Hey, Nerds! It’s time for another edition of Top 5 Wednesday and today’s topic is to list your 5 most disappointing reads of 2018. It’s funny this came up because I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Over on BookTube (the bookie subculture of YouTube) everyone is posting their year-end videos and this is a topic that gets discussed a lot.
I am glad that I only have to choose five because, frankly, I really didn’t read that many that I would say ‘disappointed’ me. Also, I just want to note that these are not necessarily my lowest rated books, they are just the ones that I didn’t enjoy as much as I thought I would. Without further ado, let’s get into those disappointing reads:
Wonderblood by Julia Whicker – This was actually the first book I completed in 2018 and man, did it let me down. (side note: I also think this was the first book that I ever reviewed from NetGalley) This was a post-apocalyptic, Adult, sci-fi mess, that I was really expecting so much more from. There was over-the-top brutality, right from the very start – and I read brutal things, guys, you know that – but this was just ‘shock value’ stuff. In my opinion, it was really detrimental to the overall story. There were a few cool things going on with religion and the politics but it was just so discombobulated story all the cool things got lost in the mess. I very, very, VERY generously gave this 3-stars but if I had it to do all over again, it would be a 2-star.
The Dead Ringer (Agatha Raisin #29) by M.C. Beaton – I have loved reading Agatha Raisin books since I was a tween. In fact, I continue to read cozy mysteries to this day because they remind me of that time, of home. Agatha Raisin, in my memory, was one of those fun-loving, if be it a little wild, female amateur sleuths who always had a good mystery to solve; like Jessica Fletcher or Miss Marple. However, apparently over the years, Ms. Raisin has grown into a horribly negative and bitter old codger. I just did not enjoy this at all and was so disappointed with the writing and characters. It was nothing like the stories I remembered.
A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1) by Brittany Cavallaro – This is easily the most popular book on this list and hopefully, if this is one of your favorite books, you don’t take offense. The thing is, I really expected to love this YA Mystery that follows teenage descendants of Holmes and Watson. I just didn’t. I was so bored. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. I didn’t like them. I didn’t care what happened to them and I found nothing intriguing about the mystery. The only good thing for me is that I was able to take the rest of the series off my tbr list. Again, I generously gave this 3-stars. The writing was perfectly fine it was just the content that disappointed me.
The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty’s Prince (Villains #2) by Serena Valentino – This is the second book in Disney’s, Villains series, which essentially tells the origin story of some of the world’s best known villains. I read the first book in the series in 2017 and really enjoyed it. That one told the origin of the Wicked Queen and although I did find the writing a bit immature, there were some really cool, original ideas added to her story. That’s what I expected going into this one as well. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale and man, did this one disappoint me. It was SO terrible. Beast’s character was awful! I felt like writing an anonymous, heartfelt letter to Beauty and telling her to stay away from him. He had no redeemable characteristics whatsoever. I hated him. The end. Moving on.
Hunting Annabelle by Wendy Heard – This was actually one of the last books I read in 2018 and again, major disappointment. The synopsis for this sounded so good. A psychotic serial killer type person, a missing girl, did he do it, did he not. It sounded trippy and creepy and I got that for about the first 25% of the book and then it just got too weird. Think of the plot lines of like As The World Turns circa 1987 and then add some bullshit to it (ahem, more bullshit). I mean, just blah. It lost my interest with it’s ridiculousness and never gained it back. The writing, again, was good. It wasn’t the writing, for me it was what I consider to be very weak content. I’m not sure what the author was thinking for this one. But, you know what, it has worked for a lot of people because the overall rating on Goodreads is currently 3.81, so what the hell do I know? Take it with a grain of salt.
And just like that, this salty blog post is over! What were you most disappointing reads of 2018? I want to know! Leave a comment here or contact me through any of my social media links!
Cheers & Happy Reading~