I think The Shack and Bridget Jones’s Diary are by far the worst of those that I’ve finished. I don’t think I’ve struggled with these two as much as with anything else…
@Emek yes! The Shack! I think this frustrated me the most simply because I really wanted to like it. And it had a great premise but … ?♀️ I just wanted to throw it against the wall!
@Emek I loved the Shack so much that I bought the audio and two books. One to keep on my shelf and one to highlight. It’s funny how are tastes can vary.
@Michelle, I struggled precisely because I didn’t like the premise and the book kept proving me right 😐 But yeah, I wanted to throw it against the wall too and I probably would if I wasn’t reading it on my tablet 😀
@Jo-Anne, I don’t think I recall a book I hated more. I’m really glad I’ve read it as a part of my e-book subscription and haven’t paid for the book itself…
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving was the one I struggled with most. It dragged on and nothing much happened. I kept expecting it to get better, but it didn’t….
I started one a week ago that was possibly the worst I’ve ever tried to read in my life. It’s called Red Clocks. Dystopian America, abortion is illegal, seemed like it would be similar to Handmaid’s Tale, just a bit more updated. It was garbage! So, so bad.
There are several that were horrible Eat Pray Love, The Shack, The Last Lecture. The Night Circus, Water for Elephants. Often, I don’t see what the hype is for a “popular” book.
Charlotte Eden Orth …agree !! Water for Elephants??? So boring…yawn! Never finished it. Eat Pray Love…I was so excited to read that book yet completely bored to death. I do enjoy the author when she gives lectures.
I loved Harry. But what a boring world if we all liked the same thing. We can agree that we all enjoy reading. My grandkids( I’m 78) laugh that I like GOT, Walking Dead, and Vikings TV shows. Good to talk with you, Shenenne. By the way, I think your name is lovely.
Joan ..well thank you so much. I did love the first 3 of 4 first HP books….and luckily my 11yr old daughter went right through them. I think they kept adding characters till I just couldn’t keep up. But with that being said… ….that was 15 yrs ago…maybe I should t ry again. My husband and I went to IMAX to see the last one and cried like babies. ????…so I do love Harry. Just couldn’t get into those last few books. …..and yes I never imagined I would like the walking dead either…???
Linda Wang you should. I have no interest in Nine Perfect Strangers but Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret and The Hypnotist’s Love Story were absolutely wonderful. She comes up with great characters and fantastic stories.
Under the Dome by Steven King. It was a really good story, but the ending was so disappointing it kind of ruined the whole thing for me. Or maybe Hamlet or Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks(also because I hate the endings)
@Judy exactly my pick for worst book I ever read as well. I kept praying for it to get interesting or for me to like/ understand the main character but it never came
@Chelsea I always forget that I read that, probably because it had so little impact on me. Most of the book was boring or a little silly to me, then I thought the ending was just absurd.
I never even got the ending of the book. I found it really boring and I didn’t like that there wasn’t any real chapters in it so half way I gave up cause i lost so much interest in it
The Shack, An Abundance Of Katherine’s, Paper Towns, and one I have yet to finish, Moby Dick. I never made it past the boring cetology chapter. I plan to try again some day though.
@Candice My fav modern novel, but I hated it the first time, too, and put it down after chapter 2 or 3. Came back to it a few years later and it blew my mind. It’s a Dickens-esque social commentary on British class separation and the consequences of it. Complicated, political ideas and very different from her previous works. I guess I just wasn’t ready for it the first time I tried it.
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller (though I’ll qualify by saying I probably should not have read it in my early 20s–it topped bestseller lists for weeks and I was curious.)
Diane Rohan Williams , I forced my way thru in the dark.. only tried to read woman in Cabin 10 because I had already bought it and thought everyone needs a second chance but by page 50 or so I placed it into a free library.. it was bad, same writing style and character development
The worst one I can think of that I finished was Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, but it was a situation where I thought it was so bad that I was actually having kind of a good time laughing at it. Most really bad books I just DNF and forget about.
Italy was cool. When she got to India she was getting on my nerves. By the time she got to Indonesia I was praying dear God please make it stop. Her unending pity party was annoying
I remember when I was a kid in either the 5th/6th grade as a class we had to read Animal Farm by George Orwell. I hated reading that book so much! Maybe I didn’t understand it at that time but honestly I never gave that book a second chance now that I’m older. Besides that I found it hard to get into books that involved animals talking or being the main character. Charlotte’s Web and the Paddington Bear collection were the only exception for me. Also I should punish myself for admitting this but The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon because its taking almost 5 yrs to get through it. Im so bored withis book but i love the series.
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. It is that excruciating feeling you get when 5 minutes into a movie, you know everything that is going to happen. In a 3 hour long movie. This book is the definition of that.
Burnt my classic books muscle ever since. It caused me to struggle with The Scarlet Letter later on. This despite the fact that the latter book is only 200 pages.
