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Most disappointing books you've read this year?

160 replies

whatausername · 14/12/2023 14:56

Off the top of my head, mine are Modern Baptists by James Wilcox, Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding and Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert. The first two, to be fair, are very much of their time but even so they were incredibly unfunny and not particularly well written.

OP posts:
GreyDuck · 14/12/2023 21:16

Oh I've still got about 3 months wait at my library before I'll get lessons in Chemistry. Perhaps I'm not missing out.

The biggest disappointment for me this year was The heart is a lonely hunter by Carson Mcullars. I read a free kobo version and I wondered if it was missing something, it never seemed to reach a point. Just page after page of awful people and no particular plot. I'd been wanting to read it for years, and had really high expectations. I am completely at a loss why it's so loved.

FrostyMorn · 14/12/2023 21:27

Where the Crawdads Sing - started off liking it then it turned into sub-John Grisham.
Middle England by Jonathan Coe - very disappointing as I've found his previous books insightful and laugh out loud funny. This was just pedestrian for anyone who's lived in Britain over the period it describes.
Also didn't get the hype about Tomorrow and Tomorrow etc but my book group loved it.
Quite liked Lessons in Chemistry though!

twoastars · 14/12/2023 21:41

I do try and persevere but could not finish Memorial by Bryan Washington, The Island of Missing Trees & The Road, Cormac McCarthy

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 14/12/2023 21:48

Tried the Richard Cole's one. Was probably the most tedious book I've had the misfortune to come across in a long time.

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner. The only plus point is that it's quite short.

The Taste of Ginger by Mansi Shah. So lacking in any subtlety I did wonder how she'd been lucky enough to get published.

Blackcountryexile · 14/12/2023 22:01

The Satsuma Complex By Bob Mortimer. Supposed to be funny but it just irritated me and I gave up. I liked Lessons in Chemistry and The Marriage Portrait though.

VeronicaBeccabunga · 14/12/2023 22:04

Hamnet

*yawn

Singleandproud · 14/12/2023 22:12

Witch Hunt by Syd Moore interesting to start with. Prompted me to look into Matthew Hopkins and my local witch trials. Then got a bit weird and rushed towards the end. Still kept me somewhat entertained sat I the car whilst DD was at sport practice

CatsForLife · 14/12/2023 22:22

Another vote for Lessons in Chemistry. Also the Covenant of Water. Far too long and drawn out.

Tistheramseason · 14/12/2023 22:24

Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day. Self indulgent, boring, taught me virtually nothing despite promising so much.

Refbuckethat · 14/12/2023 22:28

Loved lessons in chemistry but needed to get into it & it got better & cleverer.
Songbirds - dull and the ending was utter rubbish. Just ended

senua · 14/12/2023 22:52

Tistheramseason · 14/12/2023 22:24

Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day. Self indulgent, boring, taught me virtually nothing despite promising so much.

That's the second Elizabeth Day book that has been nominated. Can I also add Magpie to the list.
She got a panning on here the other day for her podcast, too.

Costacoffeeplease · 14/12/2023 23:34

Agree with the Richard’s Coles and Osman. Doubt they’d have got near a publisher without their ‘celebrity’

Hated Tomorrow etc

Hated Hello Beautiful

covenant of water could have been 1/2 to 2/3 the length and not lost any of the story - the audible version was painful when he attempted Scottish and Geordie accents

finished lessons in chemistry but can barely remember it

Started The Smallest Man but have given up for now

Costacoffeeplease · 14/12/2023 23:35

And Still Life, given up for now

MissBattleaxe · 15/12/2023 00:18

Colleen Hoover It Ends with Us: laughably unrealistic and contrived. It reads as if it's teenage fan fiction and I hated the main character and her stupid flower shop.

Mothership4two · 15/12/2023 03:36

Milkman by Anna Burns - just awful. Gimmicky: dense/no paragraphs/no names given. Extremely dull.

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah Maas - book 4 in a series that started off well but gradually deteriorated. Main character overcomes MH problems and has lots of fayrie sex - dire plot.

The Twins by L.V. Matthews - ridiculous plot and felt like a padded out short story.

The Volcano Lover by Susan Sontag - long and boring.

Mothership4two · 15/12/2023 03:40

I have struggled with a lot of Margaret Atwood novels @BlueberryVelvet and wondered what I was missing. I put off reading The Handmaid's Tale until this year despite the hype and TV series and loved it.

Mothership4two · 15/12/2023 03:45

@Strokethefurrywall

Reminders of Him - Colleen Hoover. I'd never read her before so decided to see what the fuss was about...

I did the same with Verity which was so bad it was almost funny

Mothership4two · 15/12/2023 03:49

The heart is a lonely hunter was an early read for my book club @GreyDuck and everybody was disappointed. We score our reads and I think it got the lowest score ever

BlueberryVelvet · 15/12/2023 04:17

Mothership4two · 15/12/2023 03:40

I have struggled with a lot of Margaret Atwood novels @BlueberryVelvet and wondered what I was missing. I put off reading The Handmaid's Tale until this year despite the hype and TV series and loved it.

I think my mistake was starting with Handmaid’s Tale. I loved it and so wanted to love everything else she wrote too.

The Testaments was ok but it felt like a lazy, “here you go” attempt to sew up the Gilead loose ends.

ChristmasFairywings · 15/12/2023 04:24

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilka, 2022 Booker Prize winner.......hated it.

And The Hunting Party Lucy Foley, it was a gift so had to read it......

Mothership4two · 15/12/2023 04:41

Agree about The Hunting Party - think she was trying to do an Agatha Christie with a modern twist but couldn't pull it off.

littleblackcat27 · 15/12/2023 05:48

toastofthetown · 14/12/2023 18:54

Lessons in Chemistry for me too. It says nothing that isn't mainstream or widely accepted. Wow, women should be allowed to study science. So brave. I am a woman with a chemistry degree and was so excited to read it. Elizabeth reminded me of the type of pretentious snot person who would (unironically) use scientific names in day to day life solely to sound more intelligent and feel superior. Kind of like the book really: wanted to seem witty and intelligent but came across as utterly vapid.

Yes yes to all of what you just said.

It was so cliched as well - couldn't stand it after the first few chapters.

Flatandhappy · 15/12/2023 05:54

I feel better about giving up on Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow now! I was disappointed in Shrines of Gaiety too although I did finish it.

Frenchfancy · 15/12/2023 06:04

Just finished An unwanted inheritance by Imogen Clark, but don't know why I bothered.

I got partway through Grown ups by Marion Keyes but cared too little about the characters to bother finishing it.

Still Life took me 3 tries to get into but I enjoyed it in the end. The writing saves it.

I really enjoyed lessons in Chemistry but I listened on Audible and it is very well narrated which can make a huge difference.

DoraChance · 15/12/2023 06:35

I started In Memoriam this week and really can't get on with it. I've put it back on the shelf for now and will try it another time. Disappointing as I've heard so many good things about it.

Often I think books that are massively hyped, with the gorgeous covers and sprayed edges, don't live up to their promise. Most of my favourite authors have been dead for at least fifty years 🤣