Sunday, February 15, 2015

The Bookish Struggle to Find Great Books ♥

Sunday, February 15, 2015

                                                                  Feminist Reflections is a feature I created on my blog to share my personal thoughts.

I'm probably one of the weirdest people you'll meet, because I actually dislike most of the books I've read. It's not because I'm looking in the wrong genre - I read a handful of genres such as Literary Fiction, Young Adult, New Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Memoirs, Crime, Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, and erotica sometimes. It's just getting difficult day by day to find a book that clicks with me. I don't look for characters that I can relate to, I look for ones that I can try to understand .. Most books have potential in their way, but a lot of factors spoil it from becoming the very best.


I feel nowadays there are many releases coming out these days, due to bloggers and massive promoting - they get hyped, even if they might not be that great. I've noticed that happening more this year, I read some of the hyped books and I've been let down most of the time.. I'm also one of those people who are behind in reading popular books, because I'm still catching up on the previous old releases. Honestly, being behind doesn't matter to me because I much rather read books that matter to me.



I really miss it when books were like 1984, Harry Potter, Fahrenheit 451, The Book Thief, Memoirs of A Geisha, The Help, On The Island and so forth ..  Most of the books I have found don't work out for me, it's not because I have high expectations - I don't expect much besides quality work. I don't pin point every little thing in novels, unless it's frequently often. I need an actual great plot and well-structured characters. The dialogue has to leave me in awe if possible. I still have found some amazing gems in new released books such as Becoming Rain, and I'll Meet You There, I was Here, Rites of Passage, and The Glass Arrow this year. Below are my lists of books that I have read in 2015 so far (Some books are from 2014 and older) Just look at the difference ..



My List of reads in 2015 - Great Books



My List of reads in 2015 - The Not So Great Books.



The Top Reasons Why I struggle Finding Great Books:

Cliche Concepts especially, Good Girl, Bad Boy concept - This is the most common concept in novels these days. It's also a hit or miss with me, sometimes it works with me such as the books, Bully, I'll Meet You There, and Becoming Rain. Other times it fails such as in the books Rule, Dating DownThe Boy Who Sneaks Into My Bedroom Window. I'm guessing, there's a slight obsession with bad boys in novels which is alright. Sometimes, I pick up a book myself hoping the bad boy wows me! I do believe there's a difference between being bad, and just being plain horrible though. It's kind of ironic how the power of "love" saves the bad guy. It is sweet, but too good to be true.. 

I can handle bad boys in novels as long as they're like Josh from I'll Meet You There - technically he's a reformed bad boy, so I'm not exactly sure. The book also had a cliche concept, but it works because they added originality to the plot. Cruel Beauty has a cliche concept as well , but the author executes it so well. I don't mind cliche concepts, as long as the author can make it work with their writing. Unfortunately, most books I've read in this department are a fail.


Unhealthy Romance. I like strong, alpha males in stories .. but I hate it when they become too dominating, too domineering, and just plain mean. The main reason I don't like Fifty Shades of Grey is because it doesn't portray a healthy lifestyle of BDSM, If people can tell fiction from real life, it's okay to have your own preference and like these books. I liked some books that had Stockholm Syndrome such as, Criminal, Comfort Food, and Captive in The Dark - I could have liked Fifty Shades if the characters were well-structured, and the plot was better such as these previous books.

When I read these books, I know this isn't how love is supposed to be, at least not for me, it's just showing characters through fiction. However, it bothers me when a lot of younger teenagers, sometimes even adults are mislead by what these books propose because their mindset doesn't know fiction from real life. It's as if these books are telling them this is what love is supposed to be like. I feel even more upset, how parent's let their children read these books. I've had young teenagers tell me, they're going look for their own Christian Grey. I mean, I've seen instagram bios stating that? You're only 13 though.. It depresses me. 

Love Triangles that have cheating. I don't mind love triangles that are executed well, I loved both male leads in the Vampire Academy series, and Unravel. I disliked 99 Days, One Tiny Lie, and Torn that is mainly about cheating back and forth. If you're not happy with someone, just leave.. I actually like it when the heroine or hero confesses the truth after one mistake, and the book gets better that way. I hate reading about sneaking around and going back and forth between the two until that person finally gets caught.


Same concept in another book.  This is getting highly common in novels especially dystopian. Red Queen, and Red Rising anyone? I do believe that it is alright to feel inspired from another author, but there has to be originality in your own work too otherwise it becomes predictable, and the same as the previous work I have read.

