Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the fantastic Bionic Bookworm. This week’s topic:
APRIL 10TH – Top 5 Books I Didn’t Like That Others Loved
I kind of love getting salty about popular books that I didn’t like, so let’s get to it!
The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (GR Rating: 4.18)
This is probably more a case of unmatched expectations than anything. I should have expected that a retelling of Scheherazade would be heavy on the romance. That’s my bad. But I also found it annoying that the protagonist was ~super special~ and everyone felt the need to mention this every other page. Characters were pretty bland, to the point where there were some I couldn’t tell apart. This is one of those situations where I wouldn’t have given this book a second thought only it’s somehow become one of the most popular YA fantasy books out there for some reason.
★
Roar by Cora Carmack (GR Rating: 3.98)
WHY does this book have such a high rating?? This is a book that I actively disliked, not only because it wasted a great premise for a terrible romance, but because said romance was so, so, so gross. I mean, I don’t know, maybe I just have a really low tolerance for the Inexplicable Heterosexual Romance, but the whole relationship in this book came off as super creepy and misogynistic, with the male love interest literally saying that the female MC “belongs” to him and that he has to protect her and getting turned on when she resists his advances. I could not get past that, and the rest of the book – that is, the threadbare plot – is boring and terrible.
★
The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie (GR Rating: 4.01)
I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t like it either. No one was more disappointed about that than me, trust me. This book is so hyped as a fantastic f/f romance, but…I did not like that romance. I didn’t think the leads had any chemistry and I kind of hated one of them. Which is a shame, because there were a ton of other things about this book that were super cool. The concept is great and there’s a ruthless lady pirate and the main character is super badass. But the romance just dragged it down for me.
★
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (GR Rating: 4.24)
I gave this book a 3 rating because I was being nice, but if I think back to it it was probably closer to a 2 or a 1.5. I really do not understand the hype about this book? It’s super boring and the worldbuilding makes literally no sense whatsoever. And the disappointing thing is it’s such a fascinating premise if only it had been handled in a more logical fashion, but alas. At this point I don’t think I even remember the characters’ names because it was just that forgettable.
★
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (GR Rating: 4.38)
I’ve talked about this before, but the reaction to this book is just inexplicable to me. Like, it wasn’t a terrible book, I get that, but I also don’t think it needs to be treated like the second coming of Jesus? The way everyone is talking about it I literally feel like I read a different book. Personally, I thought the writing was juvenile, the plot generic and insanely tropey, the romance awful, and the dialogue stilted. The worldbuilding was fresh, but that was literally it. Other than that there isn’t anything in this that’s new. It’s actually the most formulaic YA fantasy I’ve ever read, just cliched trope after cliched trope. Every time I read another glowing, out-of-this-world fantastic review I feel like I’m losing my mind.
Do any of y’all share my dislike for these books? Let me know in the comments!
Hadeer Elsbai 