forum Books that make you want to smack your head against a wall

Started December 28, 2018 by @n o s t r a d a m u s location_city

tune

What are some of the worst, most infuriating books you have read, and why do you dislike them?

Here are some of mine:

• Anything by Cassandra Clare (Just bad in general - 'The Authentic Observer' has a great youtube series on why they're bad which pretty much expresses everything I thought about Clare's books)
• Anything by Sarah J Maas (Bad characters, cringey writing, tell don't show)
• 'A People's History of the Vampire Uprising' by Raymond A Villareal (Cool concept, poorly executed)
• The 'Fallen' series by Lauren Kate (Luce is so dumb)

• Freaking twilight - it's a literal cringe fest blah (no offence to any fans)
• Finding Audrey - the romance was too quickly introduced, there was no actual plot line, it might have been nice to have a little backstory as to what happened in Audrey's life???
• Welcome to Nightvale - ??? It was so hard to finish. I feel like there was no story line??

• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Bad pacing, too similar to Harry Potter, boring characters, The progression of Simon and Baz’s relationship felt really rushed and kinda came out of nowhere.

• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken(?) started out strong but got kinda boring after Ruby left Thurmond which was early on. Unoriginal concept, cliches everywhere, generic characters.

• Graceling by Kristen Cashore. Unlikeable one dimensional, overpowered main character. Romance that I didn’t care for at all, plot had potential to be interesting but it dragged on forever, and the ending was just anticlimactic.

• Caraval by (I forgot the author’s name whoops 🙃) I actually liked this book but the main character was just sooo dumb that I may have actually slammed my head against a wall. The ending was a bit of a letdown as well.

• The Crowns Game by Evelyn Skye (?) good concept poor execution. The main characters are so dumb in this book and one of them is like a textbook example of a Mary Sue. Poorly written instalove, poorly written love triangle all topped off with an unsatisfying ending.

• Dualed by Elsie Chapman. You’ve probably never heard of this book and trust me there’s a reason for that. This book could have been the next Hunger Games if the main character didn’t spend the whole book doing absolutely nothing instead of killing her twin like she was supposed to. Like actually the premise was so good but the execution was so bad.

Books you probably haven't heard of but:

Valkyrie - Kate O'Hearn : The main character in my opinion is just really annoying, and there are some cliches and not that original.

Dawn Of the Dreamer - L. J Higgins : Most of the characters were really really annoying and the main character was like the damsel in distress and didn't really have that much of a brain. Main character also kind of seemed like a mary sue. and there were also lots of cliches.

• Finding Audrey - the romance was too quickly introduced, there was no actual plot line, it might have been nice to have a little backstory as to what happened in Audrey's life???

YES! THERE WAS SO MUCH BUILDUP TO WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER, BUT WE NEVER FRICKING FIND OUT!!!!!!

• Anything by Sarah J Maas (Bad characters, cringey writing, tell don't show)

Yep. I have a full ACOTAR rant in the book unrecommendations thread. Like, I can't believe I defended Throne of Glass in one post, it was before I read it and saw the light lol.

Tries to think of books I hate

“Matched” — With all the hype about it, I expected to be blown away with the writing and characters. Truthfully, though, I could hardly get a few chapters in without being bored and annoyed with the main characters. Sorry to all of the fans.

THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES BLOODY HELL I HATED THOSE!

THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES BLOODY HELL I HATED THOSE!

OnE I wIll fIght yOU!
Two, yeah there were some pretty shitty things in there.

“Matched” — With all the hype about it, I expected to be blown away with the writing and characters. Truthfully, though, I could hardly get a few chapters in without being bored and annoyed with the main characters. Sorry to all of the fans.

I read Matched and enjoyed it, but I dnf'd Crossed and don't plan on finishing the series.

"Enders Game"- I just found it sucky, I liked the concept at first but I think the author just over explained everything and it makes the reader feel stupid.

THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES BLOODY HELL I HATED THOSE!

