TTT | Books I’ll Never Read

This is no shade to anyone who loves this book or loves Ali Hazelwood. As someone who doesn’t understand the Reylo ship, I just wasn’t really wanting to read this, then I just made the unconscious decision to not read any of Hazelwood’s books.

I went back and forth on whether I would read this series or not. I know so many of my friends love the author and this series, but I’m always hesitant to read super popular books. After reading Fall of Ruin and Wrath last year, I’ve decided From Blood and Ash is just not for me.

I’ve seen excerpts from this book, and I…just…cannot.

I read the first book and was pretty bored. Most of this was forgettable. I wouldn’t put it on the same level as Shadow and Bone but it’s close.

Is most of my refusal to not read this book down to how horribly bad this AI generated cover is? Maybe, but you can’t fully prove it so there.

I was surprisingly looking forward to reading this after finishing Malibu Rising. But then I’ve heard that Carrie, an Argentinian-American, comes out of retirement to prevent an Asian woman player from breaking her record. A white author is pitting a Latinx woman against an Asian woman. Also reviewers point out the lack of Black players represented even though the inspiration is from Black tennis players.

One of my good friends has never liked Hannah’s books; she doesn’t think they’re bad just not for her. We have pretty similar tastes, so this is a skip for me.

This is another one where the cover influences me a lot: a rose (which I’ve been informed is a face too), a snake (I think), a sword, I think those are blueberries in the right hand corner, and are the branch things supposed to be a crown or trees. There’s so much going on and I can’t focus on any one thing, so it makes me not want to read the summary let alone the book.

I love love love the Bridgerton TV show! But one of the reasons I love it is for all the updates that Shondaland and co. have done. Not just with the diverse casting, but also the updated/changed storylines. With the Bridgerton series, some of the scenes are a little…weird (i.e. Anthony ripping open Kate’s dress and sucking out the bee stinger). I’ve been told by many people that if the reason I love Bridgerton is for the diversity then I probably wouldn’t enjoy the books.

At this point, I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to read this. I bought a copy randomly when the paperback edition came out, I was 100 pages in and couldn’t read anymore. Over the years, I’ve tried to go back to it and give it another shot because so many people I trust love the book. Each time I hope this will be the time it clicks and it just doesn’t. I’m afraid it’s a lost cause. (And yes, I’ve tried the ebook and audio versions too, still DNF’d around 100 pages in).