Friday, December 28, 2018

2018 In Review | Worst Books

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be reviewing some of the worst books I've read this year. In 2018, I was pretty strict on what I did and did not read.When I first thought about the worst books of this year, nothing immediately came to mind. I take this as a great sign! I'd be less happy if several books came to me right away.

Since I couldn't think of anything off the bat, I trotted my way to goodreads and looked at what I read. While the year isn't over yet, it doesn't seem like either of my current reads (Lovestruck by Kate Watson and Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare) will make the list. Keep in mind that this list is purely my opinion and that if a book makes this list, I probably didn't despise it with the passion of a thousand fiery suns.

Without further ado, here are seven reads of the year that fell short. 

The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst


The Marriage Bargain was just so bland. This book feels like it was published in the early 2000s, maybe late 90s, but it was actually published in 2012. The sexist language and borderline sexual assault made me super uncomfortable. There's a scene where the protagonist voices her reluctance during a sexual encounter and the love interest responds with, "I don't care." WHAT!! Needless to say, The Marriage Bargain does not stand the test of time. 

Mr. Nice Guy by Jennifer Miller and Jason Feifer



This book was a hot stinking mess. Both protagonists were just so horrible. I forgot their names, but the female protagonist is a total bitch and is only slightly better than the male protagonist (Lucas maybe??) who was just such a selfish, sexist, judgemental person. Sure there's some growth, but not enough to make up for the majority of the book where both protagonists are just horrible people. To top it off, the romance between them (which wasn't the main focus, imo and shouldn't have been marketed as a romance novel) had no spark.
Come for Me, Darling by Alexis Anne


There wasn't anything downright horrible about Come for Me, Darling; it was just boring. I didn't care enough about the romance, and the book wasn't even that erotic or risque, which I expected from the title. Also, I'm pretty sure this took place in the South, and it seemed stock full of Southern cliches. 

Say You'll Remember Me by Katie McGarry



This novel gets a big fat HELL NO from me. I read some other Katie McGarry years back, and Say You'll Remember Me was my reintroduction to her. Let's just say my reintroduction started with Say You'll Remember Me and ended there. If you want to know more about my issues with the book, I would love if you checked out this post, which details the blatant victim blaming in the novel.  

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Review
 
I went into this with the lowest expectations possible, and Red Queen didn't even meet them. Red Queen is such a well loved book a series in the YA world, but I found it really underwhelming. The love triangle? who cares. The world building? Lacking and honestly, confusing. The twist? Not that uprising. Basically, Red Queen was a big sigh. But since someone gifted me the second book a year or two ago, I might give the second one a chance. 
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer



Okay, so it's probably a little unfair to put Annihilation on the list. After seeing the movie adaptation, which I absolutely loved, I had to read the book. When reading the book, I was just really taken aback. There are pretty major differences between novel and movie. The novel is also pretty slow, and I lack patience when I'm reading. At the end of the day, Vandermeer excellently ramped up the tension, but it just didn't work for me. This is the only one I would recommend on the list. 

Deklan by Shay Savage


Deklan was pretty stupid. I read this in less than 24 hours, but it was cheesy as all get out. The main character basically has no common sense. The romance isn't an equal partnership, and Kera's just accepts that. I was pretty disappointed with this one since I've heard such wonderful things about Shay Savage. Hopefully there will be better luck next time, if there is one. 



Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What are some of your worst books of the year? Hopefully you didn't have too many bad reads! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading and Happy Holidays! 

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

12 comments:

  1. To be honest, I don't understand the hype for Red Queen. Sometimes I think I'm getting 'too old' for YA but then, there are people like you who shares my sentiments.
    Red Queen was okay for me. I was okay with the world and I was somehow interested to know more about the world, because as you said, it is lacking. So I read Glass Sword and it was boring and gives off that 2nd-book-syndrome feel. Book 3 was the same or worse. I checked and I gave it 2-stars. Weird enough, I'm still finishing the series because I kind of want to know how things will end for Maven. But it isn't really at the top of my priorities.

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    1. Yeah, as I get older (I'm 19 right now), there are definitely really hyped up YA reads that I just..don't get. I feel like Red Queen is perfect for YA readers who haven't read that many YA fantasy novels. It's great as an introductory novel, but I've read better in the last several years since I've started reading YA.

      I am also most interested in the world! I've heard that the 2nd and 3rd books are pretty meh. I also do that with series! They're not good enough for me to genuinely enjoy, but good enough for me to hope that it'll get better, haha! If you ever finish the series, let me know!

      Thanks so much for visiting czai!

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  2. I loved Red Queen, but the series went downhill for me after that, and I abandoned it.

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    1. That's what I keep hearing! One of my (real life) friends told me that the first book is the best and it just gets worse, and I've seen other bloggers express the same sentiments. I feel like I probably will give the second book a go, but if I don't like it more, I'll abandon the series like you. Thanks for visiting Sam!

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  3. Totally agree with Red Queen - it was just meh for me, very unoriginal. I read the second book and liked it even less!

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    1. I agree, nothing stood out in Red Queen for me! That's what I keep hearing. Honestly, do I even want to spend my time reading the second book if I've heard bad things about it from almost every blogger? Who knows if I'll actually read the sequel!

      Thanks for visiting Angela!

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  4. I only read Red Queen (when it first came out) and it was such a disappointment.

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    1. That seems like the consensus in these comments! At least our disappointments are not alone. :)

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  5. Eek! Annihilation is on my soon to be read pile... but I'm definitely hesitant about it... I own all three books! lol We'll see how it goes!

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    1. Haha, it just wasn't for me! But it's pretty well loved, so I would say the odds are still in your favor. :) At least the books are relatively short! Or at least, the first one is!

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  6. I pushed myself through the first 3 books in the Red Series - and I'm not interested in the rest at all. I will say that the first novel was the best in the series at that.

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    1. A part of me wants to keep going, but another (much bigger) part of me doesn't want to invest my time in it.

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