Rose @ Stuck in Fiction looked back on her 5 star reads and shared how her opinions about some of those books have changed over time. I think a lot of us can relate to this and I wanted to talk about a few books that I loved when I first read them but upon reflection my thoughts on them have changed.
Looking for Alaska
I read all of John Green’s novels when I was first getting in to YA novels, and at the time, Looking for Alaska was my favourite. It was unlike anything I have read before. Since then, I have read a lot more YA that tackles similar topics more effectively with characters I became more connected to. I would have to reread this book to really sort out my current feelings on it. I have such conflicted feelings about John Green’s book in general, but I did really love Turtles All the Way Down last year!
The Lovely Bones
The Lovely Bones was all the rage when I read it years ago, and I wonder if that affected my feelings about it. Everyone loved it, so of course I wanted to love it too! It was so dark and heartbreaking but I look back on it with mixed feelings. That said, I have forgotten a lot about it so it is another book I would need to reread!
Nicholas Sparks
I will admit that I still enjoy Nicholas Sparks novels and I will probably continue to read them! Looking back on my ratings, I have rated the earlier books five stars but the ones I have read more recently I gave three stars. I am not sure if that is because the books themselves are not as good as they used to be, or if my taste have just changed! I wouldn’t mind rereading my favourite of his novels, The Wedding, to see if I love it just as much today!
Anna and the French Kiss
I think Anna and the French Kiss might have been my first YA romance novel and that is why I rated it so highly! My reading taste has changed a lot since then, and I prefer my YA romances to have a little more depth than this book. This is the first book on my list that I have no intention on ever rereading because I already know I would not enjoy it!
My Sister’s Keeper
My Sister’s Keeper is another book that I read because there was so much hype for it! It is also one of the first books that made me cry. When I look back on it today, I realize how emotionally manipulative this book is! The ending actually makes me angry when I think about it now.
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares
I really loved Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares when I read it, mostly because it is set around Christmas time and I thought it was really adorable! I still think I would find it sweet if I read it today, but I highly doubt it would be five stars! It is rare that I give a fluffy romance novel five stars these days.
Have you ever looked back at some of your ratings and wonder what you thinking? I would love to know the books that you have since changed your mind about!
That’s interesting about Nicholas sparks and your reviews… I notice when I look back, my interests have changed and what I thought was amazing at the time, isn’t as good to me sometimes. I enjoy NS too…
It is funny how reading tastes change over time! He is coming out with a new book this year and I will definitely be reading it. I’m hoping I like it better than his last few books!
I look forward to reading your review on it!😁
Lovely post, as always! 🙂 I’ve been so conflicted about reading Looking for Alaska (all of Green’s work, tbh), and I’m glad I read your thoughts on it! If curiosity does get the best of me and I do decide to read it, I’ll know what to expect going into it.
I really loved reading this post (also, I missed your blog). <3 This is such a cool idea.
Thank you! Hopefully I will reread Looking for Alaska one day and get a clearer understand of my thoughts on it! You’re so sweet. Thanks again!
I definitely think my opinions have changed and now it takes a lot for me to give a book 5 stars. I haven’t looked back at any of my oast 5 star reviews, but I’m sure some of these would change if I read them now.
I was reflecting on these five star reads and I can’t imagine what I was thinking at the time! It is strange how much reading tastes can change!
I’ve done the same thing! But then I also don’t wanna change the rating to something else because I feel like that’s not genuine either if so much time has passed since I read it!
I completely agree! I look at these on Goodreads and I am a little embarrassed about my ratings but that’s how I felt at the time so it wouldn’t be honest to change them now without rereading them first!
I love this idea! I’m sure there’s plenty of books on my 5 star shelf I’d reconsider changing. Reading taste changing being one part & the other is more of an awareness with problematic writing. I also prefer my books to have more depth in them now, and my characters to be a bit more complex. I remember reading My Sister’s Keeper & feeling wrecked, I have never read another Jodi book since. i do own her latest Small Great Thing (think that’s the title) but it’s been a year since I purchased it sooooo yea lol! Great list! happy reading 🙂
I completely agree with you! I wasn’t as critical of what I was reading back then and my reading certainly wasn’t as diverse as it is now. I haven’t read a Jodi book in years even though there are a few I’m curious about! Thank you!😉
I havent read the book for my sisters keeper, only the film
There are so many amazing books out there that I think I would skip that one!
I’m glad I’m not the only one! Every once in a while, I see something in my Goodreads list that I read, and see the rating I left, and wonder what the hell was going on with me that week…
I was almost embarrassed to post this! Five stars to Anna and the French Kiss? That doesn’t sound like me at all!
I agree, I also loved Looking for Alaska when I first read it but since then I’ve read better. And I also don’t want to reread Anna and the French Kiss bc I have good memories attached to it and they might change if I read it now.
That’s exactly how I feel about Alaska! I think there are some books that are best not to reread because there is a nostalgia there that we don’t want tampered with. I feel that way about Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants!
I haven’t been rating books that long but I definitely have had experiences where I’ve re-read a book I remembered as being amazing and thought “meh” (or the reverse). Tastes do change, I think, and sometimes it comes down to how you’re feeling and how life is going at the time.
