Unfortunately I've had quite a few letdowns this year. These are not necessarily books that I disliked or hated, but rather books that I thought I'd love and didn't? Some of them I didn't like more than others and some were just waste of time. Here you will mostly see my 3 star reads. Let's dig in! 
1. The Queen and the Cure by Amy Harmon
(3.5/5 stars) This was my most anticipated release of May 2017. I read The Bird And The Sword about a year ago, and it absolutely blew me away with its beauty. I adored every page of it, so I was expecting something just as epic from the second installment (side note, they are both standalone's, it's not really a series, but more of an expansion of the world with some old and new characters). The main reason would be that I couldn't get to liking the main female character, Sasha at all. I didn't hate her, I just didn't care for her. I also felt like everything resolved way too easily. I have a full review up on my blog if you would like to read it. I might have overanalyzed the book a bit. 
2. Strange the Dreamer by Liane Taylor
(3.25/5 stars) At a first glance the plot for Strange the Dreamer seems very unique and interesting, but take away the whimsical and weird writing - and it's really nothing new. I figured the ending when I was about 80 pages in. A guy goes on a quest, finds out that the hero he's been worshipping is not who he seems he is, there is a girl, they fall in love and the main character takes girl's side and then it's them against the world.That is the premise of this book (more or less), plus few very interesting twists and turns. I could not get on board with the main romance in the book. It was weird, not beliavable and honestly by the end it just got creepy to me. 
3. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
(3.5/5 stars) Witty and sassy, this was an enjoyable read. However, I guess I was expecting more from it, because I felt very underwhelmed. It was good, but it definitely wasn't anything special. I found this to be way too similar with CC other series The Mortal Instruments, and I liked those much better. I also thought that it needed more details about shadowhunters and the way their world works. I have read TMI, so I was well informed. But I felt if I were a first time reader, I would have been somewhat lost. 
4. Every heart a doorway by Seanan McGuire
(2/5 stars) This book was half: the most beautiful thing I have ever read and half: the biggest disappointment ever. The first 40 pages or so were complete magic. I was so into it - the writing, the main character - everything. And then things started going down. The story was going great, the whimsical world was slowly and deliciously building and then teens started talking about masturbation. I honestly felt like I was slapped in the face. The magic of the book shattered right under my very hands. Is there ever going to be a book without sexually obsessed teenagers? I also found some things very disrespectful and hard to look past, so in the end this book just left a bad taste in my mouth. 
5. Wonder Woman by Leigh Bardugo
(3/5 stars) As Wonder-Woman-hero-novel - 2/5 stars As greek-mythology-inspired-ya-book-with-Percy-Jackson-vibes - 4/5 stars As always, I will be honest, and as much as it pains me - I will not be rating this book by what I wished it could have been, but by what it is. Even if Leigh is my favorite author and I am still happy that I pre-ordered her book to support her - it won't change the fact that I really did not enjoy this novel. So sad, but true. I didn't want this to be YA (to be honest this feels more like middle grade). It was just so PG! I didn't want this to have Percy Jackson vibes. I wanted a Wonder Woman book. Not a Wonder GIRL book. 
6. Eliza and her monsters by Francesca Zappia
(3/5 stars) I had such high hopes for this book. All of my GoodReads friends were raving about it, but unfortunately this book didn't hold the hype for me. But, there were some things that I really liked. Internet friends! I really enjoyed his aspect of the book - Eliza's only real friends were a world away from her. They were validated beautifully in this book. And, as being a person who's best friends are also a world away I was very happy to read that in a book. It was such an important message to deliver. I know this book is many people's favorite, so I'd recommend reading it for yourself and seeing if it relates to you. We all experience things differently - and different books speak differently to us. 
7. The inexplicable logic my life by Benjamin Alice Saenz
(2/5 stars) This wasn't only a let down but a DNF for me as well. I just didn't care for it at all. I read one other book by Benjamin Saenz - Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe - and I really loved it. Aristotle and Dante showed me reasons why I should give ya contemporary a chance. But The inexplicable Logic reminded me all of the reasons why I hate ya contemporaries. Aristotle and Dante was aesthetically written, and it was the most quotable book I've ever read - it was just beautiful. The Inexplicable Logic was just a big mess of repetitive writing, with some pretty quotes sprinkled throughout. 
8. Our dark duet by Victoria Schwab
(3/5 stars) I was a 100% sure I was going to love this book. I am very sad that I didn't. If I had to describe Our Dark Duet in one word, I would say underwhelming. This Savage Song made me feel things. I was scared. My heart was racing. I felt sadness for August. I felt Ilsa's emotions. In Our Dark Duet I just didn't feel anything. It's like the book was missing its soul. It also felt rushed and stretched out. 
9. The woman in black by Susan Hill
(2/5 stars) The Woman in Black is said to be a scary ghost story. It's promised to be 'a ratting good yarn' (whatever that means). It's claimed to be 'nerve shredding'. Well, I am here to tell you that it is neither of those things. It's not scary, nor thrilling, nor chilling. Not even a little bit! And I scare easily. Now that I am done reading it I don't think that it's a bad book, I just don't think this is a scary book in any way. I don't know, maybe it's scary to a five year old? The problem is - it had the potential to be scary. Terrifying even. But the way it was written - in past tense, reassuring - killed the scary mood completely. 
10. The house of furies by Madeleine Roux
(2.5/5 stars) It is not a bad book per say, it's just - useless? 400 pages of no apparent plot and no satisfactory ending. Apparently it will be a series (which I didn't know) so the book never actually ended, but rather created an opening for the next book. When I was done reading it I felt like I just wasted all of my time for nothing - because nothing really got resolved, or even explained too well. On numerous occasions I found myself wanting to DNF the book, because the plot was going nowhere and everything was just dragging, but I persevered for one big reason - this book is not your typical YA cliche book! It doesn't have the overused tropes, it doesn't have "girls turning stupid over boys" and it didn't have "Insta-love" (there was an instance where I thought it would go that way, but it didn't and I was very happy for it) - and those were reasons good enough for me to keep reading! It was refreshing to read something very different, even if in the end it all added up to pretty much nothing. 
11. A court of thorns and roses by S.J. Maas
(2.25/5 stars) I was so sure that I was going to love this book as whole of Goodreads seem to love it to no end. Once again I was wrong. When will I learn that I have very unpopular opinions? Probably never... To start off, I think this is advertised in a wrong genre. I was expecting a high action fantasy with a badass heroine and some romance woven throughout. What I got instead was - a very slow, soft-erotica romance based of Beauty and the Beast, sprinkled with some action. If you are into smut - you will love these series. If you wanted a great fantasy - then probably like me you will be disappointed, as I also found the plot of this book to be very unoriginal. There were many instances that reminded me of other books, sometimes even word for word (Hobbit, Cinderella, Darkling from Shadow and Bone, Twilight - are just few examples of books that were very prominent in their imprint on this novel). I decided not to go through with the rest of the series as I wasn't interested at all. I was disappointed as I was hoping to really like this, but I think that S.J.M as an author is just not for me (If I was maybe 10 years younger - I know for sure I'd DEVOURED these books). Those were my biggest bookish let downs of the year 2017. Books that I expected to love and be blown away by, but in turn I felt - nothing. What were yours?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorAspiring author.  Archives
February 2019
 |
RSS Feed
