My Unpopular Bookish Opinions Revealed!

So, my blog post from the other day took quite a lot of effort, so I’m scaling back and doing a more fun post today. Namely, I’ve aired some unpopular opinions on this blog, but today I’ll be doing a nice little compilation of them. And of course, at the end, you’ll be able to have your say and show off your own unpopular opinions. So, let’s get to it!

(Just as a disclaimer, I want to make sure you guys know that I’m not attacking any one who disagrees with me or anything like that. These are my own opinions, some of them are funny, some are serious. But I’m not out to to catch anyone who feels otherwise. Okay, let’s move on)

Unpopular Opinion #1–Harry Potter is Incredibly Overrated

It wouldn’t be controversial to say that JKR is overrated. No one likes her much for various and numerous reasons. But Harry Potter is still generally beloved. And I have to say, I don’t really know why? Is it good? Yeah. Is it brilliant and deserving of the cult following it has? I personally don’t believe so.

That doesn’t stop me from binge listening to the audiobooks read by Stephen Fry though.

Unpopular Opinion #2–Animal Books Are the Worst

As a child (and let’s be honest, still now) animals were my life. I wanted to be a vet (I ended up as a dog trainer, so kinda the same). I wanted fifty horses, a hundred dogs, I wanted snakes, rabbits, hermit crabs, the whole kit and caboodle. I loved animals.

But I actually hated animal books. There were a few exceptions (Black Beauty and The Black Stallion remain favourites and I could really use a reread), but for the most part animal books I really hated. I didn’t like The Saddle Club or the Animal Ark books, or Lassie or The Red Pony and I really couldn’t stomach the idea of reading Old Yeller.

I guess it’s because animal books are usually either sad (i.e. every dog book ever) or just an excuse to engage in girl drama (i.e. The Saddle Club and its many ripoffs). I liked Black Beauty because it brought to light a societal problem that still exists today and it ultimately had a happy ending (though Ginger’s death always made me so, so sad). And The Black Stallion is just such a rollicking adventure and the main character was a boy, so it avoided girl drama.

But other than that, animal books are the worst. Fight me.

Unpopular Opinion #3–Sometimes the Movie is Better

Look, I know I’m really getting onto shaky ground here. But it’s true. Sometimes the movie is better than the book is, for a variety of reasons. For example, I enjoy the Sherlock Holmes stories, but I absolutely adore Sherlock , the BBC series and in fact was disappointed after reading the Sherlock Holmes books (mainly, The Hound of the Baskervilles) and discovering that it wasn’t nearly as chilling or interesting as the BBC episode.

And as much as I love How To Train Your Dragon, the first book, I enjoy the movie version better (as a whole though, I prefer the book series to the movie trilogy).

Also, most people say The Princess Bride is a better movie than book, though I haven’t read it to confirm.

To conclude, it doesn’t happen often, but sometimes the book is not as good as the movie.

Unpopular Opinion #4–Loki is an Entitled Jerk

Not exactly a book opinion, but I feel it’s relevant to this conversation. Let me say it again, guys, Loki is an entitled jerk.

In absolutely non of the Thor or Avengers movies is Loki ever given motivation to behave the way he does, excepting that Odin and Frigga neglect to tell him that he was born a Frost Giant. He perceives that Thor is more beloved than he is, but really there is no evidence to back this up. Thor is given the privilege afforded to the elder brother and heir to the throne, but the entire first movie revolves around Thor wanting privilege without responsibility, and then being punished for it. No one ever casts Loki down to earth for the same thing though.

Essentially, he just has this inferiority complex, where he is insecure because of some perceived slight against him, and he becomes a mass murderer and serial killer because of it.

Really?

All this to say, whilst I love Tom Hiddleston and think Loki is a pretty interesting villain (that could have been handled better), he’s still an entitled jerk.

Unpopular Opinion #5–Frodo Deserves Everyone’s Love

I’m not even sure why this is an unpopular opinion, but so many LOTR fans seem to hate Frodo? They call him weak or whiny, or say that Sam is the true hero of the saga.

I won’t argue with that. Tolkien himself once said that he saw Sam as LOTR’s true hero, but I really think Frodo deserves love and credit too. He carried the Ring for the entire story, and yes, he did ultimately fail, but he stood up the Ring’s corruption for much longer than anyone else ever did. He walked all the way to the foot of Mt Doom carrying, arguably, the universe’s most evil creation around his neck.

Frodo is strong, y’all. I don’t care what you say.

He also had to deal with mental and emotional scars that none of the other members of the Fellowship had to deal with, and ultimately, he didn’t really get a happy ending. He didn’t have the pleasure of a wife and a family, the way Sam and the other hobbits did, and he didn’t even get much recognition for the part he played in saving Middle-Earth. He sort of just faded away, leaving the only world he’d ever known for the safety of the Undying Lands.

And look, don’t take any of this spiel to mean that I dislike Sam, or think he’s a bad character. I love Sam. But why are LOTR fans so divided? It’s as if we can only like Sam or Frodo, not both. But ultimately, they both contributed to the quest and they achieved the quest together, not apart. Frodo couldn’t have got that far without Sam, and Sam definitely couldn’t have done it without Frodo. They’re a team. And we can love and admire both.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Unpopular Opinion #6–I Never Related to Anne Shirley

Now I’m getting real with you guys. I read Anne of Green Gables (and a few of the sequels, but not all of them) years back, when I was around Anne’s age. As did a lot of you guys. But I never really connected to Anne, like most girls who later became writers and are now haunting the blogosphere seem to have.

To be honest, I have no idea why this is. Anne is excitable, a little gullible, wild, happy, enthusiastic…like me. She is imaginative, loves reading and storytelling…all things that I relate to and love. But just for some reason she never clicked with me and I don’t have nostalgic, fond memories of Anne Shirley. Maybe Anne was just too extroverted for me?

Unpopular Opinion #7–First Person is Just As Good (Or Better) Than Third

I think this opinion is becoming more popular, but a few years ago, when I first started writing seriously, I think first person was really looked down on. It was probably associated with YA and whiny heroines and that sort of thing, or something. I don’t know. However, most of my favourite books employ first person and when its used effectively, it really helps to get inside the character’s head and “know” who they are.

Of course, I don’t look for first person books particularly, or hate third person stories, it’s just a personal preference that I have.

Unpopular Opinion #8–Present Tense Makes Me Nervous

Again, not a deal breaker but present tense seems to be a rising trend, especially in YA. I personally don’t like it very much though and it really does give me a nervous feeling, for some reason.

Maybe its the sensation that these things are happening right now rather than some time in the past and it throws me off.

It might grow on me though, since I’ve been reading more and more books written in this style.

So what about you guys? Are these actually unpopular opinions? What are your unpopular opinions? Do you share any of these? What’s your opinion on Harry Potter and Anne Shirley?