Friday, March 1, 2013

On Having a Dissenting Opinion (no spoilers!)

I recently finished reading Lauren DeStefano's final installment of the Chemical Garden trilogy Sever and I've been dragging my feet about writing a review for it. Part of the problem is that it's really hard to write about the third book in a series without any spoilers (and spoilers are so not my thing). But there's something else that's been bugging me, so I'm going with a discussion post instead.

First, let me say that I enjoyed Sever immensely. I give it 5 stars and a high-five to Lauren DeStefano for writing such a great ending to a beloved series. All the loose ends were tied up and everything that happened made sense to me. As I turned the last page, the series felt resolved and complete. There may have been some twists and turns, but nothing I couldn't wrap my brain around. I didn't love every single development in the story, but if everything was too neat or perfect, it wouldn't be believable. In books, as in life, sh*t happens. Maybe that's a little callous, but it's true.

So what's really been bothering me are all the (spoiler-free) social media references to how devastated many readers have been about a certain thing that happens in the book. There is high drama I tell you. There is a particular chapter people keep expressing complete and utter dread for. And those who have moved past THE CHAPTER seem to be expressing an alarming amount of distress. I was getting really nervous as I neared THE CHAPTER myself, but after I moved past it, I felt very out of the loop. Bad things happen. I don't like when bad things happen, but they do. I was not all distraught about this particular turn of events and was starting to think there was something wrong with me.

So here's what I want to know -- have you ever been on the opposite side of popular opinion like this? I'm sure it has happened to me before, but it was never this drastic. It was also pre-blog and pre-twitter so I didn't feel like my thoughts stuck out like such a sore thumb. Any books where you just couldn't relate to the majority of other readers? Please share!

14 comments:

  1. Yes, quite a few times. It makes you feel bad and unsure of yourself, but then I know that personally when I read a review that differs from the majority it's great. A dissent in opinion means you get a totally different angle on things and causes you to review your own thoughts. We're all different and have different expectations so it's bound to happen.

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    1. Thanks Charlie -- that's a good way to look at it. I'll have to keep this in mind next it happens to me!

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  2. Having a dissenting opinion is what sparks thoughtful conversation. The book blogging world would be a boring place if we all read, thought, and wrote the same things. It's great to be a part of a community where we can squeal about the same books and authors, but not everyone will love the same things in the same ways. Sometimes this is good - a review will spark my interest in a book I never would have picked up on my own. Sometimes, though, it can make you feel like the odd man out for not loving the book/author/trend that everyone else is currently raving about. Case in point, my post about my frustrations with the current dystopia trend got a lot of traffic and support even though it is at odds with most readers' and bloggers' current interests. I say be proud of and embrace your dissenting opinion - it's one reason I love reading your blog!

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    1. Thanks so much Kristin -- that's a high compliment! I think what threw me off was that there was such a strong reaction to a specific part of the book that I felt differently about. I think it's much more common to love a book other people hate or hate a book other people love, but usually it's the book as a whole people are talking about. I guess I'm still getting used to the way social media has expanded our ability to discuss books as we are reading them (if we so choose!)

      But you are so right that if we all thought the same about everything it would be unbearably boring! I totally relate to your burn-out on dystopias though -- this series happens to be dystopian, but I recently had my own burnout experience that caused me to stop reading a book midway through. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing!

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  3. Oh yes. Typically it doesn't bother me -- everyone's different, right? But occasionally I will get very irrationally upset about something. Not so much when something I love is generally unpopular, usually when everyone else loves something that I just. don't. get.

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    1. I think part of the issue is that a lot of readers had a great attachment and fondness for a character that I was just so-so about. So I guess I fall into the latter category for this one!

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  4. I love discussion posts :) I'm there with you on reviewing another book in a series, so hard! But I have found myself not liking, bored, or hating a certain book that everyone seems to ADORE. I feel strange and out of the loop. Like you said, I feel like I'm missing something. Or the other way where I LOVE something and everyone goes "eh" and I'm like, "What am I missing?" Or any other thing really. It's pretty weird when you find yourself against the majority of the readers.