I don’t even remember the name of it anymore, but it was a middle school book about a kid who worked on a thoroughbred farm where they bred racehorses. There was a foal born that was going to be put to sleep but the kid said he could raise it. The author knew absolutely nothing about horses or horse racing. It was horrible. Before the horse was even a year old, the kid had trained it and was riding it in horse shows, jumping over large fences. And then the Kentucky Derby rolled around and he just spontaneously decided to trailer the horse over to race in the Derby and he won.
I’m willing to let one or two things go if someone doesn’t research their topic sufficiently, but some of the basic things like a horse that is a year old is far too young to be ridden, much less ridden competitively over fences and the fact that the Kentucky Derby is for 3 year old horses are pretty basic facts.
Reading the couple of reviews, it seems that the people who liked it appreciated the growth of the main character and the life lessons he learned. I guess if you don’t care at all about the accuracy of the horse parts of the story, the rest of it could be good. I just found myself developing a serious twitch as I read the whole thing.
@Jennifer i had to read it in school 3 times. Never read something so dull, boring, and unnecessary. I never liked anything we were assigned to read in school, always more classics or nonfiction which both I dispise. Definitely not my genres ?♀️
Ugh, I second this one. Still haven’t read the 4th one, but I own it and can’t get rid of it until I read it ? Purposely made it a book for a PRC prompt so I can read it and get rid of it!
@Amanda I owned them, too, but I gave them away before finishing the series. Couldn’t take it anymore and felt bogged down just having them on the shelf.
There’s a few, but I just pick one. Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks. I was fine with it up until he pulled her hair to tell her to stop talking bad about herself. I can’t read about abusive men. Had enough of my own abusive ex. I am still mad because the book was everything I love, Thriller, Suspence, a little Romance. But that was ruined for me ?
I absolutely loathed The Unremembered Girl by Eliza Maxwell. Looking back I don’t know what possessed me to pick it up. I detest damsel in distress stories.
Catcher in the Rye. Read it three times—with years between them—because I figured I must have missed something for so many intelligent people I knew to love it so.
Nope. Stupid book. Salinger found his niche when he started playing the piano in the gawddam closet.
Joanne Swolak …Agree… my husband looked at me like I was a alien when I told him I had never read it so of course …. …he dug it right up. And nope ?♀️….still don’t understand why this is a must in college. I mean I liked it but it left zero impact on me. Just blah mostly.
I couldn’t deal!! The repetition was killing me, and I hated that the character development seemed so inconsistent. In fact, I rarely ever take the time to do a review of a book, but I was too mad not to with this one ?
@Carol she was such a simpering, weak woman who just let awful things happen to her. I cannot express how much I dislike her as a character! She makes my blood boil
Jodine Vitta could it be the century and the culture that gave women few alternatives in that era? My sister discouraged me from reading it but didn’t say why.
I liked it though it is a bit disconcerting reading it, as it is written like a fiction. I’m guessing it’s a throwback to it originally being a screenplay ?
It just didnt sit well with me….the concept of him talking to her as a kid knowing he was sleeping with her etc!! It creeped me out ? and the language was a little crass too which was weird. Idk im one of the few that hated it!
It’s very cleverly constructed – I don’t know how Niffenegger kept track going backwards and forwards in the timeline (lots of sticky notes?)- but there were many things about Clare’s obstinacy that didn’t sit well with me. I was extra touchy at the time because a friend had adopted a beautiful baby and we all feel she’s our flesh and blood just because we love her that much.
@Kerry I made it 50 pages then set it aside thinking I had to read Daisy Miller, and Invitation to a Beheading first. But maybe it was because the characters were muddled..
I can’t remember the name but I remembered thinking that it sounded like the author threw up words onto the pages and called it a book. At the end I read a blurb the author included and it basically confirmed that she made it up as she went along and no defined story idea before she started writing it?
@Shenenne Okay. I thought it was interesting, but I still hated it. I think it’s an inaccurate representation because despite the bad in society, there is still some good in the world and the book didn’t show that at all. If you only depended on that book for your worldview, you may as well kill yourself now because there’s no hope for you or anyone else because everything sucks. Which I disagree with.
Eleanor Johnston Tolley …I liked it and made it to the end but I tend to reread my books. ….that was a one timer. I did like it but hype about it was wrong.? I think Oprah recommended that one. And I usually like her recommendations.
These three reviews from Amazon echo my opinion of A Discovery of Witches:
“I am fascinated with Oxford, UK, the Bodleian, the Ashmolean, medieval castles… I wanted to like this book… it’s right in my wheel-house. I don’t want to be mean, but it was just awful. I almost never put down a book before finishing it. I feel committed once I’ve begun. I just simply could not go on with this one.”
“Thrilled to have it end and am glad to report it was utterly stupid to the finish.”
“Really, really, really bad. I love fantasy novels…..but I guess I’ll just stick to R.R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss for now, because this woman cannot write herself out of a paper bag.”
Actually I did finish. I was like a gawping bystander at a train wreck. I just couldn’t believe how bad it was and I just kept staring. The bad reviews on Amazon are hilarious and priceless.
