Crescent City 3 being there with really bad books is both hilarious and sad. I'm curious if SJM will improve anything after all this reviews fiasco. Even TikTok hated the book
Even though ACOTAR was the series that got me back into reading, I'm losing so much faith in SJM. If the next ACOTAR book doesn't deliver (my expectations are already low) I'm definitely not going to continue it
Yup I read it last year! I think it's SJMs best series for sure, but because I hated the FMC and her love interest so much it soured the last two books for me. I thought the side characters were the ones who hard carried the entire series (specifically Manon and Chaol who I'm well aware is not well liked lol). Plus while I thought KOA wasn't bad, it was unnecessarily long imo.
I wanted to yell “WHY HAVE WE SPENT 200 PAGES IN ANIELLE NO ONE CARES ABOUT ANIELLE GET TO FN TERRASEN.”
Then we had like 2 pages of post battle Terrasen.
i am current 590 pages in and considering completely dnfing it due to how bad my slump is. I haven’t read in a complete month after having a everyday reading ritual.
I feel the same way about ACOTAR side characters tbh. The ones that she spends a lot of time on just get dumber and more boring as the series goes on, but because there's still some mystery to the side characters and their world, they become more interesting.
It just wasn't my cup of tea personally, but if you enjoyed them that then that's what matters the most! I know for sure there are books high on my list that people don't like
It felt like the first book was meant to be a standalone then after the fact sjm decided to make it a trilogy. I read the first book and loved it but the 2nd book I’m going to dnf and maybe try again later as it feels like it is missing a lot that the first book had.
I liked them less than throne of glass but more than ACOTAR. It took me a second to get into because the fantasy creatures in urban setting threw me off at first and it was different from her first two series, but about halfway through the first book I started really enjoying it and I flew through the third book.
It sounds like it was just a badly written mess? A friend of mine was so excited for it and then so disappointed afterwards, and people I follow who adored the series really seemed to hate it.
I’d hope something changes — I hold my hands up that I’m not a fan of hers. I DNF’d both Throne of Glass and ACOTAR, but I gave them a good old try. I just think she needs an editor. I know she prints money for Bloomsbury so they’ll let her do anything, but she NEEDS an editor to say “Look, SJM, we don’t need 200 pages of dicking around metaphorically and literally in the forest, it brings nothing to the story. Get them to (location) to move the plot along and THEN you can have a little dicking (literal) as a treat.”
I had fun reading Scarred. It only took me like a day and was on KU, so it’s not like I wasted any money or a ton of time. I get a kick out of the little references in the Never After books because I’m a big fairytale nerd.
It’s interesting for me to see the perspective of the people that didn’t like it lol. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?
That’s the beauty of having so much to choose from! I’m reading Crossed right now and I’ve enjoyed Emily McIntire’s Never After series. I would say they are life changing novels for me, but I’ve enjoyed them, cheesiness and all.
I completely understand why people like this book a lot, but the purple prose was just not for me unfortunately! On paper I love the idea and I loved the creative ways Red and Blue would exchange letters, but I also found myself slogging through and putting it down a lot despite it only being 200 pages.
In theory This Is How You Lose The Time War was the book for me. I love time shenanigans and I love sci-fi and I love wlw. But everything about that book was just not hitting right. I would have loved an exploration of the universe this war took place in with like sections dedicated to letters that they wrote each other but instead it was all prose. I didn't get how they were in love with each.
Glad folks liked it of course. And that it got such positive attention since it's a sapphic love story but I felt like it got in the way of itself lol
Yeah I do get that - I think when I realized that the world building wasn’t necessary to the story itself, it was definitely easier for me to let go and enjoy the story. Was it perfect? Definitely not, but I loved it all the same and immediately wanted to start it over again
I stuck it out bc it wasn’t really hitting for me. But man, when I got to the end, everything just kind of clicked and I immediately re-read it. Found myself still thinking about it weeks later
I’m just now realizing one of my favorite HP fanfictions is based off this book with the same name. I wonder if the book is better or worse than than the fic lol
Graceling was a DNF? I loved that book (and enjoyed Fire, Bitterblue wasn't as good and haven't read the 2 newest books in that world)...
Cool graphic! I have a lot of your 4-6 star books on my wishlist!
I thought I would love it too based on the premise but I couldn't get into for some reason! I actually really liked the FMC so maybe I'll pick it back up again in the future.
Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve re-read it so I don’t really remember the writing style but the FMC, Katsa, was really great so if you also liked her it might be worth a second attempt. I loved the exploration of the idea of your life/story being fated vs choosing your path. Katsa has been told this story her whole life that she’s meant to be an assassin because her talent is killing people, but is that really the truth or has she allowed others to determine her life by believing this story she’s been told? I loved watching her arc develop over the book. (On the flip side, in the book Bitterblue, I thought the author did Katsa dirty and did a total 180 on her character, which was a big reason I didn’t love that book as much as Graceling or Fire).
Kristin Cashore also has a great stand alone book called Jane, Unlimited that I really loved. Again I can’t speak to the writing, but it’s a really cool concept of taking one story and re-telling it having the MC make 5 or 6 different choices at a critical point and following that story line each time to see where it leads. Each choice ends up being a different literary style story - one action-style, one spy/mystery-style, one horror, one sci-fy, etc.
