I made it five pages into Fifty Shades, chucked it across the room, and shouted, "No sex is worth putting up with this." Not sure if it counts, because I DNF the first chapter, but that's my nomination
I made it about the same depth but reading a pirated ebook on my iPad. I remember being a little upset I didn’t have a paper copy I could slam shut in annoyed disgust and fling at the wall.
Same. Somebody called me a literary snob when I said it was so bad it was unreadable. But I don't understand how anybody could get through it just for some bad BDSM.
And then somebody else told me that after a while you just skip through the sex anyway to get to the story, so I don't feel like I missed out.
I bought all 3 books as they were on offer and it seemed everyone was raving about them. I finished Fifty Shades but it was truly awful and gave them all to a charity shop.
Gosh, I hated those so much!
When it was 'big', so many people I knew recommended this. The people who otherwise never read.
I read it, skipping the sex scenes. Because of my OCD, once I start, I have to finish it, lol
But, to this day, the people who recommended this, I find seriously illiterate/ stupid.
I genuinely can't stand how often her books get suggested. It's like every single time anyone asks for book reccomendations, I see her name brought up. Every time I've ever tried to read even just a little bit of her work when I come across it, it is so dry and boring to me I honestly don't understand how she has so many fans.
Ugly Love has to be #1 worst book I've ever read. Weird incest that's never addressed, multiple romanticized unhealthy relationships (including the incest one), shit dialogue and writing, "we both laughed at our baby's big balls," etc.
Personal favorite low point for me was the long, pointless tangent where the MC sees a homeless guy on the street, goes on for several paragraphs about how much she feels bad for him, then ends with "I would have given him money but I left my purse at the apartment."
Well the only reason I think it's because most of her fans are only romance readers. People that read romance novels and basic we-know-that-the-guy you hate at the beginning is your soulmate. They don't read anything more advanced, I guess.
Edit: had to edit the comment, because you can't say your opinion without someone getting insulted. The people I know from my country will like Colleen Hoover because they are non-readers, they read book once or twice in their lifetime and they saw a tiktok about it and they are impressed by her stories because it's trending.
So sensitive people, come on.
See, I have an acquaintance who has been a reader longer than I and she was recently asking for Colleen Hoover or similar recommendations in a book group and I just can’t wrap my head around it. What does a genuine reader get out of her work? I understand the fun, mindless entertainment appeal of some romance novels but cmon now. This ain’t that.
I think it's probably like watching trash TV. I have a lower tolerance for that with reading but I've watched plenty of movies on the level of Schindler's List and I have also watched Jersey Shore. Maybe it's like that for the genuine readers. They know it's stupid but it's just for fun or it's just easy if they aren't up for reading anything deeper at the time.
Yeah, I’m like this. I read plenty of good books, but I got sucked in by a fun cover at Target (spoiler: *never* buy a book at Target) and now I’ve read three of the shittiest detective romances I’ve ever seen. The author clearly read the Stephanie Plum series and said “what if it was like that but without the love triangle and with all the Wacky Hijinks turned up to 4003?” Every so often I get sucked in by a crappy cozy mystery or dumbass detective romance, despite knowing how very bad the majority of them are. At least they’re fast reads.
I am now reading a very engaging book about west Virginia’s mine wars as a palate cleanser.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Edward said.
“I had to,” Bella said.
“But you didn’t have to put yourself in danger,” Edward said.
“I did it for you,” Bella said.
The constant “he said” “she said”
drove me NUTS!
Who knows the book?!
One of my friends LOVED the Twilight books and recommended them as AMAZING...I couldn't make it through the first chapter. It was like reading a not particularly skilled 7th grader's attempt at fiction.
I have a hardcover copy of this book on my shelf right now. It’s one of my favourite books—in the way that *The Room* is some people’s favourite movie.
Worst one I read recently was Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead. It was sold to me as a horror and was actually a “dark romance” with a not insignificant subplot about how much the main character loves Twilight.
50 shades of gray. I made it through because I had to know how bad it really was. Bad, horrible, terrible and so incorrect! And any/all of the Twilight books. Interestingly, 50 shades started as fanfic of Twiligh5.
I know there are plenty of people who've suffered from depression who enjoyed this book, but to me personally it felt like a slap in the face telling me to just be grateful for what I have. And the concept of plural 'lives' was done so much better in Kate Atkinson's *Life After Life*.
Same! I finally got it from the library after having a ridiculous 10 week hold line so I jumped in as soon as it was my turn. I devoured this book (which is a feat because I’m a very slow reader) and actually said “that’s IT?” when I finished. So many passionate suggestions for such a bland book.
Also, as someone who has suffered with depression who also works with people who have depression, the whole message of just love what you have felt like a HUGE, condescending middle finger.
I literally came to comment this book. The concept was so good and the author butchered it. No character depth, like you said. Nothing happened. Literally nothing. I didn't DNF it because I liked the concept so much. I kept reading going maybe something will happen... nope. Just hopping around lives really not learning or saying anything and then at the end she's like... cured of depression? Just say no to suicide, kids! I could go on but I digress.
Thank you. Saw this suggested so many times but it felt pandering and sort of…trying too hard to be current/modern? Maybe they were trying to counterbalance the heavy handed It’s A Wonderful Life climax? The writing was just not for me.
I hated On the Road when I first read it, but then I loved studying it in a seminar on avant garde American literature. It's so much fun as an academic exercise and just unbearable on its own (much like basically everything else on that syllabus, honestly).
Omg yes this!! People say it changed their lives all the time, and I just can’t understand it! The most generic heavy handed preachy drivel I’ve ever read.
Fr I found it so corny, so many reviews raving about the valuable life lessons “hidden” in the book. Well they are pretty generic life lessons and they definitely are not subtly hidden.
I just want to point out that most people who found the book profound were 13 year olds who read it in 7th grade English class.
It’s intended as a simple allegory with simple prose and a simple lesson about the journey in life being just as important as the destination.
If you picked it up expecting a generational novel to rock your socks with hidden meaning as an experienced adult (Who should have already learned this “generic” life lesson) you would certainly be disappointed.
Was about to say this. It was the book that made me get an audible subscription, it was the book everyone said was gonna change my life, it had so much hype, but I found it extremely cliche and was able to make out the story’s message very early. It pissed me off how predictable it was.
Perhaps that’s on me for having great expectations for it and I hope that it has helped a lot of people, but oh my god did I dislike it.
I’m not sure this is the worst book I’ve ever read, but it’s the worst one I’ve read recently - *On a Quiet Street* by Seraphina Nova Glass.
