Top Ten Worlds I Would NOT Inhabit/Characters I Would Not Trade Places With If They Payed Me in Solid Gold
I know the actual title of this post seems mean, but I would never, ever want to permanently inhabit these places or be these characters.
1. Katniss/Panem, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. No. I'm sorry. No amount of boys passing me life-sustaining carbs would ever be able to force me to choose to live in Panem. Love the series, but that country is so messed up.
2. Cassie, The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. Terrifying. The United States that Cassie knows is utterly terrifying. Like, wet-your-pants-might-as-well-curl-up-and-die-because-you're-going-to-anyway brand of terrifying.
3. Amelia, Hereafter trilogy by Tara Hudson. Oh, Amelia. This series is lovely, but so incredibly heartbreaking. I wouldn't want to switch places with Amelia because she's strong enough to make the decisions she did. I don't know if I would have been.
4. David/Newcago, Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. I love superhero stories, but this is a superhero horror story. The guys who should be good? Yeah, they're despicable, murderous monsters. Nothankyou.
5. Allie, Blood of Eden trilogy by Julie Kagawa. Vampires plagued with a superiority complex, a super bug, horrifically genetically engineered canibalistic monsters, and a psychopathic genius. Um...I'll pass. This series is so ridiculously good and wrings all the feels out of me, but I could never live in it. I would die. Literally. Immediately. Just...*poof* *iz ded* *rabids go nom nom nom*
6. Liesel/WWII Germany, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The most heartbreaking of this list, I think, because it was a real place and a real time. I can't even begin to imagine the sorrows of the people during that time.
7. The peculiar children in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Creepy, creepy world those kids live in. They have powers, yes, but they are hunted for them, and the only semi-safe option they have is to hide themselves away from the world a la Peter Pan and the Lost Boys and relive the same day over and over and over and over and over.... Never growing up and getting to experience all life has to offer is a horrible thing, and I pity them. They're in their 70s and 80s, and yet, they're still only children.
8. Meghan & Ethan Chase/The Nevernever, Iron Fey & Iron Fey: Forgotten series by Julie Kagawa. Julie sure knows how to write 'em. The Nevernever, aka Faery is the worst. I'd actually take the world in Blood of Eden over the Nevernever because at least Allie knows where she stands. The Nevernever and its inhabitants are always scheming to do you grevious damage, the least of which is death. Give me a dang sword or a branch or whatever, and I'll at least make a stand against the rabids, but in the Iron Fey series, your own words can destroy you faster than a weapon ever could.
9. Ember, Article 5 trilogy by Kristen Simmons. More than some other highly excellent and creeptastic future dystopians (Divergent, Delirium, Legend, Wither, etc), the Article 5 series really does scare me because I can honestly see how we could go from our society today to the shambling country Ember and Chase reside in. This one hits me especially close to home because quite literally, half of the series takes place in my hometown. The square my mom and I watch Shakespeare plays in each summer? Scene to brutal mobs and murder. Wonderful series, but it scares the crap out of me.
10. Tina Fey, Bossypants by Tina Fey. Wait, no, that's a lie. I do want to be Tina Fey. I can do her Sarah Palin impersonation and everything!
Actual #10. Alina/Ravka, Grisha trilogy by
Leigh Bardugo. Unless Mal/The Darkling/Sturmhond/Nikolai are all
shirtless at all times and hanging out with me exclusively, Ravka is not
a place I would want to live. It's terrifying. Thanks a lot, Leigh. You
create the men of my dreams and place them in the world of my
nightmares. You did that on purpose.
So that's my list. Some real (or at least more realistic) worlds, some fantastical, some silly. All are stunningly horrific, and that's one reason I really love all those books. What's on your list this week? Share your links!
I almost put the peculiar children on my list too. They have those powers, but they're treated like freaks. Plus they're stuck in that loop... no I don't think it would be very fun to be them. I haven't read the new book yet, so I don't know what happens to them once they leave, but I can't imagine it's great stuff. Cool list :)
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The Hunger Games made my list as well. I definitely wouldn't want to be Katniss. I still have to read the final book in the Hereafter series. Hopefully the series ends well for Amelia and Josh. A few of your other books are still on my TBR list. Great list!!
ReplyDeleteHere is my TTT: http://jacquesbooknook.blogspot.com/2014/01/top-ten-tuesday-worlds-id-never-want-to.html
Great list! World War Two Germany would be such a harrowing place to live in, I can't even begin to imagine how people got through Hitler's regime.
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Fabulous list. I think The Hunger Games is popular this week. No one wants to live there!
ReplyDeleteI saw an author post on Twitter that she asked her students which worlds they wanted to live in. 2 of them said Panem/Hunger Games. She said, "No. No, you do not!" And over the weekend, I saw a bunch of kids at YAK Fest with these adorable shirts that said fans of HP were waiting for their letters to Hogwarts, fans of Narnia were waiting for doors in their wardrobes, fans of Percy Jackson were waiting to go to Camp Half Blood, but fans of Hunger Games said, "We'll pass." So cute!
DeleteI think I'm going to jump on the band wagon and say I wouldn't want to live in the Hunger Games world or the WWII Germany world
ReplyDeleteGreat list, and so many I agree with. A part of me wouldn't mind Hunger Games if it meant being with Peeta haha. (I know, its silly but I loved his character. And Haymitch, can't forget lovely Haymitch<3 )
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There are truly some awful worlds out there in books! Great list!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading The Iron King soon, I'm excited, but nervous now too, and I've been interested by Hereafter, just been quite unsure about it, this makes me want to consider it more now. This is a fantastic list with some well known books on the list, I'll have to consider them more carefully after your list :)
ReplyDeleteYou wouldn't want to be Katniss for sure and I am not sure I would survive the Nevernever. ;)
ReplyDeletePanem would be high on my list too! I would also add in George RR Martin's Westeros. It is not the greatest place for women. Unless you have dragons, then you're good! :)
ReplyDeleteNo way I would want to live in Panem!
ReplyDeleteSoooo, above all, DO NOT want to go to The Book Thief. It is terrible....and hits close to home.
ReplyDeleteHa! The reason we only have one in common is cause I haven't gotten to the others yet. (: The Book Thief would definitely be on the list if I'd read it. My Grandaddy didn't say much on the subject, but I've seen pictures of the concentration camp he helped liberate. No. Thank. You.
ReplyDeleteAwesome list! I definitely agree with a lot of these especially The Hunger Games. I would NOT want to be there with the possibility of ending up in the arena. Gosh that would be horrible!
ReplyDeleteOh man, you made some good points with this list! A lot of those worlds are places I wouldn't EVER want to be stuck in.
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