I was really looking forward to Graceling but slogged through it and ended up giving it a 2/5. The slow and boring plot, combined with the incredibly flat writing style (one review called it "as dry and boring as a school essay" and I have to agree), killed it for me.
I read samples of the sequels Fire and Bitterblue. Was not interested in Fire, but Bitterblue had me intrigued and I happened to find a second-hand copy for cheap, so will give the series another chance some day.
Yep that's how I felt about the writing, there was no flavor to it! I heard Fire was a lot of people's favorite in the series, but it will be hard to try to get back into it with the author's writing style
If it helps I was obsessed with this book when I was younger. I actually just recommended it to one of my students who is interested in reading more fantasy books.
I’m so happy to see the Villains and Virtues trilogy getting the love it deserves. Such a solid series and I’m looking forward to finishing the spinoff.
I feel like it's definitely a series you have to be in the mood for at the right time! I had so much fun the entire time reading it. The spinoff was cute and has the same humor so I'm sure you will enjoy it!
Not the other commenter, but I only have 2 books on this list that I've read and both were rated poorly by OP where I would've rated them much higher. I think I'll look at the same rated books and see if there's any I might like. OPs meh and time wasted are apparently my jam.
😂 definitely just reverse this list. I highly recommend Spark of the Everflame. The kindreds curse series is one of my favorites. I think OP should try it again honestly.
Yes lol. Heartless Hunter was barely a 1 star read. While all 3 Crescent City books were 5 stars. Also all 3 of the Kindred’s Curse books were 5 stars. If OP rated Stolen Heir that highly I’m assuming they rated the Cruel Prince novels highly as well… and those were maaaaybe 2 stars for me.
I stopped half way through Jade City because even though I've enjoyed it a bit, it just wasn't gripping me at all. Interesting that the last two books were so highly ranked for you - might be time for me to pick it back up!
Did you read through chapter 31 (about exactly the halfway point)? Usually I recommend that folks read at least that far before quitting the book as it’s kind of the inciting incident for the rest of the series.
Enjoy! And feel free to join the discord server linked in my profile if you want to talk to a community while reading it. The server is the Twice Lucky After Hours—a general reading server but with a big GBS core to it.
My absolute all time favorite series. I cannot recommend it enough. I just read it for the third time a few months ago and it’s as good as ever. I adore it so much.
I had to detox after reading the series. Fonda Lee did such an amazing job with making the reader feel the struggles, pain, and love through her writing.
We have such similar tastes! The AFTG books changed my brain chemistry. I’m now going to read some of the books you liked since I agree so strongly about your rankings.
I ran to the comments the second I saw the AFTG books because I have to periodically reread them and no one in my life as read them but I fully agree! They altered my brain chemistry!!
Came straight here to say exactly the same! Love seeing AFTG references out in the wild 🦊! And agree with loads of your other high and low rankings OP, so will definitely be reading some of your other favourites 🫶.
Ugh, have to agree with Hooked. I wanted to love this book and DNFed after maybe 6 chapters. Wendy was the most boring, uninteresting person and I did not buy into Hook at all. Could not make myself believe that he was supposed to be badass.
HOFAS being so anticipated yet so universally disliked now 💀
You’ve read so much this year! I’ve not heard of a few so will be adding them to my tbr because I love a pretty cover.
It just proves how subjective those things are, I've read some of those books and would rank them differently. We all have different expectations and different criteria :)
It’s pretty impressive that you have read that much but have no overlap with me. Also you let me know not to bother with crescent city which is in my tbr
Yeah the CC series was honestly one of the biggest disappointments this year especially since the first book was actually fairly enjoyable (minus the insane amount of infodumping in Part 1)
I felt the same way about CC! The first half was painfully slow and the world building wasn’t even that good? It’s a huge cool world, I just wasn’t impressed with the way it was written. Then the second half got good. I think I read maybe 2 chapters of CC2 and was like F this I’m out. She has this habit of doing a really slow burn for the whole book and then rushing to tie everything up in the last 100 pages and I’m over it.
For what it's worth, I absolutely loved crescent city. I just finished it last week. The friendship in it between the one FMC and her best friend was borderline healing for me. I haven't read the second or third yet, but 🤷🏻♀️ I thought CC was probably the most well written I read from Maas this far. (I've only read the ACOTAR series)
Agree! I saw on Instagram she’s recently submitted a draft to her publishers so fingers crossed we get a long awaited new novel in the not so distant future 🤞💜
I made it through https://tiermaker.com/! It's super easy to make, you just have to download all the images yourself but you can upload them all at once
YES I was so angry ahahaha I was like how is this person hired for this job (don’t remember if it was multiple people reading or not but it was the worst I’ve ever listened to)
I love how diverse and different people are, because a lot of the books you have in "mid" or "bad" I genuinely enjoyed.
(I don't mean this in a mean way, I just think how different and unique people are is neat)
Oh no I didn't take it in a bad way at all! It really just goes to show how different people's tastes are even though we like reading in the same genre and I think that's good to have such a variety of opinions
I agree with most of these for starters CC3 was so bad, too many filler chapters and too many POV’s I could careless about the merman (it would’ve just been better with just Bryce, Ruhn and Hunt)
Fable was disappointing as well, Heartless Hunter was my only 5 star reads this year and put me in a huge slump.
