Today in Top 5 Tuesday Shanah @bionicbookworm asked us to talk about books that disappointed us!

And more specifically, I chose very hyped books that disappointed me so much that I felt like the black sheep! Surely, as everyone seemed to love them, I was missing something right?

Something that I did not see maybe?

Anyway, here below are my own personal disappointment. Maybe the reactions, espcially on social media will get messy reading this post because I could dare *gasp* say that I did not like YOUR favorite book *gasp again* but keep in mind that reading is highly personal and it’s not because I didn’t like it that the book is bad. Nor the author. It was just not to my personal taste! That’s all.

We are all different and experiencing books in different ways and that’s just great because the world would be a sad and monotonous place if we were all alike with the exact same taste!

So, without further ado, here are my “let down”. You’ll get 5 in romance and 5 in young adult.

Romance

Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

I so wanted to love this one! These authors are acclaimed and loved and …

But it just..did nothing for me! 😥 

Becoming his Monster by Amelia Hutchins

I loved the first two books in this series but here…

It really saddened me to write such review as I am not usually very hard to please. I always try to find something positive about the book as I am conscious of the work authors put in their writing but once again WHAT DID I READ????? What did Amelia do here? Am I missing the whole point? Am I completely mistaken? Maybe as no one is perfect but at the end of the day it was just not for me.

Confess by Colleen Hoover 3 stars

OK, let me explain: from any other author, I would have given at least 4 stars but coming from Colleen Hoover (CoHo), I expected something more. I’m a big CoHo fan and I’ve loved her books so far so I had great expectations about Confess, maybe too much.
I enjoyed my read, it’s well written but…I did not connect immediately with the characters. I did not feel overwhelmed with emotions right away.

The prologue should have made me cry as I’m an “easy crier” when I read sad stories. I mean mascara-running, red-stuffy-nose and spending-a-fortune-on-tissues kind of crier. So why did I not bawl my eyes out for God’s sake? It was a sad and dramatic moment but my eyes remained dry as the desert.

I can’t explain what happened here really. If someone can, just message me because I’m still puzzled.

The Silver Swan by Amo Jones

Mixed feelings here!

The bad
-How can you be best friend with someone you’ve met the day before?
-How can she guess what she is based on what she’s read? I miss some more clues to believe in it.
-Inconsistency: if the reason they moved so much was to protect her why marry in this family (I am trying not to be spoilerish but still give pointers here);
-Why play with her and not act immediately?
-Why ask her if she ever came here or knew something?
etc.

The good
-Some could not believe such young men could “make love” (trying to keep it PG rated) like that but given their “tradition” I had no difficulties to believe it.

Whatever the reason, it’s addictive BUT ….

One Small Thing by Erin Watt

When I got it I squealed! So hard the neigbors believed some cats were fighting. Nope. That was me!

I dove right in but sadly this book was not for me.

My main problem was that I was MAD at Beth’s parents ALL THE TIME! And I was mad at her best friend Rebecca AND at the whole school. Heck make it the whole town! I could not really believe a whole town and school would behave like that!

It’s also established that villain can wear bright and charming colors manipulating everyone.

Some wisdom came forth: behave like you want peope to see and treat you. If you behave like a brat you’ll be treated like one.

To make it short: anger was festering through my soul throughout my read. I was in the same emotional state these people were. Just not mad at Chase but at them!

That’s why I ended giving this book a 2,5 stars derived from my utter frustrated frame of mind.

Young Adult

Chosen by Kiersten White

I loved Slayer and drooled on everyone’s feed who had landed an ARC of Chosen but … here I was lost. The characters are all confused and doubting all the time.⁠

I can usually appreciate characters asking universal questions and wanting to be better. But here I wanted them to …I don’t know. Evolve? Get over it? I can’t pinpoint exactly why this did not work for me here.⁠ It ended up by confusing me and just wanting that something would be more simple! I hater Artemis, I loathed Honora and one character that I so liked in the previous book just had lost his shine and appeal.

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

First, I want to say that I love the Raven Boys series and that Call Down the Hawk was pre-ordered the moment I heard of its publishing date.

To say the expectations were high is a euphemism.

BUT

Sadly, it took me 85 % to finally:

– get to care for the new characters;

-understand this new plot scheme and rules;

-stop missing the Ladies at 300 Fox Way, Gansey, Blue and even Adam (he only has two short cameos);

-stop mourning the absence of humor, banter and sarcasm.

Harsh? Probably but that was my personal reading experience.

War Storm by Victoria Aveyard

It was my most awaited book of 2018 but I ended up so disappointed because:

Cal.

Sorry but he was just a coward. Yes he fought battles alongside his soldiers. Yes he wanted to make daddy proud too. Yes he would have made a better king for the red bloods than another BUT he PROMISED Mare! And he turned her down. He did not dare going on another path less conventional. I am a big romantic and I WANTED Cal to choose Mare! Not ask her to be his piece on the side!

Maven
In a maybe sick way I got to love Maven in the other books. He was twisted but as a product of a mad queen. He had an intensity. He was obssessive. He was scheming and winning. He had a presence. He had charisma.
In Warstorm it’s like the flame is extinguished. He was a pale copy of his former self. A mockery.

Add to these points that I didn’t care for Iris or for the lenghty battle scenes.

Worse :

The ending.

I won’t give you any spoiler here just know that I was “All ado about nothing”! Please Mrs Aveyard tell me you made a mistake?

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir

I don’t know if anger, sadness, disappointment, anger, frustration or admiration must prevail. That was my conclusion when I finished that book as the characters I loved most deeply disappointed me!

Now Helene is my star, my favorite heroine and Laia and Elias have disappointed me deeply. I see them like children trying to play adults game but too immature and hotheaded to have a chance at winning! They reminded me of these hamsters running and running in their wheel but getting nowhere in their haste.

The Crown by Kiera Cass

because I had great expectations, especially after the author wrote a best selling series I loved very much, I’m feeling let down. It seems rehashed. She took the first excellent and new idea and exploited it in a slightly different way but without really developping its full potential.

Now do we share some of these books? What are the ones that disappointed you?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie