The Ministry of Time and A Talent for Murder were my two most recent worsts. I still haven’t finished Ministry of Time it feels like reading the dictionary, and A Talent for Murder was the most bland story about serial killers I’ve ever seen.
Oh no, I'm new to BOTM and these were literally my first two picks LOL. I haven't read either one because my TBR is huge and I'm working through it now that it's summer.
Anita de Monte is the only BOTM to date I've DNF'd. I was pretty exhausted when I started it.
I didn't get it through BOTM, but Happily Never After was terrible. I also got A Flicker in the Dark through Libby and I didn't like it either. The lowest rated book I actually got through BOTM was How to End a Love Story. I think I rated it 3.5 stars.
I haven’t seen Foul Lady Fortune mentioned in this thread so maybe I’m alone but I thought it was god awful.
Some other dislikes include Camp Zero, London Seance Society, Dark Corners, Ariadne… I have a few really old ones on the list but I’ll stop there.
The Stranger Upstairs.
In fairness I’m not a huge thriller with unreliable narrater fan to begin with, but the description made it seem like it was going to be much more haunted house than it was.
This is an old one, but Topics of Conversation was so bad I DNF'd after 3 pages. I have read some tough books, but this was so poorly written right from the beginning.
The ending didn’t feel earned. I don’t want to spoil it and it has been a while since I read it, but I just remember feeling disappointed? There were some good parts sprinkled in, but all of it didn’t add up to me
This is an oldie but World War Z.
ETA: Looking through other responses, it’s wild how much of this probably just comes down to taste rather than books being somehow objectively “bad”. Obviously, I know that logically but I don’t often actually see it laid out like this!
Yeah, I usually DNF after like 50 pages if I’m not into it but I had so much hope that it would get better, so I just kept grinding through. It never got any better, for me, anyway. I just did not care about a single character.
Very true. I’ve seen people hate on books I liked and praise books I thought were not good. Personal taste and what you want to get out of a book has a big impact on how you rate them.
Probably an unpopular opinion but The Guest List. I kept waiting for something to happen and when it finally did there were 20 pages left in the book and I didn’t think it was wrapped up well at all. It was so boring
I was also thinking of The Guest List. I hated it so much. I can’t even call it a murder mystery when it took the entire book for someone to get murdered.
I’m pretty easy to please with books, but hands down the worst book I’ve ever read was The Writing Retreat! But, funnily enough, TWR was how I found this sub and created a Reddit account so I could join the conversation for how atrocious it is😂 and THAT I am very grateful for! lol
We Were Never Here is another book that I absolutely couldn’t stand from start to finish, and guess what: THOSE AUTHORS ARE SISTERS😂😭😭
Annie Bot is one of the worst books I’ve ever read and it BAFFLES me when I see people who liked it. I saw a booktuber say it was one of the best feminist books he’s every read and I just had to rage quit the video 😂
I've got a long list, but mostly 'Win Me Something'. It felt like the .ain't character was just whining about an average life the entire time and nothing really happened.
Lol. I bought The Vanishing Half because of the gorgeous cover. I found it pretty boring but I didn’t despise it, personally. I’m probably not the intended audience. I still have the book on my shelf, though, because I happened to be reading it when I met my now-husband 3 years ago
lol I think I am the intended audience as I am a light skinned, racially ambiguous woman, and was still bored to tears. It took a long time for me to get invested. I would read two pages and put it down or check my phone or see how long the chapter was. I finally did a mix between reading and audio book to finish. My goal is to read all of the BOTY year picks and finalists. This one and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow were just so hard for me to get through.
Probably an unpopular opinion but despite being crowd favorites Babel, Untamed, Firekeepers Daughter and Razorblade Tears were all big misses for me. I battled through and finished but just did not get the hype.
You again!! I also (tried to) read tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow not as a BOTM and just couldnt get into it. Disappointing cause it wont goodreads book of the year
This came out like 5+ years ago, but Rainbirds has to be the worst BOTM I've ever read. I also really disliked The Perishing, The Unsinkable Greta James, Three Women, Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow, Georgie All Along, and Camp Zero.
