What book did you think you were going to love but just didn’t?
What book did you think you were going to love but just didn’t?
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What book did you think you were going to love but just didn’t?
For me, there are two. The Great Gatsby and Wild by Cheryl Strayed.
Choke by Chuck Palanunik,liseys story and Duma key by Stephen king
Wuthering heights
Frankenstein
The Girls by Emma Cline
1984
@Monique really?! Oh wow! I thought it was so good! Especially as we today are living through much of what 1984 was about.
@Craig ….. I thought Animal Farm was much better imo.
@Monique that’s fair. I agree Animal Farm was better too.
I hated 1984 & Animal Farm. However, I didn’t go into them thinking I would love them.
@Brandi so did I! But to be fair, I had to read them during HS almost 15 years ago. I’m curious whether my opinion would be different today ?
@Amanda you should given them another shot. Both are relevant today and the context of adulthood may help you appreciate them more now
I read them last year. I’m going to try and read them again just to be sure I dont like them. ?
Def didn’t see what the fuss was about Wild
The Daughter or Smoke and Bone trilogy, I want to give it another chance though
The God of Small Things
@Liz agree. There was so many good reviews of this book, and I was so excited when I finally got it, but it turned out to be such a disappointment.
Cloud Atlas
ACOTAR
The Book Thief
@Diane not just me then. Phew!
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
@Alicia yes to the handmaid’s tale!
@Kelly It felt like a chore trying to finish it. It was the last 50 pages that made it worth reading ?
The time traveller’s wife and practical magic. Catcher in the rye
@Lori agree! I hated catcher in the rye and i feel like I’m the only one!
@Lori Agree with all of these!
A man called Ove and Nine Perfect Strangers.
@Hayley really?! A man called ove was so good!!
@Craig I just found it slow and didn’t enjoy it. I loved Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine though.
Recently: Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Also: The Chronicles of Narnia
Bird Box
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. I really thought both of these books were over-hyped and disappointing. ?
Caraval
Strange the Dreamer by Lani Taylor
Stranger Than Fanfiction.
Haunting of Hill House
@Samantha I got really fed up with it. I did finish it but it was a struggle.
A Man Called Ove and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
The Hate U Give
@Nicki agree! The only hate i have is for that book! Hahaha
Uprooted
There’s someone inside your house by stephanie Perkins and what should be wild by Julia fine
Marie Lu books (Legend trilogy and Young Elites)
Hidden bodies
The Alchemist, The Book Thief, and The Tattooist of Auschwitz are three that immediately come to mind for me.
The long walk by Stephen king
Flowers in the attic by VC andrews
Sex and the City–Candice Bushnell
The Night Circus, everyone loves it, but I just couldn’t get into it.
@Lindsey me either!!! It took me months to read it
@Lindsey Same! I didn’t even finish it.
Liz Thurman definitely a tough one! I teach it, but only because my students will be able to reference that novel to answer almost any essay question they get for their world exams.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I loathe Dave Eggers
A Superior Specture. Great idea but just fails to materialise. Was still ok, but just ok.
All the Birds in the Sky. Pacing was too slow for me ?
Carrie by Stephen King. I’d never been disappointed by a Stephen King book before, and Carrie is one of his most popular, so when I finally decided to read it I was shocked by how much I hated it.
One Hundred Years of Solitutde
@Khatchig oh, yes, this one! DNF’d it at 30%.. so many words, so little sense.. ?
Felt like 100 years reading it.
Harry Potter book 4. I didn’t like the film but I love reading and love the harry potter books but I’m stuck on number four. I thought I’d love it like the rest but I don’t. I don’t like the tournment storyline and I don’t like the Moody storyline which basically covers the whole book. It’s my first time reading the books and I really want to read them all and in order but I’ve been stuck on number four for about six weeks now. I’ve read the A Discovery of Witches trilogy in the last three weeks. Each one took about five days or less. So I’m taking a mini break and watching netflix. But I want to finish reading the Potter books but I don’t think I can finish the fourth book and if I leave it any longer I may have to re-start it.
