BOOKS I’M TOO SCARED TO PICK UP PLEASE SEND HELP

Posted on by rain @ bookdragonism

Hullo, bookdragons!

We all have books we can’t wait to pick up but we’re also terrified of at the same time (the duality of dead trees you see). Most of the time, we know that we will love these books but the thought of actually reading them makes us balk in fear. I know that YOU know this feeling all too well that is why I’m using “us” and “we” over here. This is a collective struggle.

I, for one, am also scared of a lot of books and I don’t mean the horror ones (nobody asked but I recently enjoyed The Girl from the Well) or the thick ass ones that can serve as murder weapons if you have enough arm strength to wield them (I’m looking at my hardbound copy of The Priory of the Orange Tree). I’m talking about the books that can demolish my heart and make me sob my eyes out at 1:00 in the morning. Those are the books that I fear.

In this post I will be exposing myself for the wimp that I am so grab some popcorns and revel in my unshed tears!

Here are some of the books I’m really scared of reading:

HAVE YOU HEARD THAT WE’RE GETTING AN ADAPTATION OF JADE CITY? Also the announcement came out weeks after I talked about a Jade City adaptation on this blog?? I definitely manifested this you’re welcome.

Yes, I’m really excited to see the sexy Kaul siblings on screen. No, the excitement I felt when I saw the adaptation news didn’t make me less fearful of the last book in this series. I’m so thankful that Jade Legacy comes out in 2021 and not this year because The Burning God already gave me enough pain thank you very much.

I fear this book because I know Fonda Lee will not pull any punches in this series conclusion (figuratively and literally). The first two books almost made all of my hair white (anime style) and even though I still have a lot of time to prepare myself for this book, I know I will never be ready for it.

Ever since Uncle Rick dropped the ball of pain that is The Burning Maze, I became more fearful of his future releases than usual. Now that we’re in the end of the Trials of Apollo, I have a lot of fears™ because I WILL NOT SURVIVE ANOTHER MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH. I’m also sad because for the first time in so many years, Uncle Rick won’t have a pending book release after Tower of Nero. I don’t know what’s in store for the Riordanverse afterwards but at least there are still a lot of Rick Riordan Presents books to look forward to.

I read Ace of Shades in 2018 and it was easily one of my absolute favorite reads of that year. However, I haven’t read the sequel yet because 1) I don’t have a copy, 2) I never had the time to buy/read it, 3) I need to reread book one because my memory is rusty and most importantly, 4) every single person I know who has read King of Fools was absolutely destroyed by it. I am so afraid to be broken by this book. Even though I hardly remember anything about the plot, I am still very invested in the characters and I’m not prepared to know what has happened to them after all this time.

The last book in the series, Queen of Volts, comes out this year and of course I am not ready for THAT as well. This didn’t stop my impulsive ass from requesting the book on Edelweiss though. The funny thing is that I ACTUALLY GOT APPROVED so now I have no excuse to catch up on this series soon.

It’s not a secret that I’m a self-proclaimed Greek mythology trash and it’s a huge shame that I haven’t read this book yet. But look, I HAVE REALLY VALID REASONS OKAY. I am not ready for the emotions and the pain that this book can bring 😭😭😭

I already know how this ends and thinking about it is already painful. I’m planning to read this some time this year so I’ll just prepare a truckload of tissues. I know I will need it.

It’s only a matter of time before my friends start to bully me into reading this series. The Daevabad trilogy has a lot of hype and it also has a lot of wounded readers at its belt. Seeing my friends’ reactions and comments about this series, I am sure that my heart will get broken by it more than once and…(yes you guessed it again) I AM NOT READY FOR THAT. I haven’t even read a single word from this series and yet I’m already attached to the characters and I know there’s also a very particular cave scene I need to prepare myself for.

Oh the random things you pick up from random screams on book twitter 😌

JUST SEEING THE TITLE AND THE BOOK COVER IS GIVING ME A DOSE OF TERROR. Queen Talyien has already been through a lot in The Wolf of Oren-Yaro and I can’t imagine what kind of hell she has to go through in this sequel 😭

Even though I am scared of this sequel, I still have a lot of happiness in my heart because I’m going to be a part of the blog tour for The Ikessar Falcon next month! I have Caffeine Book Tours to thank for this opportunity to break my heart earlier than usual because I already have the e-ARC waiting ominously in my Kindle library.

I hope Rayyel chokes in this book ❤️

These are just the books at the top of my head but I know there are still a lot more that I fear. I’ll end this post by giving you examples of books I have already read and YOU should really be afraid of:

That’s all for now! I hope y’all are having a great reading month so far.

What are books that you’re too scared to pick up?

Published by rain @ bookdragonism

a bookdragon who constantly spouts haiku • traveler through books • highly combustible • do not disturb while reading • profile picture by arigate

66 thoughts on “BOOKS I’M TOO SCARED TO PICK UP PLEASE SEND HELP”

    1. i understand! tpw is definitely terrifying in more ways than one. when you read it though, always remember that you can scream at me whenever you want. i’ll try to ease up your frustrations or if things go sideways i’ll be crying with you.

