Okay, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, but I’m tired and can’t sleep so I’ll do this now.
I’m so completely upset with this series. I remember when I began reading it in like sixth grade I recommended it to every person I could find, because there was only the first two finished books at the time. I remember seeing people talk about the quality drop and character change in the third book, but I remember really noticing it in the fourth. I remember excitedly telling my mom what happened in each chapter whenever it updated. I remember stopping midway through silence breaking. I remember the series ending with storm of bells. I remember crying because I loved the series so much, how I cried because it was over and because somewhere along the many books I couldn’t recognize the characters anymore. I remember being so excited when the seventh book was announced. I remember seeing how weird everything was, and how vague it all felt. (Also wrong, I’m going to vent quickly about how he was like, I’ll use the n word for authenticity of the era, but then mentioned the Statue of Liberty which didn’t even exist at that point) I remember sticking out reading the seventh book, even though I still couldn’t tell you the plot of it. I remember starting the eighth book, seeing them with pirates for so long and for no reason other than it being the worst content I’ve ever read. I remember when I stopped reading and promised that I would finish before school started back up. I am almost halfway into my senior year of high school and I can’t bear to read more than the first book, and even that’s just for nostalgia.
I feel dumb and childish. I feel like I should’ve seen where the quality dropped, but I felt like it was so subtle that I couldn’t tell until it was too late. I wish I had just stopped reading after the wedding book. I wish I wasn’t ashamed of the book series that inspired me to write and to read more and more. I wish I could, in good conscience, recommend these books to others. There are so many that still read the books and I can’t even bear to look at the bad cover for the ninth (?) book.
If anyone wants to tell me that I’m wrong and that the quality is the same, please do. I do genuinely feel guilty for liking something so long and realizing now that it’s trashy.
