There are not many books out there that disappoint me. I like to put a lot of faith into mostly everything that I read and they usually turn out pretty great. But if there was one book that I had very high expectations for and it disappointed me, it would be An Abundance of Katherine’s by John Green.
Synopsis:Ā Katherine V thought boys were gross
Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.Ā On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun–but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.Ā Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.
Now the reason why I may have been disappointed is the fact that I read other John Green books and absolutely loved them. I like how he writes and brings out emotions I didn’t know I could feel. But this book just didn’t do it for me. There wasn’t enough of an exciting storyline or really any plot twists to keep me into it. There was too much put on chapter development for the main character and not enough time spent on the actual storyline. I finished it because once I start a book, I get kind of OCD where I have to finish it.
By all means, read John Green’s other books because I only have good things to say about them but if you do feel like skipping one of his books, this would be the one.
Let me know what book let you down in the comments! Lets chat bookworms š
For me without a doubt it was Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I didn’t even finish the book. It was not what I expected at all and with all the hype surrounding it I was quite disappointed. I guess it just wasn’t what I expected.
I haven’t read that one but yea I figured as much about the hype for that book. It seemed like it was getting a lot of attention but didn’t really interest me. The movie was cool with visuals but other than that, I found it boring.
Dorothy must die and I tried 3 more times to read it but could never get into it, still never finished it
That one looked interesting but I never even read an excerpt or anything, that is just based off the cover.
The 2nd book in the Odd Thomas series, Forever Odd. After the first good book this one was formulaic, had the cliche horror tropes without the actual horror part, the villains were 1 dimensional, and Odd Thomas still kept saying all the things he said in the original book except this time it also sounded formulaic;he kept repeating that he’s a simple guy, of how much he’s in love with the person he’s destined to be with forever, the same story about their fortune card is repeated several times. If you keep telling people you’re a simple guy and nothing special then you’re actually sending the opposite message.
There’s also no ambiguity in the characters. They’re either over-the-top evil or way too good. Most of Koontz’s novels are like that. Once in a while he writes something pretty good, but you get the distinct feeling many of them are just churned out in a short period of time to honour his contract and help pay the bills.
The one that’s actually still disappointing me is Because You Love To Hate Me. I think it’s the first anthology I’ve been reading this year and I can’t seem to get through it. I read about five of the thirteen stories and really liked only one? I keep putting it aside to try and read something else whenever I finish one of the short stories. :’)
The fact that people can’t seem to say a good word about it isn’t helping either, haha. I’m hellbent on finishing it though!
I’m the same way, once I start a book I have to finish or else I felt like I never gave it a full chance.
True. But I’m having a hard time with finishing in one go because it’s all separate stories. So after finishing one, the urge to pick up another book is.. too huge.. :’)
The Most disappointing read for me was A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It had so many raving reviews but I honestly felt it was incredibly insulting fo people who have disabilities or were physically abused. After a while the things that happened to one character were just so unrealistic that it almost ridiculed what he went through. I’m still struggling ti review that book without being disrespectful.
I have never heard of this book but it sounds kind of sad… I wouldn’t like any book that is insulting to people with disabilities. I was a special olympics swim team coach in high school and these people are near and dear to my heart. The amount of love that they express towards others is astonishing.
The main problem was just that so many things happened to the main character that it felt incredibly unrealistic. It felt like it ridiculed disabilities and mental health by simply overdoing it. The characters in the book were all very sympathetic towards him but it was just too much at one point…It was such an exhausting read because the main character would never really get a break from all the shit things that happened in his life. The majority of the people who have read asolutely adore it however…maybe it’s just me though.
Hmmm sounds like one I should check out to see if our opinions line up š
That would be great, but I’m gonna warn you this book is a brick. Both physically (it’s over 700 pages) as well as mentally ( I cried multiple times). If you are going to read it…don’t read it on the subway…it only leads to strange looks from the people if you do start crying š
JESUS that is a big book! I might not get to it right away because I have a huge TBR pile as is. I have read books on a plane and full on burst out laughing at funny parts in a book to look up and see weird glances from everyone. Trust me I get the feeling š
Oh yeah. Funny books are my doom…especially if I listen to an audiobook and the narrator is hilarious…you got any recs for funny books? I need an uplifting read after A Little Life.
Well Eleanor and Park jumps to mind, it is equally cute and funny. I’m reading Turtles all the Way Down by John Green right now and it is pretty funny, but I am only about a third of the way through so it could change.
I won’t read Turtles until NaNoWriMo is over cause I want to take my time with it. But I think I’ll start Eleanor and Park tonight…:)
Good Idea, it’s a very easy read. You might cry but not a lot and they will be tears of happiness (hopefully). What is NaNoWriMo? I have seen it everywhere but don’t know what it is.
It’s short for National Novel Writing Month. You basically forsake your social life and try to write a novel (50000 words) in one month.
Oh wow, that’s very intense. I never really tried writing, maybe I will next year lol.
Me neither, but it’s a lot of fun (and work). Still don’t know where my book is gonna take me though. š
I would look forward to reading it once you are done š if you wanted someone to read it.
That would be awesome! (That is…if I actually manage to finish it) š
Haha alright well best of luck with writing š