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  5. I totally know the feeling. I’m so scared to read The Hero of Ages and the rest of the Throne of Glass series series 😭😭 I love those books and I’m not ready for either of the series to end

    I really wanna read Jade City series, the poppy wars, hopefully I’ll get to them soon 🤞

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    1. ahdjd the throne of glass series is really something. i remember crying over the last two books so GOOD LUCK. i’ll pray for your soul whenever you read jade city and tpw. my dm’s are always open if you want a shoulder to cry on 💖

      Liked by 1 person

  8. rain,,, i’m going to do a re-read of king of fools before i read queen of volts (i really wanna get accepted on netgalley) so if u wanna buddy read both, i would NOT mind. (also i didn’t LOVE king of fools but shit hit THE FAN at the 70% mark and i,,, was not prepared. if ur into political intrigue i think you’ll enjoy kof) also the song of Achilles is super good and i’m excited for you to read!

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    1. thank you for the buddy read offer! i’ll see if i can actually get to them soon and if i do i’ll hit you up. i definitely loved the political intrigue in the first book so i hope i will get hooked by king of fools as well. im terrified to read song of achilles but im slowly building up the courage to read it 😌

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  10. This post is relatable to my entire tbr. But also my chaotic mood reading brain is scared of big (and sad) books so I never feel like picking them up welp. Anyways, hehe I have basically all of these on my tbr too. I’ve been meaning to read Amanda Foody for ages, as well as The Daevebad trilogy. I’m also behind on like ALL of Rick’s books but hopefully going to change that soon once I do a PJO reread. Even both of my siblings have read them all so like I NEED to get off my butt lmao. The Poppy War probably scares me the most though because *screams* high fantasy. But I’ve just heard the most amazing things about it. Also Rain, you convinced me to pick up Jade City so eeepp. Not ready to be broken by Song of Achilles either.

    One on mine is probably The Starless Sea. And also A Torch Against The Night. I’ve read the first half of this book literally twice but chicken out because my emotions just,,, nope. I get anxious. But I need to just be brave ya know? I also have Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman up there. Funnily enough, though I actually plan on reading ALL of these ones very soon. They’ve been glaring at me long for far too long

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    1. im afraid to read the ember books too! i heard they’re really painful 😭 would also love to read the starless sea soon. im ready to sell my heart to erin morgenstern again.

      good luck with jade city! i hope you love it as much as i do

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  11. I’ve been putting off Jade War for the exact same reason. I just don’t know when I’ll be able to handle it 😬😬😬

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  12. I love how you ended this post with books you have read and we should be scared of reading! 😀 I’ve been considering reading The Poppy War for some time but now I’m scared! Lovely post as always, Rain!

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  13. I have read The Poppy War Jade City, and The Dragon Republic back to back in the previous months and I never came back the same 😔 so I am very terrified of reading the rest of the books in these series kskskd i love Pain and Suffering

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  14. I’m honestly scared of all HUGE books as well as very hyped up books. Huge books, because, well, they’re such a commitment! It’s the main reason I haven’t read Muse of Nightmares despite enjoying Strange the Dreamer. And hyped up books just… so much pressure to like it too, both from my expectations as well as from other readers’, like with The Poppy War and Daevabad trilogy. Especially if it talks about something important- it’s the main reason I haven’t read the Hate You Give yet.

    I’m basically scared of many books 😭😂

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    1. i understand! huge books can be sooo intimidating but i can vouch for the greatness that is muse of nightmares. it’s so good. THUG and TPW are masterpieces too. hope you get to read them soon but yeah it takes quite a while to muster up courage to read these books 😭

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  15. Well… I haven’t read any of these books/started any of these series because I AM SCARED. The Daevebad trilogy and the Poppy War trilogy are EVERYWHERE on Twitter so they better be fantastic at this point 😂. The Song of Achilles is so well-loved in the community so I hope it won’t let me down. This post was great!

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  16. oh boy oh boy half of the books on your warning list at the end of the post are on my soon-tbr list 😬 as for song of achilles….it’s one of my favorite books. but….i sobbed. several times. beautifully written though 👀

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  18. OMG I love the idea of this post!! I’m definitely so scared of starting the Daevbad series and The Poppy War series, even though I’m gonna be joining the poppywarathon in September. I’m also so intimidated by the Illuminae files because damn how big are those??? I’m also waiting for all the books to come out for the Aru Shah series as well as the Trials of Apollo series. I remember reading the first book in the apollo series when it came out and I didn’t like it very much, it was just okay. But I wanna read the rest of the series because Solangelo and also how the fuck does Jason die?? Literally, nobody will tell me because they’re all so upset that he died a very silly death?? Jason was never my fav character but I GOTTA FIND WHAT HAPPENED.

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    1. jason definitely DID NOT DESERVE THAT. i also didn’t like him a lot but he didn’t deserve to d*e like that 😭😭😭

      tpw is definitely intimidating but the payoff is so worth it. oh and i recommend listening to the illuminae files audiobooks because i think they’re the best in that format. i have seen the physical copy and it has a very unique format. it’s easier to digest via audiobook 😌

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  19. As a fellow greek mythology fan, I went into The Song of Achilles prepared for how the story would eventually end. I thought I was safe. I’ve never been more mistaken in my life! Of course I ended up weeping my eyes out at 3 in the morning. It’s such a beautiful book though, totally worth the tears. I hope you’ll pick it up someday!

