I've noticed a definite trend, three of my five least-favourite books of the year involve vampires, and a fourth one is fantasy. So remind me to stay away from the paranormal in 2011- there are plenty of people who love it, but I'm not one of them.
5. Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block (
Review)
Francesca Lia Block is an author who's every book I'd check out from the library in highschool, so when I was rediscovering YA I wanted to catch up on those I'd missed, which included the vampire story
Pretty Dead. Although the book contains some lovely vivid description that Block is known for, as well as a gorgeous cover, overall
Pretty Dead is an unoriginal book in a genre that really needs a rest.
4. Prom Nights From Hell by Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, Stephanie Meyer and Lauren Myracle (
Review)
I absolutely love short stories, and I really enjoy YA, but I hadn't really combined those two loves before I read
Prom Nights From Hell. Now I realize there's probably a reason for that, as the majority of the stories in this book were very poorly developed and incomplete. They mostly seemed more like novel excerpts than actual short stories, which is great if you love the authors who are included but since I'd only read one of their novels before (Meyer) and I didn't actually enjoy them, my experience with the book varied from okay to extremely bad.
3. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer (
Review)
I almost didn't add
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner because it was 100% my fault for picking it up even though I didn't enjoy the
Twilight Series. Well suffice it to say I didn't enjoy this book either, and although Bree is a slightly stronger main character than Bella she still manages to fall in love to the point that she's willing to risk her life for a guy she's known about ten minutes. On the bright side, well, some of the profit from this book went to charity- although I'd certainly recommend donating directly, you'd probably get a nice calender that's less annoying than this book.
2. Serendipity Market by Penny Blubaugh (
Review)
I was hoping for the charm and magic of some of Francesca Lia Block's better works when I picked up
Serendipity Market, but what I found instead was a dozen lacklustre fairytale retellings with an unclear connection. This was definitely a case of the beautiful cover being more aesthetically enjoyable than reading the contents of the novel, so I think it would make function better as paperweight.
1. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (
Review)
Unfortunately I actually found
The Boy In The Striped Pajamas insulting to the young readers at which it was aimed that often made a joke out of extremely serious historical matters and seemed poorly researched overall. It made my list as the number one book I wish I hadn't read because not only did I not enjoy it, but I was actually offended by it which rarely happens to me even with bad literature.
Do you agree or disagree with any of the books that made my list? What YA books do you wish you hadn't read this year?
loved this post zoe! i saw the movie the boy in the striped pajamas. it was so powerful. i hope you get to watch it and to erase what this book did to the story. it really is a wonderful story.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the 'Short Second Life of Bree.... yada yada yada'
ReplyDeletebecause I know how its going to end and I'm just not motivated enough to read a book about a girl who I know is gonna kick it (again) at the end.
Some books I wish I'd never read:
The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
Complete waste of my time. Complete disappointment.
Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
So strange...so very, very strange.
Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
Not his best work.
Flint by Paul Eddy
This was a good storyline, but some of it was just to crass for my taste.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Alot of people have loved this book, but for me it was just to much (I would never even pick up Boy In The Striped PJ's by the way). I couldn't finish it.
I'm sure there are so much more, but those are at the forefront of my mind. :)
I love this idea! With so many best of, it's nice to see a few not to add to my TBR list. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYeah... I'd agree with these. LOL! I'm sad you don't want to read paranormal.. I've read some really great ones that I really enjoy after multiple readings. Particularly Maggie Stiefvater's books (ok- so Ballad wasn't awesome. But I still liked it), and Becca Fitzpatrick. Her books had me confused a lot because it was mystery/paranormal and the ending both blew me away because I wasn't expecting them.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it nice when you can identify a trend and thus avoid similar books in the future? I've not read any of these, but I have to say I love the cover of Pretty Dead. I'm not a big vampire person, so there's not much risk in me picking one of these up.
ReplyDeleteThe only one I've read is The Short Second Life ... and I agree, it was .. well, not good. I'm surprised at The Boy in the Striped Pajamas being on this list; I believe that is one that has been on my to-buy list for a while now.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I don't read much YA, but the two that make my list are Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon (a bunch of neurotics - even the 10-year-old was dislikeable), and Forget You by Jennifer Echols (maybe I should just stay away from YA written by anyone with the first name Jennifer) :)
ReplyDelete