Totally Should've Book Tag

Story Time: For the past few months, I’ve been checking out some book bloggers on YouTube because I figured it would be good blogging research. And along the way, I’ve noticed a lot of the book tags I’m familiar with or have done myself, such as the Unpopular Opinions Book Tag and the Cake Tag. I’ve also discovered some unfamiliar tags circulating around the BookTube community. In fact, I was already eyeballing the Totally Should’ve Book Tag when TT @ Intro to Blurb tagged me for it. So this works out very nicely. Thank you, TT! 

(Just as a side note, I realize I have a backlog of about seven tags, some dating all the way back to November 2015 or thereabouts. I promise, I haven’t forgotten about those, and I will get to them eventually. It just might take me a while since I tend to do tags as the mood strikes me.) 

Before diving into the tag, I also want to mention that I noticed this tag has evolved a bit since it’s creation last year. Because I’m a fan of both the original questions and the added questions, I decided to go ahead and use them all. And since I found the original tag video, I’ll include the link here, so you can check that one out as well. 

Without any further ado, here’s the tag. (Click on the book covers for the Goodreads descriptions, if you'd like.) 

Totally should have gotten a sequel

We were promised a sequel to THE HOST way back in 2012. Actually, we were promised two sequels, and I have yet to hear a peep since then. I want these sequels SO BADLY I frequently imagine buying Stephenie Meyer a small chocolate store as incentive to write/finish them. Please don’t try to tell me this is unreasonable. (My thinking is, if she sneakily wrote LIFE AND DEATH and dropped it on us without much warning, mayhap she will do that with THE HOST sequels as well? One can always hope.) 

Totally should have had a spin-off series

  

All right, I realize this is probably not going to be a popular opinion, given the backlash over the Hunger Games theme park idea and the potential furthering of the Hunger Games movie franchise. And I do understand some of the reasons given against those—don’t get me wrong. But I would love to read a trilogy of books narrated by someone from the Capitol, someone who watches Katniss experience the games and gradually comes to see the problems with the Capitol lifestyle. That kind of awakening would be super satisfying for me, and I would enjoy having a unique chance to explore the culture and the world of THE HUNGER GAMES further. I also think, if handled correctly, a trilogy like that could strengthen the main message of THE HUNGER GAMES rather than compromising it. Maybe I should buy Suzanne Collins a small chocolate store as well—you know, just to sweeten the deal. *writes check* 

An author who totally should write more books

Speaking of Suzanne Collins, I have not heard anything about what she’s working on now, and I would love to read some new stuff from her. I also wish Margaret Mitchell had written more books (and, you know, not been hit by a car) after writing GONE WITH THE WIND. 

A character who totally should have ended up with someone else

  

For my top three, (since I can’t stick with just one) I’ll just say I wasn’t a fan of the love triangle endgames in the LEGEND trilogy, the Grisha trilogy, and the MATCHED trilogy (I haven’t finished reading that trilogy yet, so I shouldn’t judge—but from what I do know of the ending, I do not approve). 

Totally should have ended differently

I don’t actually think ALLEGIANT should have had an entirely different ending, but I do think what does happen at the end could have been handled better. *hides from rabid fans* I’m not upset about the conclusion, don't get me wrong. It’s just that the execution fell a little flat for me, especially when I reread the book. I felt that there were a few holes in the logic of the resolution, and I would have liked it if things had been wrapped up in a more meaningful way. With a little tweaking, I think the last 100 pages could have been extra powerful. 

Totally should have had a movie franchise

  

For this one, I want to say THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, but I honestly don’t know how well that would translate to film. In the wrong hands, it has the potential to be worse than awful. I’d rather just stick with the book and my poor, pummeled heart. So instead I’m going to say the LEGEND trilogy. While the dystopian movie industry might be in danger of overload, I think these books would translate well to screen, and I think the visual aspect—with all the landscapes and technology—would be stunning. I would also love to see WOOL turned into a movie. And since the film rights have been picked up for ILLUMINAE, I am anxious to see where that will go. 

