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Original poster

I just read a terrible book

687 replies

Orangeis · 06/02/2023 11:29

Bring me back, B A Paris.

What a load of absolute tosh. A man's partner dissapears, 6 years later he gets with her sister and lives with her. The big twist is.....the new girlfriend is actually the missing sister. He didn't realise this as she had a different hair do.
That's hours of my life I'll never get back. I feel like taking the book in to the back garden and burning the bugger.
What's your worst book and why?

OP posts:
Dahlietta · 06/02/2023 18:51

I recently hated We begin at the end by Chris Whitaker. It wasn't badly written or anything but it was just unnecessarily relentlessly depressing.

SlippinKimmy · 06/02/2023 18:57

I read a thriller that lots of posters recommended on another thread - Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce. My standards aren’t that high for a fun trashy thriller, but my god this was awful. The main character was meant to be unsympathetic but she was just hideous with no redeeming features and I didn’t care at all what happened to her, her sex-pest affair partner or her tedious husband, and the twist was blindingly obvious.

I had to read Never Let Me Go for a book group and had to force myself to finish it. I don’t know if it’s Ishiguro’s writing style but it felt so flat, not emotionally engaging at all and I thought there’d be far more of a climax - it was very clear from the beginning what was happening and not very interesting proceeding through to the end. I felt angry by the time I’d finished it that it was such a waste of time.

Didnt get more than two pages into Richard Osman’s first one.

However I love BillBryson and A Walk the Woods! Reread it a few times, it makes me wish we had some proper wilderness in the UK.

GloomyDarkness · 06/02/2023 19:06

FancyFanny · 06/02/2023 17:31

Lord of the Rings- The Hobbit was ok at first as a book I read as a kid, but the the whole thing is just tedious to me and seems to only appeal to middle aged blokes who never grew up!

I read Lord of the Rings as a teen - else I'd have never finished it - my capacity to push though any book has diminished with age.

I had a feeling there was a good story there entire way through but fighting to get read and yes it was hard going.

I did like the Lord of the ring films though but not the Hobbit films though that book was okay.

Richard Osman own comments om QI about his own Murder mystery book put me of trying it.

I had to read Never Let Me Go for a book group and had to force myself to finish it. I don’t know if it’s Ishiguro’s writing style but it felt so flat, not emotionally engaging at all and I thought there’d be far more of a climax - it was very clear from the beginning what was happening and not very interesting proceeding through to the end. I felt angry by the time I’d finished it that it was such a waste of time.

Yes - waiting for something to happen good way to put it but also so many unanswered questions at the end leading to the world building not seeming very through left me feeling frustated with it.

OneEnchantedEvening · 06/02/2023 19:09

Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

Everyone on Book Tube raving about it-turgid nonsense. It had a pretty cover though.

LobeliaBaggins · 06/02/2023 19:11

I am not a middle aged bloke but I am obsessed with Lord of the Rings:)I can recite bits of it. ( also borrowed my name from it).

FannythePinkFlamingo · 06/02/2023 19:15

The Historian was terrible. I got about halfway through and gave up.

All the Light We Cannot See. How many pages to describe a radio?

The Little Friend. I just don't get the love for Donna Tartt.

Alcemeg · 06/02/2023 19:19

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at poster's request

RainyReadingDay · 06/02/2023 19:30

FannythePinkFlamingo · 06/02/2023 19:15

The Historian was terrible. I got about halfway through and gave up.

All the Light We Cannot See. How many pages to describe a radio?

The Little Friend. I just don't get the love for Donna Tartt.

Agree about The Historian. It was tedious, but I did read it to the end to see if it was worth reading. It wasn't. I should have DNF'd it.

I loathed All The Light We Cannot See. So many people have loved it, and I've been in the minority. I had so many issues with this book when I was reading it. Apart from being utterly tedious, the ending was ridiculous.

BellePeppa · 06/02/2023 19:36

WinnieFosterReads · 06/02/2023 18:23

I love the Liane Moriarty books - they're entertaining and easy to read. I also loved the tv adaptation of Nine Perfect Strangers.

I enjoy listening to her books on audible as I really like her resident narrator Caroline Lee.

Zorrita · 06/02/2023 19:38

I am more of a fantasy reader so want to add a couple from that Genre.

A Court of Thorns and Roses. Absolute fucking shite along with ALL ofthe other "A Blah of Blahs and Blahs" (titles obviously trying to copy ASOIAF). In fact anything by Mass' goes to charity if it gets passed to me. I don't know how they get such rave reviews. Also Shadow and Bone, who's main character is so painfully boring I wanted to scream. I can only think that these authors, amongst other authors such as Holly Black (who seemed to luck out for being a "Young Author"), paid a lot of money to a lot of people to leave a lot of reviews because the books are awful.

ASOIAF itself was a decent story but there was so much unnecessary drivel in there too. The material could have been reduced down to far fewer books and maybe if GRRM had done that we would have got a decent ending. Same for Lord of the Rings. A good story but hidden in amongst a whole ton of guff.

