Disappointing Reads from 2015

[Quogwinkle]

Following on from Southeast's best reads from 2015, I've been thinking about the books that have disappointed me ie not lived up to expectations, have been over-hyped by the media or were just not that enjoyable for me. I know one person's favourite book can be another's hated book, tastes are all different, but these are the ones that I haven't enjoyed as much as I was hoping I would.

1. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
2. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
3. Funny Girl by Nick Hornby
4. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (nowhere near as funny as The Rosie Project)
5. Stoner by John Williams (so depressing)
6. A Song For Issy Bradley by Carys Bray (just didn't like the claustrophobic religious element)
7. Wake by Anna Hope (shows WW1 books are hard to get right)
8. Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

The 100 year old man. Loathed it from the first page.
The Martian, Andy Weir. Plodded on in the hope of discovering what all the fuss was about and wished I hadn't bothered.
Notes on a Scandal, Zoe Heller. My reading notebook just says "tedious".

The Handmaid's Tale I read when it was first published in the 1980s and recall I loved it at the time - might feel differently now I am in my fifties.

I read Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood and really enjoyed it.

i loved The Children Act and Stoner went straight to my favourite books ever list.

My disappointments from 2015 were:

Dare Me by Megan Abbott. "Cheerleader Noir" wtf? Don't bother.
Norwegian Wood (Murakami). I loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle but I thought this was self indulgent with really crappy female characters.
The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett
Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill. Billed as 2015's The Handmaid's Tale. Um, no.
Disclaimer by Renee Knight. Really quite poor.
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb. Schlocky night-school creative writing class rubbish.

The Taxidermist's daughter by Kate Mosse was dire to read. You might as well read the last two chapters to get the point of the story, the rest is padding. Shame I usually like her books.

The Illusionist by Rosie Thomas, couldn't finish it, which surprised me as I have liked all the others that she has written. She is very varied in style of writing and type of story.

I really really didn't get on with The Miniaturist. It made me cross, it felt extremely derivative of that genre and the miniatures actually didn't add anything to the story.

I also read ALL the books in the Cazalet Chronicles (thinking 'something must happen soon') only to find that a) nothing happened, and b) the author died so nothing else was going to happen either. Underwhelmed.

The last in the Divergent series was such a let down that I couldn't actually remember if I had finished it or not. Ditto the prequel for the Maze Runner books.

I love Driving Over Lemons though. It's a very gentle read.

I liked Elizabeth is Missing but I don't think it was amazing. I read it in one sitting though so I think that helped.

The worst book was Girl on the Train. It was so far fetched and badly written, but I had to read it to see how on earth the author was going to tie everything up.

I've had several books recommended to me that I didn't bother getting because they'd been on the list for me: Gone Girl and the Miniaturist immediately sprimg to mind.

Ha just spotted the above post!

Lordy, didn't realise anyone even attempted Rachel Cusk these days! Some of my favourite old threads on MN have involved discussion of her writing.

My most disappointing read from last year was a novel I bought at Gatwick as we were flying out for summer holidays - The Girls by Lisa Jewell.

The Ice Twins .......had such high hopes.......

I have however just finished "Her" possibly The.Worst.Book.Ever

I started a thread about Her because the ending was so bad. I don't just want my money back, i want the hours I wasted. First time in ages that I've called the main character a cunt out loud.

Ditto The Orphan Choir. Main character needed handing a massive grip. Whenever I read Sophie Hannah I'm inspired to write a book myself, because I know I could do so much better and I ain't great

Margaret Atwood though was great