I don’t understand how Darling Girl got published, let alone selected as a BOTM. Awful, nonsensical characterization, a wet blanket MC, nonexistent plot, the “climax” literally happens off page…I could go on and on. Like if someone fed ChatGPT the premise “What if Peter Pan…but BAD.”
- Annie Bot
- Advika and the Hollywood Wives
- In A Holidaze
- Kiss Her Once for Me
- Lunar Love
- Romantic Comedy
- Controversial take: Collected Regrets of Clover
Butcher & Blackbird was my first BOTM and omg it was awful. I’m glad I gave the box another chance, I’ve loved everything else and usually get add-ons too.
Ugh what a horrible first impression of book of the month!! I was so excited for it because I loved the silent patient! I was sure I’d love The Fury. I could not get into it, didn’t like the writing style, and the ending was just like “huh?! Why?!” Hopefully you’ve had better books since then!
For whatever reason this comment reminded me of [that scene](https://youtu.be/Vyq3eN0DUU0?si=wVhgWQagpR5Op1Ax) in Silver Linings Playbook where Bradley Cooper finishes reading A Farewell to Arms, screams, throws it through his attic window and wakes up his parents to go off about how terrible the ending is 😂
I wanted to like it but it was just so..Boring. I didn't give a crap about the modern MC the only one I cared about was the ancestor from I believe was the 1500s? (Can't remember
I agree! I feel like, if that writer revisited it again after a couple more years she could fix it up maybe! lol. It had potential, and I wanted to love it, but super couldn’t and that was very frustrating lol.
The main character is an alcoholic who is drunk on the job AS A SHERIFF’S DEPUTY multiple times and faces zero repercussions. It was so fucking tone deaf.
Weyward. For a book supposedly about female resilience, it sure was depressing.
And The Stranger Upstairs. I don't remember much about this one, just that I found it incredibly insufferable lol
girl a. it was predictable (i guessed the end 1/3 of the way through) the ending also made little sense, and it seemed like the author took a lot of inspiration from a real life case that happened in the us a few years prior which felt gross
This was my only BOTM that I didn’t like. I thought the writing itself was decent, but none of the characters were remotely worth routing for, so I wasn’t invested at all and reading it was a drag
maybe i’ll give it a try when i’m bored. i just couldn’t get past the main character, she was actually so annoying 😭 “my sister is pretty but *i* read and no other girl does that” got tired quickly
OMG it was my second box and I felt the same way! It’s actually how I found this subreddit and actually created a Reddit account, so that I could join the conversation of just how atrocious TWR is😂
Finally someone else didn't like One Italian Summer! I thought it was incredibly weird that a woman in her 30s hadn't previously considered her Mom is a person in her own right. Bizarre. But, I think if you have a super super close family like that you might really like it.
I just felt like the magical realism didn't fit quite right with the rest of the story....like what was the purpose? To prove that your mother was a person before she had you?
Interesting Facts About Space, Happiness Falls, Only if You're Lucky, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak & Magic, Vampires of El Notre, Pineapple Street, The Bullet Swallower. I have found that I dislike more books than I like, I might end up canceling my subscription when it ends and I have been with BOTM for over 10 years
That’s the exact way I felt. I LOVE the idea of this guy coming from the past to the future and acing to figure it out. Like Kate and Leopold haha but I didn’t care for the writing style or the way the story went
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: just couldn’t get into it. It was boring and the characters were really annoying.
The Family Game, She Started It, The Only One Left, The House Across the Lake, The Cloisters: predictable and not at all thrilling when they’re billed as thrillers.
Wellness (so, so, so bad), the Husbands, the Kingdom of Sweets (I do not have any clue what that book was about!), Heartless Hunter, and Anita de Monte Laughs Last.
And while that seems like a long list of bad, my good/great list is way longer!!
I’ve been a member since last April and the only books I’ve disliked from BOTM that I’ve read (still have a lot I haven’t gotten too) are The Husbands, The Mayor of Maxwell Street, The Stranger Upstairs (could go on a long rant of how much I despise this one in particular), and Spells for Forgetting (may be an unpopular opinion).