@Joanne. Wow I am kinda shocked but every person reads a book different and likes different things so I understand just a little sad tbh lol I thought they were all amazing I loved the history alchemy and historic people and places in the book plus throw in weird shit and I’m there
@Dana ha ha hated that book was so mad that the tiger just ‘walked away’ then I saw the movie and realized the whole thing’s meaning and loved it. Completely went over my head at first…
@Shenenne and how religion gives us stories that allow us to be human. So he didn’t need the tiger anymore so he ran off… still not sure what the dying island was supposed to represent
@Amanda just the ones I don’t enjoy. I read constantly but I’m super fussy and a book has to grab me in the first few pages otherwise I put it down and start something else. ?
The Prince Lestat. Couldn’t even force myself to finish it. She’s such a good writer too, but the absolute sludge she’s churning out in that series is abysmal.
Becoming Valkyrie by Brandy L Cunningham was the worst book I have ever read. There were numerous errors that were simply inexcusable. Awkward, unrealistic descriptions, using the wrong word (decibel vs. decimal), grammar errors, misspelled words – these are just some of the horrible mistakes that made the book unreadable.
Scrolling through the answers, it makes you realise just how different we all are…. The Book Thief, The Time Traveller’s Wife, Eleanor Oliphant and Angela’s Ashes are some of my all-time favourites…. And yet for others they’re the worst books they’ve ever read…. I often look at the blurb for a book and think : “who on earth would read that?”, but ultimately a story will always appeal to somebody, but no book will ever appeal to everyone….
@Rebecca very wise. I’ve laid books aside because of poor reviews. I’m sorry I didn’t give them a chance. I’m making my own decisions on books now. To each his own.
I think The Shack and Bridget Jones’s Diary are by far the worst of those that I’ve finished. I don’t think I’ve struggled with these two as much as with anything else…
I agree on The Shack.
@Charlotte I couldn’t even finish The Shack !
@Emek yes! The Shack! I think this frustrated me the most simply because I really wanted to like it. And it had a great premise but … ?♀️ I just wanted to throw it against the wall!
@Emek I loved the Shack so much that I bought the audio and two books. One to keep on my shelf and one to highlight. It’s funny how are tastes can vary.
@Michelle, I struggled precisely because I didn’t like the premise and the book kept proving me right 😐 But yeah, I wanted to throw it against the wall too and I probably would if I wasn’t reading it on my tablet 😀
@Jo-Anne, I don’t think I recall a book I hated more. I’m really glad I’ve read it as a part of my e-book subscription and haven’t paid for the book itself…
@Emek I completely understand. I feel that way about many books people rave about.
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving was the one I struggled with most. It dragged on and nothing much happened. I kept expecting it to get better, but it didn’t….
I started one a week ago that was possibly the worst I’ve ever tried to read in my life. It’s called Red Clocks. Dystopian America, abortion is illegal, seemed like it would be similar to Handmaid’s Tale, just a bit more updated. It was garbage! So, so bad.
Richard Flanagan The Narrow Road to the Deep North. SO boring…
A Simple Favor
@Kara I hope I like it better. It’s been on hold at the library forever
I liked this one. Dang sorry.
Three Men in a Boat … supposedly a comic classic. perhaps it is for some
Where the Heart is
I quit about 20 pages to the end it was so bad
The Great Gatsby
There are several that were horrible Eat Pray Love, The Shack, The Last Lecture. The Night Circus, Water for Elephants. Often, I don’t see what the hype is for a “popular” book.
Charlotte Eden Orth …agree !! Water for Elephants??? So boring…yawn! Never finished it.
Eat Pray Love…I was so excited to read that book yet completely bored to death. I do enjoy the author when she gives lectures.
I really didn’t like Eat, Pray, Love at all!
Me too. I couldn’t read The Kite Runner or The Shack.
@Joan …what ?? The Kite Runner was amazing .❤️
@Shenenne Well, see, that’s how it goes.We are all different. I see a lot of books on here that I liked.
@Joan..
Very true…I got bored wth Harry Potter by book number 3 …..and my husband practically disowned me. Just lost interest.
I loved Harry. But what a boring world if we all liked the same thing. We can agree that we all enjoy reading. My grandkids( I’m 78) laugh that I like GOT, Walking Dead, and Vikings TV shows. Good to talk with you, Shenenne. By the way, I think your name is lovely.
Joan ..well thank you so much. I did love the first 3 of 4 first HP books….and luckily my 11yr old daughter went right through them. I think they kept adding characters till I just couldn’t keep up. But with that being said… ….that was 15 yrs ago…maybe I should t
ry again.
My husband and I went to IMAX to see the last one and cried like babies. ????…so I do love Harry. Just couldn’t get into those last few books.
…..and yes I never imagined I would like the walking dead either…???
Joan Beldin Geisbrecht
….favorite author. I have many put my loyalty remains to Ken Follette….Pillars of the Earth is a must..❤
@Joan
@Shenenne many favorite but always Dean Koontz, Maeve Binchey
Definitely the shack!
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. There were so much hype about it so I decided to read it. Literally had to force myself to finish it.
I didn’t bother wasting my time to finish. Hated it.