The Night Circus was slow and predictable with a ridiculously forced love triangle.

Most recently, From Blood and Ash was just all round poor writing. Characters with zero purpose, the bare minimum of worldbuilding.

As for other books, Sophie Hannah used to be a fav until about book 3 or 4 (it's been a while) with Simon and thingy in it. Then Hannah just seems to repeat the same smarmy middle class dithery characters over and over again.

BellePeppa · 06/02/2023 19:42

Ironically, if a thread were started about absolute favourite books most of these would probably be on there 😁

CaptainMyCaptain · 06/02/2023 19:44

BellePeppa · 06/02/2023 19:42

Ironically, if a thread were started about absolute favourite books most of these would probably be on there 😁

There is a thread now about A Little Life with people saying they like it!

VittysCardigan · 06/02/2023 19:47

I read Never Let me go years ago & thought it was ok. Read Klara and the sun last month & found it a real bore fest

Chocolatefrenzy · 06/02/2023 20:13

Secret History
Normal people
Night Circus
White Teeth

Really hated these books, don't understand the hype at all!!!

Books shouldn't feel like homework, we buy and read them for enjoyment surely but there's so much tosh out there with amazing reviews attached to them......so frustrating!

Ellie56 · 06/02/2023 20:16

I didn't even get past the first chapter of Thursday Murder Club. After all the hype it was unbelievably disappointing and spectacularly crap.

slamfightbrightlight · 06/02/2023 20:21

VittysCardigan · 06/02/2023 19:47

I read Never Let me go years ago & thought it was ok. Read Klara and the sun last month & found it a real bore fest

I’ve been trying to read this forever. Usually a fan of his but lord it’s slow.

GracePooleslaugh · 06/02/2023 20:29

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. I don't know why they were even friends. The friend was a total bitch.

The other one I hated was The Buried Giant. WTAF? I loved Remains of The Day but this was utterly shit and so boring!

ilovesushi · 06/02/2023 20:45

I loved Never Let Me Go and Klara and the Sun. I reread both more than once which is something I rarely do. DS (14) also enjoyed Klara and the Sun and he is not a big reader. Both books really stayed with me. Loved the simplicity of the language. Found them very understated and very moving.

Didn't mind the Crawdads. Can see why they made it into a film, but have no desire to see it.
Bored to tears by Normal People.
Can't get on with the Essex Serpent. I keep starting it and giving up.
Was very underwhelmed by the Miniaturist. Felt like I must have missed something.

Currently working my way through Mrs Henry Wood's novels. I only knew East Lynne but there are so many. All are hugely enjoyable if a little samey.

FetchezLaVache · 06/02/2023 20:58

I really enjoyed the two Richard Osman books I've read! I also liked Never Let Me Go, Crawdads, Elinor Oliphant and the Luminaries.

I absolutely hated To Set A Watchman and wish I'd never read it - can't believe it was even written by the person who wrote TKAM.

I cannot read The Road To Wigan Pier - I have tried many times over the years and I just can't get past the first chapter! Ditto Return Of The Native. In both cases, I like their other stuff, just allergic to these!

roundtable · 06/02/2023 21:02

Annoying! I wrote a proper reply and Mumsnet crashed and I lost it.

So long story, short - milkman. Not my cup of tea at all. Had to force myself to finish it to see if anything actually happened.

DH Lawrence is a creep. Writing about one of his female characters having an orgasm while breastfeeding stopping me reading any more. I was only 16 and childless but could still work out that that was bullshit and really weird.

JohnPrescottsPyjamas · 06/02/2023 21:41

Maybe I’m just a simple type, but I just don’t get Ian McEwan as a writer at all. My DD is a secondary English teacher and she always looks forward to his next offering, but not for me.
We clearly have such a completely different taste in book; she also recommended The Road by Cormac McCarthy to read on holiday. The only positive thing I could say about it was there wasn’t too many pages! It was so depressing. I get that a good story doesn’t necessarily have to have a happy ending, but I want some sort of optimism at some point before everyone dies.

slamfightbrightlight · 06/02/2023 21:42

The Road is one of the best books I’ve ever read but I agree, unrelentingly miserable. I feel a wave of sadness coming over me just thinking about it!

Orangebadger · 06/02/2023 21:44

The time travellers wife, I thought I was the only one who hated it! Read it years ago and cannot recall exact reasons for my dislike of it, but I remember feeling quite bewildered that so many loved it!

The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Should have been a great book written from the perspective of said tattooist. But I found it totally underwhelming, poorly written with awful character development. I never connected with any of the characters, so was totally devoid of emotion. Considering the topic and emotional response is what you expect!

Also agree with The Historian, hated it! No idea why I finished it!

Violinist64 · 06/02/2023 21:45

I agree with The Foundling. It was far-fetched and there were some inaccuracies such as referring to piano lessons in 1750. The piano had only just been invented at this stage and the harpsichord or, even more likely, the clavichord, would have been the domestic keyboard instrument until towards the end of the eighteenth century. I did not enjoy The Lamplighters by Emma Stonix, either.5