As hard as I try there are some books that just don't click with me. Sometimes I DNF (do not finish) and sometimes I power through because I'm hoping that it gets better. I end up not liking books for a bunch of different reasons: the writing, the storyline, the pace or characters.
Over the course of a year I usually end up liking most of the books I read but this year, I've DNFed a lot of books and have really disliked a lot that I've read. Even if I didn't totally dislike it, I wasn't fond of a lot of the stories.
Perhaps it's because I expect more because I read too much or because I'm trying to read books that aren't for me.
I don't like bashing books but I had a lot of thoughts about these particular books I didn't like so let's get into it
A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch
I was really looking forward to this book for a few reasons: I loved the cover and the summary sounded so different and intriguing. This book is about a bookseller, turned writer, who becomes enamored with her boyfriend' ex-girlfriend. She becomes so intrigued that she befriends the ex and quickly fall into a friendship, behind her boyfriend's back. The lies start to overwhelm her and eventually become too much to keep track of.
This book was weird... it was written in a very literary way. It felt like it was something you would read in English class and not on your accord. It made the story hard to connect with and I honestly felt like Naomi, the main character and person basically stalking her boyfriend's ex, was unhinged. The lengths she went to in order to befriend the ex, Rosemary, was mildly psychotic. This could've been a really funny, quirky book but it felt a little too Single White Female. It was a disappointment, to be honest.
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
Oh do I have THOUGHTS. I knew that I wasn't going to like this book and maybe that's what set me up for disappointment but my goodness this book was awful. I love Colleen Hoover and I can see why this is one of her most successful books - it's an quick read that is easy to follow and understand, mixed with a compelling storyline. To me, this is a good gateway book... it's like you start out with it, enjoy it and then fall deeper into the reading rabbit hole.
If you are someone who is a seasoned reader, and I don't say that to be pretentious, because I love Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey, you won't like this. It read worse than Twilight and 50 Shades... like much worse.
The storyline was odd - why was Lily writing to Ellen DeGeneres everyday? Atlas was irritating and I don't see the fascination and I hated that I liked Ryle.. but this is coming from a girl who likes Jess, Damon and Chuck Bass over Logan, Stephan and Nate.
I read the book in two days and honestly hated every second of it. I did cry a bit at the end when the title of the book gets woven into the plot but my goodness it is massively overhyped.
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Ever since Big Little Lies came out Liane Moriarty's books have not been hitting the same. I don't know what it is but every book over the past 7 years has been a total bust. Even Big Little Lies wasn't that good compared to What Alice Forgot or The Last Anniversary.
Apples Never Fall was released last year and I still don't really understand the apple reference. Nothing happened in this book; there was a lot of tennis references and the mother of the family went missing but no one seems too concerned. It was so weird and boring. It's a total skip...
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
I don't have children and The School for Good Mothers was a hard no for me. I stopped after a few chapters in for a few different reasons: it was too dystopian for me, I didn't like the direction it was going and I thought it just too 'woke'. I didn't like the reputation it gave mothers - I didn't like seeing mothers in that shameful light, even though I know it is based on real life viewpoints. The notion that mothers cannot screw up at all is very real and this book blew that idea up.
Frida messes up and has a bad day that results in her baby being taken away, her being treated like a criminal and then being sent away to 'a school for good mothers'. There, she meets other 'good mothers' and they basically compete to get their children back. Like I said, I stopped after a handful of chapters because it was just hard to read. It gave me anxiety and made me feel icky.
Breathless by Amy McCulloch
I chose Breathless as a Book of the Month book recently and after five or so chapters I had to close it. I might pick it back up again at some point but there was just too much hiking lingo. It was difficult to get through the beginning chapters that had a lot of characters and a lot of background noise about hiking - it didn't feel relevant to where I guessed the story was going and it was just very slow for me.
What are some books you haven't liked?
xoxo
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