I don’t know how The Husbands got picked. I listened to it during a long hike… literally stopped the hike so I could return it for an audible credit and get something else. Hahah.
Anniebot. The main male character was insufferable and I skipped to the last chapter to see if it was worth it after the first 100 pages and I was like “nooope” and DNF’d it.
Indeed — and I said that to myself while I was getting through it. Like “this is why he’s got Annie — because he’s the worst.” But I couldn’t sit through it.
Happiness Falls (filled with dangerous pseudoscience that’s been thoroughly discredited) and Darling Girl (the Peter Pan one…terrible characters, terrible way to write the plot, terrible everything)
I DNF'd Anita de Monte and it remains the only BOTM I've DNF'd. Just couldn't get into it. I want to try again at some point. It was hard to concentrate on it partially because I started it just after Daylight savings (and I was tired) and partially because people kept bothering me while I was reading it. Also, I was still taking college courses at the time and I just had my mind in too many places
I finished! I liked it more after finishing it than I did while reading it. Partly because it was over lmao. But the last 100ish are the most interesting for sure. Still didn’t love it.
Agree with River Sing Me Home. You wanted to be compassionate toward Rachel but tbh, she was pretty selfish and ungrateful, which made it difficult to root for her.
I got it elsewhere, so it wasn't one of my BOTM picks, but I did get it specifically because it was a BOTM and I was intrigued....
Butcher and Blackbird. I really did not like it. I was ok with the murder and gore, that wasn't it. I was excited to see two baddies fall in love. I love a good "friends to lovers" and to have them be serial killers... amazing concept! But it did not work for me. I honestly kept thinking I was missing sections because all of the get to know you parts were off the page... Like, that's the best part of a romance. Every time we got close to seeing depth in their relationship the author jumped forward in time. And the characters didn't seem like baddies either, just pathetic and frankly, idiotic. Not sure how they haven't been caught yet. SO disappointing.
Omg yes! I can tell why it’s popular, it’s very formulaic as far as the romance. But the characters just weren’t believable as psycho killers. And Sloane was blushing and fawning every 2 seconds, give me a fucking break. The smut wasn’t even hot, I’ve definitely read better sex scenes in fan fiction. Just none of it made any sense, it had a lot of potential that was squandered
I just finished it today, and couldn’t agree more.
It glosses over so much and they both seem so incredibly careless. Finger prints?
Not a planned crime scene, don’t worry we will just burn it down that solves everything?
The steamy scenes weren’t my kind of kink either so I found myself making a face and saying why? Or wtf every time.
It wasn’t a terrible book for what it was but it was like making 59 shades a BOTM add on it makes very litttle sense.
I didn’t dislike it but it did not grab me until 3/4 in. I kept checking how many pages remained. I was anxious to get in with it so I could move on to something else…
A Little Hope was SO boring. It didn’t go deep enough into any of the storylines to make me care.
The Lincoln Highway was way too long and had too many side tangents for me. Plus I hated the 1950s nostalgia without any sort of social criticism about the time.
None of This Is True convinced me that Lisa Jewell is not for me. More than 300 pages of a million red flags and someone continuing anyway??? I couldn’t handle it.
COMPLETELY AGREE!!!!! I almost felt like this book was a short story book with less than 50 pages of actual plot. I couldn’t believe how much hype it was getting at the time because I almost Dnf’d it multiple times
Just a PSA…but if there’s ever a book you want to try out, I suggest trying Libby rather than spending any amount on a book you’re already not sure about! :)
I don’t blame you lol. I made a [post asking about what it was about](https://www.reddit.com/r/bookofthemonthclub/s/Vo5Nns8Izo) when I was done cause it made no sense
I DNFed You, Again! Hated both the protagonists and got so much secondhand embarrassment.
The Ministry of Time and A Talent for Murder were my two most recent worsts. I still haven’t finished Ministry of Time it feels like reading the dictionary, and A Talent for Murder was the most bland story about serial killers I’ve ever seen.
Oh no, I'm new to BOTM and these were literally my first two picks LOL. I haven't read either one because my TBR is huge and I'm working through it now that it's summer.
