I read some truly great books this year. I also read some books that were… not so great. I’m not saying these books are bad, per se, they’re just books I wanted to like and didn’t. Most of the books on this list are ones I didn’t like, but a few of those are ones I know a lot of people absolutely loved. These are just my opinions, and I do hope you enjoyed some of these books more than I did. Without further ado, here are my most disappointing reads of the year (in the order in which I read them):
Caraval by Stephanie Garber. I… don’t like this book. To be fair, I did enjoy reading it; I was interested enough in the story to keep reading, and wouldn’t say I hated the process of reading this book. However, after I finished reading it, I realized how bad the story actually is. I think it has some really terrible messages for young readers, and they’re presented in a way that isn’t entirely obvious (which isn’t great). I didn’t think the writing, or any other element, was good enough to save it in my opinion.
Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves. This book was just boring. Which is particularly disappointing since there is a lot of ‘action’. It felt very stereotypical YA fantasy, and I lost interest pretty quickly.
A Paris All Your Own edited by Eleanor Brown. This one wasn’t bad at all, it just didn’t live up to my expectations. I wasn’t totally interested in all of the stories, and I really just wanted more from it.
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit. I went into this book thinking I would get a funny memoir about mansplaining, but it didn’t feel new at all. I’ve heard all of these anecdotes – or nearly identical ones – already, and I wasn’t impressed with this book at all.
Golden House by Salman Rushdie. To be fair, I went into this book knowing I wasn’t a huge fan of Rushdie’s writing, but I was hoping to enjoy it, because when does a major author write a satire about the sitting US president? Unfortunately, I didn’t love the writing, and thus, the book.
Rose & Poe by Jack Todd. I really enjoyed The Tempest and was looking forward to this retelling. What I got was a weird novel that came off as uncomfortably sexist. To the point where I didn’t care what the author’s intention was, because I was almost too uncomfortable to make it through this book.
The Magician King by Lev Grossman. I did enjoy The Magicians, but I’ve noticed that my opinion of Lev Grossman’s writing has definitely changed (I think it has something to do with grad school). I didn’t like the writing all that much, but I also thought the story was just really tedious and annoying.
The Bear and the Nightingle by Katherine Arden. This is my biggest disappointment of the year, because I thought I was going to love this book. It hurts me to say that I didn’t like it, because I actually thought it was a good book, I just personally had a lot of trouble connecting to it. I might give it another try eventually, but for now, it’s not a favorite.
What book disappointed you the most this year?
Thank you for your review! I understand what you mean about ‘The Bear and the Nightingale’, on one hand I loved the story and the ideas around it, but then there was one or two things that really didn’t sit well with me and partially ruined my reading experience!
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Glad I’m not the only one! I think it’s a good book, it’s just not the right book for me.
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I agree about Men Explain Things To Me. I have a lot of respect for the author, but it was not an easy read.
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I agree. It wasn’t a bad book by any means, and I think it’s valuable for people who might not be paying attention to those kinds of things, but, for me, it wasn’t anything original.
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I was disappointed by The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. I loved the other books of his I’ve read but this one did not click with me at all. As you say about Bear and Nightingale, it may be a good book, just not for me.
And I did not like the widely acclaimed Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. The Message was too overwhelming for me and the characters did not convince.
On the plus side, I read so many good books this year I had totally forgotten about those – had to go back in the archives to look them up!
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Me too! I only remembered a few of these when I went to right this post. I guess that’s a good thing.
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Wicked Like A Wildfire by Lana Popovic. I’m disappointed that I’m admitting I’m disappointed! I wanted to fall in lust with this book, and it was beautiful, but it felt overindulgent with wording so much that I grew bored.
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I hate when that happens. Especially when it’s a book you think you’ll love.
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That’s good to know about Men Explain Things to Me– I’ve seen it around a lot and I’ve almost picked it up on multiple occasions.
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I think if you want an introduction to the topic, it’s great. But if you’ve been paying attention (and it seems like you have), there really isn’t anything new.
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I didn’t like Caraval either and I’ve heard similar things about Blood Rose Rebellion. Great list!
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Thanks! Glad to find someone else who didn’t like Caraval. There seem to be so few of us.
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hehe yes too true 😉
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Mine was probably Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. I was really expecting an amazing dark retelling but instead just got one of the most awful main characters ever. I was really disappointed.
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Oh no! I was looking forward to that one. It’s so hard to get over bad MCs though.
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I still recommend it because I know most people really enjoyed the story. I think I’m in the minority’s on it, haha.
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I might give it a try one day. But I’ll definitely get it from the library, just in case. Thanks!
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I’m planning on reading Caraval soon so I will be a bit more cautious before jumping into it… great post!
My most disappointing books probably were ACOWAR and the two Colleen Hoover books I read!
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ACOWAR was definitely a let down, but I was expecting it to be. And after I’ll I’ve heard this year, I have definitely lost all interest in Colleen Hoover’s books.
I hope you enjoy Caraval more than I did, though!
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I felt the exact same way about Caraval! Like it held my attention and I enjoyed reading it, but after I was so underwhelmed and unimpressed? And I feel like there was so much unanswered? And Scarlett was not a good protagonist, and there were so many other things wrong about it.
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Exactly! I read it in one sitting, but immediately after reading it I realized it sucked. There’s going to be a sequel, so it might answer some of those questions, but I won’t be reading it.
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Sorry you had so many disappointments!
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It’s okay! I read over 100 books this year, so it’s par for the course. 😊 Thanks!
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I felt exactly the same way about Caraval. I was interested enough to finish it I suppose but once I had I just kinda sat there disappointed that it wasn’t nearly what I’d hoped it would be.
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Exactly. I was expecting The Night Circus, and it definitely fell short.
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I haven’t read any of the books on your list, but am really surprised to see a few of them, like Men Explain Things To Me and The Bear and the Nightangle. I’m sorry you didn’t like these books as much as you were hoping to!
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Thanks! I was pretty surprised I didn’t like either of those, too. I was expecting to love The Bear and the Nightingale.
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I haven’t read any of these. I have one book that really sticks out as a didn’t like – “Dating the It Guy” by … I can’t even remember her name! Kristen something. I just didn’t like it. Great job on your list 🙂
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Thanks! I feel like there’s always one bad book that stands out haha
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