Don’t know if I should bother reading any of her other books. ?♀️?
Linda Wang you should. I have no interest in Nine Perfect Strangers but Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret and The Hypnotist’s Love Story were absolutely wonderful. She comes up with great characters and fantastic stories.
I know that it is popular, but Unbroken almost broke me. Also, To The Lighthouse by Virginia Wolf.
I tried The Casual Vacancy… I tried getting 50 pages in then gave it another chance and read 50 more.. couldn’t do it.
@Monica we’re so different. I found that book absolutely charming
I couldn’t get into this book either, I finished it but I struggled with it
I tried so hard and wanted to like it.. but it just wasn’t for me.
@Monica Agree, having a hard time with the 4th Cormoran Strike too
Same here. Because of the author I gave it a chance. But it was so BOOOOOOORING.
@Joanne yup
Forrest Gump. Ugh! Great movie…book was a waste of time! HORRIBLE.
Agreed!! So disappointing. I even read the sequel just in case all the stuff I expected was in that instead….nope. Just horrible!
@Kay one of the rare times a great movie came from a mediocre book!
The Princess Bride is another example.
The Shack ? It’s the only book I’ve ever thrown away!
Under the Dome by Steven King. It was a really good story, but the ending was so disappointing it kind of ruined the whole thing for me.
Or maybe Hamlet or Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks(also because I hate the endings)
@Beckie I agree with Message in a Bottle. Terrible ending! She ruined his life and was so happily self reflective at the end.
Daughter Buffalo.
Ive started it a few times but just cannot make myself finish it. It was an assigned read way back in college.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles, but only because I haven’t read Jude The Obscure. But have seen the movie and I can’t think of a less uplifting tale.
@Marie I second this one! Had to finish it on audible on a 7-hour road trip ?
The Goldfinch
@Judy exactly my pick for worst book I ever read as well.
I kept praying for it to get interesting or for me to like/ understand the main character but it never came
@Judy, way, way too long and depressing to the end.
I just bought that u guys ! ?
@Shenenne lots of people liked it. We’re probably the minority. I hope you enjoy it ?
Fifty Shades of Gray
Emma!
@Cathy the one Jane Austen that’s a hard limit for me. Most annoying character ever ?
Wicked by Gregory Maguire and Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
@Michelle I forgot about how awful Wicked was. To wordy for me.
@Lisa I agree. And the story line was a bit too far fetched, even for a fantasy story! Lol. Thank goodness the play was better
@Michelle yes!
Paper Towns
Atlas Shrugged!
@Diana my favourite classic novel. The only book I was ever made to read in school that I went out and bought.
One of them was The Goldfinch.
F
The Fountainhead…. ?
Baby Teeth
Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula, 1984, Animal Farm, & Ulysses were all awful.
Brandi Leigh yup, yup, yup, yup and yup
Everything, everything.
Because og the ending?
@Chelsea I always forget that I read that, probably because it had so little impact on me. Most of the book was boring or a little silly to me, then I thought the ending was just absurd.
I never even got the ending of the book. I found it really boring and I didn’t like that there wasn’t any real chapters in it so half way I gave up cause i lost so much interest in it
The Shack, An Abundance Of Katherine’s, Paper Towns, and one I have yet to finish, Moby Dick. I never made it past the boring cetology chapter. I plan to try again some day though.
Macbeth by Jo Nesbo 🙁 Love all his other books, but could not finish this one.
Couldn’t even get to chapter 3 of casual vacancy and I was so excited for it
@Candice My fav modern novel, but I hated it the first time, too, and put it down after chapter 2 or 3. Came back to it a few years later and it blew my mind. It’s a Dickens-esque social commentary on British class separation and the consequences of it. Complicated, political ideas and very different from her previous works. I guess I just wasn’t ready for it the first time I tried it.
A People’s History of the United States. I gave it 4 chapters before giving up on that garbage.
1984
Sorry to offend anyone.. but I tried to read a Debbie Macomber book one time, when I was desperate, and I just couldn’t.
Really struggling to get through “I Invited Her In” by Adele Parks right now.
The I Heart series, I only read I Heart New York but I think that’s plenty more than enough of that shocking attempt at writing…
The catcher in the rye
I agree! Had a discussion with friends and they hated this one too!
@Jo just didn’t enjoy it at all! Glad I’m not alone
Nope. Was required reading in our district either Junior or Senior year. So it’s even worse when forced.
@Jo oh gosh I’m glad I wasn’t in your position there!
Been catching up on many classics I missed. Read this one last year. Not my cup of tea.
@Joanne agreed!!
Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton. It was soooo boring.
A Simple Favor
Pet Cemetery by Stephen King.
@Amanda absolutely. After what happened to Gage, I had to put that book aside. Too much empathy
@Marie I finished it, but it took me THREE MONTHS to finally finish it. I just couldn’t.
Oh no lol. That’s on TBR list ??
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller (though I’ll qualify by saying I probably should not have read it in my early 20s–it topped bestseller lists for weeks and I was curious.)
@Yuki, everybody I knew loved it and cried. Me, a quickie affair and she’s cheating on her husband. No thanks!
