Do I stand by my old reviews? Looking back on SEVEN YEARS of book blogging!

Hello all! This is a post that’s been a long time coming- not least because today is my 7^th BLOGGIVERSARY!!!! Can you believe I’ve been doing this for SEVEN YEARS ALREADY?!?! I certainly can’t!! And of course, that’s got me being all retrospective about my old reviews. Because written a HELLUVA LOT of them in that time!

Now, naturally, when I look back on my old posts, I have to admit I don’t enjoy it. Perhaps it goes without saying, they don’t ever seem as polished as my newer reviews. So, broadly speaking, I won’t be addressing that side of things (just know I’m *internally cringing* the whole time). I’m gonna be looking at the content and whether or not I still agree with what I said about the books. Wish me luck- I’m gonna need it!

(NB: The pictures will all link to the original reviews, so feel free to check them out for reference).

As I Lay Dying– I don’t care how many times a random stranger tells me that I “didn’t get” how genius this book is, I still think it’s shit and I stand by my review. It’s plotless, stuffed with uninteresting characters and pretentiously written. I do not think this book was “ruined for me” by bad teaching or whatever nonsense someone wants to throw at me- I just think it’s bad.

The Fault in Our Stars– I was almost too kind in my review… and I didn’t say anything positive about it 😉 Maybe I’d be more forgiving if this book didn’t exploit Anne Frank for clout… but it does, so I’m never gonna forget how pretentious this book is. Also, I once saw Green state in a video that he only believes in positive reviews, so I’m never taking this down 😉

Bronze Horseman– yeah this book still sucks. I definitely could have been more concise in my review- but I stand by the gist of it.

Throne of Glass– okay, now we’re getting into some juicy stuff, because we’re talking about books I liked at the time, yet no longer care for. Reading back these positive reviews feels a bit cringey. While I still stand by some parts- like the fact it was cool to have a protagonist who wasn’t a stereotypically “nice” girl- it’s hard not to think about where said character ended up (being a really bland “chosen one” stand in). I essentially stand by what I said, because it’s how I felt at the time, and I don’t think it’s fair for my current perspective to taint that.

Eye of the World– ahhh now this one is curious, because in an unbelievable turn of events, I ended up rereading this book recently. Annnnd I still had the same trouble with the writing and desperately thinking that the story needed editing. BUT there was clearly enough intrigue in the story for me to want to give the Wheel of Time series a second try. So, I guess I’ve softened with this one, recognising that I can see why other people like it.

Lonely Hearts Hotel– oh dear- this is one of those books I wish I’d never read. I don’t want to have written a negative review about it, because I feel like I was miss-marketed the story. That said, there’s enough objectionable content in the book that I have to stand by everything I said about it.

Woman in the Window– ehh, really hard one to talk about! I try to judge a book separate from the author as much as humanly possible… however I’d have to have been living under a rock not to have heard about what was going on behind the scenes! Aside from that, while I still think the writing was stellar, watching the movie and reading/seeing other reviews has made me rethink how well I rated this book. Despite the fact that I like the motifs, the story is just not that great. This is probably the closest I’ve come to fully wanting to retract an old review!

Maidens– still, there are plenty of times when I see negative reviews and don’t change my mind! Although this is a more recent read, I’ve included this because I’ve seen *a lot* of criticisms of this book and I just don’t agree. I find it a very richly written thriller with a dark edge, elevated by its mythological references.

Beartown– when I was planning to do this post, I was thinking about this review as one I regretted. After feedback, I felt like I was perhaps too harsh on the book and the way it handled sensitive topics. And then I read Night Swim. Unfortunately, I had much the same critiques, being frustrated with its take on the legal system and its desire to overturn judicial principles like “innocent until proven guilty”. So while I wish I’d handled the topic with more sensitivity… I still haven’t changed my mind about the actual book.

The Queen’s Thief Series– it’s not all bad news though! While I had mixed feelings about this series, looking back on my review, I found it to be pretty nuanced. It’s safe to say, I had a *strong* reaction to this series- and I think the review I wrote covers that! (in spite of my rather misleading title for the review 😉 )

Sadie– if anything, I wish I could have hyped this book more! Looking back on my super positive reviews like this, I TOTALLY stand by everything I said. My only issue is that I can’t do stories like this justice! They deserve more hype!!

And that’s all for now! There are so many more reviews I could’ve talked about, but hopefully I covered a good range! What do you think? Do you think my assessment of these reviews was fair? And do you ever change your mind about old reviews? Let me know in the comments! I’m dying to hear your thoughts on this!

Existential Crises and Evolving as a Blogger After Five Years of Blogging

AHHH IT’S 13^th MAY 2020- AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!?! IT’S MY FIFTH BLOGGING ANNIVERSARY!

Everyone take a banana- you get a banana, and you get a banana, and you get a banana!

I’d also like to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to my bloggiversary buddy Katie @ Never Not Reading! I’ve always loved her ideas and reviews and original content- so I highly recommend checking her out!

