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Original poster

The worst books you read in 2017

139 replies

BestIsWest · 17/12/2017 12:02

Inspired by @SouthEastDweller’s best books of 2017 thread, what’s your worst read of 2017?

Mine is unquestionably The End OfThe World Running Club. Just dire. Misogynistic macho drivel. And there wasn’t even much running.

OP posts:
Nyx1 · 19/12/2017 09:56

oh just to add

Renee Knight - Disclaimer

much like the Essex Serpent, constant constant repetition of everyone's feelz.

Paul Auster 1234 - just didn't care about any of it. Plus a lot of male arseholes. Well, not literally... Grin

Nyx1 · 19/12/2017 09:54

thank goodness someone else said The Essex Serpent. Absolute drivel.

southeastdweller · 19/12/2017 09:51

I also gave up on The Power. Flat characters and poor execution of an interesting premise. Modern classic, my arse. Think it won the Bailey’s award because the judges wanted to be seen as edgy and ‘cool’.

ToucheEcat · 18/12/2017 19:38

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. Starts off with an appallingly written sex scene, and goes further downhill from there.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 18/12/2017 19:25

Until the Drizzle Grin
So very boring. I only managed a few pages, then gave up in disgust.

annandale · 18/12/2017 17:45

I managed about 5 pages of The power, loved the idea but the prose seemed Teflon non-stick, my mind kept slipping off it.

I have to say though, I've read so many great books this year (Autumn, Book of Dust, Lincoln in the Bardo, Book of Night Women) that I still feel way ahead of most years.

ScribblyGum · 18/12/2017 17:38

I enjoyed Do Not Say We Have Nothing, if for nothing else it gave me the excuse to listen to Bach's Goldberg variations on repeat for the entire time I was reading it. It wasn’t the easiest of reads, but it was worth the climb.

Sadik · 18/12/2017 16:34

Now I liked Do Not Say We Have Nothing - though it did take me a very long time to read.

Newmanwannabe · 18/12/2017 12:23

Nocturnal Animals (Austin Wright)

Everything Everything (Nicola Yoon)

Both started well. Had great potential then got weird.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 18/12/2017 12:10

The one Sarah Perry wrote before The Essex Serpent - After The Flood or Before The Storm or Until The Drizzle or something like that.
Implausible characters and no plot.
I really wanted to read The Essex Serpent though because I know the area. I much preferred that one and I had been forewarned about the lack of ending so didn't feel I had wasted my time when it petered limply out. It still had many of the same faults as the other one but the premise and historical detail more than made up for it.

lessworriedaboutthecat · 18/12/2017 12:00

I really enjoyed The Name of the Wind. Patrick Rothfuss really needs to get his finger out though he's stsrting to make GRM look positively prolific. Sten Erikson started the Malazan Books of the Fallen in 1999 and completed in 10 books giant tomes in 12 years.

Ulysses · 18/12/2017 11:49

Very underwhelmed by The Keeper of Lost Things but did love The Essex Serpent and Eleanor Oliphant.

AmySueGina · 18/12/2017 11:15

"Do Not Say We Have Nothing" by Madeleine Thien. Boring, up its own arse shit with no actual fucking story.

Vistaverde · 18/12/2017 11:14

Another who agrees about The Power great concept but poorly executed. I loved Eleanor Oliphant though.

My worst reads of the year were Domina by LS Hilton won in a Mumsnet competition and struggled to finish. I know there are a lot of people who really rate Elena Ferrante but I really did not get on with The Days of Abandonment I just wanted her to pull herself together quite frankly.

PleaseDontGoadTheToad · 18/12/2017 00:05

The Girl Before by JP Delaney.

Just awful.

Motheroffourdragons · 17/12/2017 22:49

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booksandwool · 17/12/2017 22:45

So glad other people are saying The Power too. Such a good idea, with terrible execution. It's the only book this year I've abandoned part way.

Motheroffourdragons · 17/12/2017 22:45

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SatsukiKusakabe · 17/12/2017 22:40

Yes, it is a brilliant book, but, much like the spectacularly moving best song in the world young Kvothe (no I didn’t sneeze, his name is really Kvothe) wrote, there is no existing evidence of it SadGrin

girlandboy · 17/12/2017 21:56

"It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis for bookclub.
Oh dear lord it was dire. Only one of us in the bookclub finished it and that was the person who suggested it.

It was shit

JaimesGoldenHand · 17/12/2017 21:42

Anyone here who disliked Name Of the Wind is wrong. It is a brilliant book .

I on the other hand read all 14 books in the Wheel of Time series, some of which were great and some of which were dulllllllllll.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 17/12/2017 21:22

I just really disliked his writing style, unfortunately.

mmack · 17/12/2017 21:17

It was definitely easier to keep track of the names of Stalin's closest associates after about 1940 when he stopped murdering them on a daily basis. If it was fiction it wouldn't be believable. I saw The Death of Stalin film about a month after I finished the book and it helped fix all the main characters permanently in my mind.

ElChan03 · 17/12/2017 21:16

Absolutely agree about vinegar girl!!! Awful

But I loved the power and Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine

TeachesOfPeaches · 17/12/2017 21:13

Yes I agree with The Power - fantastic idea badly executed.