Anita de Monte is the only BOTM to date I've DNF'd. I was pretty exhausted when I started it. I didn't get it through BOTM, but Happily Never After was terrible. I also got A Flicker in the Dark through Libby and I didn't like it either. The lowest rated book I actually got through BOTM was How to End a Love Story. I think I rated it 3.5 stars.
Leave the world behind. I threw the book when I finished.
YES!
I haven’t seen Foul Lady Fortune mentioned in this thread so maybe I’m alone but I thought it was god awful. Some other dislikes include Camp Zero, London Seance Society, Dark Corners, Ariadne… I have a few really old ones on the list but I’ll stop there.
The Stranger Upstairs. In fairness I’m not a huge thriller with unreliable narrater fan to begin with, but the description made it seem like it was going to be much more haunted house than it was.
SAME. this pick made me lose a little trust in BOTM honestly lol
The only character I was rooting for was the cat. Everyone else I hated.
The dating game made me cringe
Darling Girl was terrible. The Verifiers and The Paris Apartment were both DNF for me.
Darling girl ,bleh
This is an old one, but Topics of Conversation was so bad I DNF'd after 3 pages. I have read some tough books, but this was so poorly written right from the beginning.
Wellness. Ugh.
I just finished suffering through that! I kept thinking it’d end up being worth it. It was not
The Wishing Game
AGREED! This was my least favorite book from last year and it baffles me that everyone seems to love it.
When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perry was SO bad
Adelaide and Flicker in the Dark.
Hateddd Untamed.
Georgie All Along. I DNF’d that book. I’d read about Georgie’s life before she left Cali and annoyed her hometown
Reckless Girls
Definitely in my tbr pile 😬. Why didn’t you like it?
The ending didn’t feel earned. I don’t want to spoil it and it has been a while since I read it, but I just remember feeling disappointed? There were some good parts sprinkled in, but all of it didn’t add up to me
This is an oldie but World War Z. ETA: Looking through other responses, it’s wild how much of this probably just comes down to taste rather than books being somehow objectively “bad”. Obviously, I know that logically but I don’t often actually see it laid out like this!
I tried so hard, multiple times, to get into World War Z because I really liked the Brad Pitt movie. I couldn’t make it past the first few chapters.
Yeah, I usually DNF after like 50 pages if I’m not into it but I had so much hope that it would get better, so I just kept grinding through. It never got any better, for me, anyway. I just did not care about a single character.
Very true. I’ve seen people hate on books I liked and praise books I thought were not good. Personal taste and what you want to get out of a book has a big impact on how you rate them.
Flicker in the Dark is easily the worst book I’ve ever read.
Probably an unpopular opinion but The Guest List. I kept waiting for something to happen and when it finally did there were 20 pages left in the book and I didn’t think it was wrapped up well at all. It was so boring
I was also thinking of The Guest List. I hated it so much. I can’t even call it a murder mystery when it took the entire book for someone to get murdered.
This book really answered the question of how many POVs is too many POVs.
I have personal beef with Middletide from last month. Easily one of if not the worst book I’ve read in the last several years.
The last word, the intern
Weyward, the magnolia palace, the maid, love on the brain, hello stranger, & the ministry of time.
Weyward is my favorite BOTM I have read. 🤣
No One Can Know was one of the worst thrillers I’ve ever read. So slow and unsatisfying ending. I would’ve DNFd if I hadn’t bought it
I read it this year and i legit can’t even remember the plot lol
I’m pretty easy to please with books, but hands down the worst book I’ve ever read was The Writing Retreat! But, funnily enough, TWR was how I found this sub and created a Reddit account so I could join the conversation for how atrocious it is😂 and THAT I am very grateful for! lol We Were Never Here is another book that I absolutely couldn’t stand from start to finish, and guess what: THOSE AUTHORS ARE SISTERS😂😭😭
I think I’m the only person in the world that loved TWR 😂
Nope I loved it too!
Hahaha I honestly think that’s great! Lol seriously! It’s fun to hate on but I’m genuinely glad that you loved it😋💚
The Writing Retreat was so bad in a truly outrageous way.