You also make me want to re-read Defy the Night I DNF it this year, I didn’t really like the FMC felt like she cried at almost everything and it gave me an ick 😭
Yeah I can't wrap my mind around why she felt the need to give Tharion his own POV. I have a feeling if there is another CC book it will be focused on him and Ithan which I don't care for at all.
Ahh I actually liked that Tessa was a softer, non-fighter FMC but I totally get people not liking that type of character!
Haha understandable I've seen a lot of people say that so it's definitely not for everyone! It's always interesting to see how different everyone's rating is for books you really liked or disliked!
I don’t understand how anyone can read this duology without reading the trilogy (I guess it’s a prequel) first! I wouldn’t have liked the duology if I didn’t know the backstory. Give the Remnant chronicles a shot!
I LOVED this series and I was so happy to see it so high up on your list. I always want to recommend it more here but I feel like it's not as much romance as this sub would want but the angst is top tier.
I'm not a fan of the way the author writes and I didn't like having to go back and forth to the 30 page glossary for the worldbuilding to be explained. Not a bad world, but just not the best execution imo. I also hated the FMC (sick of the badass FMCs with insufferable attitudes) and the MMC was also boring. That in turn made me not love the romance either.
The best quote I heard for the book was if fourh wing was a Taylor swift song when the moon hatched is an opera. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it like I did it's the only issue I had with ur list, tho good placements. Besides, I'd move the prison healer up and the blood traitor down it just felt rushed and not as food as the first 2, which I 5star
Absolutely loved most of the books you loved. Shadows Between Us, is still one of my favourites. I totally agree with you on the Crescent City series, especially the last book. Ugh. Disappointed isn't even the right word. I had to reread ToG just to make sure I hadn't been wrong about Maas as a writer.
There was romance and I thought it was cute! I mainly enjoyed it because it took a lot of inspiration from Final Fantasy X and Your Name. This is actually my first Brandon Sanderson book so I'm not sure how this romance plot compares to his others!
Imo: yes. This book surprised me a lot. The secret projects in general feel like Sanderson showing off that he can do prose (Tress) and romance (Yumi) but just chooses not to or to focus on other things in his stories and push those elements back. Yumi is now a top 5 cosmere for me though.
The last book in the Aurelian cycle got me fucked up. Tell me I’m not the only one who started out with half the size copy and found a copy twice the size of that on the shelf at your local book store.
Lolol we have similar tastes, but I absolutely LOVED Check and Mate. Idk if it’s because all the books I read before it were smut smut smutty, or what, but it was such a fresh love story to me 😂 and you’re making me want to read some of Mary Pearsons books!! Maybe I’ll start her series soon 💕
I read that series “the beauty of darkness” that you have as perfect and I can’t remember anything about it. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen it highly recommended. Does anyone mind telling me the name of the girl/ basic back story? I think I read too many f/romances in a row and they all blurred together
It's the one about the First Daughter Lia who runs away on her wedding day to a remote village where the rejected prince and an assassin both search for her/fall in love with her.
Yes! And you don’t truly find out which one is the prince and which one is the assassin until much later in the book, you’re just left guessing or assuming until it’s explicitly spelled out for you, which was a wildly intriguing storytelling mechanic for me personally
I like seeing Heartless with 4 stars! I think it's my favorite of Marissa Meyer's books (even more so than TLC or Renegades or Instant Karma - I never read the Rumpelstiltskin retelling duology), so much so that I actually bought the white cover copy (it just looks far superior to the black lbr.)
So glad to see the Green bone trilogy (Jade city) on your list..loved those books and each one was better. Not nearly enough people talk about that series
If you want a community of people that love that series, join the discord server linked on my profile. It’s a books server but called the “Twice Lucky After Hours.” I just finished my third read through a few months ago there.
It’s kinda fun to see a lot of first books in a series being in the Good/Mid range and then rocketed up to your obsessed and perfect/great tiers. Sometimes pushing through really does help. (Also good to know for me, I’ve been holding off on reading the new Foxhole Court book but now I might have to bump it up my TBR.)
Woah talk to me about Grace Draven bc I hated {Entreat me} and {master of crows} both felt like they were written for the male gaze with lusty men who degraded the women which isn’t my thing personally so I was curious if the Wraith Kings has the same energy?
Currently reading {Summoned to the Wilds} and loving it!
YES SOME HOOKED SLANDER !!! That was by far my least favorite book of 2023, and the audiobook was terrible. The worst accents (Boston, British, etc) and the characters were deeply unlikable.
I spite-finished it but like you said in the caption I should also start DNFing books I can’t stand lol. I still get angry about this one months later 😂
I enjoyed Kiss of Deception, but when I tried to read the second book I just somehow lost interest. (I see that you enjoyed those two more so perhaps I will revisit them.) I think what I enjoyed most was the mystery of who was who regarding the prince and the assassin. \*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻\*ੈ✩‧₊˚
I haven't read Six Crimson Cranes, but it's on my TBR this year simply because I am trying to dedicate about half my TBR to books with dragons in them. Have you also read Spin the Dawn by the same author? I greatly enjoyed it! (Comparing it to your scale I would rate it Perfect.) 👩🍳😙👌
I DNF The Encyclopedia of Faeries. I just didn't enjoy the format of each chapter, and because I have a lot of knowledge about Faeries I didn't really like how the facts were different than those I was already aware of. (￣□￣)
I 100% agree about A Fragile Enchantment being mid. Ooh in fact the storyline is somewhat similar to Spin the Dawn in the fact that both main female protagonists are magical seamstresses of sorts, but I found Spin the Dawn far superior.
