Happy Hump Day – it’s Top 5 Wednesday! As a reminder, Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly roundup of cool/fun bookish things that is hosted by Sam over at Thoughts on Tomes on YouTube. You can visit the Goodreads group for topics (and such, as Sam always says). I’ve talked about some of my problematic faves before, but this post brought some things to light for me and made me think about the trash that I seem to like. Ha. I can’t help it – I know that some of these are inherently problematic, and while that doesn’t make it better, I at least *say* these things when I recommend the books. In any case – here’s my list!
Top 5 Problematic Favorite Books
- The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro. This one had to be pointed out to me, actually – I was in such a state of book-hangover-ness that I didn’t pick up on it on my own. But Jamie is essentially trying to force Charlotte to get over her trauma and date him when she’s not ready. That’s a problem. And even though I love the book, it niggles at me when I think about it now.
- Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon. You can read all about this problematic fave in my full review, but here’s the rundown. Cash is an adult and Tourmaline is barely 18 and it is expressly stated that he can’t date her and he does it anyway. Also, he’s the only black guy in the motorcycle gang and is treated like dirt for most of the book. Several problems. Still love it.
- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. Of the Throne of Glass series books, this is my favorite, by a long shot. But the whole series is super problematic, and super cishet, and super white. So this one should be a given.
- Noteworthy by Riley Redgate. This one was a little tricky for me to quantify – the book itself wasn’t problematic, but the marketing surrounding the book was. This book is NOT about a non-gender-conforming individual at all – but that’s how it was marketed, and therefore, people were hurt and disappointed. And that’s not okay.
- Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. So ableist. So so ableist.
What problematic books do you love? I can’t wait to read other people’s lists for this one!
Happy reading!
-A.
Snark & Squee 
Great list! I can’t wait to read Done Dirt Cheap, it’s been on my tbr forever.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally agree with Done Dirt Cheap, yet I forgot about that book 😀 I didn’t know anything about marketing surrounding Noteworthy, but it was one of my favorite book this year!
LikeLiked by 1 person