"Love" can sure suicide. This is one of the dumbest logic's ever, and one of the main reasons a lot of books are failing for me .. All The Bright Places, My Heart and Other Black Holes ..  Yes, they're cute books overall - but I really dislike this mindset - Yes, a person can get better if they receive love from another human being especially when it's  romantic love, but it DOES NOT make them well again. They were depressed before they met you, they will still be depressed even with you in their life. You're not a doctor, the only way people can truly help themselves is if they choose to. My Beautiful Failure does a beautiful job addressing this issue.

Stupid heroines - This is the number one reason most books fail for me. I like strong heroines, I'm not expecting every novel to have that though. I like vulnerable heroines as well, but I cannot stand stupid heroines. Nowadays, I see a lot of heroines who need a "hero" to save them .. I mean come on, honestly? The stupid heroines are followed as in Selection, The First Wife, and Breathe. Why pretend to be damsel in distress? Have a mind of your own. In real life, your rescuer will most likely be a forty-four year old man honestly.

Top Three Things I Look For In Books

Great plot, preferably original such as, Mud Vein, Harry Potter, Unravel, Battle Royale, On The Island, and Game of Thrones. These are all unique plots, I did like Bully, Cruel Beauty, and The Glass Arrow which aren't original concepts.

Well-Structured Characters such as Katniss From The Hunger Games, and Sam from Rites of Passage. I love Adrian from Vampire Diaries and Bloodlines, he's my ultimate favorite bad boy in novels.. because even though he's a womanizer - I could still see the good in him. That's the type of bad boy there should be. I also like quite, brooding, and intelligent male leads such as, Lachman from Unravel, Drill from Rites of Passage, and Four from Divergent. I don't always look for romance in novels. 

Great Dialogue such as Cruel Beauty, Me Before You, and If I Stay. The ones that can make me smile, cry, and move me all at once. Is that too much to ask? I don't have that much of a specific criteria on what I look for in novels, as long as the book gets to me. 

I know there are more gems out there, because I have found some of them! Slowly, but surely :) What do you guys think, do you struggle as well?


Shukran for reading this! Leave your blog links in the comments & I'll be sure to check them out & drop by to say hello  :) Stay in tuned pretty creatures.. 


“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” —Nora Ephron 
femmmefatalee@gmail.com

15 comments:

  1. Great post Benish. I am waaaay behind in books too. A lot of them do get so much hype and you just want them to be fantastic and are let down in the end.

    Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace

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    1. I'm SO with you on that, I have been pretty let down this year </3

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  2. Great discussion post! I will agree that sometimes it is hard to find those gems. Like you I am very far behind in reading the most popular books. I read some new releases but mostly unknown ones or oldies that I have to catch up on. But if it matters to me it makes me happy. I would agree.

    I like the points of what works and doesn't work. I really don't like clichés or unhealthy romances... or when the concept has already been used. I have only read the first two books in the Harry Potter series and I am not sure if I will read more because it was kind of a miss for me >.>

    Great books you mentioned? I loved the Glass Arrow, as well as some of those you didn't like. I hope you will be able to dig out and find those gems. It does seem like an awful lot of books get overhyped these days...

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    1. I'm glad you liked The Glass Arrow, I noticed your stellar review about it ♥ & I agree, too many hyped books nowadays that take away attention from actual good books .. Thank you for dropping by, hopefully I succeed in finding more great books. I know they do exist, I just need more time to find them :)

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  3. I struggle with this too, although not as much. It's kinda sad, but I just don't have (or always have) high expectations for what I read. If I"m reading a classic, like right now I'm reading Rebecca. My expectations are high. I want a greatly written fabulous novel. So far, I'm getting that. But I also sometimes just crave reading a cheesy book with overused tropes and lots of just "cheap" thrills. lol. I do read a lot of graphic novels though, which make me happy because they're SO unique as far as stories go and I really like that, even though I don't like some of them I just love the art.
    I haven't read any of the books you listed! Both from ones you liked and didn't lol. I haven't read Fangirl, but want to — I have it. Based on your wide tastes of genres, and more importantly your list of what you want in a book- i have a few recommendations for you! Try (historical fiction) Susanna Kearsley's The Winter Sea. For YA paranormal, try The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan. You might be surprised. There are twins, who both kick ass despite one of them not having any "powers" and having many suitors. It's set in Paris in the late 1800s and has gargoyles. *shrugs* it's just one of those really unique books that I loved the girl power in it SO much. I mean, there's a Buffy-esque character who just kicks so much ass even though she has tons of money and has been bred not to be like that her and her sister are just awesome. Also, despite having "protectors" in male gargoyles, they don't heed them at all (not to the point of being dumb though, they do things reasonably).
    Although I don't always like characters in the books I read, I have to be able to sympathize with them or get along with them in my head for some reason — or in some way. That's my main thing. If a book has characters who I just don't understand OR sympathize with- I just can't enjoy it. There has to be some sort of "click" you know?