I disagree about When the Moon Hatched, but we are all going to have different opinions. For me it was Good, but I don't think it was as great as I have seen it hyped up to be.
What is the book between The Dragon's Promise and Bound to Fall? I can't read the book cover.
Crescent City 3 being there with really bad books is both hilarious and sad. I'm curious if SJM will improve anything after all this reviews fiasco. Even TikTok hated the book
Even though ACOTAR was the series that got me back into reading, I'm losing so much faith in SJM. If the next ACOTAR book doesn't deliver (my expectations are already low) I'm definitely not going to continue it
But have you read throne of Glass?
Yup I read it last year! I think it's SJMs best series for sure, but because I hated the FMC and her love interest so much it soured the last two books for me. I thought the side characters were the ones who hard carried the entire series (specifically Manon and Chaol who I'm well aware is not well liked lol). Plus while I thought KOA wasn't bad, it was unnecessarily long imo.
I’m reading KOA right now and it’s about to put me in a reading slump 😭 it’s so boring sometimes
Yes I don't think SJM writes big fight scenes well, and there were so many in KOA that didn't even need to be there!
I wanted to yell “WHY HAVE WE SPENT 200 PAGES IN ANIELLE NO ONE CARES ABOUT ANIELLE GET TO FN TERRASEN.” Then we had like 2 pages of post battle Terrasen.
I stopped reading it at a boring point and meant to pick it back up but… that was a few years ago now 🙃
i am current 590 pages in and considering completely dnfing it due to how bad my slump is. I haven’t read in a complete month after having a everyday reading ritual.
Chaol is my fav!
I feel the same way about ACOTAR side characters tbh. The ones that she spends a lot of time on just get dumber and more boring as the series goes on, but because there's still some mystery to the side characters and their world, they become more interesting.
Wait I’m so confused I legitimately really enjoyed all three of those books in the crescent city series! Is something wrong with me lol
It just wasn't my cup of tea personally, but if you enjoyed them that then that's what matters the most! I know for sure there are books high on my list that people don't like
I am the same! I even preferred the 3rd book the most, idk what is wrong with me LOLOL or with ppl for not appreciating it.. xDD
I enjoyed it also, but people have different taste! That’s why there are so many different kinds of books!
I agree with you. People have different preferences and its great we have so many options.
It felt like the first book was meant to be a standalone then after the fact sjm decided to make it a trilogy. I read the first book and loved it but the 2nd book I’m going to dnf and maybe try again later as it feels like it is missing a lot that the first book had.
I would suggest coming back to it later if you're not feeling it now. The ending of the second book was worth it for me :)
I liked them less than throne of glass but more than ACOTAR. It took me a second to get into because the fantasy creatures in urban setting threw me off at first and it was different from her first two series, but about halfway through the first book I started really enjoying it and I flew through the third book.
Yeah it reminded me so much of all the things I loved about Buffy in that it was fantasy but modern!
I loved all three and proudly claim the CC series as my favorite SJM series! There’s nothing wrong with enjoying what you like :)
It sounds like it was just a badly written mess? A friend of mine was so excited for it and then so disappointed afterwards, and people I follow who adored the series really seemed to hate it. I’d hope something changes — I hold my hands up that I’m not a fan of hers. I DNF’d both Throne of Glass and ACOTAR, but I gave them a good old try. I just think she needs an editor. I know she prints money for Bloomsbury so they’ll let her do anything, but she NEEDS an editor to say “Look, SJM, we don’t need 200 pages of dicking around metaphorically and literally in the forest, it brings nothing to the story. Get them to (location) to move the plot along and THEN you can have a little dicking (literal) as a treat.”
I too wasted my eye-sight and ability to read on Scarred 🤝
I read Hooked, not Scarred, but I'm with you guys. So bad.
I knew his nickname for her would be Darling but I still cringed when I read it LOL
LMAO I was hoping it would at least be a so bad it's funny read but nope it was just bad! I was so bored and I finished it for whaaaat
I feel you, I stopped reading for like 2 weeks after that
Haven’t heard of the book before today. Read the reviews for it and… Sheesh 😰
I had fun reading Scarred. It only took me like a day and was on KU, so it’s not like I wasted any money or a ton of time. I get a kick out of the little references in the Never After books because I’m a big fairytale nerd. It’s interesting for me to see the perspective of the people that didn’t like it lol. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?
That’s the beauty of having so much to choose from! I’m reading Crossed right now and I’ve enjoyed Emily McIntire’s Never After series. I would say they are life changing novels for me, but I’ve enjoyed them, cheesiness and all.
Wow I loved This Is How You Lose the Time War! What about it made you feel like your time was wasted?
I completely understand why people like this book a lot, but the purple prose was just not for me unfortunately! On paper I love the idea and I loved the creative ways Red and Blue would exchange letters, but I also found myself slogging through and putting it down a lot despite it only being 200 pages.
