Happy Friday, bookworms! Welcome to some unpopular opinions that I sincerely hope don’t make any of you think less of me. Haha! Today I wanted to talk about sub-genres that I just can’t seem to get into. I’ve read several of the books I included in today’s lists and none of them have been winners, despite some being by favorite authors. Let’s get to it!

HEIST FANTASY
  
Six of Crows was one of my MOST anticipated reads when it came out. After all, it was written by Leigh Bardugo so how could I not be excited? But I quickly realized that I am really, REALLY not into heist books. At all. In fact, when I start reading the back of a book and see a bunch of names listed in the synopsis and a hint that they team up for a job, I am immediately turned off. Which is unfortunate because now I’m wary of reading The Gilded Wolves despite owning it. I’m not sure what it is about this particular type of book, but something about the whole thing seems so cheesy to me and I just can’t.
VIRTUAL REALITY SCI-FI
  

I’ve tried reading both Ready Player One and Warcross and just could not get myself to enjoy either one. Again, I’m not sure what it is exactly that I don’t like, but I just immediately start to shut down when I realize a book is largely about a virtual reality world. It’s weird because the concept is actually really cool in real life! I just haven’t found a book about it that I loved.

WESTERN-ESQUE FANTASY
  

I just… why does this sub-genre need to exist? I think my deep repulsion to this type of book stems from the fact that my dad LOVED westerns when I was a kid and I ended up watching all kinds of weird movies that I just was not into. I love fantasy, but throw the word “gunslinger” on the back and it’s almost an immediate no thank you from me. I still have a copy of Rebel of the Sands on my shelf just in case, but it’s one of the books I’ll probably never get to.

WEREWOLF PARANORMAL ROMANCE
  

This one feels weird coming from someone who always found The Beast more attractive than Prince Adam, but I have never been able to get into werewolf paranormal romance. Give me some vampires, elves, warlocks, sexy goblins or whatever, but if it’s got fur I don’t think I’m here for it. Despite how creepy Edward was, I always preferred him to Jacob.

PIRATE FANTASY
  
The only pirate movie my dad made me watch a hundred times was Hook, but pirate books are not something I’ve ever been able to enjoy. It’s a real shame since there seem to be approximately a million of them being published recently. Nikolai is an obvious exception, which makes me think I don’t mind pirates IN books, I just don’t like books about pirates. Maybe it’s because I hate the ocean…


What sub-genres can you not stand?
Do you have any recs that might change my mind?
Let me know in the comments!