This is the final instalment in my books of the year series where I am going to discuss the most disappointing books of the year for me. This is going to be a little different from the previous two which focused on low or high ratings but this is going to be based on whether or not I, personally, found the book to be disappointing in some way.
In January, the only book I found disappointing, which was Halfway Home by Hugh Howey, this was my first dive into adult sci-fi and I didn’t really get it back at the beginning of the year but over the course of the year I have come to appreciate adult sci-fi and I have a feeling that if I re-read it then I might rate it much higher.
In February, the book I found most disappointing was Wilder Girl by Rory Power which had a great premise and characters but it didn’t really go anywhere and the ending tried to be climatic and dramatic and failed miserably which left me feeling very deflated after I’d finished it.
In March, the only book that mildly disappointed me was Inkmistress by Audrey Coulthrust. It was a great story but the ending felt very rushed and I get this was a prequel to her other books but I was so underwhelmed by this that I never read them.
In April, there were two books I found disappointing, the first was Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami which was his first book and it was just a very strange experience that didn’t live up to his later books. The second was I am Grimalkin by Joseph Delaney which is the 9th book in the Wardstone Chronicles and Grimalkin happens to be my favourite character but her book left me feeling underwhelmed that we didn’t get to see some of her talents that we saw in earlier instalments.
In May, there were two disappointing books which were Are you sleeping by Kathleen Barber which had a great premise for a thriller but the ending was a real let down. The second was American Psycho by Bret Eaton Ellis, while I loved the movie adaptation of this book, the book itself was quite boring.
In June, I either loved or hated the books I read and they have been mentioned on other lists.
In July, the only disappointing books I read was Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan which I gave 3 stars for the concept but the characters and the way rape and sexual assault were handled were just awful and the shoehorning in of a sub-par romance was the icing on the cake.
In August, there were a few disappointing books for me, two were YA contemporary novel that were just completely underwhelming and didn’t really have much going for them and they were We Used to be Friends by Amy Spalding and This Train is being Held by Ismee Williams. The final one that disappointed me was Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte while I loved The Vanishing Deep, her debut novel was very underwhelming despite its amazing concept as it really leads you to believe one thing is going to happen and then goes in a direction which wasn’t pleasing for the reader that had put so much investment into these characters.
In September, I was disappointed by was Cari Mora by Thomas Harris which like Suzanne Collins was the first book published by the author in a long time and was just bland. It didn’t even have an interesting premise as the “bad guy” gets killed off with little effort and it could have been made into something that resembled the Hannibal series which is what fans wanted from this book. The next book that really disappointed me was Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco, now this book had an interesting premise and great characters but it switched between not having a plot and having a really weak plot, I will be continuing with the series though as Kerri’s book get better.
In October, all the books I read I rated 4 or 5 stars so there was nothing disappointing here.
In November, the only disappointing read for me was The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay which wasn’t a novel but a short story in the Forward Collection. It was the weakest story in the collection but had real potential if it was longer.
In December, the books I found disappointing were A Universe of Wishes by Dhonielle Clayton, this was a collection of short stories and most of them I enjoyed but a few made the book less enjoyable for me. Another was Mythos by Stephen Fry which I was expecting to be something new in the retelling of myths and legends but it was a basis rehashing on things anyone who was interested in mythology would already know. The final book that disappointed me was Speculate by Eugen Bacon & Dominique Hecq which was not disappointing because of the content but because I don’t really enjoy speculative fiction and it just didn’t gel with me as a reader.
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