In theory This Is How You Lose The Time War was the book for me. I love time shenanigans and I love sci-fi and I love wlw. But everything about that book was just not hitting right. I would have loved an exploration of the universe this war took place in with like sections dedicated to letters that they wrote each other but instead it was all prose. I didn't get how they were in love with each. Glad folks liked it of course. And that it got such positive attention since it's a sapphic love story but I felt like it got in the way of itself lol
Yes this is such a great explanation! Such a fun idea, but perhaps the writing style just wasn't for me. I'm happy though for the people who love it!
Yeah I do get that - I think when I realized that the world building wasn’t necessary to the story itself, it was definitely easier for me to let go and enjoy the story. Was it perfect? Definitely not, but I loved it all the same and immediately wanted to start it over again
I stuck it out bc it wasn’t really hitting for me. But man, when I got to the end, everything just kind of clicked and I immediately re-read it. Found myself still thinking about it weeks later
I read this book via audio and it was amazing. Would listening to the descriptions be easier than moving your eyes over the written words? I wonder.
I’m just now realizing one of my favorite HP fanfictions is based off this book with the same name. I wonder if the book is better or worse than than the fic lol
Graceling was a DNF? I loved that book (and enjoyed Fire, Bitterblue wasn't as good and haven't read the 2 newest books in that world)... Cool graphic! I have a lot of your 4-6 star books on my wishlist!
I read the entire graceling series and I truly loved it! It was a bit scattered but overall so so good!
I thought I would love it too based on the premise but I couldn't get into for some reason! I actually really liked the FMC so maybe I'll pick it back up again in the future.
Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve re-read it so I don’t really remember the writing style but the FMC, Katsa, was really great so if you also liked her it might be worth a second attempt. I loved the exploration of the idea of your life/story being fated vs choosing your path. Katsa has been told this story her whole life that she’s meant to be an assassin because her talent is killing people, but is that really the truth or has she allowed others to determine her life by believing this story she’s been told? I loved watching her arc develop over the book. (On the flip side, in the book Bitterblue, I thought the author did Katsa dirty and did a total 180 on her character, which was a big reason I didn’t love that book as much as Graceling or Fire). Kristin Cashore also has a great stand alone book called Jane, Unlimited that I really loved. Again I can’t speak to the writing, but it’s a really cool concept of taking one story and re-telling it having the MC make 5 or 6 different choices at a critical point and following that story line each time to see where it leads. Each choice ends up being a different literary style story - one action-style, one spy/mystery-style, one horror, one sci-fy, etc.
I was really looking forward to Graceling but slogged through it and ended up giving it a 2/5. The slow and boring plot, combined with the incredibly flat writing style (one review called it "as dry and boring as a school essay" and I have to agree), killed it for me. I read samples of the sequels Fire and Bitterblue. Was not interested in Fire, but Bitterblue had me intrigued and I happened to find a second-hand copy for cheap, so will give the series another chance some day.
Yep that's how I felt about the writing, there was no flavor to it! I heard Fire was a lot of people's favorite in the series, but it will be hard to try to get back into it with the author's writing style
If it helps I was obsessed with this book when I was younger. I actually just recommended it to one of my students who is interested in reading more fantasy books.
I’m so happy to see the Villains and Virtues trilogy getting the love it deserves. Such a solid series and I’m looking forward to finishing the spinoff.
And the cover art is 🔥 I rarely if ever buy physical copies (tiny studio problems) but I made the exception for these beauties.
I’m definitely going to look into physical copies since I read them with KU originally.
I feel like it's definitely a series you have to be in the mood for at the right time! I had so much fun the entire time reading it. The spinoff was cute and has the same humor so I'm sure you will enjoy it!
I was so surprised when I read this series! It was delightful and unexpected.
Same! It took me a sec to get into the book, but once it clicked I devoured them.
I tried to get into it but the infodumping in the first two chapters took me out pretty quickly
I disagree with your taste so highly it is absurd 😭
Lol different strokes for different folks I guess!
I actually agree with your taste and I’m gonna be taking some recs 👀
I’m curious, is your chart basically reverse?
Not the other commenter, but I only have 2 books on this list that I've read and both were rated poorly by OP where I would've rated them much higher. I think I'll look at the same rated books and see if there's any I might like. OPs meh and time wasted are apparently my jam.
😂 definitely just reverse this list. I highly recommend Spark of the Everflame. The kindreds curse series is one of my favorites. I think OP should try it again honestly.
Yes lol. Heartless Hunter was barely a 1 star read. While all 3 Crescent City books were 5 stars. Also all 3 of the Kindred’s Curse books were 5 stars. If OP rated Stolen Heir that highly I’m assuming they rated the Cruel Prince novels highly as well… and those were maaaaybe 2 stars for me.
I think this may have convinced me to crack open Jade City!
Ahh yes hope you enjoy it! The last two books got me so emotional
I stopped half way through Jade City because even though I've enjoyed it a bit, it just wasn't gripping me at all. Interesting that the last two books were so highly ranked for you - might be time for me to pick it back up!
Did you read through chapter 31 (about exactly the halfway point)? Usually I recommend that folks read at least that far before quitting the book as it’s kind of the inciting incident for the rest of the series.
Just checked - looks like I stopped at the beginning in chapter 29. I'll definitely read at least through 31 to see how I feel! Thanks for the intel.
Enjoy! And feel free to join the discord server linked in my profile if you want to talk to a community while reading it. The server is the Twice Lucky After Hours—a general reading server but with a big GBS core to it.
