I'm Going to Get Hurt For This Post...

...but I really don't like John Green's writing style.

Don't get me wrong - I like him. I've only seen a few YouTube videos (mostly things that mental_floss has had him do), but what I've seen, I've really liked. I've also seen all the .gifs on Tumblr, and those have made me respect him. I love what he's doing for people who feel like they're alone in this world. I just don't like his writing style.

I guess it's just me. A few years ago, I had Looking For Alaska handed to me, and was told it was the greatest book I was ever going to read in my life. So I read it. And I hated it.

Maybe it's because I kinda can't stand slice-of-life books. The same thing happened with me while reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I didn't like it. I've been told time and time again that the book is a life-changer, but I could never see it.

I appreciated 13 Reasons Why, but I didn't come away from it thinking it was the greatest book in the history of the world.

People used to look at me funny when I said I loathed Nicholas Sparks books. They're all the same story, just with different names for characters and events. They're sappy and unoriginal and stale. There are so many books out there that give much better character development (the Game of Thrones series, anyone?) and twists like you wouldn't expect (the Gemma Doyle trilogy). They're imaginative, funny, thrilling, and heart-wrenching in ways you would never get from books like Sparks'. 

Maybe it's because sappy books make me yawn. There's no thrill in them. Okay, so she died. Okay, they're going through a rough time, and look - there's an accident, and he doesn't come back home. He leaves. She falls apart. Something happens that makes everything all right again. Same storyline. Where's the adventure? The excitement? 

Give me a book like The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien), Leviathan (Scott Westerfeld), The Looking Glass Wars (Frank Beddor), Airman (Eoin Colfer), Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling). Give me an epic world and a masterful storyline. (The world doesn't have to be fictional, either. Airman is a beautiful book.) Let me watch the characters stumble and fall, then pick themselves up (or get picked up) and continue on their journey. Give me unforgettable locations and battles. 

It's the same thing with manga - I tried things like Ouran High School Host Club and other Slice-of-Life mangas (as well as animes!) but nothing ever stuck with me. I'd read a few chapters and get bored with the repetitiveness. Now, FullMetal Alchemist? Attack on Titan? Cowboy Bebop? Brilliant. 

Of course, everyone's going to have differing opinions. That's the beauty of books - there's something out there for everyone, for every single soul on this planet. You may enjoy Nicholas Sparks, you may enjoy clichéd storylines and recycled material. There may be joy in having real life thrust upon you in books. None of that holds anything for me. I try my hardest to stay away from all that. Books are there for me to escape into when the real world, with cancer and car wrecks and divorce and suicide, becomes too much for me. Give me a heroic journey with an epic finish. Let me know that there's still some good in the world.