TTT #166 – Unpopular Bookish Opinions

Posted June 11, 2019 by Lillian in Features / 6 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together

Happy Tuesday y’all! This week’s topic is intimidating to me. It is “Unpopular Bookish Opinions.” I know I have several opinions, but generally I keep them to myself. That whole idea of “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all” has stuck with me as I’ve aged, especially when you take into account today’s political climate and social media bullying. But here I go with my bookish opinions that probably won’t be very popular. I don’t have ten this week, but the ideas are broad opinions that I then expand on.

Note: I’m all for discussing in the comment section, however rudeness is unacceptable. Be civil please. Remember we are all book lovers 😉

My Unpopular Bookish Opinions

Foul Language in YA

Y’all I cannot stand to see curse words in young adult books. Yes I know that most say those words by the time they reach high school, myself included. However one or two curse words that flow naturally is one thing. Gratuitous use for shock value is another matter. I cringe when I see it, and it is one of the quickest ways to guarantee I DNF a book.

Sex in YA

Call me a prude I don’t care. Sex, even implied, does not belong in YA ficiton. Why? Because YA is for 13 and up. Y’all I don’t want my 13 year old reading a sex scene. Just no! Now if the book comes in the YA section and says it is upper YA meaning 16 or 17+….fine. As long as it isn’t graphic, it doesn’t bother me. But YA should remain for the young readers, even if we adults love them too.

Sex scenes in general

Again you can call me a prude, I don’t mind. My husband told me he can always tell when I get to one of “those” scenes. My cheeks flush all the way to my ears. Y’all I literally skim through those scenes, looking for dialogue that might be important later. Otherwise I skip them entirely. I’m good with implied, closed-door scenes. I don’t need the details. Leave some things to the imagination, yeah?

Trigger Warnings

I hate trigger warnings. Y’all I understand that for some it is a matter of their mental health, but I don’t like spoilers when I read. And sometimes those trigger warnings are just that….spoilers.

“Insensitive” material

So I know y’all have heard the above complaints from me before. But probably never seen this one. There’s a reason. I avoid this topic on social media and blog posts because my opinion is very unpopular with the vocal crowd. Y’all why must we erase history because it makes you uncomfortable? A book I was looking forward to reading this year was pulled from the market before it released because the author was bullied by a small percentage of advanced readers. Her book contained a slave market. Yes slavery existed in our country (I’m in the US for those that don’t know), but it has existed in other areas of the world and still exists in a few areas.

Y’all this is a relevant topic that should make us uncomfortable. We should remember our past and our history lest we forget and history repeats itself. This is just one example though. There are many examples of insensitive material being cast out of the reading world. Who decides what is acceptable and what is not? Where do we draw the line to prevent censoring? Slippery slope y’all….that’s all I’m saying.

Well now that I’ve bared my opinions, it’s your turn! What are some of your own unpopular bookish opinions? Share below

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6 responses to “TTT #166 – Unpopular Bookish Opinions

  1. I am so with you on the sex scenes thing, especially in YA. I’m not even prude, so I guess my reaction is weird, but I just don’t like sex scenes. I find them boring and cheesy mostly. I definitely don’t think they belong in YA unless there’s a distinction that it’s for 16+ (which I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book have any such warning, personally).

    I know what book you’re talking about, and it’s such a shame. I never had the chance to read it, but it sounds like something i would’ve enjoyed. I just can’t imagine an author getting such horrible backlash before a book comes out that they would just decide it’s better not to publish. I don’t understand why people would think that was okay?
    Sammie @ The Writerly Way recently posted…Unpopular Bookish Opinions || Time To Spill the Tea

    • I didn’t get a chance to read it either. I think it’s a shame because it was a small minority that caused the backlash but then a large voice on social media (twitter in particular) that caused her to pull it. 😒

  2. I’m not big on sex scenes in YA either. Though I do believe the majority that I’ve read are marketed for upper YA, like why are we even shelving this in YA? I think New Adult needs to be a more recognized genre and have its own section in the bookstore. Even if the characters are that 17-18 sort of age, if they’re partaking in adult activities; sex, drinking, drugs, it’s better off being New Adult. Not sure if that’s an unpopular opinion either, but yeah. 🙂

    I’m kind of the same when it comes to sex scenes in adult books too. I swear my cheeks have to be turning red when I read particularly graphic ones. Luckily my cheeks are almost perpetually red, so I can always blame it on that! Lol.

    Here’s my Tuesday Post

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower 🙂

    • I agree with you on having a new adult shelving in bookstores. It’s starting to trend on amazon and online booksellers so here’s hoping 🤞

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