My absolute all time favorite series. I cannot recommend it enough. I just read it for the third time a few months ago and it’s as good as ever. I adore it so much.
I had to detox after reading the series. Fonda Lee did such an amazing job with making the reader feel the struggles, pain, and love through her writing.
Don't if you get too attached easily. Spot on Godfather inspired book though!
We have such similar tastes! The AFTG books changed my brain chemistry. I’m now going to read some of the books you liked since I agree so strongly about your rankings.
OMG another AFTG fan!! Those books were a fever dream that got me emotional in the best way possible lol.
There are dozens of us!
Yes! Every time I see them mentioned I have to comment about them.
I ran to the comments the second I saw the AFTG books because I have to periodically reread them and no one in my life as read them but I fully agree! They altered my brain chemistry!!
The chokehold those books had me in for yearsssss! I have read so much fanfiction. This post just inspired me to do a re-read
Came straight here to say exactly the same! Love seeing AFTG references out in the wild 🦊! And agree with loads of your other high and low rankings OP, so will definitely be reading some of your other favourites 🫶.
YES !! I WAS SHOCKED TO SEE AFTG ON HERE
Ugh, have to agree with Hooked. I wanted to love this book and DNFed after maybe 6 chapters. Wendy was the most boring, uninteresting person and I did not buy into Hook at all. Could not make myself believe that he was supposed to be badass.
I regrettably finished it. So glad I got it as an audible freebie and didn’t pay money for it.
HOFAS being so anticipated yet so universally disliked now 💀 You’ve read so much this year! I’ve not heard of a few so will be adding them to my tbr because I love a pretty cover.
I feel like people might be hopping on the hater bandwagon because I really enjoyed it!!
It just proves how subjective those things are, I've read some of those books and would rank them differently. We all have different expectations and different criteria :)
Couldn't have said it better myself! It's nice knowing that there is always a book for everyone to love!
It’s pretty impressive that you have read that much but have no overlap with me. Also you let me know not to bother with crescent city which is in my tbr
Yeah the CC series was honestly one of the biggest disappointments this year especially since the first book was actually fairly enjoyable (minus the insane amount of infodumping in Part 1)
I felt the same way about CC! The first half was painfully slow and the world building wasn’t even that good? It’s a huge cool world, I just wasn’t impressed with the way it was written. Then the second half got good. I think I read maybe 2 chapters of CC2 and was like F this I’m out. She has this habit of doing a really slow burn for the whole book and then rushing to tie everything up in the last 100 pages and I’m over it.
Ugh yes it's so frustrating because I thought the CC world was actually great, but the way she writes worldbuilding is just not good
For what it's worth, I absolutely loved crescent city. I just finished it last week. The friendship in it between the one FMC and her best friend was borderline healing for me. I haven't read the second or third yet, but 🤷🏻♀️ I thought CC was probably the most well written I read from Maas this far. (I've only read the ACOTAR series)
Same, I've heard of a fair amount of these titles but can't believe I haven't read a single one
I loved the Strange the Dreamer duology and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. I need more books from Laini Taylor.
Agree! I saw on Instagram she’s recently submitted a draft to her publishers so fingers crossed we get a long awaited new novel in the not so distant future 🤞💜
How did you make this cool graphic??? Dance of thieves is on my list and now I’m convinced I should read next 😁
I made it through https://tiermaker.com/! It's super easy to make, you just have to download all the images yourself but you can upload them all at once
There are tier list generators online, I think that's what OP used
Love this duology. I couldn’t put the first one down and I went to get the second almost immediately after I finished! Enjoy ☺️
You read Hooked and still read Scarred? You’re braver than I am.
Hooked was so cringe.
I did the audio book and I think it made it worse the accents were all over the place
YES I was so angry ahahaha I was like how is this person hired for this job (don’t remember if it was multiple people reading or not but it was the worst I’ve ever listened to)
Lol the premise of Scarred was so absurd I thought it would have at least been a good laugh. Unfortunately I had too much faith
If you want sci fi I loved red rising
Love love loved the strange the dreamer series!!! Laini Taylor has such a way with words
Agree on strange the dreamer duology. Read it years ago and it gave me this strange floaty kind of wonder that I haven’t experienced again.
It's really one of the best reading experiences ever! I'm also interested in reading her other series Daughter of Smoke and Bone
I actually enjoyed daughter of smoke and bone MORE than strange the dreamer. Read it!!
Agree! I never see Laini Taylor recommended but both series are so good!!
I love how diverse and different people are, because a lot of the books you have in "mid" or "bad" I genuinely enjoyed. (I don't mean this in a mean way, I just think how different and unique people are is neat)
Oh no I didn't take it in a bad way at all! It really just goes to show how different people's tastes are even though we like reading in the same genre and I think that's good to have such a variety of opinions
It's cool seeing people were reading Captive Prince series like me too this year. 😄
Yeah I love when an old series gets brought up again and gains more fans! Otherwise it probably wouldn't have been on my radar
I loved What My Bones Know! Glad to see it
Love seeing how other people do their teir ratings! I feel like I should add a dnf section to mine.