@Toby skip it then
The Girl on the Train ?
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. I absolutely hated it! I honestly have no idea how that book is so well received…
@Matthew people’s appetite for empty platitudes is insatiable 😉
Haha, you’re not wrong.
Me too Matthew
Fallen by Laure Kate
Gone Girl
The Danish Girl, Our Souls at Night, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street.
Divinci code
The Grisha series. I liked it well enough but it’s just not holding my attention at all. I’m stuck in the middle of book 2.
@Traci same. I powered through. I loved the first one, as well as her Six of Crows duology.
THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah. ?Think it was spoiled by having read THE BRONZE HORSEMAN first. Much higher quality writing, IMO. ?
@Millenia oh i loved that book! It was fantastic.
The Secrets She Keeps.
Girl on the Train, Emma, Me Talk Pretty One Day
The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. I loved Notes from a Small Island but Little Dribbling was a massive disappointment.
The Girl on the Train too here. It got so much hype and I was disappointed in it…
The Book of M ?
Da Vinci Code … what a crock
Bridge Of Clay ?
The Martian. I felt like I was reading a pile of old MacGyver scripts but set in space. ?♀️
Macbeth by Jo Nesbo – couldn’t even finish it 🙁 🙁
@Kay me neither ? I had high hopes
I love Jo Nesbo’s work and have read all his books – but this one was so unlike anything he had written before. I had to keep looking at the cover to check it was a Nesbo book. Gave up half-way through the second chapter. I know this is a new thing for authors; to write Shakespeare in their own way – but Shakespeare does it better 🙂 🙂
Oh no, on my tbr pile; and I like jo nesbo books too ?
@Siobhan I love them too – but this just was not at all like his writings. Will look forward to hearing what you think ?
Night Circus
Sunburn; You; Girl on the Train
Eleanor oliphant
The Shack. I just didn’t see all the hype. Many people have told me I need to read it more than once.
I only read it once & I loved it.
@Brandi I know, most everyone I have talked to has really liked it.
Verity
Recently, One Day in December
@Estherjane same here. Did not like it at all
All the light we cannot see. Everyone I know loved it but I couldn’t get it
same here….i couldnt understand all the hype about it!! i was so disappointed!!
Thank you so glad there is someone else of the same opinion
@Jennifer same here. I liked the story itself and think it’s going to be a great movie. But, I didn’t care for the writing style, I guess.
I loved it soooo much!
Little fires everywhere, I don’t see why everyone loved it so much
@Mary I think the reason it was such a good read for me is because I’m currently raising a teenager. I enjoyed the different parenting perspectives. It was a case of right book at the right time. Her others were just ok for me.
The Time Travellers Wife. I really wanted to like it but I just couldn’t get into it.
@Andrea Me either. It felt disjointed to me.
The Hate U Give. Writing was amateurish and story had racist undertones.
Where the Crawdads Sing—I know I’m practically the only one, but I was underwhelmed
That is one of my book club choices this year. I haven’t read it yet.
@Tesa you’ll probably like it—like everyone else but me ?
@Eve I will let you know
@Tesa ?
Catcher in the Rye. I read it twice over several years to try to make myself like it. I utterly hated it…both times i read it.
The Museum Of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman.
•Catcher in the Rye
•Pride and Prejudice
•Swing Time
•The Hunchback of Notre Dame
???
@Dhanna agree with pride and prejudice. Not a Jane austen fan.
Water for Elephants
@Natalie same! ✋
Thirteen.
Bram Strokers Dracula & A Picture of Dorian Gray
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver-I still haven’t finished it!
The percy Jackson series
THIS MUST BE THE PLACE BY MAGGIE O’FARREL
The subtle art of not giving a fuck
@Maham Ditto
@Gillian hi5
Eleanor Olliphant is Completely Fine. The lead character is on my wave length in so many ways but I really didn’t enjoy it. It’s one of the few that I just haven’t been able to complete.
The shawdow queen
Haunting of Hill House. I’d heard so many people talking about how much they loved it but I couldn’t get past Jackson’s writing. She repeats things over and over.