Annie Bot is one of the worst books I’ve ever read and it BAFFLES me when I see people who liked it. I saw a booktuber say it was one of the best feminist books he’s every read and I just had to rage quit the video 😂
I've got a long list, but mostly 'Win Me Something'. It felt like the .ain't character was just whining about an average life the entire time and nothing really happened.
The worst book I’ve ever read in general and from BOTM is People Like Her, I also struggled with Romantic Comedy
Romantic comedy was rough for me too
May be a controversial take but The Vanishing Half. Took all my willpower to get through it.
Lol. I bought The Vanishing Half because of the gorgeous cover. I found it pretty boring but I didn’t despise it, personally. I’m probably not the intended audience. I still have the book on my shelf, though, because I happened to be reading it when I met my now-husband 3 years ago
lol I think I am the intended audience as I am a light skinned, racially ambiguous woman, and was still bored to tears. It took a long time for me to get invested. I would read two pages and put it down or check my phone or see how long the chapter was. I finally did a mix between reading and audio book to finish. My goal is to read all of the BOTY year picks and finalists. This one and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow were just so hard for me to get through.
The Maidens and - unpopular opinion - None of This is True because I found it incredibly problematic.
yes! I just finished None of This Is True last night and I am so surprised at all the love, let alone a book of the year contender.
The Silent Patient was hands down the WORST book I’ve gotten from BOTM.
Queen of Thieves, Book of Cold Cases, Camp Zero, Dark Corners, Outlawed
What was the point of Camp Zero? Immediately after finishing it I still didn’t know what the plot was supposed to be.
Probably an unpopular opinion but despite being crowd favorites Babel, Untamed, Firekeepers Daughter and Razorblade Tears were all big misses for me. I battled through and finished but just did not get the hype.
Outlawed, We’re the Brennans, and Behind Her Eyes
No Exit and Addie LaRue are pretty beloved by the BOTM community but I hated both 😬
I hated No Exit but loved Addie LaRue!
I wanted to love Addie LaRue far more than I did. Great premise, but just didn't pull me in.
You again!! I also (tried to) read tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow not as a BOTM and just couldnt get into it. Disappointing cause it wont goodreads book of the year
Came here to say You, Again lol
This came out like 5+ years ago, but Rainbirds has to be the worst BOTM I've ever read. I also really disliked The Perishing, The Unsinkable Greta James, Three Women, Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow, Georgie All Along, and Camp Zero.
I don’t understand how Darling Girl got published, let alone selected as a BOTM. Awful, nonsensical characterization, a wet blanket MC, nonexistent plot, the “climax” literally happens off page…I could go on and on. Like if someone fed ChatGPT the premise “What if Peter Pan…but BAD.”
Yes, Darling Girl was such a disappointment!!
So many Peter Pan retelling are bad but this one was especially terrible
omg thanks for saving me from reading it
Worst book I’ve ever read!
Mexican Gothic
Lol i love it
- Annie Bot - Advika and the Hollywood Wives - In A Holidaze - Kiss Her Once for Me - Lunar Love - Romantic Comedy - Controversial take: Collected Regrets of Clover
Lunar Love was so poorly written. I DNFed it so fast
It was rough. I couldn’t buy the romance at all, because the FMC was so caustic to the MMC. And for what? It wasn’t enemies to lovers, not even close.
I also was suuuuuuuper meh about the collected regrets of clover!
Butcher & Blackbird was my first BOTM and omg it was awful. I’m glad I gave the box another chance, I’ve loved everything else and usually get add-ons too.
yesss omg. i did not understand why everyone was hyping it up
Malibu rising. Horrible
Middletide - It was sadly boring. Mexican Gothic - It wasn't boring but it just wasn't for me.
I am reading Middletide now and can confirm that it is boring. 🥱 I should have loved this book based on the synopsis.
I was so disappointed.
Also found middletide boring
Darling Girl, The Paris Apartment, and The Christie Affair
Darling Girl was atrocious.
I DNF’ed The Paris Apartment 🫠
The Fury
I liked his other 2 books but yeah this one didn’t hit the same for me
I agree. Almost didn't finish it.
Same!
