I would feel about the Narnia books after I found out about the religious aspect to them, as I’m also non-religious. But when I did eventually re-read them, I found that the stories were so good that it didn’t matter, although I did find myself getting distracted searching for the religious allegories while I was reading.
Well that is good to hear. I never did get past reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, so maybe one day I’ll try and read the rest of the books.
This topic was a tough one. I enjoyed your list!
Thanks!
I can agree with a lot of these and thinking about them they could have been on my list but I missed them. If you do go back and re-read the Scorpio Races I hope you enjoy it. I do suggest if you like to bake at all or just eating goodies trying the November Cakes.
Thanks! Yeah there were some I missed too, looking at other people’s lists. If I do, then hopefully I will! Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out.
You know I was so disappointed by the Maze Runner series. The first one was so great and the second was okay, but the third one was awful! Great picks I totally agree with some of these. đ
I liked the second one more than the first actually, but I put that down to more Minho. I really liked the third when I read it but the further away from it that I get the more problems I see it had.
I read a few of these, but I totally agree with Uglies. I also rated it a 4 star, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t do that today. Great list. Thanks for sharing, and for stopping by my TTT earlier. đ
Yeah it was okay, but I definitely thought it was better when I first read it than I do now. Thanks! No problem.
I feel the same way about Chronicles of Narnia–as a little kid I loved them, but I think I’d struggle to look past the religious allegories these days. And I really enjoyed Divergent initially, but the last two books and the realization that Tris had no personality made my opinion drop by a lot. I definitely want to re-read Blood of Olympus–I doubt I’ll change my rating because I still have problems with the plot (and can’t stand Jason and Piper) but my opinions of the other books changed so much that I think it’s worth another try.
Thanks for stopping by @ Spellbound!
Glad someone else feels the same way! Yeah I feel the same way, Tris had very little personality, and it’s hard to get past that. I don’t know if I would change my opinion all that much, like you said, there were some problems with the plot and I do hate Jason and Piper but I feel like I might have let my hatred of those characters cloud my judgement of the book as a whole, so it might be worth a reread! No problem!