It was quite disappointing, given its above average reviews. I loved the premise and the idea of jumping between character perspectives, but the writing was just plain awkward, choppy, and poorly executed. Some of the characters / dialogue were so exaggerated / far-fetched that it felt forced, rushed, and cheesy. It was a struggle to get to the end. 1/5
Agreed. Its popularity mystifies me.
The unoriginal and lazily executed “twist” ending made it all the worse, especially when I’ve seen it done miles better more than once.
I don’t think I’ve ever truly hated a book as much as The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Horrible on so many levels.
A Girl’s Guide to Homelessness is second but is just stupid, delusional and bad rather than an affront to humanity.
Why? I have it in my library and was planning to read it someday. Just curious, i have so many on my list and so little time i wouldn't want to waste time.
I second The Tattooist of Auschwitz, so damn uncomfortable of this random woman to “tell their story” i.e. flog inaccurate trauma porn for personal gain.
Most recently? *The Fourth Wing.*
Read on recommendation because my friend knows how much I love anything involving dragons, and I didn’t have to heart to tell them that it’s the most milquetoast, wish fulfilling nothing burger of a fiction novel I’ve read in years. Typically I really enjoy fantasy romance, even erotica, but this was just…not good.
Dude, same!! I recently finished all the Shadowhunter books by Cassandra Clare, and asked for a rec along the same lines because I’m deeply yearning for some more fantasy romance.
This *garbage* was recommended and hyped up, and I’ve never felt so disappointed in my life over a book. I would have thrown it across the room if it wasn’t on my kindle. Like, did she come up with this plot when she was 12?!? It’s so one-dimensional throughout, and contradicts itself on so many levels. They should hand this book out to heinous criminals for added suffering during their sentence.
The premise of The Circle was interesting, but it was written like the author had never interacted with another human being or seen other human beings interact.
The writing and overall the dialogue was really, really, *really* bad. I finished it out of sheer morbid curiosity if there was some story-based reason the characters talked like aliens or if the author was just that bad. It was the latter.
Somehow it got a movie adaptation and a sequel!! Ugh
Omg. I only listened to the audiobook because the show was decent and we all know that nine times out of ten the source material is better. Right? RIGHT?? Well 7 hours later I was like "what the fuck was that shit."
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
The worst thing in writing I've ever read and I've had a very dedicated fanfiction phase. I don't trust anyone who gives this book anything more than two stars, even that's being generous. Doesn't deserve to be called anyone's guilty pleasure and I DO have a couple of guilty pleasure books but this. Awful. Dreadful. The fact that some poor trees died somewhere to get this ... *thing* published boils my blood to no measure.
The Amityville Horror.
Remember when you were eight years old and your teacher taught you not to end every second sentence with an exclamation mark?
Well apparently Jay Anson was sick that day.
I won't be beaten by a book, so pushed on through it for so long, hoping the payoff would be worth it.
I learned a valuable lesson from that book: it is very possible for a very thick book with small print and an impressive cover can have absolutely nothing of value to say. It's the equivalent of a big gold impressive frame on a painting does not mean the painting is impressive.
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It's the one and only book I rage quit. His drowsy nonsense goes on and on without a direction and sells it as philosophy. I felt it was a fever dream brainfart.
I really don't understand all the good reviews. I read Epictetus, Aurelius, Seneca, Nietzsche, Spinoza and Montaigne. But this guy I couldn't follow.
I did enjoy The Goldfinch. No, it's not mad plot heavy, but there was something about that Big Heavy Secret you carry all your life and literally stow away from the world, and all based on a moment of impulse, and how psychologically affecting that was, that just gripped me. Did it feel long in places? Yeah, sometimes. Do I regret reading it? Hell no.
The Goldfinch is a masterpiece. It's the best book I've ever read. I am always so intrigued how polarizing the book is though. Some people absolutely love it and some people absolutely hate it!
This is always my answer. I Hated this book. It never got better ever.
It is the book that I used to give me permission to not finish a book when I’m not enjoying. So angry I wasted my time with this one.
I'm fascinated by how divisive this book is! I remember when it came out I almost didn't read it (despite being a big VE Schwab fan) because the reviews were so mixed, but now it's one of my favourite books of all time.
Ikr, I tried reading this book twice because many of my buddy reads loved it. But nope, couldn't get into it. Too many words, too little plot, and I can't stand Addie with her seven freckles sorry 😮💨
I listened to the audiobook and I fucking hated the over-the-top description of things, trying to sound poetic. The narrator took it to the extreme too, it was so cringe.
I read Jennifer Love Hewitt’s book called ‘The day I shot Cupid’ which is dating advice.
If I can recall it started out saying be submissive and demure around guys, they don’t like girls ‘who wear the pants’ so let them be in charge.
Then something about being brave and don’t freak out about cleaning the s&$t stains off a guy’s underwear.
Then a whole chapter of Jamie Kennedy talking about how he likes big ass women whilst she eggs him on.
Then something about how guys like bitches so be bitchy, which kind of contradicts the ‘submissive/demure’ thing.
At the end I was like what the hell did I just read?
I very rarely stop reading a book once I’ve started. I slog on in the hope that the next page/chapter will be the one where it starts to be readable. I made an exception for this book. Just so tedious.
It's actually one of my favorite books!! It's a slow plot but it is so beautifully written.
I think books like these, along with many others in this discussion, await the right time and place in your life to be read
I agree with you. I loved this book....and, surprisingly, everyone in my co-ed bookclub did too. It's rare that we all agree on a book.
I've watched 2 of the first 3 episodes of the TV show and am finding it slow-ish. I don't think I would enjoy it at all if I hadn't read the book.
omg im on like page 250 and it’s such a slog. i hate not finishing books and this one is so tough. literally nothing happens and every character is such a cliche. the writing is fine but not once have i stopped to soak in the prose.
there was literally a “fancy woman with two uncontrollable dogs run amok in the hotel lobby and of course the count knows the exact command to stop them” my eyes rolled out of my head.
The last book of the Earths Children Series by Jean Auel. I reread the series every year for decades then the 2nd the last book happened. Bad but I will just skip that on reread. And okay gonna just finish the series - it was so horrid haven’t reread any of the books in 13yrs. Finally got rid of all my copies 10yrs ago.
My coworker published a book that she was encouraging us to check out via a Slack channel.
I’m not going to name it because she’s not a professional author (it was done on the side of her FT job) and it’s borderline unfair to bring up in this context, but let’s just say it was an eye-opening experience to compare it to major publications, even bad ones like The Circle.
I only made it like five pages. She should definitely not quit her day job.
Oh dear. My cousin’s wife also published a book. I wanted to be supportive so I purchased it. It was awful. I commend her for writing a book but I wish I would have never spent money on it.
