Top 5 Books That Didn’t Meet My Expectations

How many of you out there pick up a book expecting one thing, and then it turns out to be something else entirely? For me, this doesn’t happen a lot, but it happens enough. It happens either because I expected one thing after reading the synopsis or, for some stupid reason, I can’t stop making comparisons to something else i’ve read. Either way, here are 5 books that didn’t quite meet my expectations:

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme where I explore different topics. If you are interested in participating I would love to have you! Here is a list of my Upcoming topics in February – please remember to ping back a specific post of mine so I get a notification and I will add you to the participants list!

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Let’s start off with a more recent read – one that I actually DNF’d just last week. I went into this one expecting doors, travels, and adventure. It ended up being something else entirely. And, honestly, I was bored! My decision to DNF was based mainly on the writing style not clicking with me. I also feel partly responsible in comparing what I was going into with this to something like Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire. Either way, it just didn’t work.

Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Very similar to my reasons with the book above, this one was a struggle for the same reasons – writing style and comparison. From the way this book was explained in the synopsis, I went into it expecting dark magic and dark humour to be the main focus. In a way it was but not to the extent that I was hoping for I guess. When I put this one on the list I realized that I never even ended up writing a review for this book. All it would have said was “not what I expected”….

Finale by Stephanie Garber

This one I didn’t enjoy for different reasons that didn’t have much to do with me. This book felt so far removed from the first two books – and I know I’m not the only one that thought so! The first two books were based on a game. There was this suspension of reality that made you constantly second guess yourself and the book. I never knew what was real and what was a part of the game. The series conclusion left the game, magic, and mystery, and focused more on romance and relationships. It didn’t work for me at all.

Save The Date by Morgan Matson

Even though this book makes the list I actually really enjoyed this one! Even still, it wasn’t what I was expecting or hoping for though. I hoped that this would have more comedy and hijinks. The cover and synopsis lead me to believe that we were going to get a marriage story that was a series of unfortunate events. Things that went wrong and were so outlandish that they were hilarious. We did get that but not to the level I was hoping for. It ended up being a lot about family, relationships, grief, forgiveness, and moving on.

Wild Beauty by Anna Marie McLemore

This one makes the list due to hype more than anything. I went into this book with the highest of expectations. Everyone had been raving about how amazing her writing is and how impactful her stories are. It was ok, but still, not for me. I didn’t mesh with the writing style and I REALLY didn’t mesh with the magical realism – I rarely ever do. It’s just not my thing. It was an ok read and I can understand why her books are so beloved though!

TOP 5 TUESDAY PARTICIPANTS:

The Pine-Scented Chronicles ——— Bella ——— Flora’s Musings
My Year Of Reading Dangerously ——— Birdie Bookworm ——— Realms Of My Mind
The Secret Library ——— The Punk Theory ——— Rae’s Reads And Reviews
Sophril Reads ——— Stephanie’s Book Reviews ——— Rather Be In The Library
Eat Travel Read ——— Comfort Reads ——— Kristin Kraves Books
A Fictional Bookworm ——— Kyera’s Library ——— Synopses By Sarge
Books Are 42 ——— Evelyn Reads ——— Coffee, Crumbs & Books
Sarãb-e-Sukhan ——— Bookwitch Reviews ——— Zezee With Books
Hanna Reads ——— CJR The Brit ——— Beware Of The Reader
Strange Storyteller ——— Clemi’s Bookish World ——— Meeghan Reads

And there we have it – 5 books that I bashed all because I expected something different lol. None of these were awful by any means, they just weren’t what I was hoping for. What books have you read that didn’t meet your expectations?

Until next time, happy reading!