T5W: Most Disappointing Reads of 2018

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Samantha on Goodreads and it’s opened to all book reviewers. This week’s topic is a freebie, and that means that I am free to do whatever I want to. And I want to complain!

I know that this is something new on my blog and it’s completely out of my comfort zone, but I am really hoping you are going to enjoy these new segments. I am trying to make this site feel more personal and interactive. Let’s see how well it’s going to go! (And if it’s not going to go well, let’s just… forget it ever happened)

The books I chose are not necessarily bad. But most of them were so hyped that I just simply expected more from them. And I am aware that some of those books are well-loved by many, so I feel obligated to write a disclaimer. Nothing in this post is a personal attack on people who liked these books. On the contrary! I am really happy that there are people who got a lot of enjoyment out of these reads. I just simply wasn’t one of them. I am more than happy to discuss them with you, but please, stay kind.

The Cruel Prince – Holly Black

I say we should start things strong, with one of the biggest releases of 2018. This book was everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. And since it was so incredibly hyped and I have a lot of love in my heart for fae novels, I bought it immediately. And dear god I was pretty mad at myself for doing that. It had absolutely no likeable characters and when I can’t connect to the characters I really can’t bring myself to care about the story. And the plot was pretty mediocre, too. The last 100-150 pages were really, really good, but getting there was kind of painful. But I had the biggest problem with the romance. I mean come on! I love a good enemies to lovers trope, but not like this! A grown ass man torturing a girl because he likes her? Because he’s jealous of her? What? I think that Cardan did waaay too much fucked up shit to be redeemed by that weak ass excuse. (I still gave this book like 2,5-3 stars though, because the ending was dope. And I liked Vivi)

Ready Player One – Ernest Cline

So I DNFed this book. But it made me SO MAD that I just had to throw it in here. First of all it was very poorly written. The author shows an absolute lack of talent in writing and instead of actually exerting himself a little trying to describe something, he uses obscure 80’s references. And I get it. That’s this book’s thing. It has a lot of references (and I mean A LOT). But when author, instead of describing a scene to me, tells me something like “oh, it looks like a cover of Dungeons & Dragons from a year 198-whatever (I am sorry, I can’t be bothered to pick up this book to actually check this quote)” I am just baffled. AM I REALLY REQUIRED TO KNOW THAT? DO YOU REALLY EXPECT EVERY SINGLE PERSON READING YOUR BOOK TO JUST KNOW WHAT THAT COVER LOOKS LIKE? WHAT? And I am not even going to talk about the fact that this plot doesn’t even make sense. Or the sexism. To me it’s just nothing more than nostalgia porn with absolutely no substance.

A Court of Frost and Starlight – Sarah J. Maas

There is a little, tiny spoiler here, so if you haven’t read ACOFAS yet and you really want to – skip this part.

This definitely was the most disappointing book of 2018 for me. That’s because ACOMAF is one of the most important books in my life, and I love ACOTAR series with all of my heart. But that just ain’t it, chief.
First of all, this book was completely pointless and unnecessary. It didn’t bring anything of value to this series. More than that – the characters felt very weird and completly unlike themselves. Rhys was, quite frankly, a complete dick. And this whole thing with Feyre suddenly wanting kids? I say that’s only because Sarah was pregnant while writing this novella. In ACOMAF they have a WHOLE CONVERSATION about wanting to wait with starting a family. About wanting to live first. And a couple of months later she suddenly changes her mind? No! Nuh-uh! I don’t like it! It feels totally unprofessional to change your characters so much, only so they could mirror what is happening in your life.
Also, I really don’t like Nesta. Never have, never will. But I feel like Sarah went a little bit too far with her arc, too. And if the next series set in this world is really going to be about Nessian, there is no way I am going to read it. I can’t stand that girl.

The Fate of the Tearling – Erika Johansen

The Queen of the Tearling is a fantastic series. It starts out as a classical fantasy about a girl who suddenly has to take the throne and save her kingdom (and I love that). But it quickly turns into something much, much more. It’s definitely one of the most unique fantasy series out there. That said, I feel incredibly resentful towards this book. It feels like a misunderstanding. And that’s because the ending of this book completely ruins the entire trilogy. It makes everything that happened seem irrelevant and unimportant. It feels like the author piled up too much shit on the characters and didn’t know how to get out of it, so she simply took the easiest way she could thing of. And destroyed the series.

Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi

I am really sorry for this one. It’s a good book! Really! It’s fun. But it’s not great. I like what this book tried to accomplish, but I think it failed. It just felt like a mashup of every single YA book I have ever read. There was nothing original about it. But I really enjoyed the ending! And I feel hopeful that I am going to enjoy the sequel more.

 

Have you read any of these books? Did you enjoy them? What was your most disappointing book of 2018?