Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Billy of Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Reader that runs from Friday to Thursday in which bloggers answer a book-related prompt. It’s a great way to provide some insight into yourself and introduce yourself to some great new blogs.
Tomorrow is Leap Year. Name one book being released in 2020 that you would prefer to skip.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Confession: I used to be a huge Sarah J. Maas fan. That changed back in 2016 when I reread Throne of Glass and realized I actually had a lot of problems with it. Ditto for my A Court of Thorns and Roses reread. Maybe I’m just a different reader than I was in 2015. Maybe SJM just isn’t that good a writer. I don’t know! Writing is subjective!
House of Earth and Blood is the start to a new series, SJM’s first adult fantasy (though ACOTAR barely qualifies as YA). It’s got fae, werewolves, and half-angels. I’m intrigued by the summary because I love a good revenge story, but I just don’t think I’ll like the way SJM handles it.
I already don’t like the animalistic way SJM writes her romances, and I’m sure this book will be filled with more of the same. Plus, Celaena was supposed to be a badass antihero and look how that turned out. Ultimately, I just don’t like the way SJM writes.
If you’re excited to read this book, more power to you. I just could not be less interested. This is one 2020 release I’m going to have to pass on. Although, that cover is gorgeous. 👀
What’s a 2020 release you’re probably going to skip? Tell me about it in the comments!
Strange Storyteller 
I’m not doing the blog hop this week (I’m skipping the one about skipping :P) but hilariously this was the exact book that I would done it on were I doing it.
I’m not a huge fan of SJM although there are *some* gems but she ultimately ends up ruining those. I like Nesta in the ACOTAR as a character because she’s complex and not immediately written as the usual ‘OMG this characters is AMAZING’ and it’s quite refreshing. So I’m sure it will go belly up in the Nesta POV book.
I find the books are all the same really, same stories and themes and ultimately same characters with different names. The writing is also…. not good. I’m being polite.
I know she’s popular and I would never begrudge anyone who likes them but her books aren’t for me I guess and so I won’t be touching this one either!
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I once wrote a post about SJM’s writing style that was fairly critical and I STILL get pushback on it lol. I liked Mor from that series and would love to see her in a F/F relationship, but I just don’t see SJM handling it well. So, if she ever does get a book, I’ll probably pass on it too.
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Oh wow! How long ago did you write that post? I think SJM has a lot of hardcore fans that are very much of the same ‘passion’ as Star Wars fans i.e. emotion rules logic at times. Not that that is every fan of SJM or Star Wars – it just seems that some fandoms have some extreme fans. I don’t think SJM handles many themes well sadly so no, I wouldn’t anticipate her doing a F/F relationship particularly well.
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I wrote it back in 2017 lol. But you hit the nail on the head. Some fandoms really let their emotions get the better of them.
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I think our reading tastes change over time, Ren. I’ve become a very picky reader – hence my low number of DNFs – so rather than any particular 2020 release that I’d avoid reading this year, there will be whole genres and hundreds of books that I could list. 😉
I hope you enjoy what’s left of the weekend.
Here’s my BBH Post
Flora x
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You’re definitely right. Not only do our reading tastes change, but we become better at choosing books we think we’ll like.
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