Swing Time. Such good reviews. So pointless.
Norwegian Wood. Couldn’t even finish.
Eleanor oliphant is completely fine
Baby Teeth! One of the few books I’ve had to exchange. I almost Never do that. But just couldn’t finish it. Although I know it’s incredibly popular.
A man named Ove…couldn’t even finish it.
@Cathy – I thought I was the only one! Hahaha! Hated it!
@Heide-Mari , so good to know I’m not alone….
Where the crawdads sing. Big hype and I don’t understand why. ??♀️
I love this thread! It’s validating my irritation over all those “must-read,” hyped-up books.
Eleanor Olliphant is Completely Fine! Definitely not feeling it.. it’s one of the few I’ve actually had to put down and not finish.
Girl on the Train.. I couldn’t stand how predictable it was. The characters were so one dimensional.. Way to overhyped in my opinion.
And I kept wanting to smack her upside the head as I read… too frustrating. lol
Absolutely.. lol I kinda wanted to smack all of them upside the head..
@Alana Sooooo agree! Predictable, formulaic, whiny….and generally annoying?
The Miniaturist.
The Miniaturist.
@Annabelle I was disappointed.
I loved the PBS show.
A Man Called Ove. Could not get into it.
Gone Girl
Another example of how subjective reading is. Keep the comments respectful please.
The handmaid’s tale
@Kiana the series is much better than the book Imo.
@Rosie yeah now you tell me ?
Darker shades of magic trilogy.
Educated. I keep waiting for the mind blowing moment but it doesn’t come?
Circe! But I will give it a try once I read more on Greek Mythology. I got the feeling I wasn’t getting into it because I am not that familiar with it…
@Reja Shut it down after several pages in…:)
The Library Book
Harry Potter
I second this!
Lincoln in the Bardo
@Robin One of my all time favorites! I know it is weird.
@Charlotte Mine too! I’ve recommended it to people with very mixed responses.
Catcher in the Rye…I usually don’t give up on books, but Holden Caulfield was getting on my nerves..lol
Harry potter
The Nest; the book was everywhere when it came out but I had the hardest time getting through it
Gone GIrl
Girl on a Train
Outlander
The Bone Witch, Sister Sable – The Mad Queen, Spinning Silver….
When Breath Becomes Air
@Colleen am curious as to why you didn’t like it? It made me ugly cry, especially the epilogue?
I thought it was amazing.
Yes, the epilogue was the best part.
I’m not sure but maybe because I listened to the audio. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande was so good I couldn’t help but compare and I felt this came up short.
The Black Witch
The alchemist
The Martian
@Kristina same!!
The party worker
I am pilgrim, just couldn’t finish it.
Outlander and Girl on a train
Girl on the train. I didn’t like any of the characters.
@Barbara I hated the characters but loved the story lol
Every book by Nora Roberts after the Stars of Fortune Trilogy. I made it halfway through Shelter in Place and I just finally started Year One on Tuesday and once again stopped around the halfway point…I bought Come Sundown but didn’t make it through the first chapter.
I’m really nervous about Patricia Briggs MT book coming out in May because last years A&O book Burn Bright was difficult for me to finish. The Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series have both been my favorite for over a decade, Patty’s world has actually ruined me with other fantasy books so I’m very scared about this new book not being great.
I’m rereading Contact by Carl Sagan and The Revolution by Ron Paul right now.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone.
@Colette, oh no. I just bought these.
@Flo the writer is good, but I couldn’t stand how the story was written. If that makes sense. It was like flashbacks within flashbacks. I need a story to progress, and not keep flashing back to the past. I remember enjoying the middle chunk of the book, but then the last 100 pages were flashbacks!
Colette Sherfey, thank you for the heads-up.
Girl on a Train
The Martian
How Hard Can It Be by Allison Pearson
The Diary of a Bookseller (love the cover though ?)
All the Stephen King books.
Anna Karenina
@Lori I completely forgot about trying to read that!
Divergent
Wuthering Heights
The girl on the train – I found it overhyped.
@Rosie Me too!
Atonement.