Shit Books I Unapologetically Hate

It’s time to get salty.

Inspired by LilyCReads’ ‘Shit Books That I Hate’ that came out quite a while a go, I decided it was time for a little collection of my 1-2 star ratings of books that I hated. As a disclaimer (#1), I have read all these, and won’t be going into books I haven’t read but know are problematic, they’re just, in my opinion, terrible. And I’m not going to be speaking constructively like a normal review so, if you’re not into me saying ‘this books sucks’ then this post probably isn’t for you.

DISCLAIMER #2: Just because I hate them, this does not mean that you cannot. I would never tell anyone that they should hate a book just because I do and if you love any of the books mentioned then great! I’m sure there are books that you loathe and I love too.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

27883214This book was so hyped. So fucking hyped. People were clambering over themselves at YALC 2016 to get the one proof they were giving away. Everyone was talking about it. Comparing it to The Night Circus, and how fucking dare you.

This was the one book I received for my birthday. It was every word synonymous with beautiful but oh my god, it’s innards were bladdy awful. Not only did the plot make absolutely no sense, there was no heart to the book? It was literally slapped together, and I feel really sorry for Stephanie Garber if she worked so hard on the world building because where was it? All the characters are unlikable and stupid as fuck, the main character was just dragged from one place to the next and could’ve been swapped from a human to a doll and you wouldn’t have had to make many changes to the text. Characters just threw information at her and then when she had questions, they would just say “it doesn’t matter” or “never mind about that” and we just had to move on. Who cares about that thing? I certainly don’t. What utter shit.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

rrcoverTurns out even your ‘handsome’ face can’t help you write a good book.

I didn’t even finish this nonsense because it wasn’t science fiction at all. It was a book about the perfect man being perfect and having sex with women and then them dying except it happens on Mars. Nowadays I just expect shitty female characters from male authors; if it’s sci-fi/fantasy, they’re sexually promiscuous with giant breasts and have no personality, or the opposite, an innocent virgin maiden, then if it’s gen-fic, they’re a bitch who cheats on the main male character. In most situations, she’s raped or killed or both. Without spoiling anything, Red Rising ticks a lot of these boxes in the first 100 pages. I couldn’t be asked to read the rest. Do one.

 

 

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich

32470629

This was a lot more disappointing than most. #Ownvoices LGBT rep, how could I say no? I bought this the day it came out and read it in about two days. But what I read was just shite. It was just a poorly written story, but then again the concept itself was a bit odd. I get why; it’s meant to be a bit of a piss-take of spy movies and also a commentary on heteronormative stories. It could have been interesting…sort of. What it actually was a description of things happening, it was dire to read. I wrote a scathing review about it including some examples taken right out of the book. Read them out loud and you’ll see what I mean. Did anyone actually read this book before they published it? It’s just notes, it ain’t even a first draft.

This is a novel from a debut author too, which makes me a little guilty for saying all these things. But the work and the grind and the passion that has to be put in a debut novel just to get your foot in the door of an agent is so mighty that many just give up after a billion rejections. So to see this be taken on and published is such a shock and there, the guilt has gone.

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

the_hostThis book was just generic Stephenie Meyer forumla. Take a special girl and make two guys fight over her. It’s not flattering, because the guys are also mean to the girl, who just moves from one room to the next to receive a few info dumps before nothing happens. And this is a thick book. Ughhhh. I can’t believe I read the whole thing, what’s wrong with me?

I didn’t put the Twilight series on here because, despite giving the books 1-2 stars on Goodreads, when I read them as a teen I adored them, so I don’t think lil’ Hollie would appreciate me trashing them now at 24. So I’ll do her a favour and just diss this nonsense.

 

 

 

 

Please, don’t take any of these to heart. I would never hate a person for loving a book I dislike. The freedom have a difference of opinion is a beautiful thing and hey, if there are any books that you hate but think/know I love, then tell me in the comments and we can all be salty together!

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5 thoughts on “Shit Books I Unapologetically Hate

  1. Interesting that I heard this about Red Rising (the bad rep, although otherwise she liked it), but absolutely didn’t pick up on it myself! I was like, so it’s a book about men, fine – kind of like my university years (engineering, I was the only girl), so maybe I’m just weathered by the experience. I really liked the story otherwise. But it baffles me that I missed something like this, being a woman, when other women point it out. Just feels so weird…

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I really love The Host, and I still love the Twilight books (I rewatch the first movie a couple times every year to this day and it always makes me so happy ❤) but I 100% understand why a lot of people hate her work. I actually thought the plot of The Host really interesting, I loved the whole premise with the alien soul things taking over humans, but I admit that the love triangle made me cringe 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  3. This was amazing and I love that you made this! I just started reading Caravan so we’ll see how that goes… But thank you so much for making my day!.. or night. Since I’m reading this at 1.22 am and I should probably go to slap sinds my alarm will go of at 7… Yay me.. Have a nice day yourself!

    Liked by 1 person

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