In the Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware and then I tried Woman in Cabin 10 didn’t finish both are horrible.. Night Cirus bored me to tears
@Misty didn’t finish woman in cabin 10 either
Diane Rohan Williams , I forced my way thru in the dark.. only tried to read woman in Cabin 10 because I had already bought it and thought everyone needs a second chance but by page 50 or so I placed it into a free library.. it was bad, same writing style and character development
@Misty I read The Night Circus in 2011 and can’t believe it’s still around. Aggressive marketing.
The historian
The historian
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway and The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
The worst one I can think of that I finished was Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, but it was a situation where I thought it was so bad that I was actually having kind of a good time laughing at it. Most really bad books I just DNF and forget about.
Lovely Bones
@Renee me too
@Renee , I never read the book but the movie was soo sad and caused me not to watch it a second time.
I want to read the book but I’ve seen the movie and bawled like a baby. So I haven’t mussed up the courage to attempt reading it.
Thanks, I am not the only one.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, The Great Gatsby, and The Road
The Jungle! That’s what I was going to say!
Twilight, hands down ?
Completely agree with you! Was rolling my eyes so hard.
Lovely Bones
Eat, pray love
@Carmela I LOVED that book! ❤️
@Carmela My first DNF – I didn’t make it past the first chapter. I realize I can’t abide neurotic people.
Italy was cool. When she got to India she was getting on my nerves. By the time she got to Indonesia I was praying dear God please make it stop. Her unending pity party was annoying
Tigers wife, swing time, spring forward
Good Omens, anything by John Green, and anything by Laurell K. Hamilton.
@Jo lol Good Omens is in my top ten
Gone With The Wind
Sleeping Beauties by Owen King And Stephen King. About 400 pages too long!
I remember when I was a kid in either the 5th/6th grade as a class we had to read Animal Farm by George Orwell. I hated reading that book so much! Maybe I didn’t understand it at that time but honestly I never gave that book a second chance now that I’m older. Besides that I found it hard to get into books that involved animals talking or being the main character. Charlotte’s Web and the Paddington Bear collection were the only exception for me. Also I should punish myself for admitting this but The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon because its taking almost 5 yrs to get through it. Im so bored withis book but i love the series.
The Shack,
Wuthering Heights,
and The Lovely Bones
I’m so confused by this answer….these were your WORST?!
@Taylor yes. I didn’t like any of these books.
Wuthering Heights is overrated, imo.
Salem’s lot and Gerald’s Game by Stephen King and The Casual Vacancy
After by Anna Todd. it honestly made me angry
The lovely bones and alot of Oprah’s book choices. That list is too long.
Oh, I don’t remember…I’m sure I didn’t finish it.
in the house in the dark of the woods, woman in the window (didn’t finish), murder on the orient express
When Breath becomes air
Brave New World. I had to read it for my English class and I could never get into it.
the never list
The handmaids tale
The Darkest evening of the year. By Dean Koontz. Has out me off reading anything else by him
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. It is that excruciating feeling you get when 5 minutes into a movie, you know everything that is going to happen. In a 3 hour long movie. This book is the definition of that.
Burnt my classic books muscle ever since. It caused me to struggle with The Scarlet Letter later on. This despite the fact that the latter book is only 200 pages.
No more classics for me.
Anything by peter straub
I am Malala…
I don’t even remember the name of it anymore, but it was a middle school book about a kid who worked on a thoroughbred farm where they bred racehorses. There was a foal born that was going to be put to sleep but the kid said he could raise it. The author knew absolutely nothing about horses or horse racing. It was horrible. Before the horse was even a year old, the kid had trained it and was riding it in horse shows, jumping over large fences. And then the Kentucky Derby rolled around and he just spontaneously decided to trailer the horse over to race in the Derby and he won.
I’m willing to let one or two things go if someone doesn’t research their topic sufficiently, but some of the basic things like a horse that is a year old is far too young to be ridden, much less ridden competitively over fences and the fact that the Kentucky Derby is for 3 year old horses are pretty basic facts.
@Niffer i remember this story but i dont remember the name of it either ?
Found it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15890059-the-great-white-hope
(I find it really depressing that most of the reviews are 4-5 stars.)
@Niffer everyone has there own taste i suppose ?♀️?
Reading the couple of reviews, it seems that the people who liked it appreciated the growth of the main character and the life lessons he learned. I guess if you don’t care at all about the accuracy of the horse parts of the story, the rest of it could be good. I just found myself developing a serious twitch as I read the whole thing.
Alice by Christina Henry
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
@Kelly really!! I loved it and I cried!!
@Jennifer i had to read it in school 3 times. Never read something so dull, boring, and unnecessary. I never liked anything we were assigned to read in school, always more classics or nonfiction which both I dispise. Definitely not my genres ?♀️
Twilight series. Couldn’t even finish the 3rd one. Too insipid.
Ugh, I second this one. Still haven’t read the 4th one, but I own it and can’t get rid of it until I read it ? Purposely made it a book for a PRC prompt so I can read it and get rid of it!