    Great post!

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    1. Thanks Sunny -- it really does feel weird to feel like you're the only one who feels a certain way, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it helps to read other reviews to try to "get" the other side's viewpoint a little better. Even if I don't agree, I like to know why people think a certain way!

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  5. So, I found this after Lauren DeStefano retweeted it and I just... Couldn't possibly agree with you more. There was so much build up and talk leading up to THE CHAPTER that I actually read way past it and had to go back and be like "Oh, that's what everybody was so upset and uppity about? Huh." I thought it made complete sense for the story and although it was mildly surprising I wasn't attached to the character and was far more interested in what kind of effect it was going to have on everyone/everything else. I thought it was a beautiful series and I was genuinely surprised at how many characters made it through to live happily ever after so it seemed weird that people were making such a fuss about THE CHAPTER. Glad I wasn't the only confused one. Thanks for sharing!

    -Brooke

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Brooke -- I'm so glad I'm not the only one! :)

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  6. I love this post because I know the EXACT feeling you're describing. It's so weird when you have an opinion that seems so vastly different from everyone else. There were a few books last year that were so hyped and I definitely felt like I was out of the loop when my reaction was more like, "Well, that was okay." I've also read books that I really connected to that others haven't always love. While I hate the feeling of being an oddball, I think differences of opinion are important. I know some people avoid reviews completely before they've read a book (which doesn't totally make sense to me because isn't the review meant to convince you to read the booK? But I digress...) but I always try to read a few reviews from bloggers I trust before purchasing a book. And, I also try to find one that has a different opinion. So if I read three 5 star reviews, I also try to find at least one that's in the 2-3 star range. I've only started doing that after being really disappointed by books "everyone" loved. Sometimes the dissenting opinion still makes me want to read the book - it just changes my expectations a bit.

    I also love reading dissenting opinions because it tells me that a blogger is being truthful about their feelings and thoughts. I appreciate someone being able to say they didn't love a book or didn't care for a certain twist or what have you.

    It's not completely related, but I also have that feeling sometimes when I see EVERYONE reviewing the same books at the same time. Haha! Almost every single book that I review on my blog is either purchased by me or from the library. I only joined NetGalley a month or so ago, but I've only read maybe three books from there. So, because of that, I'm not usually reading the books that everyone else is. For certain books I am - usually when I've been looking forward to a release. But otherwise, I tend to have a lot of variety in what I read/review, and that sometimes gives me the feeling of being the odd man out haha!

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by Hannah -- I'm so glad I'm not alone! If there is a book I've already decided I want to read, I don't avoid blog reviews since I would want to know the opinion of bloggers I follow (so long as there are no spoilers!), but I do steer clear of GoodReads, Amazon, etc. because there are just so many reviews all in one spot written by users whom I know absolutely nothing about, what their usual taste in books is, or how it compares to my own. If I start reading every negative review for a book I already have in my possession, I fear I'll never read anything! I do find it fascinating to read negative reviews after the fact though, when my own opinion of the book has already been formed. *Most* of the time, I find the rampant negative reviews of a book I enjoyed silly, but I don't want them to color my view of the book before I've had the chance to read it myself.

      And now that you say it, I like reading a dissenting opinion every once in a while in the blogs that I follow myself! It's encouraging to know that not everyone agrees with everyone else all the time and that they're not sleep-walking through the books they read!

      I also only just started using NetGalley recently since I never had a device to read on before. I'm trying to look at the choices available objectively and not just request the *hot* titles. I look for interesting stories and am finding myself gravitating much more to adult titles than YA on NetGalley which seem to not be as popular among bloggers (or at least the ones I'm familiar with). Though I did get approved for Gameboard of the Gods which I'm dying to read and I'm certain there will be a flood of reviews on that one!

      And I have to say a lot of the books you review catch my interest because I don't see them all over the place, so I'd say you're doing something right!

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  7. I'm not sure why I haven't picked up #2 or #3 in this series yet, but you've inspired me to add them to my reading list -- thanks!

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    1. You're welcome Mandi -- I hope you enjoy them!

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I'd love to hear what you think :)