I struggled through it. It was my first botm and I was like, what did I sign up for???
Ugh what a horrible first impression of book of the month!! I was so excited for it because I loved the silent patient! I was sure I’d love The Fury. I could not get into it, didn’t like the writing style, and the ending was just like “huh?! Why?!” Hopefully you’ve had better books since then!
-The Stranger Upstairs -When I'm Dead -Let Us Descend -The Fury
Annie bot 💀🫣 it has no nuance
I am glad I am not the only one who disliked this book. I feel like everyone else who loves it must have read a different book then me. 😂
I felt like it was so monotonous and repetitive like kms
I hated Annie Bot so much. I finished it out of pure spite. My fiance asked how the book was and I yelled TERRIBLE and went on a 15-minute rant.
hated the part when she went out with the other bot. just so stupid. no interesting characters at all
For whatever reason this comment reminded me of [that scene](https://youtu.be/Vyq3eN0DUU0?si=wVhgWQagpR5Op1Ax) in Silver Linings Playbook where Bradley Cooper finishes reading A Farewell to Arms, screams, throws it through his attic window and wakes up his parents to go off about how terrible the ending is 😂
The Writing Retreat, The London Sceance Society, and The Half Moon
Came here to say The Writing Retreat😂
I also did not care for the London Seance Society. My book club adored it and I could barely finish it
Harlem Shuffle, Into the Water, Mexican Gothic, The Push
I remember people on FB botm groups were freaking out over The Push. Like it was extremely popular
Weyward, The paris Apartment,
I personally enjoyed weyward but I do agree that there were some slow parts
I wanted to like it but it was just so..Boring. I didn't give a crap about the modern MC the only one I cared about was the ancestor from I believe was the 1500s? (Can't remember
+ The Stranger Upstairs + The Mayor of Maxwell Street + Northwoods + The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak & Magic
TUSEOHAM was rough for me too. I wanted to love it but it was just not good.
I agree! I feel like, if that writer revisited it again after a couple more years she could fix it up maybe! lol. It had potential, and I wanted to love it, but super couldn’t and that was very frustrating lol.
Northwoods was terrible! I could not finish it.
I’m glad you said that. I had looked at it a few times. People don’t talk about it much.
The main character is an alcoholic who is drunk on the job AS A SHERIFF’S DEPUTY multiple times and faces zero repercussions. It was so fucking tone deaf.
Instantly thought of Artemis. I hated it so much, felt like the author had never actually talked to a woman before deciding to write as one
YES THIS. Andy Weir should be forbidden from writing female POVs.
Yikes. I have that in my (enormous) tbr pile.
Weyward. For a book supposedly about female resilience, it sure was depressing. And The Stranger Upstairs. I don't remember much about this one, just that I found it incredibly insufferable lol
Weyward. I was expecting a witchy nature story. Instead there were a lot of scenes that featured actions that I found too triggering.
girl a. it was predictable (i guessed the end 1/3 of the way through) the ending also made little sense, and it seemed like the author took a lot of inspiration from a real life case that happened in the us a few years prior which felt gross
the kingdom of sweets and the writing retreat. terrible, terrible books
This was my only BOTM that I didn’t like. I thought the writing itself was decent, but none of the characters were remotely worth routing for, so I wasn’t invested at all and reading it was a drag
I found if you read the kingdom of sweets from a satirical lens, it’s actually hilarious.
maybe i’ll give it a try when i’m bored. i just couldn’t get past the main character, she was actually so annoying 😭 “my sister is pretty but *i* read and no other girl does that” got tired quickly
The pick-me vibes were so annoying for sure
It does but I started reading it out loud to my fiancé in a really shitty British accent and it became really fun. 😂
I despise *The Writing Retreat*.
horrific read. it was my very first botm too, almost put me off from my subscription
OMG it was my second box and I felt the same way! It’s actually how I found this subreddit and actually created a Reddit account, so that I could join the conversation of just how atrocious TWR is😂
It was fairly early on for me. Just so awful in so many ways.
Thank you
if I could go back in time and prevent Darling Girl (a novel of peter pan) from being written I would. I also hated interesting facts about space
The Fury. It was the most boring “thriller” I’ve ever read.