@Amanda I owned them, too, but I gave them away before finishing the series. Couldn’t take it anymore and felt bogged down just having them on the shelf.
Twist me by Anna daires! Absolutely disgusting didn’t even get half way through.
Unpopular opinion, but Life After Life by Kate Atkinson…just way to confusing for me
Moby Dick
Hopper: A journey into the American Dream
Omw theres been so many!
The Shack.
Twilight
The girl on the train.
Oh god, I hated that book!
Every single character could have been run over by a train and the world would not have missed them.
Fifty shades series couldn’t complete the first book either.
@Zara Read 1-3 paragraphs and shut the thing in revulsion. It wasn’t the content that bothered me, but the terrible writing. Couldn’t take it.
Apollo 13
The Grapes of Wrath… never finished it. Couldnt stand it.
That was a long one… I did finish it, but was seriously disappointed with the ending
Truth be told, I remember not being a fan AT ALL of World War Z… it’s probably been 7 years since I’ve read it though
Not sure about the worst, but “Go Ask Alice” definitely makes the list.
There’s a few, but I just pick one. Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks. I was fine with it up until he pulled her hair to tell her to stop talking bad about herself. I can’t read about abusive men. Had enough of my own abusive ex. I am still mad because the book was everything I love, Thriller, Suspence, a little Romance. But that was ruined for me ?
50 Shades of Grey! Suffice to say, I now take no notice of the New York Times best seller list anymore……
The Virgin Suicides. I got 3/4 through and gave up. Everyone else seems to love it.
Me too
Sunday’s at Tiffany’s.
This book called Borderlands which I won from a Goodreads giveaway. It was SO gross, it romanticized incest and statutory rape.
I know I am gonna get a lot of hate for this, but ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’.
A book where the protagonist says it’s okay to kill Blue Jays is not a book I want to waste my time on.
Water babies was nonsensical crap.
If you knew her. Crappy and very depressing
Probably “Why We Suck” “by” Denis Leary. An embarrassment to the written word,true authors and trees.
Angelina by Carlos F. Gutierrez and An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
I absolutely loathed The Unremembered Girl by Eliza Maxwell. Looking back I don’t know what possessed me to pick it up. I detest damsel in distress stories.
Catcher in the Rye. Read it three times—with years between them—because I figured I must have missed something for so many intelligent people I knew to love it so.
Nope. Stupid book. Salinger found his niche when he started playing the piano in the gawddam closet.
Definitely not my cup of tea either.
Joanne Swolak …Agree… my husband looked at me like I was a alien when I told him I had never read it so of course …. …he dug it right up. And nope ?♀️….still don’t understand why this is a must in college. I mean I liked it but it left zero impact on me. Just blah mostly.
Twilight – is this a rhetorical question?
@Lynn I’ve read worse.
Firstlife
Life After Life. I was viscerally angry while reading that book!
@Dai oh no….I loved that book. We read it for book club, and people either loved it or hated it.
I couldn’t deal!! The repetition was killing me, and I hated that the character development seemed so inconsistent. In fact, I rarely ever take the time to do a review of a book, but I was too mad not to with this one ?
Catcher in the rye and old man and the sea…
@Amanda …Catcher in the rye… was just okay…agree not the hype it gets
It was like reading a book written by all the people who got on my nerves in high school, lol
@Amanda …oh my gosh..perfect ! Or the book you had to write in college and only got a B-
In The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
Ship It by Britta Lundin or Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.
A book called Tegana, I couldn’t get past the first chapter. I tried but I just couldn’t do it
I have several but as of recent, “Hunting Annabelle” and “The Grip Of It.” Mercy LAWD!!!!
The choice byNicholas sparks (slow as hell) and one of the john Grisham (slow paced)
Kavita Shah … both of those authors are a hit or a miss for me too.
The Grapes of Wrath, although I absolutely hate Tess in Tess of the D’Urbervilles
@Jodine I’ve only seen the movie. Tess seemed the one I mostly felt sorry for?I’m curious why you hated her. ?
@Carol she was such a simpering, weak woman who just let awful things happen to her. I cannot express how much I dislike her as a character! She makes my blood boil
Jodine Vitta could it be the century and the culture that gave women few alternatives in that era? My sister discouraged me from reading it but didn’t say why.
@Carol I don’t think so, I have read & enjoyed many classics.
I’ll be hated, but The Tattooist of Auschwitz
@Cassandra lots of bad reviews on Amazon for that book
@Christa that’s interesting to hear because I know my book groups everybody is raving about it
@Cassandra …hmmm that was on my list too… I’ve heard it is a must read. ?
@Shenenne many many love it
I liked it though it is a bit disconcerting reading it, as it is written like a fiction. I’m guessing it’s a throwback to it originally being a screenplay ?
The Fault in our Stars…. i can’t stand it…
ugh same.
@Alea love all his books
agree
Time Traveler’s Wife
@Stephanie that’s one of my favourites ?
@Stephanie I threw it at the wall with that last “chapter”
Another highly overrated book.