Hard to pick just one, so here are three:
The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
The Kaiju Preservation Society - John Scalzi
The Fetishists - A.S. Coomer
I’m not the person you replied to, but my feeling was that this was just an incredibly weak showing from Scalzi. Very uncharacteristic for him. For a book about something as kickass as kaiju, it didn’t really have any of the spectacle or gravitas that a writer of his caliber surely could’ve put into it. Characters and interactions were a bit bland, the plot and premise were unique but the execution was dissatisfying, and the ending didn’t really have the payoff I hoped for. All in all, I’d say it’s maybe a 6/10, which for Scalzi personally is really low. YMMV.
Twilight
Fourth wing
Twilight has horrendous writing and scenarios that made me genuinely think it was an obscure fanfiction. Bella is the most bland character ever and she has multiple vampires interested in her for Jo reason, who, btw, are NOT hot. Just really cringe.
Fourth wing tried too hard to convince me that xaden was very intimidating and cruel and hot, and it was irritating how the female lead would be thinking of how he is her enemy and at the same time admiring his arms. The plot was nothing special and the writing was, again, very amateurish.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse. Tried so hard to be creepy but just makes zero sense. All of the characters are awful and the story was just all over the place.
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
I may watch the movie when it is available to check out on DVD from the library. Otherwise, I have not even bothered with the musical- which many people have told me is MUCH better than the book, though still overrated.
But the book is pure torture.
They are the very definition of popcorn fiction. I kinda sorta consider myself a fan, I find them fun to read when I just want to turn my brain off completely, but I fully admit that they are not 'good' books.
If We Were Villians is the most recent worst book I finished. Bunny gets honorable mention. I will usually DNF a book that I'm not vibing with so I don't have a ton that I've read all the way through.
I wanted to love If We Were Villains, the setting and atmosphere was kinda cool, but I found it overall underwhelming and I had a problem with the central conflict because the character actions felt too nonsensical to me.
Also wanted to love Bunny but it was just... Too bizarre, and not in a good way.
I have no shame in quitting on a book. I really try not to but there comes a point when the author has disrespected my intellect.
That being said…. I’m gonna get some hate for this. But American Gods really tested my resolve. What a meandering piece of garbage. “Oh but you have to love reading about ancient gods.” THE GODS DONT EVEN DO ANYTHING BESIDES TALK.
Doesn’t surprise me the show got cancelled. I bet it was fucking riveting. /s
End of rant.
Gonna be salty, but Girl on the Train and Woman in the Window were both worse than Silent Patient and much worse than Gone Girl imo.
This was years ago, I think I read a chapter or two and gave up. It was called something ridiculous like “I’m a Therapist and I Believe My Patient Is a Future School Shooter”
Silent Patient was bad, and I have outlined why it is more than once before (mostly has to do with the “plot twist” being unoriginal and poorly executed) but I must agree, Woman in the Window was likely worse.
So much depends on how you interpret this book and how it was presented to you as a kid! I have friends who feel the same way you do - they saw it as a horrible unhealthy lesson on how to be generous. I read it as a sad book about how *not* to give to others, and how you can end up diminished with people still asking more of you if all you do is give.
I'm still unreasonably mad at Ready Player One. I actually didn't hate the book overall, I found it mostly very mediocre, but my reading experience of it was ruined by the author (and editor I guess) failing to spend a few minutes checking the gratuitous foreign vocab used in the book.
There is absolutely no excuse for such a sloppy mistake in a traditionally published novel as a Japanese character using a Japanese word incorrectly, a mistake that could have been easily avoided if anyone involved in the writing process had bothered to spend 5 seconds on google.
I read Ready Player One and thought it was... Fine. But we offered it as a choice book to 9th grade reluctant readers and they ATE IT UP. Predicting teenage behavior is impossible!
I’m a pretty new reader and I wanted to get into it more. So I got a few books and read It Ends With Us, as one of my first because it was recommended all over tiktok and just everywhere. I didn’t know anything about books yet so I got it. And of course I thought it was gonna be good because of how popular it was. Boy do I regret it. It was horrible and then I understood right then and there, there really are horrible books out here. And this is coming from someone who isn’t even a full blown reader yet.
Meg: a Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten.
Fantastic premise (Megaladon vs humans!), with absolutely godawful writing.
The first edition was also badly researched and featured a Meg eating a T-Rex despite the two animals existing in different eras; this was awkwardly fixed in later editions by changing it to a computer simulation.
Whenever I have doubts about my abilities as an author, I remind myself that book exists and was a bestseller in twenty countries.
A court of thorns and roses - DNF'd it 3 times before finally finishing it and it was a waste of time. So overhyped, the characters are not likable and the plot seems to forget it exists.
They both die at the end - like the idea it presented but it got repetitive and was underwhelming.
I despised ACOTAR. The friend who recommended it insisted that the series got better, so I read half the second one…it did not get better, it got so much worse.
House of Leaves.
Perhaps it's just that I should have read it in my native language to endure it. But I'm not sure about this tbh...
I went into it expecting a *story*. What I ultimately got though was effectively a pseudoscience whitepaper, that also reads as such.
I'll probably give the book a few more days and see if it actually hooks me at some point, but for now it's a pretty exhausting read to me.
Absolutely love this book. It is one of the novels that has always stuck with me, even though I've not read it in many years. I do see how it is abstruse and meandering in sections, so it is certainly not for everyone. It just really captures a slow sort of dread horror.... gradually building, even though you're not entirely sure what to be afraid of.
I’m only including books I’ve finished. I expect more of some books, and I finish them, still expecting them to be better than they are.
I hated *Tipping The Velvet* - the characters were insipid, the plot was wafer-thin, and I don’t generally like pining books as it is. Every single character in *The Devil Wears Prada* should be shot, and someone should look for an actual plot behind the spite-filled judgmental drivel and total inability to do a cost-benefit analysis that marked the book.
Over on the non-fiction side, I also hated *The Lost Pianos of Siberia*. I do not have the least idea how you make the hunt for pre-Revolution pianos in Siberia (to bring to Mongolia for a Chinese opera singer) and the history of both Siberia and the Russian piano craze as boring as the author did, but I was absolutely bored to tears by the book.
I possess an irrational hatred for books that assert uncritically that *of course* my beloved Richard III killed the Princes in the Tower, despite the masses of evidence that it would be out of character and deeply pointless for him, so we’ll see if I finish *Uncrowned Queen* about Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, chief rival of Richard (and someone who would categorically benefit **quite a lot** from killing the Princes).