So true! I even think about that these days when I pick up a book I don’t enjoy. I wonder if some times it is just not the right time in my life for a certain book!
What a fun idea!
My guess with Nicholas Sparks would be the similarity of his books makes the more recent ones seem less amazing. I’ve only read 2, but my mom read a whole bunch, and they definitely seem to follow a formula. For me personally that lessens my enjoyment as I go. Dan Brown is my best example. Just a thought!
That is just a good point! I am sure the same goes for many authors who follow a formula, such as James Patterson! I can not get in to Dan Brown!
I love this post!!! We all change over time. And our taste changes too.
Thank you! So true!
Haha so relatable! I haven’t been rating books for too long but even now I look back and think what the heck was I thinking?
I know! I question what my past self could have possibly been thinking!
I love this idea for a post! I’d be curious to see what you think of The Lovely Bones if you ever reread it.. I disliked it a lot personally. 🙂
I have a feeling I will disliked it to! I am very curious to see if I will even be able to get through it. The author actually wrote my least favourite novel of all time so that is not a good sign!
I like this idea very much. But I hardly give 5 stars so If I am going to re-visit them then I am afraid you can count them on your fingers then
I have been more picky with my 5 stars these days as well, but you can do something similar just reflecting on books you enjoyed years ago!
I may actually do it 🙂
thanks for the post idea
I’m so scared of doing something like this! I think most of the books I gave 5 stars when I started to read YA would get lower ratings now, but I don’t want to reread them and I don’t like the idea of changing the rating without re reading them. So many of the book on this list would also be on mine, I remember giving 5 stars to Looking for Alaska, a few Nicholas Spark books, Dash & Lily, and Anna and the French Kiss.
This was a really fun post to read. Great job! 💗
Thank you so much! These will remain 5 stars until I reread them, if I ever do! Those were my honest feelings at the time so wouldn’t be right to change them now!
Yes, that’s exactly how I feel. No matter how much I suspect that some of those book would be 3 stars if I re read them, I’m not willing to change the rating until I actually re read them.
I have actually changed ratings on books based on a later re-reading of them. But I can admit that Nicholas Sparks will probably always be a guilty pleasure read for me. They are mostly predictable, but I still really enjoy reading them. Honestly, I haven’t picked up a Nicholas Sparks book in a couple/few years, so I’m not sure what rating I would give them now.
His books are my go to guilty pleasure reads! I do think there is something different about his newer books that I just don’t connect with as much but he has a new one coming out this year and you know I’ll be reading it!
My first Sparks was A Walk to Remember, but I think my favorite might have been True Believer, though I though Safe Haven was pretty good.
I adored Dash and Lily. I liked Alaska, but it is probably my least favorite JG book. I know! I am a black sheep on that one. Anna was great too, but my favorite book was Isla’s. We got all that closure on the couples, and I thought it was the most straight forward, two crazy kids in love story of the three. I think I am a black sheep on that one too.
I have heard a lot of people didn’t like Alaska! It’s one of the reasons why I am wanting to reread it! I have yet to read Isla but I did like her character so I should read it some time!
I totally agree with Looking for Alaska and Anna and the French Kiss. I rated them so highly but if I were to re-read them now I’d probably give them a really low rating, mainly because there’s things that happened in each book that I didn’t notice the first time around which make me so angry now haha!
That is true for me too! I wasn’t as critical of a reader back then!
Ooh, great post! I think so many of our childhood favorites tend to change with the times (and our mentalities), so I’m not at all surprised you think you’d find these conflicting now. I myself liked My Sister’s Keeper in middle school, but YIKES I agree it’s so emotionally manipulative for me now. So weird how perspectives change so much within a decade… 😂
I can not believe how much my reading tastes have changed over the years. I realize I loved a lot of emotionally manipulative books back then and I hate them now!
At least you realize it now! I know so many people who still consider some really bad books (in my opinion of course) Shakespeare level lol. 😛
Wonderful post! I was definitley more…generous with my five star ratings when I was just getting back into reading 😂 I’m sure a lot of my ratings would change upon a re-read. But that’s just natural, tastes always change with time.
Thank you! That is so true! I feel like blogging has really helped me discover the kind of books that I love as well.
Hahahhaa yes definitely! I used to give teenage erotica/steamy romance with mystery a 4- star atleast and now I just find them so so so trashy that I probably would never read those lol
Hahaha I love that!😋
It’s so interesting to see what you thought was 5 star before but may not be now! I haven’t read Looking For Alaska or Turtles All the Way Down, so I think my opinion will be different from what others thought but still hoping to like it <3 Fun post xx
There are so many mixed opinions about John Green so I would be curious to see what you think! Thank you!
I read My Sister’s Keeper when I think I was probably 18 or 19, I remember being completely hooked to it. I am now 26 and have been nervous to go back to Jodi Picoult, so many people have now mentioned the emotional manipulation in her books, I don’t remember feeling that at the time, but it was a long time ago and my reading has changed so much since then.
You put in to words exactly how I feel about that book. I have heard great things about her newest book so I’m thinking about giving that a chance!