Now, I’m usually feeling pretty celebratory for making it another year (and obviously I’m feeling that quite a bit!) but maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the current state of the world which we won’t talk about, or maybe it’s cos my brain is in lockdown… I’m also feeling a little more contemplative this year.

Over the years, I’ve had plenty of blogging crises and panics and worries… and usually my response is to just bottle up all those emotions and toss them in the sea (very mature haha!) Behind the scenes, I admit, I’m not that nice to myself. Basically, apart from occasionally saying to myself and others hey, I may need some time off, I’m not all that great at admitting that the course of true love blogging never does run smooth 😉

Part of this, I’ve realised, comes from trying to figure out my blogging purpose. When I started out, my mission was clear: tell people what I really think about books and have fun doing it. And that’s something I’ve tried to return to as much possible. Yet, as much as going back to basics helps, I have noticed that there are other reasons to blog. The most noticeable for me was when people started to interact and it dawned on me that you could actually make real connections online! (A novel concept to me!) I found I wasn’t just trying to be entertaining, but being entertained- and that was amazing!

As Booker Talk pointed out in her post on blogging purpose, blogging goals wax and wane. And with that in mind, I’ve tried to accommodate my deepest darkest desires blogging moods. At the moment, I’ve reduced the amount I post, so that I can (try) to do better quality posts when I do write one. I don’t do as many tags if I’m not feeling it; I try to be excited about every post I put out… even if it’s not totally ground-breaking (see, there’s that inner critic again 😉).

So, all of this is to say that, even if I’m less active at blogging these days, I’m much happier where I’m at with the blog before I went into a slump at the end of the year. And I want to take the opportunity to say a ***MASSIVE THANK YOU*** once again for sticking with me! Whether you’ve been here five minutes or five years, I’m always grateful to have you around ❤

Hope you are all staying safe and well ❤

It’s My Fourth Bloggiversary?! 4 Ways My Life Has Changed in 4 Years of Blogging

Wowee I cannot believe I’ve made it four years?! Not gonna lie, I’m in a bit of a state of shock about it. So forgive me if I’m gonna get all sappy and talk about all the ways blogging has impacted my life!

More bookish love!! Before I started blogging, I never would have thought there could be something that would make me love books MORE than I already did. Somehow, blogging has made reading even better. Sharing the book love has made me so happy and it’s one of the things I have enjoyed the most about blogging. Plus, thanks to all the SQUEEING online, I’ve discovered new favourite authors and pick up far more books I like!

Experimenting with different genres. Because of blogging and *you wonderful people*, I’ve branched out so much in the years since I started blogging. I read graphic novels, try more sci fi, dabbled in mysteries and even listen to audiobooks now. These are things I never thought to try on my own- so I owe a MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone that’s inspired me to reach outside my comfort zone!

Things have gotten more BANANAS! From monkey babies to milestones to ARCs to bookish bingos and so much more- these last few years online have been a wild ride. So I gotta show some gratitude for the bananaholic blogging bonanza it’s been!

 

Making fab friends!! I wouldn’t have made it this far if it without each and every one of you that’s made my experience so incredible! I know I say this a lot and everyone knows it to be true: the blogosphere is the *best* place to be online!

So all that’s left to say I guess is…

 

Have you had any massive changes in your life thanks to blogging? Over to you in the comments!

3 Year Bloggiversary! Things I’ve Learnt as a Blogger

Hello all! Well, according to the powers that be over at WordPress, this just so happens to be my third bloggiversary! (well the anniversary of when I got the domain name- we’ll get to what a lousy blogger I was when I started out in a mo 😉 ). To mark the occasion, I took inspiration from Laura @LFBook‘s fantastic “Things I’ve Learnt as a Blogger” series (really recommend checking it out) and decided to share what I’ve discovered about blogging in the last three years!

Don’t be afraid to speak your mind. Before I even started, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t hold back. Aside from being a pretty frank person, I will admit that a lot of this came from being told what I could and couldn’t say IRL. Because I’m a contrarian I decided to stick two fingers up to the busybodies who wanted to tell me what to do 😉 And you know what, even though I’ve touched on some controversial topics over the years, some of which have made me nail-bitingly nervous, I’m glad that I did it. Granted, sometimes I have had to deal with people less than pleased about what I have to say- and you know what? That’s okay. I can deal with it, I’m a big monkey 😉 (also, I have bananas and I’m not afraid to use them 😉 )

On the flipside, I don’t regret the things I didn’t say. Yes, that’s right, I can actually bite my tongue sometimes 😉 As I mentioned in my Drafts, Drafts and More Drafts post, there are posts I’ve decided to shelve for various reasons. It can be good to weigh things up- for instance “will this gripey whiny post about some schmuck annoying me make me feel better?” If the answer’s no, I might just leave it.