It just didnt sit well with me….the concept of him talking to her as a kid knowing he was sleeping with her etc!! It creeped me out ? and the language was a little crass too which was weird. Idk im one of the few that hated it!
It’s very cleverly constructed – I don’t know how Niffenegger kept track going backwards and forwards in the timeline (lots of sticky notes?)- but there were many things about Clare’s obstinacy that didn’t sit well with me. I was extra touchy at the time because a friend had adopted a beautiful baby and we all feel she’s our flesh and blood just because we love her that much.
The Painted Veil
Reading Lolita in Tehran…. couldn’t finish it and got rid of it…..
@Kerry I made it 50 pages then set it aside thinking I had to read Daisy Miller, and Invitation to a Beheading first. But maybe it was because the characters were muddled..
I can’t remember the name but I remembered thinking that it sounded like the author threw up words onto the pages and called it a book. At the end I read a blurb the author included and it basically confirmed that she made it up as she went along and no defined story idea before she started writing it?
Jude the Obscure
……the cruel prince ?
Memories of a geisha. I disliked it so much. And Lord of the flies
@Tammi….oh I love those…?♀️
@Tammi me too
The This Man series was pretty terrible.
I’m currently pushing myself to finish it … Blood, Milk, and Chocolate part2
Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer. It was a chore to read and I just couldn’t connect with the characters.
Necromancer. by William Gibson
@Mickey Ummm. I think it’s Neuromancer by William Gibson?
Justine by Marquis de Sade.
Moby Dick ???
@Christina … ..never even read first page ?…so I’m ok ??
Queen of the Tearling
Larry McMurtry’s Sin Killer series
Lord of the Flies
@Rebecca …had to read it yrs ago in the 1900s ??…I liked it but was not what I expected.
@Shenenne Okay. I thought it was interesting, but I still hated it. I think it’s an inaccurate representation because despite the bad in society, there is still some good in the world and the book didn’t show that at all. If you only depended on that book for your worldview, you may as well kill yourself now because there’s no hope for you or anyone else because everything sucks. Which I disagree with.
@Rebecca … wow that’s very true… it was definitely disturbing and now that you’ve broke it down for me…I understand why now. Def dark book.
Book of Ruth
Eleanor Johnston Tolley …I liked it and made it to the end but I tend to reread my books. ….that was a one timer. I did like it but hype about it was wrong.? I think Oprah recommended that one. And I usually like her recommendations.
I stopped listening to Oprah about books (I usually love her) after that debacle of a read.
@Eleanor …really? I can’t say that her book club has let me down very much….I usually love them all.
These three reviews from Amazon echo my opinion of A Discovery of Witches:
“I am fascinated with Oxford, UK, the Bodleian, the Ashmolean, medieval castles… I wanted to like this book… it’s right in my wheel-house. I don’t want to be mean, but it was just awful. I almost never put down a book before finishing it. I feel committed once I’ve begun. I just simply could not go on with this one.”
“Thrilled to have it end and am glad to report it was utterly stupid to the finish.”
“Really, really, really bad. I love fantasy novels…..but I guess I’ll just stick to R.R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss for now, because this woman cannot write herself out of a paper bag.”
How far did you read before you quit out of curiosity ? I’ve never heard anyone say they didn’t like her books its my all time favorite series
Actually I did finish. I was like a gawping bystander at a train wreck. I just couldn’t believe how bad it was and I just kept staring. The bad reviews on Amazon are hilarious and priceless.
@Joanne. Wow I am kinda shocked but every person reads a book different and likes different things so I understand just a little sad tbh lol I thought they were all amazing I loved the history alchemy and historic people and places in the book plus throw in weird shit and I’m there
Currently it’s a tie, Anna and the French Kiss. And, Elenanor Oliphant is completely fine. Sorry
@Monique I adored Eleanor ❤
Yeah Eleanor is such an unlikeable person
Sorry James Patterson
@Jackie which James Patterson book particularly?
Jackie Specht …same..only a rare few. The rest so boring to me.
all of them but he is my hero because he supports libraries!
@Jackie it would be a boring world if we all liked the same few authors!
Fifty Shades of Grey. Makes me so mad I fell for the hype.
@Stefanie ..yep like where has everybody been. Do they not know Ann Rice ?? Geez so amateur.
Naked Lunch. Trying to push through it though
I couldn’t do it, that book literally made me sick.
The. Life. Of. Pi. Omg seriously almost made me stop reading for good
@Dana really!? I enjoyed it ?
Really. I had to stop when the tiger ate the zebra and I just….couldn’t
@Dana… it was rough
@Dana ha ha hated that book was so mad that the tiger just ‘walked away’ then I saw the movie and realized the whole thing’s meaning and loved it. Completely went over my head at first…
@Lorie….YES me too. The whole thing was a metaphor…how he coped and stayed sane. ….yes the movie was eye opening!!
@Shenenne and how religion gives us stories that allow us to be human. So he didn’t need the tiger anymore so he ran off… still not sure what the dying island was supposed to represent
Same. It pretty much sucked.
I don’t know. I don’t finish bad ones! ?
