So we all know not everything is always perfect: sports, food, relationships, movies and books. The past few weeks I've been posting some of my favorites and some of the books I'm really excited about, but this week I'm changing it up a bit. This week will be the list of the top 10 books I couldn't finish. Everyone has different things they're interested in and things that they just can't take. These are some books that didn't just do it for me.
Here is this week's Sunday Funday List in no particular order:
1. Witch Finder (Witch Finder #1) by Ruth Warburton
-I received Witch Finder as an ARC (advanced reader copy) from NetGalley and was really excited to read it, but sadly it wasn't what I expected (see my review here for more in depth details). The story line was very intriguing and the world seemed like one I could get lost in, but that wasn't the case. The world and the characters were very flat for me and the story line slowly disappeared into a love story. And not that interesting of a love story at that. I really dislike when a book devolves into a love story and the original premise is originally lost and nothing else is dealt with. The case of insta-love in this novel was enough to ruin it for me. I may give it a second chance after I'm caught up with other ARCs, now that I know what I'm getting into. We'll see if going in with a different mindset will help.
2. The Dark and Hollow Places (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #3) by Carrie Ryan
-So I LOVED the first book in this series, The Forest of Hands and Teeth (there's my review), and I couldn't wait to read the second and third. The second was, meh for me, but the third just did me in. They didn't have to oomph that the first one did. It was gritty and dark and completely different than regular zombie and dystopian stories are today. The main character, Mary, was intriguing and her descent into madness was really intriguing, but terrifying. So I thought I'd get that out of the next two, not so much. There were some interesting plot twists and connections made to the first novel, but that's about it. The third I had an especially hard time with because I didn't feel like it fit in the world of the first two novels. There was also a hardcore case of insta-love. The second two novels were rated higher than the first (at least on Goodreads), but I think that shows that they were more mass-market relatable. They were just like everything else on the shelves. I had to put The Dark and Hollow Places down because it wasn't what I was looking for and I felt it didn't really go with the story anymore. For me it turned into a generic book that would get washed away in the onslaught of YA dystopians today.
3. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
-So I think I'll be giving this one a second chance as I really wanted to like it and I was told that it gets better after the part that I read up to. But these are my major issues I had with it: the main character. Okay, so I don't wanna see the perfect girl in every single novel, that's just not realistic. I want to see a character that we can relate to. This girl I thought would be that. But holy crap was she annoying. I couldn't stand her self pity and her inability to even try to help herself. I get that characters grow (which she apparently does), but I didn't even want to keep reading to see her get there. There were also some slow parts, things would get really interesting and I'd be really excited to keep going, but then the flow would just slow down...like way down. Molasses down. I hope I can post a better review when I reread it.
4. Paris to Die For by Maxine Kenneth
-I was excited for this: Jackie Onassis...I mean, Kennedy...er...Bouvier, Paris and a spy novel?! Awesome! Reality: not so awesome. Jackie in this novel is a snooty, self absorbed, "perfect" heiress. I couldn't take it. I couldn't see this character jetting off to Paris to go solve some mystery. And even once she got there it wasn't that interesting. The book just dragged for me. I got about 100 pages in and had to quit. Sorry, Jackie 0., that this character is supposed to represent you.
5. Venom (Secrets of the Eternal Rose #1) by Fiona Paul
-Oh boy. This book. What was the book even about? I don't know. There's a graveyard and a dead girl and some dresses and a really handsy boy. That's all I got. Nothing connected. The main character was really stupid and I couldn't take it. I put it down right away. Not much more I can say about it sadly. So yeah. There it is.
6. The Black Isle by Sandi Tan
-Thank you, book gods, for making me put this down at the bookstore and choose to check it out from the library instead. You saved me from wasting money on this. Okay, so The Black Isle sounds really intriguing. A little girl sees ghosts on and island inhabited by them and it takes place starting in the 1920's. So you've got interesting time periods, great settings and a creepy premise to work with. It starts off cool and creepy, I didn't want to turn my light off at night. But then it just got BIZARRE. I'm just gonna say two words and I'm sure they're enough to make you want to put it down: octopus sex. Yup, not kidding. Anyways...I felt like this book went off on an entirely different (and disturbing) tangent and I just didn't want to go with it. So I closed it. I don't even want the answers to the questions I had at the beginning. End of story. At least the writing was good, so...points for that.
7. Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell
-I love the TV show (who doesn't) so I was like "I want to read it!" I literally got a chapter, maybe two, in and quit. Ugh was I bored. The characters bored me, the story line, the writing did nothing for me. Just, no. Watch the show. If only the writers of the show wrote the book instead...
8. Glimmerglass by Jenna Black
-Faeires you say? I LOVE faeries! Give me that book! Uh...no. These faeries didn't intrigue me at all. And the main character? Stupid and annoying. And here comes the insta-love! Which happens with an arrogant jerk. What about all these poor, nice guys out there? You can only turn so many assholes into nice people. I don't care if he looks like Legolas in Lord of the Rings, DON'T DO IT. Anyways. Yeah, I had to put it down. I'm gonna stick with Karen Marie Moning for my fae fix.
9. We Hear the Dead by Dianne K. Salerni
-This book seemed really interesting, it's about how in the early 20th century spiritualism became HUGE. It's based off of a true story about these children that faked hearing the dead and caused a huge sensation. I would've much rather read a non-fiction novel about it (I love non-fiction, but I do enjoy reading historical facts in a fictional sense, as well). The story started off well, but then it just kept dragging. I had a hard time picking the novel up. It might have picked up, but I couldn't get through where I was at to give it a chance.
10. Torment (Fallen #2) by Lauren Kate
-Torment, that is literally what this novel was. I don't even know how I finished the first one now that I look at it. Like...wow. Luce, the main character, is an idiot. And in a horrible relationship. The premise of this novel is interesting, it has angels, reincarnation, etc. Sounds cool right? Not so much. Luce and Daniel have the most unhealthy relationship. They make Bella and Edward look like relationship gurus. All they do is fight and then Daniel leaves and Luce mopes around, is pretty much with other guys and then goes and almost dies so Daniel can save her and the cycle starts all over again. I kinda wanted to learn more about the reincarnation and angels and stuff, but I couldn't get over the characters. Maybe I can read a summary somewhere. If you want a good fallen angel story, check out Blythewood by Carol Goodman.
So those are 10 books that I just couldn't stomach. Any books you couldn't take? Or if you loved any of these on the list, should I give them a second chance? What drew you to them?
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