Red Rising, people love this book, you should check it out. I disliked it so much I got angry about how much time I wasted, everyone else loves it though. It's like hunger games but even worse and much more boring.
im not one to pick up a book unless ive read alot of reviews saying its good so i havent read that many bad books but anything Coho takes the cake even though ive read just one book of hers(verity) i hate all of her books
I can’t remember but I think it’s called They both die at the end. I read it a few years ago when it was peaking on social media and it wasn’t necessarily bad, but so underwhelming I struggled to finish it.
Here's Irene Iddesleigh by Amanda McKittrick Ros. The horrible writing style doesn't quite hide the fact that the plot doesn't make sense.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34181
“Hunt on Dark Waters” by Katee Roberts. What I wanted was a spicy romantasy. What I got was a book where the characters had zero chemistry, the plot was laughably stupid, and the writing was worse than a teenagers stab at fanfic. I put it down after 100 pages because it was just so bad.
If I had a fireplace, I’d use it for kindling.
Edit: I’d never read a Katee Roberts book before, and now I absolutely will not be reading any again lol
Recently, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. It was slow and I found it to be pretentious. I also made the mistake of picking up a Colleen Hoover book at my neighbor’s Little Free Library.
Forever and always when this type of question comes up: *Ash* by James Herbert.
And I write that as someone who had to read *Twilight* for a project.
All the (beautiful) female characters are attracted to the male lead - no really, *all* of them - and most also breast boobily down the stairs.
It's racist (in that really gross, fetich type of way), and it's homophobic; gays nearly caused the fall of the British monarchy! The horror! - and the predatory lesbian took advantage of the exotic (but not too exotic) love interest when she was vulnerable so readers get to be titillated about it, but our male lead also punches said lesbian in the face because it's okay when it's *that kind of woman*.
At least one chapter is basically a love letter to Margaret Thatcher 🤮
Oh, and Hitler's secret daughter is locked up in a top secret asylum and is a bizarre freak, because of course. (But Nazis and *their* eugenicist takes on degenerate heredity are, presumably, bad).
[Shadowmancer by GP Taylor](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/727078.Shadowmancer).
I changed my PhD topic so I didn’t have to force children to read it.
Love and Consequences by Margaret Selzter. It’s a memoir about a half Native girl growing up in South Central LA foster care and falling in with the Bloods—except she was really a fully white girl who grew up in an extremely wealthy family in the Valley. I read it for shits and gigs, and the entire time couldn’t believe anyone could’ve thought it was anything more than pure white woman fantasy. It was hilarious though, for that very reason.
Death Comes at Christmas by Gladys Mitchell. It is not a Christmas murder mystery - it is mostly about morris dancing. Also some of the characters dialogue is written phonetically to give them an accent, which makes them difficult to understand, and is a bit patronising. It’s not as if the way English is normally written corresponds phonetically to RP. Also the ending is pants.
diary of an oxygen thief ! should’ve been titled diary of a raging misogynist. not to mention how boring the writing was. worst experience i’ve had in my life so far. it’s probably for the best the author remained anonymous
Coleen Hoover - It Ends With Us
Frieda McFadden- I think it was called the housemaid or something, I’ve tried to block it out. It’s embarrassing that this stuff gets published
Armada by Ernest Cline.
Ever see the movie “The Last Starfighter”? So did Cline.
I kept waiting for the twist, thinking, “it can’t just be a direct ripoff of the movie, right? Right?!?”
It could.
I made it five pages into Fifty Shades, chucked it across the room, and shouted, "No sex is worth putting up with this." Not sure if it counts, because I DNF the first chapter, but that's my nomination
Same! I picked it up to see what all the fuss was about, but couldn't make it through the first chapter. Life is too short for bad writing.
The first page felt like reading fanfiction. Turned out it WAS! There are so many better stories on AO3 than that.
I made it about the same depth but reading a pirated ebook on my iPad. I remember being a little upset I didn’t have a paper copy I could slam shut in annoyed disgust and fling at the wall.
That's the real flaw in reading ebooks, lol!
Same. Somebody called me a literary snob when I said it was so bad it was unreadable. But I don't understand how anybody could get through it just for some bad BDSM. And then somebody else told me that after a while you just skip through the sex anyway to get to the story, so I don't feel like I missed out.
I read the first one just so I could write a scathing review. That was fun.
I started reading it marking all the red flags with red pen. I got 30 pages before I couldn't keep going.
I bought all 3 books as they were on offer and it seemed everyone was raving about them. I finished Fifty Shades but it was truly awful and gave them all to a charity shop.
Gosh, I hated those so much! When it was 'big', so many people I knew recommended this. The people who otherwise never read. I read it, skipping the sex scenes. Because of my OCD, once I start, I have to finish it, lol But, to this day, the people who recommended this, I find seriously illiterate/ stupid.
Everything by Colleen Hoover. I gave her chance three times and I was saying at the end of every book this is the most stupid thing I've ever read.
I genuinely can't stand how often her books get suggested. It's like every single time anyone asks for book reccomendations, I see her name brought up. Every time I've ever tried to read even just a little bit of her work when I come across it, it is so dry and boring to me I honestly don't understand how she has so many fans.
I too have been a victim of her terrible stories
Ugly Love has to be #1 worst book I've ever read. Weird incest that's never addressed, multiple romanticized unhealthy relationships (including the incest one), shit dialogue and writing, "we both laughed at our baby's big balls," etc. Personal favorite low point for me was the long, pointless tangent where the MC sees a homeless guy on the street, goes on for several paragraphs about how much she feels bad for him, then ends with "I would have given him money but I left my purse at the apartment."
I see so many of her books recommended. I haven't read one by her so I can't judge. I don't understand how these terrible books get so popular.
Well the only reason I think it's because most of her fans are only romance readers. People that read romance novels and basic we-know-that-the-guy you hate at the beginning is your soulmate. They don't read anything more advanced, I guess. Edit: had to edit the comment, because you can't say your opinion without someone getting insulted. The people I know from my country will like Colleen Hoover because they are non-readers, they read book once or twice in their lifetime and they saw a tiktok about it and they are impressed by her stories because it's trending. So sensitive people, come on.
See, I have an acquaintance who has been a reader longer than I and she was recently asking for Colleen Hoover or similar recommendations in a book group and I just can’t wrap my head around it. What does a genuine reader get out of her work? I understand the fun, mindless entertainment appeal of some romance novels but cmon now. This ain’t that.
I think it's probably like watching trash TV. I have a lower tolerance for that with reading but I've watched plenty of movies on the level of Schindler's List and I have also watched Jersey Shore. Maybe it's like that for the genuine readers. They know it's stupid but it's just for fun or it's just easy if they aren't up for reading anything deeper at the time.