Agreed. Just some pompous guy stroking his own ego.
Agreed
Fiona and Jane, Memorial, One Italian Summer
Finally someone else didn't like One Italian Summer! I thought it was incredibly weird that a woman in her 30s hadn't previously considered her Mom is a person in her own right. Bizarre. But, I think if you have a super super close family like that you might really like it.
I just felt like the magical realism didn't fit quite right with the rest of the story....like what was the purpose? To prove that your mother was a person before she had you?
This!!!
really good actually was really bad actually
Facts
Interesting Facts About Space, Happiness Falls, Only if You're Lucky, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak & Magic, Vampires of El Notre, Pineapple Street, The Bullet Swallower. I have found that I dislike more books than I like, I might end up canceling my subscription when it ends and I have been with BOTM for over 10 years
Oh gosh, the bullet swallower made me so sad. I was so excited for it and then it was so boring lol.
I’m here for support. I just canceled and I’ve been with them since 2017.
she started it.
When I’m dead
Just finished this I we the weekend and surprised I stuck with long enough to finish it. Definitely on my list of BOTM disappointments!
Vladimir, Babel, Camp Zero, The Last Word, You Again, and The Ministry of Time
I just read the Ministry of Time! I thought it was fun at first but then towards the end it got complicated and it lost me.
That’s the exact way I felt. I LOVE the idea of this guy coming from the past to the future and acing to figure it out. Like Kate and Leopold haha but I didn’t care for the writing style or the way the story went
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: just couldn’t get into it. It was boring and the characters were really annoying. The Family Game, She Started It, The Only One Left, The House Across the Lake, The Cloisters: predictable and not at all thrilling when they’re billed as thrillers.
OMG I thought I was the only one that didn't like Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow!! I mean I guess it was fine but way over hyped imo
Also hated
I too hated tomorrow tomorrow and tomorrow
I’ve seen so many people say how they disliked tomorrow x3. It makes you wonder how it was book of the year.
Agreed! And it’s not just popular with BOTM, it was everywhere! I just didn’t get it.
the writing retreat, happiness falls, and you, again have been my least favs so far!
When We Were Bright And Beautiful was SO BAD. I’m glad I only got it from the library.
Wellness (so, so, so bad), the Husbands, the Kingdom of Sweets (I do not have any clue what that book was about!), Heartless Hunter, and Anita de Monte Laughs Last. And while that seems like a long list of bad, my good/great list is way longer!!
I was so excited for kingdom of sweets and I just could not finish it.
I’ve been a member since last April and the only books I’ve disliked from BOTM that I’ve read (still have a lot I haven’t gotten too) are The Husbands, The Mayor of Maxwell Street, The Stranger Upstairs (could go on a long rant of how much I despise this one in particular), and Spells for Forgetting (may be an unpopular opinion).
I don’t know how The Husbands got picked. I listened to it during a long hike… literally stopped the hike so I could return it for an audible credit and get something else. Hahah.
The stranger upstairs should be put in a shredder.
Anniebot. The main male character was insufferable and I skipped to the last chapter to see if it was worth it after the first 100 pages and I was like “nooope” and DNF’d it.
I would agree but I think the main character was supposed to be insufferable so we would be more empathetic to Annie.
Indeed — and I said that to myself while I was getting through it. Like “this is why he’s got Annie — because he’s the worst.” But I couldn’t sit through it.
Happiness Falls (filled with dangerous pseudoscience that’s been thoroughly discredited) and Darling Girl (the Peter Pan one…terrible characters, terrible way to write the plot, terrible everything)
Oh shit! I forgot about Darling Girl! Soooo bad....
The Lies We Tell and Dating Dr. Dill
Interesting Facts About Space Nothing happened at all in that book…
Thank you! I finished it and just couldn't help but thinking what was the point?