Another thing I’ve learnt is to expect the unexpected. Not a lot of people know this, but the first three months of blogging this site was like a virtual graveyard. I’m pretty sure we all go through that at some point tbh. And it’s not like I was expecting anything to grow out of it- frankly the whole project started as a way for me to *shout into the void*. But man, I have to admit that when I started interact more, it became *so much more awesome*. Massive thank you to Zezee for being the first ever person to tag me in something and consequently share one of my posts (yes, I remember that sort of thing 😉 )  I was staggered after that when people started reading, commenting and actually enjoying the content. Which leads me onto…

Blogging is only as fun as you make it! Like I said, I was a lousy blogger when I started and while I had fun writing the posts, it got SO MUCH BETTER once I started to relax and try out new things. I really love making people laugh and if I can make just one person crack a smile, then that’s a good day 😀 I realised how much better blogging is when other people can get something out of it.

Speaking of my early days as a blogger, people are not lying when they say consistency is key. I mean, of course I started out doing that wrong as well 😉 And I may sound really thick for stating the obvious, but I took a while to figure out that when you post more, more people are likely to read *mindblown* 😉

Now I have to say to take that last one with a pinch of salt- because obviously IT IS OKAY TO TAKE BREAKS. (And yes, I’m writing that in capitals, cos I still sorta need to learn that one!) The thing is, blogging can be stressful, we all have lives beyond our blogs and heaven knows we can’t be online as much as we’d like to. In fact, I know that I’m going to have to take a break soon. And that’s *okay*. I still have to keep reminding myself not to apologise at the start of every blog for some misplaced guilt, cos contrary to what my British-brain thinks, constantly saying “sorry!” can be a bit of a pain.

Also, ARCs are not the be all and end all. I can’t be the only person that didn’t have the faintest idea what an ARC was when I started. But when I found out, it would have been easy to get swept up in the allure of *advanced review copies*. That said, I’m really glad I didn’t immediately jump on the ARC train. And, when I found out, I didn’t immediately jump on the ARC train. I let myself think about it for a whole year, before deciding that, yeah, I could fit about one a month into my schedule. Everyone does ARCs differently, which is cool, but I’m very selective cos of that. Even with this small number of requests (combined with how often I get rejected lol) I *still* manage to fall behind in the reviewing side of things, so I’m glad I have this strict rule in place. Especially cos it means that I do a happy dance every time I get an ARC 😉 Which brings me to…

Celebrate every milestone. Sure, I may not shout about everything all the time on here, but I guarantee that I’m SCREAMING WITH JOY INSIDE. Watching this teeny corner of the internet grow has been amazing and I so appreciate each and every one of you that’s makes the blogosphere the most wonderful place to be! And I wanted to say a personal thank you to everyone who nominated and voted for me in the Annual Book Blogger Awards. I’ve been too busy to get involved but it made me feel very honoured. And with that, all that’s left to say is…

What have you learnt from blogging? Let me know in the comments!

Oh Kill Me It’s The Killables

C’mon, doesn’t that name sound like the worst boy band ever? I should have known what this book was gonna be like from just that title. But I gave it a chance… Why? I hear you ask…

Well once upon a time, before dystopias became a popular thing (aka before the Hunger Games) there was this great series called The Declaration. It was original, clever and had a strong voice. The series, unfortunately, went the way so many of its kind go- to the world resetting to its original state and basically undoing all the work of the story. But the fundamentals were still halfway decent, even if it did make that error of recapping too much in the sequels. So, in answer to the question I posed, I picked this book up to see what an author I had already been impressed with could recreate the magic she had made so long ago. Would she though?

Short answer is no. Not even slightly. This book sucked. The premise was something we’ve all seen before- evil society tries to eradicate evil… therefore becoming evil. The twist on this was totally lousy. Spoiler alert: they haven’t really eradicated evil, who’d have thunk it. And the conclusion was just plain dumb. There’s no such thing as evil… Ye wot?!

Add to that some lame ass characters and *surprise surprise* a love triangle and I am left wondering what on earth possessed the author. I mean, seriously? Why the hell would anyone think, after writing a successful series that wasn’t jam packed with tropes, that what they needed to do next was write the most cliché copycat tropeish nonsense imaginable? I just don’t get this one.

Conclusion: if you get the desire to read a decent dystopia pick up The Declaration, this isn’t worth your time. I gave it one measly banana.

Sincerely,

The Orangutan Librarian- reading shit books since 2015 so you don’t have to…

*Okay I’ve been reading rubbish books a lot longer than that- this was just my way to shoehorn in that it’s my bloggiversary- my blog is 2 today!!

 

It certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been 2 years (partly cos this is actually just the anniversary of my domain name 😉 ) but I just wanted to say a *MASSIVE THANK YOU* to everyone that’s been following along- whether for a day or for the whole shebang!!

Alright, now back to the book- let’s face it, you’re not gonna read this one… So I’ll ask a different question- what’s your least favourite dystopia? Let me know in the comments!