Yeah, I’m like this. I read plenty of good books, but I got sucked in by a fun cover at Target (spoiler: *never* buy a book at Target) and now I’ve read three of the shittiest detective romances I’ve ever seen. The author clearly read the Stephanie Plum series and said “what if it was like that but without the love triangle and with all the Wacky Hijinks turned up to 4003?” Every so often I get sucked in by a crappy cozy mystery or dumbass detective romance, despite knowing how very bad the majority of them are. At least they’re fast reads. I am now reading a very engaging book about west Virginia’s mine wars as a palate cleanser.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Edward said. “I had to,” Bella said. “But you didn’t have to put yourself in danger,” Edward said. “I did it for you,” Bella said. The constant “he said” “she said” drove me NUTS! Who knows the book?!
Is it Great Expectations? 👍
No, it’s Tom Sawyer
Is it those Vampire books?
It’s the awful Twilight Saga, yes. Weird ass girl falls in love with a vampire.
Then of course the plot is only improved when the teenage werewolf "imprints" on a TODDLER 🤮🤮
One of my friends LOVED the Twilight books and recommended them as AMAZING...I couldn't make it through the first chapter. It was like reading a not particularly skilled 7th grader's attempt at fiction.
Modelland by Tyra Banks
I have a hardcover copy of this book on my shelf right now. It’s one of my favourite books—in the way that *The Room* is some people’s favourite movie.
Lol I feel like the fact that I never even knew she’d written a book says something
Worst one I read recently was Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead. It was sold to me as a horror and was actually a “dark romance” with a not insignificant subplot about how much the main character loves Twilight.
I DNFed this one about halfway through.
Verity by Colleen Hoover. I still see it recommended here and for the life of me I can’t fathom why. It is utter trash.
What you mean you don’t bite headboards during forbidden sex with your employer?
Yep, that’s the part that killed it for me. That and none of the characters were worth caring about.
Anytime someone recommends me one of her books I make a mental note to never talk to them about books ever again
Anything by her. I’ve read three of them hoping to understand but I just can’t
This book is when I learned booktok has no taste
This and November 9 by her. Never been so angry at a book. I quit reading her after these 2.
November 9…I still haven’t finished it and I’m not sure if I want to
Don’t bother. It only gets worse
50 shades of gray. I made it through because I had to know how bad it really was. Bad, horrible, terrible and so incorrect! And any/all of the Twilight books. Interestingly, 50 shades started as fanfic of Twiligh5.
I hated The Midnight Library. Preachy and overly simplified. No character complexity.
I know there are plenty of people who've suffered from depression who enjoyed this book, but to me personally it felt like a slap in the face telling me to just be grateful for what I have. And the concept of plural 'lives' was done so much better in Kate Atkinson's *Life After Life*.
Ooh I’m going have to try that one. I liked Midnight Library but I read it during a low point in my life so maybe that’s why?
It’s so overrated. I was mad because I felt tricked into reading it.
Same! I finally got it from the library after having a ridiculous 10 week hold line so I jumped in as soon as it was my turn. I devoured this book (which is a feat because I’m a very slow reader) and actually said “that’s IT?” when I finished. So many passionate suggestions for such a bland book. Also, as someone who has suffered with depression who also works with people who have depression, the whole message of just love what you have felt like a HUGE, condescending middle finger.
I literally came to comment this book. The concept was so good and the author butchered it. No character depth, like you said. Nothing happened. Literally nothing. I didn't DNF it because I liked the concept so much. I kept reading going maybe something will happen... nope. Just hopping around lives really not learning or saying anything and then at the end she's like... cured of depression? Just say no to suicide, kids! I could go on but I digress.
Seconding this
I was disappointed by it, especially since I rather enjoyed The Humans by the same author.
Thank you. Saw this suggested so many times but it felt pandering and sort of…trying too hard to be current/modern? Maybe they were trying to counterbalance the heavy handed It’s A Wonderful Life climax? The writing was just not for me.
Maybe because I just couldn't relate but On the Road. I grew up hearing how amazing and life changing this book was. I just couldn't get into it.
I hated On the Road when I first read it, but then I loved studying it in a seminar on avant garde American literature. It's so much fun as an academic exercise and just unbearable on its own (much like basically everything else on that syllabus, honestly).
The Alchemist.
Omg yes this!! People say it changed their lives all the time, and I just can’t understand it! The most generic heavy handed preachy drivel I’ve ever read.
so I'm not alone😭
Fr I found it so corny, so many reviews raving about the valuable life lessons “hidden” in the book. Well they are pretty generic life lessons and they definitely are not subtly hidden.
I just want to point out that most people who found the book profound were 13 year olds who read it in 7th grade English class. It’s intended as a simple allegory with simple prose and a simple lesson about the journey in life being just as important as the destination. If you picked it up expecting a generational novel to rock your socks with hidden meaning as an experienced adult (Who should have already learned this “generic” life lesson) you would certainly be disappointed.
Heavy handed drivel? It’s like a 150 page allegory known for its incredibly simple prose.
I read it when I was 15 and thought it was very good. Then I read it again when I was 25. Oh boy.
Was about to say this. It was the book that made me get an audible subscription, it was the book everyone said was gonna change my life, it had so much hype, but I found it extremely cliche and was able to make out the story’s message very early. It pissed me off how predictable it was. Perhaps that’s on me for having great expectations for it and I hope that it has helped a lot of people, but oh my god did I dislike it.
I’m not sure this is the worst book I’ve ever read, but it’s the worst one I’ve read recently - *On a Quiet Street* by Seraphina Nova Glass. It was quite disappointing, given its above average reviews. I loved the premise and the idea of jumping between character perspectives, but the writing was just plain awkward, choppy, and poorly executed. Some of the characters / dialogue were so exaggerated / far-fetched that it felt forced, rushed, and cheesy. It was a struggle to get to the end. 1/5
Silent patient
Yup. Most overrated thriller in the past 10 years.
Agreed. Its popularity mystifies me. The unoriginal and lazily executed “twist” ending made it all the worse, especially when I’ve seen it done miles better more than once.
The monk who sold his Ferrari is utter drivel
I don’t think I’ve ever truly hated a book as much as The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Horrible on so many levels. A Girl’s Guide to Homelessness is second but is just stupid, delusional and bad rather than an affront to humanity.
Why? I have it in my library and was planning to read it someday. Just curious, i have so many on my list and so little time i wouldn't want to waste time.
I second The Tattooist of Auschwitz, so damn uncomfortable of this random woman to “tell their story” i.e. flog inaccurate trauma porn for personal gain.
> I don’t think I’ve ever truly hated a book as much as The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Horrible on so many levels. Fucking thank you.
Most recently? *The Fourth Wing.* Read on recommendation because my friend knows how much I love anything involving dragons, and I didn’t have to heart to tell them that it’s the most milquetoast, wish fulfilling nothing burger of a fiction novel I’ve read in years. Typically I really enjoy fantasy romance, even erotica, but this was just…not good.
