As people who love books, we hope to love every book we read. However, that is not always the case. Sometimes, even if we power through a book hoping it will get better, we’re left feeling unsatisfied with some or all of the book. Even if other people enjoy the book, we unfortunately don’t enjoy it ourselves.
Luckily for me, I didn’t encounter too many books that I really didn’t like as opposed to last year (see my 2017 list here). I’ve found that I’m only reaching for and buying books that I’m genuinely interested in the plot, even if it isn’t the most popular book at the moment. That being said, I’ve also discovered a lot of books that I really enjoyed this year, even if they aren’t my personal taste (check out my annual favorites lists, The Brittany Awards, here).
This year there were seven books that I wouldn’t find myself personally recommending to other readers. However, I know there are many people who love these books and maybe identified with an aspect of the story that I did not. I always try to give a little shout out to people who may enjoy these stories, so for a more in-depth review of the book, you can always see my reviews, which I link to book titles.
Without further adieu, here are my seven least favorite books from 2018:
- The Summers by Iva Marie Palmer
I had never hard of this book, but purchased it as a Kindle deal because it sounded like a fun summer read. However, I was really disappointed with this book. None of the characters are remarkable. I found the relationship to be a result of petty jealousy between sisters than actual romantic feelings. The relationships between the sisters had the potential to be good, but fell flat in favor of the lackluster romance.
- Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
I have found with E. Lockhart’s books that I really enjoy her fast-paced writing style, but I’m a little underwhelmed when the big twist is revealed and that overall the story is average. Genuine Fraud is really no exception to those expectations. Genuine Fraud is a book I finished quickly and I liked seeing the mystery unravel from the end to the beginning. However, the structure of this novel couldn’t save it from the bland characters and recycled story line.
- Textrovert by Lindsey Summers
I actually found Textrovert to be an average read until the second half of the story. (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD). Towards the end, it is revealed that the love interest sent explicit photographs of his former girlfriend as revenge when they broke up. Eventually, the girl was forced to leave town due to bullying. Other characters try to justify that he is a good guy because his behavior has changed since this incident. For me, I didn’t buy that. Looking back into the novel, I found many incidents that disproved this and it made me mad how the author even had his former girlfriend come back to defend him to the main character in this book.
Out of all the books on this list, this book made me the least angry and I found myself more disappointed than anything. I’ve been on a huge fairy kick so I was excited to see this book on the market. I especially was interested when I heard it was a stand alone, which doesn’t happen too often with young adult fantasy. I heard unfavorable reviews before picking this one up. However, in my experience, when I go in with lower expectations then I usually find myself pleasantly surprised. However, I left with underwhelmed feelings towards this book, similar to other readers.
Biggest Flirts is the first book in the Superlatives series by Jennifer Echols. This series was overall a miss for me with the exception of the last book, Most Likely to Succeed. Out of the three, this was definitely my least favorite as I really disliked both of the main characters. Tia was the party girl who somehow got the highest grades in class without even trying and the latter stereotype is one that annoy’s me beyond belief in books. She didn’t treat people well, but for some reason, every guy wanted to date her. As for Will, he was just a jerk. He got mad he was Biggest Flirts with Tia because it would “jeopardize his future” but had no problem flirting with her before AND after the award was announced AND when he was in a relationship. I found myself rolling my eyes way too much during this novel to enjoy it.
Perfect Couple is the second book in the Superlatives series by Jennifer Echols. I really didn’t like either of the main characters in this book. I took the biggest issue with how their terrible actions were justified. At the beginning of this book, both Harper and Brody are in relationships. However, their significant others are portrayed as awful people with no redeeming qualities. As a result, when they both inevitably cheat on their partners with each other, their cheating is justified. I also found that the main character Harper is a little stalker-ish of Brody in the beginning of the story which made me cringe.
From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon follows aspiring high school filmmaker Twinkle as she creates a film for an upcoming film festival. For me, I didn’t enjoy how the whole film aspect was included in this book. I felt like the letters to female filmmakers could have been cool, but it wasn’t well executed. Plus, there were very few scenes actually dedicated to the film making. When it was included, the author fast forwarded over the entire process. However, my largest problem with this book was I did not like the main character, Twinkle. I found that Twinkle was very hypocritical throughout the novel. She was angry no one listened to her ideas and at girls that bullied her. However, Twinkle always put down other people’s ideas and pitted girls against each other on camera. While Twinkle does somewhat take ownership of her actions, the way she treated other people throughout the majority of the novel left a sour taste in my mouth. Additionally, the romance was not believable to me and since they occupied the majority of the novel, it made the novel just fall flat for me.
What were your least favorite reads of 2018?
