Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Most Disappointing Books of 2017

Most Disappointing Books of 2017

The end of the year means that its time for our 'best/worst of' lists, so today I have for you my most disappointing books that I read this year. There is still some time left in December, so I could potentially read another disappointing book, but let's hope that doesn't happen.
Not all of these books were necessarily bad, but just disappointed me in one way or another. And obligatory disclaimer that just because I don't like these, doesn't mean that you or anyone else can't like or that you are 'wrong' for liking them. In fact, I'm still going to include links to purchase these books in case they are ones that you still want to pick up despite my less than fabulous opinions on them. 
There is still some time left in December, so I could potentially read another disappointing book, but let's hope that doesn't happen.




Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
I was so disappointed to not like this one. Mulan is by far one of my favorite Disney characters, so I was slightly skeptical of this being advertised as "Mulan-inspired," but I was still excited to jump in. Unfortunately, the protagonist was incredibly annoying, the plot lagged, and there were just too many issues that didn't work well in this book. The cover is lovely, though!
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository





Falling Kingdoms Morgan Rhodes
Another one that I really wanted to enjoy. I had seen so many fantastic words of praise for this series, but I hardly even managed to finish this book. It's dubbed "a YA Game of Thrones," but I don't get that at all. The writing was just incredibly lackluster, the characters were ridiculous, and I just could not get into this one. Another bummer. 


The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova (Review)
Kostova's The Historian is still a book that I look back on with happiness and a bit of awe at how wonderfully crafted it was, so I was thrilled to read another Kostova novel! Sadly, The Shadow Land just fell flat for me. There are some great reviews for it, but it was a chore for me to get through and I didn't quite understand what she was trying to do with this story.
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository






Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
I won't lie, I'm a little bitter about this one. Everyone and their mother raved about it and likened it to a 'Nigerian Harry Potter' and said that it was fantastic. Well, no. I really disliked this one. And yes, it was like Harry Potter, but it was too much like Harry Potter. I could pretty much line up every aspect of thec magic/magical world in that book with things from Harry Potter. I could write a review for this one that goes into more detail, but I don't necessarily know if it would be worth it.

The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen
The cover and the premise of this graphic novel were both so intriguing, but the story lacked much plot, and I also felt pretty confused throughout much of it. I loved the art and drawings in the novel, and for that reason alone I might pick up the second, but that is to be determined. 




The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
I love middle grade novels, especially ones that sound as good at this series! I also know a lot of people that enjoyed this one, but it just didn't match up with me. I liked the concept and some of the major events that occurred, but it was a bit random and dragged on for a bit too long. It's still an enjoyable read, but I was very disappointed.
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository





Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
This a story in which Dr. Preston Grind attempts an experiment called The Infinite Family Project: an attempt to create a Utopian world by having nine couples live and raise their babies communally. I thought this sounded like a brilliant idea, and although it was still a good overall story, Wilson just disappointed me in his execution. I felt that so much more could have been done with this premise, but Wilson just didn't take it there.
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository





The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken
I loved this cover. I loved the premise. But the execution? Disappointing. It felt a bit more juvenile than I was expecting and just didn't quite tell the story as well as I was expecting. Despite this, it's still a fun story and I'm sure that there are a lot of people out there who would still love it.
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository




House of Names by Colm Toibin (Review)
This was a story inspired by the myth of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon and it was... not good. I had high hopes, but to be honest... it was just boring. I'm not even sure what else to say. Very little happened, the characters were not created well, and I just didn't connect at all. This made me sad. I've heard Toibin's other novels are great, though, so maybe I'll give those a shot.
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository



What were your most disappointing reads of 2017?


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3 comments:

  1. Ah, The Shadow Land! The Historian is one of my favorites, so I was really looking forward to this one. I was pretty disappointed. It was very repetitive and had little payoff. I thought Perfect Little World sounded really unique and fresh, but I actually ended up DNFing pretty early on.

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  2. The Falling Kingdoms series was one I've been wanting to try (mainly for those awesome covers, truth be told) so it's good to see your take on them. I was always kinda skeptical of the "YA Game of Thrones" label anyway... and School for Good and Evil is another one I keep looking at but never pulling the trigger on. Maybe a library read if I ever get a chance...

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  3. I hate when a much-anticipated book ends up being a big disappointment! The two biggest disappointments that I've read recently are THE CHILD FINDER by Rene Denfeld and THE HOUSE ON FOSTER HILL by Jamie Jo Wright. I thought I'd love them both, but the former was just weird and the latter wasn't very well written. Bummer.

    Happy TTT!

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