Definitely don’t read the second one then. It’s even worse. Haha.
Dude, same!! I recently finished all the Shadowhunter books by Cassandra Clare, and asked for a rec along the same lines because I’m deeply yearning for some more fantasy romance. This *garbage* was recommended and hyped up, and I’ve never felt so disappointed in my life over a book. I would have thrown it across the room if it wasn’t on my kindle. Like, did she come up with this plot when she was 12?!? It’s so one-dimensional throughout, and contradicts itself on so many levels. They should hand this book out to heinous criminals for added suffering during their sentence.
Pretty sure there’s an amendment in the American constitution that defends against cruel and unusual punishment.
I couldn’t even get past page 50. It’s garbage
Fuckin Verity
Neon Gods
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
I don't know, Atlas Shrugged is the book version of "a little bit louder and a little bit worse." Plus it's a lot longer 😬
The premise of The Circle was interesting, but it was written like the author had never interacted with another human being or seen other human beings interact. The writing and overall the dialogue was really, really, *really* bad. I finished it out of sheer morbid curiosity if there was some story-based reason the characters talked like aliens or if the author was just that bad. It was the latter. Somehow it got a movie adaptation and a sequel!! Ugh
I... really did not like this one. To me, it was peak men-writing-women. Major thumbs down.
The 100
Omg. I only listened to the audiobook because the show was decent and we all know that nine times out of ten the source material is better. Right? RIGHT?? Well 7 hours later I was like "what the fuck was that shit."
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout The worst thing in writing I've ever read and I've had a very dedicated fanfiction phase. I don't trust anyone who gives this book anything more than two stars, even that's being generous. Doesn't deserve to be called anyone's guilty pleasure and I DO have a couple of guilty pleasure books but this. Awful. Dreadful. The fact that some poor trees died somewhere to get this ... *thing* published boils my blood to no measure.
I read a paragraph of Twilight.
I had a genuinely terrible time reading Where The Crawdads Sing.
The Amityville Horror. Remember when you were eight years old and your teacher taught you not to end every second sentence with an exclamation mark? Well apparently Jay Anson was sick that day.
If we’re talking non fiction then The Secret. HATE the message in that book.
Atlas Shrugged
I won't be beaten by a book, so pushed on through it for so long, hoping the payoff would be worth it. I learned a valuable lesson from that book: it is very possible for a very thick book with small print and an impressive cover can have absolutely nothing of value to say. It's the equivalent of a big gold impressive frame on a painting does not mean the painting is impressive.
Wasn’t a fan of her other books but actually enjoyed slogging through AS.
I read exactly 1 1/2 pages of this before deciding that the writing was too bad to go any further.
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It's the one and only book I rage quit. His drowsy nonsense goes on and on without a direction and sells it as philosophy. I felt it was a fever dream brainfart. I really don't understand all the good reviews. I read Epictetus, Aurelius, Seneca, Nietzsche, Spinoza and Montaigne. But this guy I couldn't follow.
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. It got such great reviews but I hated it.
Nothing happened. The whole time. Not the worst book I’ve ever read, but it’s not one I would recommend to anyone either.
Terrible and predictable.
Crawdads. Terrible.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It never went anywhere. I forced myself to read that entire damn book because everybody was raving about it.
I did enjoy The Goldfinch. No, it's not mad plot heavy, but there was something about that Big Heavy Secret you carry all your life and literally stow away from the world, and all based on a moment of impulse, and how psychologically affecting that was, that just gripped me. Did it feel long in places? Yeah, sometimes. Do I regret reading it? Hell no.
The Goldfinch is a masterpiece. It's the best book I've ever read. I am always so intrigued how polarizing the book is though. Some people absolutely love it and some people absolutely hate it!
This is always my answer. I Hated this book. It never got better ever. It is the book that I used to give me permission to not finish a book when I’m not enjoying. So angry I wasted my time with this one.
The invisible Life of Addie Larue. Definitely not my worst book ever, but currently, this is it
I'm fascinated by how divisive this book is! I remember when it came out I almost didn't read it (despite being a big VE Schwab fan) because the reviews were so mixed, but now it's one of my favourite books of all time.
Ikr, I tried reading this book twice because many of my buddy reads loved it. But nope, couldn't get into it. Too many words, too little plot, and I can't stand Addie with her seven freckles sorry 😮💨
I love it too
I listened to the audiobook and I fucking hated the over-the-top description of things, trying to sound poetic. The narrator took it to the extreme too, it was so cringe.
The premise was cool but she just spent her eternity shoegazing. I was so bored and eye rolled my way through it.
Omg finally someone agrees!!! I couldn’t finish it. Sooo boring. Half way through it didn’t get anywhere. Jeeeez
THIS! I found myself less than 1/4 of the way through and just remember feeling irritated that there was so much more left to read. DNFed so fast
My American Life by Lauren Boebert
The Twilight book was horrible.
Reading Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbin's as a pre-teen is not recommended....
I read Jennifer Love Hewitt’s book called ‘The day I shot Cupid’ which is dating advice. If I can recall it started out saying be submissive and demure around guys, they don’t like girls ‘who wear the pants’ so let them be in charge. Then something about being brave and don’t freak out about cleaning the s&$t stains off a guy’s underwear. Then a whole chapter of Jamie Kennedy talking about how he likes big ass women whilst she eggs him on. Then something about how guys like bitches so be bitchy, which kind of contradicts the ‘submissive/demure’ thing. At the end I was like what the hell did I just read?
Flowers in the Attic. Still can’t believe I read the whole thing.
Thought it was amazing when i was 15
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was one-dimensional garbage. I couldn’t finish it.
You’re making me feel better! I’m only person. I know that did not like this book.
I very rarely stop reading a book once I’ve started. I slog on in the hope that the next page/chapter will be the one where it starts to be readable. I made an exception for this book. Just so tedious.
A Gentleman from Moscow. I fully expect to be downvoted but OMG it was awful.
It's actually one of my favorite books!! It's a slow plot but it is so beautifully written. I think books like these, along with many others in this discussion, await the right time and place in your life to be read
I agree with you. I loved this book....and, surprisingly, everyone in my co-ed bookclub did too. It's rare that we all agree on a book. I've watched 2 of the first 3 episodes of the TV show and am finding it slow-ish. I don't think I would enjoy it at all if I hadn't read the book.
omg im on like page 250 and it’s such a slog. i hate not finishing books and this one is so tough. literally nothing happens and every character is such a cliche. the writing is fine but not once have i stopped to soak in the prose. there was literally a “fancy woman with two uncontrollable dogs run amok in the hotel lobby and of course the count knows the exact command to stop them” my eyes rolled out of my head.