OnE I wIll fIght yOU!
Two, yeah there were some pretty shitty things in there.

It just ugh!!!!!!! I hated Jason, and the focus shifted too much from the OG trio to a bunch of new characters, who don't get me wrong I enjoyed all of them but Jason, and yet NO ONE DIES BUT THAT ONE ROMAN DUDE IN THE FINAL BATTLE??? THERE WAS A MAIN CAST OF 7, NOT COUNTING REYNA NICO WILL HEDGE THALIA AND SO MANY OTHERS!!! Caleo was super forced and everyone ended up in a relationship except for Reyna, ther ewas no snarky 1st person narrative which was a big part of what I loved in PJO. I also felt like there was no tension at all, Percy's Achilles heel (one of my favorite scenes from the whole series) was rendered irrelevant, and the Greek/Roman thing confused me.

• Anything by Sarah J Maas (Bad characters, cringey writing, tell don't show)

Yep. I have a full ACOTAR rant in the book unrecommendations thread. Like, I can't believe I defended Throne of Glass in one post, it was before I read it and saw the light lol.

Yeah it is so bad
(And porn in a YA book, srsly?)

• Finding Audrey - the romance was too quickly introduced, there was no actual plot line, it might have been nice to have a little backstory as to what happened in Audrey's life???

YES! THERE WAS SO MUCH BUILDUP TO WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER, BUT WE NEVER FRICKING FIND OUT!!!!!!

IKR!! O WAS SO ANNOYED QHEN I READNIT THE SECOND TIME! LIKE GOD, PULL YOURSELF TOGATHER WOMAN! YOU DINT JUST HA E SOMETHING BIG HAPPEN TO YOU THEN FALL IN LOVE WITHON 5 CHAPTERS! Also I hated that one girl who came with her pare ts to read a poem like no

• Finding Audrey - the romance was too quickly introduced, there was no actual plot line, it might have been nice to have a little backstory as to what happened in Audrey's life???

YES! THERE WAS SO MUCH BUILDUP TO WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER, BUT WE NEVER FRICKING FIND OUT!!!!!!

IKR!! O WAS SO ANNOYED QHEN I READNIT THE SECOND TIME! LIKE GOD, PULL YOURSELF TOGATHER WOMAN! YOU DINT JUST HA E SOMETHING BIG HAPPEN TO YOU THEN FALL IN LOVE WITHON 5 CHAPTERS! Also I hated that one girl who came with her pare ts to read a poem like no

Wait when did someone come out? I don't remember that…

• Anything by Sarah J Maas (Bad characters, cringey writing, tell don't show)

Yep. I have a full ACOTAR rant in the book unrecommendations thread. Like, I can't believe I defended Throne of Glass in one post, it was before I read it and saw the light lol.

Yeah it is so bad
(And porn in a YA book, srsly?)

AND EVERYONE IS IN A STRAIGHT AND ALSO WHITE/WHITE RELATIONSHIP! ALL OF THE DIVERSITY IS RETCONNED IN (Mor, Lucien, apparently the Illeryians which are another can of worms) OR KILLED OFF (Sorscha, Nehemia, Connall, the Mortal Queens) OR EVIL!

• Finding Audrey - the romance was too quickly introduced, there was no actual plot line, it might have been nice to have a little backstory as to what happened in Audrey's life???

YES! THERE WAS SO MUCH BUILDUP TO WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER, BUT WE NEVER FRICKING FIND OUT!!!!!!

IKR!! O WAS SO ANNOYED QHEN I READNIT THE SECOND TIME! LIKE GOD, PULL YOURSELF TOGATHER WOMAN! YOU DINT JUST HA E SOMETHING BIG HAPPEN TO YOU THEN FALL IN LOVE WITHON 5 CHAPTERS! Also I hated that one girl who came with her pare ts to read a poem like no

Wait when did someone come out? I don't remember that…

It's when Audrey and her brother jack I to their parents email? I think that's what happened

• Finding Audrey - the romance was too quickly introduced, there was no actual plot line, it might have been nice to have a little backstory as to what happened in Audrey's life???