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  20. you’re afraid of the song of achilles? as you should. also i wasn’t scared of the silvered serpents (i was actually looking forward to it) until i saw it on your list…

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  21. OMG i was tweeting about this today and here it is on your blog. Ok first of all the series i’m most scared of reading are the Poppy War and City of Brass. 1. the prospect of not liking them is scary (and i’ll def have to hide from the community) and 2. being so emotional about it that i flip out on the tl. Also AGReE AbouT the IkessAR FalCOn i cannot even ProCESS this pain. KAy has mentioned you won’t be happy WHEN WILL TALI BE HAPPY HUH!

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    1. i understand!!! tpw is definitely intimidating and i can guarantee u that i will not get angry if you end up not liking it. also i’ve been procrastinating on reading the ikessar falcon but i gotta read it soon for the blog tour and im not ready for pain 😭

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  22. don’t worry about reading song of Achilles!! It’s FINE! And FLUFFY. and fUN and nOTHING TO WORRY ABOU THERE 🙂 🙂 🙂

    (also I’m wrecked and will not recover)

    I’m terrified of most of these toooo, but add in Poppy War to my list of books I keep saying I’ll read by I’m already too fragile. I also really want to read City of Brass but the thickness scares me a bit 🙊😂 and I stopped reading Riordan books after that Certain Character Death. I didn’t actually realise it till now?! I have the next Apollo book I just 😂💀 have not got the energy to be hurt again. Those books were supposed to bE SAFE HAPPY PLACES, MR. RIORDAN 😭😭😭😭😭

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    1. UNCLE RICK BETRAYED US WITH THE BURNING MAZE 😭😭

      also read TPW soon cait 🗡️ your ig stories about song of achilles made me really more scared of this book. im not ready for pain. I HAVE READ A LOT OF QUOTES AND OHMYGODS IM ALREADY DESTROYED

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  23. I think the only books here I’ve even heard of is Poppy war and Song of Achilles.I’m so behind Trials of Apollo. I still haven’t gotten past book one but unfortunately I know about that certain character death. The book I’m scared to pick up is Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

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  24. *cackles* Poppy War hands down, it’s why I’ve taken forever and still need to pick it up…I’m just not ready for the pain sis 😭 I still need to read City of Brass but honestly…half the books I need to read I’m scared of getting my heart ripped out. It’s probably why I’ve been sticking to Urban Fantasy books recently and rereading because I already know what’s going to happen. (not that, that makes the pain any easier xD) I have started The Bone Witch (are you proud of me, finally started it!) but I stopped at page 99 because I’m terrified to continue *snorts* I just know stuffs gonna go down and I’m…I’m not ready for that. Love this post so much sis ❤

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    1. CLO READ TPW OR ELSE 🗡️🗡️🗡️

      jk take your time and read it when you’re ready ❤️ also the bone witch has a lot of pain too so guard your heart but i swear the payoff is so worth it!

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      1. I keep looking at it at my shelf, think of you and then pick up another book because THE PAIN I’M NOT READY

        just know when I do start it, I’ll be in your dms shrieking probably as I go ❤ gah I know, I'm so scared for what's gonna happen to Tea whaaaa

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  27. I am TERRIFIED of any books that have dogs on the cover or in the description, because if that dog dies, I will not be okay (!!!). It doesn’t matter if the book is marketed as a fluffy contemporary; I get way too scared that the rug will be ripped out from under me!

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  28. Love this post! For me it’s definitely The Poppy War 🙈 I’ve started it but I’m getting through it slowly. It’s a really good read but I am definitely scared. I’m also worried about The Ikessar Falcon. The first book really messed with me and thinking about picking up the second book is intimidating. Jade City is on my tbr for next month or after. Whenever the readalongs are happening. I’m also here to bully you into reading the Daevabad trilogy so, READ THE DAEVABAD TRILOGY.

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  29. i don’t know whether it’s a good thing that i read these violent delights, jade city, jade war, and the song of achilles and none of them destroyed me 😭😭 i’m just… not an emotional person at all, and if you tell me a book is emotionally damaging, the chances of me actually getting destroyed by it will go down. that being said, i’m so excited to see if jade legacy will be the one to finally destroy me. it’s a testament to fonda lee’s skill that i didn’t really like jade war, but i’ll probably still read jade legacy because i want to see how the trilogy ends. and i wanna meet the next generation of the kauls and maiks!!

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    1. caitlin i envy you so much 😭 i wasn’t this much of a crybaby years ago but now..things have changed. i know jade legacy is going to make me cry and i hope that it will FINALLY make your tears fall down

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  31. Here to say that I binged the first two books of The Shadow Game series, absolutely adored them and, even though I have a copy, have STILL not read the final book. I want to – I do. But I feel like I want to reread the first two again and who knows when I will have time for that…

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