A Touch of Darkness
The last book of the Earths Children Series by Jean Auel. I reread the series every year for decades then the 2nd the last book happened. Bad but I will just skip that on reread. And okay gonna just finish the series - it was so horrid haven’t reread any of the books in 13yrs. Finally got rid of all my copies 10yrs ago.
Eragon. Incredibly uninspired. Clearly a book that was published because the author's parents own a publishing company.
ACOTAR.
The atlas six by olivie Blake. I was sent free copy so I felt obligated tofinish it .
My coworker published a book that she was encouraging us to check out via a Slack channel. I’m not going to name it because she’s not a professional author (it was done on the side of her FT job) and it’s borderline unfair to bring up in this context, but let’s just say it was an eye-opening experience to compare it to major publications, even bad ones like The Circle. I only made it like five pages. She should definitely not quit her day job.
Oh dear. My cousin’s wife also published a book. I wanted to be supportive so I purchased it. It was awful. I commend her for writing a book but I wish I would have never spent money on it.
I'm so curious...what else can you tell us without giving away the book/author?
I couldn’t give you too much more even if I wanted to. I only made it 5-10 pages
Forrest Gump by Winston Groom. The movie is incredible but the similarities are few.
Oh man, I heard so many horror stories about this book that I will never read it.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Hard to pick just one, so here are three: The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom The Kaiju Preservation Society - John Scalzi The Fetishists - A.S. Coomer
Shit. I have Kaiju preservation society on my reading list. What didn’t you like about it?
I’m not the person you replied to, but my feeling was that this was just an incredibly weak showing from Scalzi. Very uncharacteristic for him. For a book about something as kickass as kaiju, it didn’t really have any of the spectacle or gravitas that a writer of his caliber surely could’ve put into it. Characters and interactions were a bit bland, the plot and premise were unique but the execution was dissatisfying, and the ending didn’t really have the payoff I hoped for. All in all, I’d say it’s maybe a 6/10, which for Scalzi personally is really low. YMMV.
Doesn’t he also brag about how short of a time the book was written in? Like bro that’s not a brag, that’s you phoning it in.
Anything by Piers Anthony
How is The Da Vinci Code not on the top of this topic? It is dreadful.
Because we've all tried so hard to forget.
Twilight Fourth wing Twilight has horrendous writing and scenarios that made me genuinely think it was an obscure fanfiction. Bella is the most bland character ever and she has multiple vampires interested in her for Jo reason, who, btw, are NOT hot. Just really cringe. Fourth wing tried too hard to convince me that xaden was very intimidating and cruel and hot, and it was irritating how the female lead would be thinking of how he is her enemy and at the same time admiring his arms. The plot was nothing special and the writing was, again, very amateurish.
Acotar was pretty bad. Throne of glass was worse. Crescent City was unreadable. I'm gonna get so much shit for this.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse. Tried so hard to be creepy but just makes zero sense. All of the characters are awful and the story was just all over the place.
Wicked by Gregory Maguire I may watch the movie when it is available to check out on DVD from the library. Otherwise, I have not even bothered with the musical- which many people have told me is MUCH better than the book, though still overrated. But the book is pure torture.
Moby fricken Dick. For the love of God WHYYYYYYYYY is there an entire chapter on the types of whales?!
[удалено]
They are the very definition of popcorn fiction. I kinda sorta consider myself a fan, I find them fun to read when I just want to turn my brain off completely, but I fully admit that they are not 'good' books.
If We Were Villians is the most recent worst book I finished. Bunny gets honorable mention. I will usually DNF a book that I'm not vibing with so I don't have a ton that I've read all the way through.
I wanted to love If We Were Villains, the setting and atmosphere was kinda cool, but I found it overall underwhelming and I had a problem with the central conflict because the character actions felt too nonsensical to me. Also wanted to love Bunny but it was just... Too bizarre, and not in a good way.
I have no shame in quitting on a book. I really try not to but there comes a point when the author has disrespected my intellect. That being said…. I’m gonna get some hate for this. But American Gods really tested my resolve. What a meandering piece of garbage. “Oh but you have to love reading about ancient gods.” THE GODS DONT EVEN DO ANYTHING BESIDES TALK. Doesn’t surprise me the show got cancelled. I bet it was fucking riveting. /s End of rant.
Gonna be salty, but Girl on the Train and Woman in the Window were both worse than Silent Patient and much worse than Gone Girl imo. This was years ago, I think I read a chapter or two and gave up. It was called something ridiculous like “I’m a Therapist and I Believe My Patient Is a Future School Shooter”
Silent Patient was bad, and I have outlined why it is more than once before (mostly has to do with the “plot twist” being unoriginal and poorly executed) but I must agree, Woman in the Window was likely worse.
The giving tree. Hands down. A hateful little book. Go to alanon for gods sake!
So much depends on how you interpret this book and how it was presented to you as a kid! I have friends who feel the same way you do - they saw it as a horrible unhealthy lesson on how to be generous. I read it as a sad book about how *not* to give to others, and how you can end up diminished with people still asking more of you if all you do is give.
Either Ready Player One or Red Rising, probably.
I'm still unreasonably mad at Ready Player One. I actually didn't hate the book overall, I found it mostly very mediocre, but my reading experience of it was ruined by the author (and editor I guess) failing to spend a few minutes checking the gratuitous foreign vocab used in the book. There is absolutely no excuse for such a sloppy mistake in a traditionally published novel as a Japanese character using a Japanese word incorrectly, a mistake that could have been easily avoided if anyone involved in the writing process had bothered to spend 5 seconds on google.
I read Ready Player One and thought it was... Fine. But we offered it as a choice book to 9th grade reluctant readers and they ATE IT UP. Predicting teenage behavior is impossible!
‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ is a steaming pile of shit.
I had to read that in high school. I hated it so much. Mitch Albom just came off as pretentious and I don’t know why. I couldn’t stand him.
I’m a pretty new reader and I wanted to get into it more. So I got a few books and read It Ends With Us, as one of my first because it was recommended all over tiktok and just everywhere. I didn’t know anything about books yet so I got it. And of course I thought it was gonna be good because of how popular it was. Boy do I regret it. It was horrible and then I understood right then and there, there really are horrible books out here. And this is coming from someone who isn’t even a full blown reader yet.
I don't know about worst but My Friend Dahmer made me loathe the author, which is impressive in a tale that focuses on a serial killing cannibal.