@ChrisnJen ….same..I do give them a chance but if I’m not intrigued by chapter 4 or 5… I’m done.. …..and grabbing another one. ?
50 shades of grey
Cruel beauty , the bargainer series
I absolutely hate cheesy love stories
@Victoria …I was tortured wth Harlequin romances when I was a kid… ..that’s all my mom read. Oh they are so bad. ..but all I had ?♀️
Love You Forever (children’s book). Any others I have not finished and don’t remember.
Last month Haunting Paris by Mamta Chaudhry, the storyline started out so slow that it didnt get my attention til 3/4 of the way through the book.
50 shades of “Grey” – 50 shades of abuse.
@Elinor agree horrible
Lorie Peterson …ridiculous most absurd thing ever put in print and the world went crazy over them. ?
As Husband’s Go or The Handmaid’s Tale
Don’t really have one that is horrible even if they are bad I still finish the book just to give it a chance
The Book Thief
REally?
Mickey Sylvestre ??? Did you at least see the movie; perhaps you would like that better
Yep, it’s dire.
Edgar Sawtell ick
@Lorie …the one about the dog breeders ??? I loved that book.
Oh dear! Suffered through the whole thing and for what lol
@Lorie …I understand. ..it’s not for everybody but oh I still walk past it and touch it. ?♀️
I read that book in 2 days. It was gutwrenching and I balled my eyes out. But I can’t part with the book so it has stuck with me that’s for sure!
Books I don’t enjoy get dropped like a hot potato so I’ve never finished one I didn’t like BUT, based on first few pages, I’d have to say 50 Shades.
@Lisa are you saying you’ve hardly ever finished a book or just ones you haven’t enjoyed?
@Amanda just the ones I don’t enjoy. I read constantly but I’m super fussy and a book has to grab me in the first few pages otherwise I put it down and start something else. ?
@Lisa oh ok. I was confused.
gone with the wind
@Faith …really ? I’ve always wanted to read that so bad but seem to never pick it up. I’ve heard it’s wonderful. ?hmmmm
@Shenenne To me it was boring and tedious – some love it – all that being said, I’m not a historical romance fan.
Faith Long …well then that explains it … I’m from the south and a hopeless romantic. ?❤✌?
Citizen girl by Emma straub. Horrible book
Oh! And Outlander. Dropped it at like one third to halfway through. I just couldn’t handle all the rape and abuse being billed as romance.
@Dai good to k
Yes. I stopped for the same reason.
The Prince Lestat. Couldn’t even force myself to finish it. She’s such a good writer too, but the absolute sludge she’s churning out in that series is abysmal.
Hunger by Roxanne Gay
The Program, and Me Before You… couldn’t finish either one.
@Squared's I HATED The Program! Couldn’t finish it.
@Lauren same!
I didn’t like Me before You. I finished just to get it done because I bought the book but didn’t like it. Very slow.
The Criminalization of Christianity
Another book not my cup of tea was Sing Unburied Sing, hmmmmmmm
Tatiana and Alexander. I wanted to love it but…couldnt get through it. The love story was too ridiculous
Angela’s Ashes. Could not finish it
@Amanda ….oh my gosh I absolutely loved that book and his other novel ‘Tis
That was an amazing story….
@Rebecca …yes ❤
A court of thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
@Gecko TAKE THAT BACK
No I mean it. It’s terrible.
@Gecko one of my favourite series ? the first isn’t perfect but love it anyways
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
@Patricia
…very hard to read. Gave it up. ..but I love the movie.
@Shenenne I found it so boring unlike the author’s other books
The Book Thief
It by Stephen king
People praise it but I couldn’t finish East of Eden and The Left Hand of Darkness.
‘Rob Roy’ and pretty much anything written by Mark Twain.
The Road
@Lisa agree, hated No Country too, yet it was my sons favorite book
A Winters Tale
Becoming Valkyrie by Brandy L Cunningham was the worst book I have ever read. There were numerous errors that were simply inexcusable. Awkward, unrealistic descriptions, using the wrong word (decibel vs. decimal), grammar errors, misspelled words – these are just some of the horrible mistakes that made the book unreadable.
Scrolling through the answers, it makes you realise just how different we all are…. The Book Thief, The Time Traveller’s Wife, Eleanor Oliphant and Angela’s Ashes are some of my all-time favourites…. And yet for others they’re the worst books they’ve ever read…. I often look at the blurb for a book and think : “who on earth would read that?”, but ultimately a story will always appeal to somebody, but no book will ever appeal to everyone….
@Rebecca very wise. I’ve laid books aside because of poor reviews. I’m sorry I didn’t give them a chance. I’m making my own decisions on books now. To each his own.
Tried to read the Witches of Eastwick but couldn’t finish it.
thoughtless
Fifty shades of grey
Rapture Practice, it was so bad
Dice Man
War Storm is the first hat comes to mind but also Catcher in the Rye and I hated The Hobbit but love LoTR
I didn’t like The Hobbit much either, I feel I waited too long to read it :/
Diary of an Oxygen Thief ?