YES! THERE WAS SO MUCH BUILDUP TO WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO HER, BUT WE NEVER FRICKING FIND OUT!!!!!!

IKR!! O WAS SO ANNOYED QHEN I READNIT THE SECOND TIME! LIKE GOD, PULL YOURSELF TOGATHER WOMAN! YOU DINT JUST HA E SOMETHING BIG HAPPEN TO YOU THEN FALL IN LOVE WITHON 5 CHAPTERS! Also I hated that one girl who came with her pare ts to read a poem like no

Wait when did someone come out? I don't remember that…

It's when Audrey and her brother jack I to their parents email? I think that's what happened

Ooooh, I misread your post and thought you said that someone came out like came out of the closet my mistake lol. Yeah that poem was so fricking dumb like if someone literally messed up my life the way that girl messed up Audrey's it'd take way way WAY more than a shitty poem to make me forgive them.

Lol. I swear if someone did that to me, then I would probably scream

Has anyone heard of the 'book' Handbook for Mortals? It came out last year and there was a huge scandal about it. I read a snark review of it and it sounds awful! Check out the YouTube review by Marines, her channel is mynameismarines.

OK

I've heard of it as well. There's a youtuber that I like (InsaneReader) who talked about it in one of his videos. He has a longer review of it but I haven't watched it yet because it's like 45 minutes. It sounds pretty awful lol.

THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES BLOODY HELL I HATED THOSE!

OnE I wIll fIght yOU!
Two, yeah there were some pretty shitty things in there.

It just ugh!!!!!!! I hated Jason, and the focus shifted too much from the OG trio to a bunch of new characters, who don't get me wrong I enjoyed all of them but Jason, and yet NO ONE DIES BUT THAT ONE ROMAN DUDE IN THE FINAL BATTLE??? THERE WAS A MAIN CAST OF 7, NOT COUNTING REYNA NICO WILL HEDGE THALIA AND SO MANY OTHERS!!! Caleo was super forced and everyone ended up in a relationship except for Reyna, ther ewas no snarky 1st person narrative which was a big part of what I loved in PJO. I also felt like there was no tension at all, Percy's Achilles heel (one of my favorite scenes from the whole series) was rendered irrelevant, and the Greek/Roman thing confused me.

In my opinion it would have been bad, but the character arcs/development kept it from being so.
As it is. Magnus Chase. Trials of Apollo. I didn’t bother to read MC after all the terrible reviews, and as I was reading TA I realized it was trash that only was allowed to exist because RR had made a name for himself.

THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS SERIES BLOODY HELL I HATED THOSE!

OnE I wIll fIght yOU!
Two, yeah there were some pretty shitty things in there.

It just ugh!!!!!!! I hated Jason, and the focus shifted too much from the OG trio to a bunch of new characters, who don't get me wrong I enjoyed all of them but Jason, and yet NO ONE DIES BUT THAT ONE ROMAN DUDE IN THE FINAL BATTLE??? THERE WAS A MAIN CAST OF 7, NOT COUNTING REYNA NICO WILL HEDGE THALIA AND SO MANY OTHERS!!! Caleo was super forced and everyone ended up in a relationship except for Reyna, ther ewas no snarky 1st person narrative which was a big part of what I loved in PJO. I also felt like there was no tension at all, Percy's Achilles heel (one of my favorite scenes from the whole series) was rendered irrelevant, and the Greek/Roman thing confused me.

In my opinion it would have been bad, but the character arcs/development kept it from being so.
As it is. Magnus Chase. Trials of Apollo. I didn’t bother to read MC after all the terrible reviews, and as I was reading TA I realized it was trash that only was allowed to exist because RR had made a name for himself.

I enjoyed Magnus Chase more than HoO and ToA. I hate Apollo as a narrator, he's the exact type I hate.