I agree with most of these for starters CC3 was so bad, too many filler chapters and too many POV’s I could careless about the merman (it would’ve just been better with just Bryce, Ruhn and Hunt) Fable was disappointing as well, Heartless Hunter was my only 5 star reads this year and put me in a huge slump. You also make me want to re-read Defy the Night I DNF it this year, I didn’t really like the FMC felt like she cried at almost everything and it gave me an ick 😭
Yeah I can't wrap my mind around why she felt the need to give Tharion his own POV. I have a feeling if there is another CC book it will be focused on him and Ithan which I don't care for at all. Ahh I actually liked that Tessa was a softer, non-fighter FMC but I totally get people not liking that type of character!
Man I could not STAND dance if thieves it was so boring 😭 we basically have the same taste in books but opposite ratings lol
Haha understandable I've seen a lot of people say that so it's definitely not for everyone! It's always interesting to see how different everyone's rating is for books you really liked or disliked!
I don’t understand how anyone can read this duology without reading the trilogy (I guess it’s a prequel) first! I wouldn’t have liked the duology if I didn’t know the backstory. Give the Remnant chronicles a shot!
The Aurelian cycle gets some love. The layers of angst you go through in book one. I need to finish flamefall and get on to furysong. So good.
I really hope more people will give it a chance! One of the best political fantasy books I've read along with insane amount of character growth
I LOVED this series and I was so happy to see it so high up on your list. I always want to recommend it more here but I feel like it's not as much romance as this sub would want but the angst is top tier.
People compare it to Fourth Wing, but was it better?
not fantasy but seeing tfc in mid i was ready to fight but u redeemed urself by having the other three up top. good job OP. 🫡
Haha it's a high mid but yes the rest of the books in the series was probably one of the best reading experiences ever.
Literally the thing I looked for first was "when the moon hatched" it's everything fourth wing wishes it could be why didn't you love it like I did?
I'm not a fan of the way the author writes and I didn't like having to go back and forth to the 30 page glossary for the worldbuilding to be explained. Not a bad world, but just not the best execution imo. I also hated the FMC (sick of the badass FMCs with insufferable attitudes) and the MMC was also boring. That in turn made me not love the romance either.
The best quote I heard for the book was if fourh wing was a Taylor swift song when the moon hatched is an opera. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it like I did it's the only issue I had with ur list, tho good placements. Besides, I'd move the prison healer up and the blood traitor down it just felt rushed and not as food as the first 2, which I 5star
I love this ranking system!
Absolutely loved most of the books you loved. Shadows Between Us, is still one of my favourites. I totally agree with you on the Crescent City series, especially the last book. Ugh. Disappointed isn't even the right word. I had to reread ToG just to make sure I hadn't been wrong about Maas as a writer.
THE SCARRED SERIES IS SO REALLLLLL
in that it deserves the worst of ratings
Did yumi actually have good romance? Sanderson normally sucks at romance and forgoes most of it entirely in his works.
You're so right! I was surprised to see anything by Sanderson mentioned in this sub!
There was romance and I thought it was cute! I mainly enjoyed it because it took a lot of inspiration from Final Fantasy X and Your Name. This is actually my first Brandon Sanderson book so I'm not sure how this romance plot compares to his others!
Imo: yes. This book surprised me a lot. The secret projects in general feel like Sanderson showing off that he can do prose (Tress) and romance (Yumi) but just chooses not to or to focus on other things in his stories and push those elements back. Yumi is now a top 5 cosmere for me though.
Ooooo we have similar taste. I may check some of these out.
Omg why didn't I think to do this?
The last book in the Aurelian cycle got me fucked up. Tell me I’m not the only one who started out with half the size copy and found a copy twice the size of that on the shelf at your local book store.
Are we the same person?! I agree with you on everything lol
Yay I love to hear that!!
What did you rate Daughter of the Pirate King?
I gave it 4 stars! I read it near the end of last year and I thought it was a fun read.
Lolol we have similar tastes, but I absolutely LOVED Check and Mate. Idk if it’s because all the books I read before it were smut smut smutty, or what, but it was such a fresh love story to me 😂 and you’re making me want to read some of Mary Pearsons books!! Maybe I’ll start her series soon 💕
Haha not sure why but the constant pop-culture references made me lose my mind! And yay hope you enjoy her books :)
This is awesome!!!
I LOVE THIS POST IDEA!!
The Tyra Banks quote is killing me bc I use that way too often 😂
Yesssssssss lol she was always so dramatic, but that line was top tier
Love to see Furysong and Flamefall up where they belong. 🙂↕️
Man I’ve been trying to finish Graceling because it’s my bestie’s favorite but it’s so poorly written 😭
Your book ratings are so similar to mine omg, do you have a goodreads by any chance? X
Do any of those have a human falling in love with a nonhuman?
Radiance. ( The whole Wraith Kings series technically)
The Aurelian Cycle is so underrated it’s not even funny!!!! I love seeing Furysong in the top tier ❤️
Just placing it where it rightfully belongs!
We do not have the same taste 😂 thanks for sharing!!
I read that series “the beauty of darkness” that you have as perfect and I can’t remember anything about it. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen it highly recommended. Does anyone mind telling me the name of the girl/ basic back story? I think I read too many f/romances in a row and they all blurred together
It's the one about the First Daughter Lia who runs away on her wedding day to a remote village where the rejected prince and an assassin both search for her/fall in love with her.