Totally should have had a TV show

   

  

I think The Lunar Chronicles would translate well into TV show format, especially considering how long WINTER is. This would also allow the writers to incorporate some of the stories from STARS ABOVE into the narrative. 

Totally should have had only one point of view

I have to, once more, pull the ALLEGIANT card. *hides from angry fans, again* But Tris and Four’s voices weren’t very distinct at all. Initially, I thought I was just having trouble because I was engrossed in the story and not paying enough attention, but even when I reread it, I had to keep going back and checking to see whose head I was in. So, for the most part, I came away feeling that Four’s perspective didn’t add a whole lot to the story. 

However, I did rather like the idea of being in Four’s head for part of ALLEGIANT, so I guess in this case I would change this category from “Totally should have had only one point of view” to “Totally should have polished the POVs a little more”, or something like that. *resumes hiding from angry fans* 

Totally should have a cover change

 

I haven’t read this book yet, but I would be much more motivated to pick up 172 HOURS ON THE MOON if it had a nicer cover. The original cover looks a bit tacky, and the redesign doesn’t make me go all grabbyhands. Of course, I would love to read this book someday, I just wish the covers didn’t make me want to cringe/yawn. 

Totally should have kept the original covers

 

This cover captures the mood of the story beautifully

  

These ones make me want to dust the entire house

DELIRIUM. Oh my goodness, the cover change for this one bothers me SO. STINKING. MUCH. I loved the original cover for DELIRIUM. I mean, for one thing, redesigning the covers mid-series is basically pure evil. And for another, they took a lovely, expressive cover and changed it to something frumpy and gross. And then they made the covers for PANDEMONIUM and REQUIEM even more frumpy and gross. This is probably the main reason why I haven’t purchased the trilogy yet. It would feel like I was decorating my bookshelves with vases of dusty, obviously fake flowers. Just, no. (I do still plan to buy them, and they will probably end up growing on me. I just like complaining.) 

Totally should have stopped at book one

This is not a hill that I would die on, but it would have been mildly nice if I AM NUMBER FOUR had just been a strong, stand-alone novel. I’ve only read the first three books in the Lorien Legacies series, but the writing got progressively worse from book one to book three, which frustrated me. I still do want to finish reading the series at some point, as the stories themselves are interesting. But I find it difficult to get excited over that prospect because the first three books read like my rough drafts. And I don’t read my rough drafts for fun. 

I totally should have stopped reading

ETIQUETTE & ESPIONAGE just didn’t hold my attention, but I forced myself all the way through, hoping it would get better. Instead my mind dragged and I lost a lot of reading momentum and time. You can read my mini review here. 

Totally should have not prejudged 

Confession time: I love love love ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, and I had been drooling over it for more than a year (if I recall correctly) before I got it. But for a couple months there, I wasn’t excited for it because I read some bad reviews and decided it probably wasn’t as good as it looked. So I passed up on some opportunities to buy it, which meant that when I started getting excited for it again, I had to wait extra long before I was able to get my hands on it and the rest of the trilogy. Of course, when I read it, I fell in love and kicked myself for putting it off. The moral of this story is that, if you absolutely want that shiny book beyond all reason, just buy that shiny book and then decide for yourself whether or not you like it. Another person’s opinion is not necessarily going to be your own. 

And that’s it for the tag. I hereby nominate (in no particular order): 

Cait @ Paper Fury // Tessa @ Books, Bubbles, and Arohanui // Victoria @ The Endless Oceans of My Mind // Victoria @ Story Tori’s Blog // Alexa @ Summer Snowflakes // Clara @ Lost in My Library // Danni @ Danni Mae

If I have not tagged you for this, and you would like to participate, please, consider yourself tagged. And if I have tagged you and you would rather forgo this one, that is fine as well. (See, I can be a benevolent world ruler.) 

What about you, little coffee beans? What are some of your answers for this one? Have you ever wrongly pre-judged a book? Have you ever forced yourself to read a book and then regretted it? Is there a book you feel should have ended differently? What are some cover redesigns that seriously irked you?