Most Disappointing Reads of 2018

As fantastic as 2018 was for reading, it’s only natural that you’ll eventually run into a few that didn’t live up to what you were expecting. Either you were anticipating greatness and it didn’t hit the mark, or there was something about a book that you just couldn’t relate to. There weren’t too many of those in 2018 (thank goodness!) but there were still a few that I didn’t enjoy as much as I hoped I would. Here are my most disappointing reads of 2018:

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by Gregory Scott Katsoulis
This was one of the first few books I read in 2018 and I was SO excited about it! So much so that it ended up on my list of most anticipated in 2017. The premise still stands as one of the most interesting plots i’ve ever heard of. We have a world where all words spoken have been trademarked (along with body movements, products, and literally anything else that you can think of), and people are going into debt just speaking daily. A girl decides to stop speaking to “stick it to the man” basically and chaos ensues…. unfortunately the writing didn’t live up to the premise. The girls choice to stop speaking was almost an accident. There was no direction to her decision and it was almost as if she did it on accident and just followed through so she wouldn’t seem spineless. I really hoped that she would have some strength and direction but she was just blah. And the world building lacked so much that I ended up confused and had more questions than anything. I didn’t like this one AT ALL!

DOWN AMONG THE STICKS AND BONES by Seanan McGuire
Hear me out! I still liked this book!! But it was disappointing in comparison to the first and third book in this series. I loved book 1 and this one felt like it lacked the emotion and adventure that I liked so much in the first book. I also ended up not liking the two sisters in this book as much as I thought I would. They fell a little flat. Thankfully the third book brought things all back together and I loved it! This one though… not so much.

EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste Ng
This was one of the most hyped books of 2017 and I finally gave in and read it. And I can honestly say – I don’t get it. I really didn’t see what everyone loved so much about this book! I was bored out of my mind, I didn’t like any of the characters or their choices, and there wasn’t even a real mystery! Ugh, I guess I can see why some people would like this book but it WASN’T for me!

SHADOWSONG by S. Jae-Jones
I picked up the first book (Wintersong) after reading a few really amazing reviews. It ended up being one of my favourites of the year! I was so immersed in that book I couldn’t stop thinking about it! I was messing things up with work and daily life because it took over my brain. But this sequel seemed to lack literally everything that I loved about the first book! In book one I was obsessed with the romance and their relationship. It was a problem filled relationship, but still – the way it was written had me hooked. But this one didn’t really have the Goblin King in it and was missing that spark that I craved.

BURIAL RITES by Hannah Kent
This book was SO hyped for so long that my expectations were high. I went into it knowing nothing about it, but I still expected greatness. It ended up with me bored to tears, not feeling connected, and literally falling asleep while reading. Not that this was a bad book, it just wasn’t for me. It moved a little too slow for my tastes and it was void of emotion.

Those are the books that I was most disappointed it. They’re not bad books by any means, but I was quite obviously not the right audience for these. Some I actually liked, but for some reason they didn’t live up to what I hoped they would be. What books were you disappointed in last year?

Until next time, happy reading!