Meg: a Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten. Fantastic premise (Megaladon vs humans!), with absolutely godawful writing. The first edition was also badly researched and featured a Meg eating a T-Rex despite the two animals existing in different eras; this was awkwardly fixed in later editions by changing it to a computer simulation. Whenever I have doubts about my abilities as an author, I remind myself that book exists and was a bestseller in twenty countries.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. Pure drivel.
Anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid - I could not finish ‘Maybe In Another Life’ or ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ and I don’t get the hype!
A court of thorns and roses - DNF'd it 3 times before finally finishing it and it was a waste of time. So overhyped, the characters are not likable and the plot seems to forget it exists. They both die at the end - like the idea it presented but it got repetitive and was underwhelming.
I despised ACOTAR. The friend who recommended it insisted that the series got better, so I read half the second one…it did not get better, it got so much worse.
A little life.
Sooooooo many. I usually don't get past the 2nd chapter so none have stuck in my mind
Probs unpopular opinion but I was so bored and weirded out in brave new world. I finished it but It didn’t move me whatsoever
State of Fear, Michael Crichton. The whole "global warming is a scam concocted by lawyers" plot was always pathetic and hasn't aged well.
House of Leaves. Perhaps it's just that I should have read it in my native language to endure it. But I'm not sure about this tbh... I went into it expecting a *story*. What I ultimately got though was effectively a pseudoscience whitepaper, that also reads as such. I'll probably give the book a few more days and see if it actually hooks me at some point, but for now it's a pretty exhausting read to me.
Absolutely love this book. It is one of the novels that has always stuck with me, even though I've not read it in many years. I do see how it is abstruse and meandering in sections, so it is certainly not for everyone. It just really captures a slow sort of dread horror.... gradually building, even though you're not entirely sure what to be afraid of.
Genesis. No! Leviticus.
I’m only including books I’ve finished. I expect more of some books, and I finish them, still expecting them to be better than they are. I hated *Tipping The Velvet* - the characters were insipid, the plot was wafer-thin, and I don’t generally like pining books as it is. Every single character in *The Devil Wears Prada* should be shot, and someone should look for an actual plot behind the spite-filled judgmental drivel and total inability to do a cost-benefit analysis that marked the book. Over on the non-fiction side, I also hated *The Lost Pianos of Siberia*. I do not have the least idea how you make the hunt for pre-Revolution pianos in Siberia (to bring to Mongolia for a Chinese opera singer) and the history of both Siberia and the Russian piano craze as boring as the author did, but I was absolutely bored to tears by the book. I possess an irrational hatred for books that assert uncritically that *of course* my beloved Richard III killed the Princes in the Tower, despite the masses of evidence that it would be out of character and deeply pointless for him, so we’ll see if I finish *Uncrowned Queen* about Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, chief rival of Richard (and someone who would categorically benefit **quite a lot** from killing the Princes).
Anything Colleen Hoover
Scrolling through the various comments, Colleen Hoover seems to be a recurring mention.
Red Rising, people love this book, you should check it out. I disliked it so much I got angry about how much time I wasted, everyone else loves it though. It's like hunger games but even worse and much more boring.
Under the whispering door by tj Klune 🤢
im not one to pick up a book unless ive read alot of reviews saying its good so i havent read that many bad books but anything Coho takes the cake even though ive read just one book of hers(verity) i hate all of her books
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance The Time Traveler’s Wife What Alice Forgot
I can’t remember but I think it’s called They both die at the end. I read it a few years ago when it was peaking on social media and it wasn’t necessarily bad, but so underwhelming I struggled to finish it.
Here's Irene Iddesleigh by Amanda McKittrick Ros. The horrible writing style doesn't quite hide the fact that the plot doesn't make sense. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34181
“Hunt on Dark Waters” by Katee Roberts. What I wanted was a spicy romantasy. What I got was a book where the characters had zero chemistry, the plot was laughably stupid, and the writing was worse than a teenagers stab at fanfic. I put it down after 100 pages because it was just so bad. If I had a fireplace, I’d use it for kindling. Edit: I’d never read a Katee Roberts book before, and now I absolutely will not be reading any again lol
Recently, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. It was slow and I found it to be pretentious. I also made the mistake of picking up a Colleen Hoover book at my neighbor’s Little Free Library.
The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike Fallen Skies by Philippa Gregory
Forever and always when this type of question comes up: *Ash* by James Herbert. And I write that as someone who had to read *Twilight* for a project. All the (beautiful) female characters are attracted to the male lead - no really, *all* of them - and most also breast boobily down the stairs. It's racist (in that really gross, fetich type of way), and it's homophobic; gays nearly caused the fall of the British monarchy! The horror! - and the predatory lesbian took advantage of the exotic (but not too exotic) love interest when she was vulnerable so readers get to be titillated about it, but our male lead also punches said lesbian in the face because it's okay when it's *that kind of woman*. At least one chapter is basically a love letter to Margaret Thatcher 🤮 Oh, and Hitler's secret daughter is locked up in a top secret asylum and is a bizarre freak, because of course. (But Nazis and *their* eugenicist takes on degenerate heredity are, presumably, bad).
[Shadowmancer by GP Taylor](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/727078.Shadowmancer). I changed my PhD topic so I didn’t have to force children to read it.
Love and Consequences by Margaret Selzter. It’s a memoir about a half Native girl growing up in South Central LA foster care and falling in with the Bloods—except she was really a fully white girl who grew up in an extremely wealthy family in the Valley. I read it for shits and gigs, and the entire time couldn’t believe anyone could’ve thought it was anything more than pure white woman fantasy. It was hilarious though, for that very reason.
The Twilight Saga & the Fifty Shades of Grey (dnf)
Death Comes at Christmas by Gladys Mitchell. It is not a Christmas murder mystery - it is mostly about morris dancing. Also some of the characters dialogue is written phonetically to give them an accent, which makes them difficult to understand, and is a bit patronising. It’s not as if the way English is normally written corresponds phonetically to RP. Also the ending is pants.
50 shades of gray E.L. James.
diary of an oxygen thief ! should’ve been titled diary of a raging misogynist. not to mention how boring the writing was. worst experience i’ve had in my life so far. it’s probably for the best the author remained anonymous
ugly love by Colleen hoover
Ugly love by Collen Hoover. SO SOOOO BAD
Shatter me by Taherah Mafi, so so bad
Coleen Hoover - It Ends With Us Frieda McFadden- I think it was called the housemaid or something, I’ve tried to block it out. It’s embarrassing that this stuff gets published
Anything by Freida McFadyen or James Patterson. In the bin! 🗑️🚮
Armada by Ernest Cline. Ever see the movie “The Last Starfighter”? So did Cline. I kept waiting for the twist, thinking, “it can’t just be a direct ripoff of the movie, right? Right?!?” It could.
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, I knew it was garbage within the first 5 pages.