Overrated

I might ruffle feathers here.

I have some things that might be hot takes here. Buckle up.

1. Sarah J. Maas

   I would like to formally let everyone know I have read the series completely. Both ACOTAR and Throne of Glass were something I enjoyed reading….until the complete fandom. I enjoyed the books but I don’t think they are that good. They are not those books that make me say read those immediately.

   I find them to be worthy of a light integration into romantasy. Not an actual book that you enjoy when you are in the genre fully. Honestly I think they are Young Adult in the sense of Youthful Adult. That 17 to 22 range of reading.

   I won’t lie I read Fifty Shades of Grey as a teenager because my mother and sister read it and they did not regulate my reading. By the time they handed me that series I had already dived into the Carpathian Mountains and those books. I had read more sex scenes than most women by the age of 16. My grandmother let me pick it up off her shelf of books and didn’t bat an eye.

   So here is my hot take. ACOTAR is NOT the end all be all of writing. It could honestly be better. It is not even full romance with grade A smut. You wait until the last half of books before getting past the nice polite kissing. This alone will garner some attention.

2. Penelope Douglas

   Holy mother of pearl my readers. This one right here was attempted to enjoy. Not my favorite at all. I read Five Brothers when it came out and everything about it seemed to fit my goal of no love triangles.

   It had more than a triangle. It had her so intertwined with the entire freaking family and she had to choose but they couldn’t move past her. It was absolutely NOT what I expected. I don’t even care about my expectations. I care about how many people think she wrote a masterpiece!

   It isn’t a masterpiece. It’s a disaster. It left such a horrid taste in my mouth I cannot think of trying to read another book by her. Good luck trying.

3. Colleen Hoover

   This one. This is one that is finding Fifty Shades of Grey levels of fandom. She has even found herself getting movie deals. In a couple of years suddenly everyone will realize how it wasn’t that great to begin with and the critics will start to take over.

   I’ll start the ball rolling. She isn’t that great. She is another Nora Roberts or James Patterson. Her stories feel copy and paste. No true originality that makes me rave over the stories. We can do better people.