    Great post! I hope you find more exclellent books to read this year. If you take my suggestions to heart please let meek now! I tried to recommend books that aren't as popular so they aren't hyped as much Ithere's a big prob with over-hyping books especially being a book blogger I mean our job is to hype books up but it can DEF hurt when you expect so much and then… smh) lol. :D

    -Diamond @ Dee's Reads

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    1. Yes, it's different when reading classics - like you wouldn't expect anything but the best from them you know? I much rather prefer reading underrated books than the usual popular ones. Hopefully I do find more great novels, I just have to look extra hard :) I agree with understanding characters, It's not that I look for myself in them - not at all, I appreciate characters who are different from me, I just want to understand them and their behavior. That's the psychologist in me talking now lol this is what studying psychology all the time does to you :(

      Thank you for the recommendations Dee! I'm going to look into them soon, and check out how they work out :) ♥ I'll let you know once I pick one of the reads up. Although, The Beautiful and The Cursed sounds pretty interesting just by the title alone. Let's see how they work out x

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  4. Oh yes, I also struggle with finding gems. I guess the more we read, the pickier we become. Plus I always evolve as reader and change reading preferences quite often. I am not interested in reading same plotline over and over again just with different names and slight alternations. Let's hope that rest of 2015 will be full of awesome unique and memorable books for you :)

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    1. Yes, that's so true - I'm quite picky as well. I hope 2015 will have better books in store soon, let's see :)

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  5. Cliche Concepts I know what you mean, though I had still been known to love a book that is a mirror image of another, not enough completely unique books are going out these days and its upsetting.

    Unhealthy Romance - sadly a lot of books coming out today have this concept, and I really don't get it. Why would you want to be in a relationship with someone who makes you feel like you are below them or makes you work REALLY hard to be worthy of them? just doesn't make sense.

    Love Triangles that have cheating - 1st, VAMPIRE ACADEMY <3 haha. Sorry I'm slightly obsessed. Moving on, I completely agree with you. I think that comes from the fact that I just can not stand cheating at all and there is only a handful of situations where I will condone it, even in fiction haha

    Great plot, preferably unique - I am such a sucker for plots that haven't been done to death. If you are looking for a young adult series with a serious amount of uniqueness you should have a look at Skulduggery Pleasant, its about a skeleton detective haha. (also love the books you mentioned)

    Great post hun, I love finding out what people look for in books :)

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    1. Haha, I know what you mean. I love Vampire Academy as well ♥

      So many books lack originality, I do believe that's one of the main problems in fiction these past couple of years. I agree with the unhealthy romance concept, it's a bit sad "love" is portrayed as the male always being alpha and mean.. while the girl is a puppet in some novels.

      Thank you for stopping by :) & thank you for the suggestion, I will look into it very soon, I haven't heard anything like a skeleton detective before at all lol. <3

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  6. that sucks you aren't enjoying that many books anymore. I do feel like my standards have gone down to accommodate bad parts that I am use to now. Very Sad. I am reading Becoming Rain right now. Happy to hear it was so good.

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    1. Glad you liked Becoming Rain ♥ Thank you for dropping by :)

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  7. This is a truly fantastic post Benish, the things that you couldn't stand were the same as me. Especially when it comes to the alpha males domineering and unhealthy romance and even cheating in love triangles, I know there's a differentiation between fiction and real life but all of these things seem to happen and seem to be 'okay' you know? ?

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    1. Thank you Jeann ♥ & I agree, a lot of people like these books which is alright since people have their own preferences. I do think it misleads society though..

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  8. Great thoughts here. I've struggled with many of these concepts in books lately as well. It's been a long time since something has 'wowed' me.

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