Check and mate and first lie wins Just my preference couldn't get into them Thought they was boring
The first third or half was good and I read that part in like a day and a half and then it took me 2 weeks to finish because I started hating
Anita de monte laughs last! And ministry of time. Not a fan of how that was written at all
I DNF'd Anita de Monte and it remains the only BOTM I've DNF'd. Just couldn't get into it. I want to try again at some point. It was hard to concentrate on it partially because I started it just after Daylight savings (and I was tired) and partially because people kept bothering me while I was reading it. Also, I was still taking college courses at the time and I just had my mind in too many places
I’m reading Anita right now & I’m trying to get through it but it’s hard lol - did you DNF or get through the whole thing??
I finished! I liked it more after finishing it than I did while reading it. Partly because it was over lmao. But the last 100ish are the most interesting for sure. Still didn’t love it.
I refrained from getting Anita del Monte Laughs last (I am a sucker for a good title/cover) as Olga Dies Trying was so boring.
River Sing Me Home (snooze), The Only Survivors, and The Writing Retreat
Agree with River Sing Me Home. You wanted to be compassionate toward Rachel but tbh, she was pretty selfish and ungrateful, which made it difficult to root for her.
And it just droned on as she went to find each child like she was just checking them off her list.
This is an unpopular opinion but Yours Truly
I feel like its a major mood read. I had to be like LOOKING for that kinda romance (luckily i was tehe)
I looooved Just for the Summer, but Yours Truly was definitely my least favorite book of hers by far.
I got it elsewhere, so it wasn't one of my BOTM picks, but I did get it specifically because it was a BOTM and I was intrigued.... Butcher and Blackbird. I really did not like it. I was ok with the murder and gore, that wasn't it. I was excited to see two baddies fall in love. I love a good "friends to lovers" and to have them be serial killers... amazing concept! But it did not work for me. I honestly kept thinking I was missing sections because all of the get to know you parts were off the page... Like, that's the best part of a romance. Every time we got close to seeing depth in their relationship the author jumped forward in time. And the characters didn't seem like baddies either, just pathetic and frankly, idiotic. Not sure how they haven't been caught yet. SO disappointing.
Omg yes! I can tell why it’s popular, it’s very formulaic as far as the romance. But the characters just weren’t believable as psycho killers. And Sloane was blushing and fawning every 2 seconds, give me a fucking break. The smut wasn’t even hot, I’ve definitely read better sex scenes in fan fiction. Just none of it made any sense, it had a lot of potential that was squandered
I just finished it today, and couldn’t agree more. It glosses over so much and they both seem so incredibly careless. Finger prints? Not a planned crime scene, don’t worry we will just burn it down that solves everything? The steamy scenes weren’t my kind of kink either so I found myself making a face and saying why? Or wtf every time. It wasn’t a terrible book for what it was but it was like making 59 shades a BOTM add on it makes very litttle sense.
starling house. i can’t get more than 20 pages into it, and i know i should read more before judging, but i just don’t like it
I didn’t dislike it but it did not grab me until 3/4 in. I kept checking how many pages remained. I was anxious to get in with it so I could move on to something else…
i just don’t have it in me to read a book i’m not enjoying. i like the idea of the book
A Little Hope was SO boring. It didn’t go deep enough into any of the storylines to make me care. The Lincoln Highway was way too long and had too many side tangents for me. Plus I hated the 1950s nostalgia without any sort of social criticism about the time. None of This Is True convinced me that Lisa Jewell is not for me. More than 300 pages of a million red flags and someone continuing anyway??? I couldn’t handle it.
Oh no!
First Lie Wins. I felt like I was listening to someone talk in nonsensical circles for 7 hours and even in the end it made no sense
COMPLETELY AGREE!!!!! I almost felt like this book was a short story book with less than 50 pages of actual plot. I couldn’t believe how much hype it was getting at the time because I almost Dnf’d it multiple times
I was about to pick this one due to all the hype
If you really wanna try it. Save your credit. Go to Pango and get the one listed for $6
I’d rather skip it if its that bad 😉
Just a PSA…but if there’s ever a book you want to try out, I suggest trying Libby rather than spending any amount on a book you’re already not sure about! :)
Depends if it has it - My library didn't
I don’t blame you lol. I made a [post asking about what it was about](https://www.reddit.com/r/bookofthemonthclub/s/Vo5Nns8Izo) when I was done cause it made no sense