Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

Popular book that you didn’t enjoy

459 replies

Wanttocry · 19/06/2021 16:33

Not really a TAAT but inspired by the Crawdads thread.

What’s a book that has been raved about, but that you didn’t really enjoy? For me it would have to be The Goldfinch, I just didn’t really get it.

OP posts:
EleanorOlephantisjustfine · 19/06/2021 18:44

@olidora63

The girl on the train…so dark and depressing.
I gave up. It was terrible, jumping about all over the place.
midsomermurderess · 19/06/2021 18:41

Crawdads too. I put it down one day and never felt the need to pick it up again. Also the Kite Runner, it played out like a very poor Bollywood movie.

hitsvilleuk · 19/06/2021 18:40

@JuneFromBethesda I am about 40 pages into Hamnet and normally really like Maggie O'Farrell but am struggling to maintain any interest

comeflywithpork · 19/06/2021 18:40

Agree with the lovely bones and goldfinch.
I also didn't enjoy the handmaids tale - the testaments. I found it too predictable.

hitsvilleuk · 19/06/2021 18:38

Agree with the @frankiesaysrelaxx re Shantaram although not even keen on the first half. It was all total bollocks and he just seemed like a creepy con man trying to big himself up.

Badly written and went on forever

JuneFromBethesda · 19/06/2021 18:30

@MintyCedric

Shuggie Bain...relentlessly grim.
You’ve helpfully justified my decision to give up after a few chapters. Thank you!
JuneFromBethesda · 19/06/2021 18:29

There are lots on this thread I loved: The Goldfinch, Time Traveller’s Wife (although read it 20 years ago - I wonder if I’d read it differently now I’m older?), Jane Eyre ❤️

I tried so hard with Wolf Hall, I really did, but it just didn’t grip me. I also tried really hard with My Brilliant Friend but found the characters too irritating.

One nobody has mentioned yet is Hamnet. I got two-thirds of the way through and gave up. Considering the subject matter (death of a child) I should have found it extremely moving but it left me cold 😳

LongPauseNoAnswer · 19/06/2021 18:29

Yes to Goldfinch, Eleanor Oliphant (kept waiting for something to happen) and I managed eventually to finish The Life of Pi but it was my Everest without the satisfaction of an incredible view.

Clarice99 · 19/06/2021 18:22

Another vote for Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I gave up, life's too short to read drivel.

The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold.

The Lying Room, Nicci French (their worst book so far)

Spidey66 · 19/06/2021 18:21

Totally agree on The Goldfinch, Life of Pi and the Time Travellers Wife. Hated each one.

Also hated My Brilliant Friend.

Buggerthebotox · 19/06/2021 18:20

Catcher in the Rye. Had to read it for O Level English. Self-absorbed drivel.
Didn't like Secret History much but managed to finish it.
Liked Wolf Hall but had to give it a couple of tries and I watched the dramatisation which helped.
Glad someone mentioned Remains of the Day. Loved the film and bought the book on the back of it. Book was dull as ditch water.
Had to read The Alchemist for a book club. No idea what it was about and don't care.

Ellie56 · 19/06/2021 18:17

Harry Potter. It was so boring I couldn't even get past the first chapter. I didn't think it was particularly well written either.

SpeckledyHen · 19/06/2021 18:13

The Midnight Library , I can’t wait to finish it . Been waiting to ‘get’ what’s so good about it ….
The Thursday Murder Club , dull dull dull and gave up after 4 chapters and returned it .

Scrubadub · 19/06/2021 18:13

The Midnight Library. I hadn't read anything by MH previously and was hoping for good things. So disappointed.

frankiesaysrelaxx · 19/06/2021 18:10

Shantaram - the first half is alright but he then gets carried away with exaggerating and boasting the most disjointed events. Once you realise it's only based on a true story and that nobody can possibly verify the so-called facts, everything becomes a lot less believable

Bvop · 19/06/2021 18:09

Catcher in the rye. Just set my teeth on edge within 2 pages.
Fifty shades of grey. It was astonishingly overhyped.

Puddock1 · 19/06/2021 18:05

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes.
Thursday Murder Club.

PopcornKettleBlack · 19/06/2021 18:05

I forgot Never Let Me Go and The Remans of The Day.

AuntMasha · 19/06/2021 18:04

I tried Susan Hill’s Simon Serallier books, read the first in the series but gave up because the characters were so smug and unpleasant.

Northernmum100 · 19/06/2021 18:04

Fifty shades- dross and gave up quickly

Gone girl- characters so irritating I didn't actually care who killed who so didn't bother finishing it

The Midnight Library- i just don't understand what is so great about it!

LawnFever · 19/06/2021 18:03

@Standrewsschool

The Tattooist of Auscwitz
Agreed, the writing was so bland and lifeless, considering the topic it was utterly soulless
SpinbikeNotebook · 19/06/2021 18:03

The Woman in the White Kimono
The Keeper of Lost Things
Eleanor Oliphant
The Family Upstairs

Standrewsschool · 19/06/2021 18:02

The Tattooist of Auscwitz

PopcornKettleBlack · 19/06/2021 18:01

Apple Tree Yard. I didn't hate it but I expected more. It was rather boring and I didn't get the fuss.

Jane Eyre. I've heard that you're either a fan of Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights. I'm definitely a Wuthering Heights person. It was ok, just but it really dragged for me and it took me about 3 or 4 attempts to get through it.

CaptainMyCaptain · 19/06/2021 17:58

@TinaYouFatLard

I cannot begin to describe how much I hated A Little Life. It makes me cross to think about the time I spent reading the damn thing.
Same here we read it for book club and it is now our standard of awfulness with which to compare other books. Misery upon misery upon misery.

On the other hand, I liked the Wolf Hall books, the first two anyway.

I haven't liked any thing by Jesse Burton and I've read the Miniaturist, the Muse and the Confession.