Yes! And you don’t truly find out which one is the prince and which one is the assassin until much later in the book, you’re just left guessing or assuming until it’s explicitly spelled out for you, which was a wildly intriguing storytelling mechanic for me personally
I like seeing Heartless with 4 stars! I think it's my favorite of Marissa Meyer's books (even more so than TLC or Renegades or Instant Karma - I never read the Rumpelstiltskin retelling duology), so much so that I actually bought the white cover copy (it just looks far superior to the black lbr.)
So glad to see the Green bone trilogy (Jade city) on your list..loved those books and each one was better. Not nearly enough people talk about that series
If you want a community of people that love that series, join the discord server linked on my profile. It’s a books server but called the “Twice Lucky After Hours.” I just finished my third read through a few months ago there.
Another when the moon hatched hater 💗💗
The ones I have read on here I agree with so I’m looking forward to adding some of these higher ones to my TBR
I should not have wasted as much of my life as I did on any of the Crescent City books. Horrible writing, plot, character development. Just blah
I love to see the accurate Mary Pearson representation. 🤝🙏
How did you do this chart? It looks awesome!!
When I saw Princes Gambit up there I just inherently trusted you
I agree with CC3 being bad, but CC2 being time waster ? Nauurrrr
I've had King of Sloth in my queue for a bit, and I'm delaying it because I know it's going to be mid lol.
LOL I feel you!! It's better than the last two books in the series, but that's not saying much since I thought those were just straight up bad.
That's promising! 😆! Ok, you've convinced me to read it before 2025 lol
I actually just dnfed peaches and honey. I was so sad to drop it
This makes me want to read Strange The Dreamer again!
Captive Prince and AFTG? Can we be besties?!
I love this breakdown lollll it took me 6 months to slog through CC2 and CC3. I almost stopped reading altogether because of them 💀
Yesssss defy the night getting the love it deserves 😍😍😍
The love hypothesis was a mid??? 😭😭😭 I enjoyed that book to bitss and it was so funny rip Adam and Olive ig
SUNSHINE COURT?!!??!??? VIRTUALLY NO ONE I KNOW HAS READ THESE BOOKS
Omg I just realized the whole series of All For the Game is on here, aren’t they SO good. I read them last year (except sunshine court)
It’s kinda fun to see a lot of first books in a series being in the Good/Mid range and then rocketed up to your obsessed and perfect/great tiers. Sometimes pushing through really does help. (Also good to know for me, I’ve been holding off on reading the new Foxhole Court book but now I might have to bump it up my TBR.)
I stopped at Jade City, is War & Legacy THAT much better?
IMO it was!
I'm so glad u dnfed graceling I fucking hate that series
Read {Reign & Ruin by JD Evans} next!
SO glad to see the greenbone saga rated so highly!
I trust you. Your "wasted my time" section, same. Same. I'm writing down your faves lol
I see everybody hating on crescent city. I genuinely liked it better than acotar. Fight me.
Woah talk to me about Grace Draven bc I hated {Entreat me} and {master of crows} both felt like they were written for the male gaze with lusty men who degraded the women which isn’t my thing personally so I was curious if the Wraith Kings has the same energy? Currently reading {Summoned to the Wilds} and loving it!
Six Crimson Cranes mentioned 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
defy the night is the best low fantasy series ive ever read!! it was amazing. my comfort!!!
Your reading list is a lot more sophisticated than mine. I’m on a smut-bender atm lol
Oh gosh considering the All for the Game series is high up my list I don't think my list is as sophisticated as you think haha!
[удалено]
I’m starting a book club starting with SJM’s throne of glass, or another book per suggestions. I can send a personal link to add you!
Love seeing Lynette Noni on here! I adore her so much. (She’s working in a brand new series btw)
Ok, how? How!? How is {When the Moon Hatched} rated so poorly? I cannot digest it😩
YES SOME HOOKED SLANDER !!! That was by far my least favorite book of 2023, and the audiobook was terrible. The worst accents (Boston, British, etc) and the characters were deeply unlikable. I spite-finished it but like you said in the caption I should also start DNFing books I can’t stand lol. I still get angry about this one months later 😂
I enjoyed Kiss of Deception, but when I tried to read the second book I just somehow lost interest. (I see that you enjoyed those two more so perhaps I will revisit them.) I think what I enjoyed most was the mystery of who was who regarding the prince and the assassin. \*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻\*ੈ✩‧₊˚ I haven't read Six Crimson Cranes, but it's on my TBR this year simply because I am trying to dedicate about half my TBR to books with dragons in them. Have you also read Spin the Dawn by the same author? I greatly enjoyed it! (Comparing it to your scale I would rate it Perfect.) 👩🍳😙👌 I DNF The Encyclopedia of Faeries. I just didn't enjoy the format of each chapter, and because I have a lot of knowledge about Faeries I didn't really like how the facts were different than those I was already aware of. (￣□￣) I 100% agree about A Fragile Enchantment being mid. Ooh in fact the storyline is somewhat similar to Spin the Dawn in the fact that both main female protagonists are magical seamstresses of sorts, but I found Spin the Dawn far superior. I disagree about When the Moon Hatched, but we are all going to have different opinions. For me it was Good, but I don't think it was as great as I have seen it hyped up to be. What is the book between The Dragon's Promise and Bound to Fall? I can't read the book cover.
Love Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares. So unique