The WORST Books of the Year!
Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!
Today we're going a little negative, because I'm sick and miserable and don't feel like gushing at the moment. Nothing says Christmas like getting the flu, am I right? Actually, I have COVID, so that's just the cherry on top, really. I feel awful.
Anyway, today I'm going to go over the worst books I read this year: the objectively bad, the DNF's, the major disappointments. Thankfully I don't have a lot so that's why I decided to lump them all in together. If you read my last post, you'll have seen that I DNF'd twelve books this year. Some were pretty far into the book, some were just after one chapter, but you'll see them all here. As far as star-rating goes, this year I had five 1-star books, two 1 1/2-star books, and six 2-star books.
I'll start out with the DNF's, and then I'll give you my top 10 worst books of the year, starting with number 10 and working my way up to the absolute worst.
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DNF's
Novice Dragoneer by E.E. Knight
I DNF'd this book around a quarter of the way in. It was incredibly sexist and it didn't even pass the Bechdel test. A 2019 release, not passing the Bechdel test? That's just unacceptable in my opinion.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Oh man, I tried so hard to finish this. It was a buddy-read and everything! But as it was written ages ago, and in Latin no less, the writing style made me feel so dumb. I didn't understand a single thing that was going on. I DNF'd this at 37%.
Descendent of the Crane by Joan He
Honestly I don't remember a single thing about this book. I have no review or comments on Goodreads to help me, either. I'm sure this was just a case of me not vibing with the writing style.
If You Keep a Record of Sins by Andrea Bajani
Another book I DNF'd a quarter of the way through, which by then if I'm not enjoying the story I tend to put it down. The narrator was flat and emotionless, and I felt zero attachment to him, let alone the rest of the characters.
The Archive of the Forgotten by A.J. Hackwith
This is probably my most disappointing DNF. I stopped reading this at 77%. Over three-quarters of the way through! It got to the point where I was physically dreading picking this book back up to read it. I loved the first book of this series so much, but I feel like the author's writing just deteriorated between the two books and we got this hot mess of a sequel. I was very upset.
Space 2069 After Apollo: Back to the Moon, to Mars, and Beyond by David Whitehouse
I DNF'd this book about half-way through. This had to have been one of the driest books I've ever read. There was no nuance, no narrative, it was simply facts. Even a school textbook has more flavor than this did.
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
A Collection of Essays by George Orwell
One of the fastest DNF's of the year at 8%. Again, this was my fault. I don't read essay collections, and George Orwell was never my favorite author. I think I just got influenced by Ariel Bissett (Orwell is her favorite author) when I should've had a thicker skin.
The Portrait of a Mirror by A. Natasha Joukovsky
Ha, fuck this book. If I had finished this book out, no doubt it would be the worst book of the year for me. However, I'm actually kind to myself, and I kicked this so far out of my kindle. I realize that one of the tropes for dark academia is pretentious writing, but this went above and beyond. The author seemed to be trying way too hard to appear smart and well-read, but all she achieved was looking like a smart-alec who argues for the sake of hearing herself talk. It was just terrible. I DNF'd this book at 37%.
Watership Down by Richard Adams
This book is kind of the opposite as the last one. I really loved the writing, and the story, but I had gotten over half-way through and so much had happened, I couldn't imagine what else these poor rabbits could be put through. And this is a 600 page book, too! My heart couldn't take it anymore.
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
This was a weird one. I only got a few chapters into it, but the writing style was so weird. As I'm still pretty new to horror this seemed a bit advanced for me to read. Maybe I'll try it again a few years from now? Who knows.
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
The Worst Books of 2021 (According to Me)
10. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun by J.R.R. Tolkien
I never would have expected a Tolkien book to be on my worst of the year list, but here we are. This isn't an original story by him, however, and I think that's the difference. Sigurd and Gudrun is an ancient Celtic epic poem, that Tolkien translated into Old English, which still wasn't great. I felt very lost while reading and would've been completely gone if not for Christopher Tolkien's commentary at the end of each section. It felt like something I should've read in a literature class, but it missed the mark for a pleasure read.
9. Don't Tell a Soul by Kirstin Miller
This was disappointing to me. It was advertised as a ghost story akin to the classic Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, and it definitely did have a sort of vibe that is similar to it, but it didn't live up to my expectations. There were so many plot twists, one after another, that it just got kind of old. The main character felt really dumb to me, even though all the other characters praised her for her good instincts. And it wasn't actually a ghost story. No thank you!
8. To Hold Up the Sky by Cixin Liu
This was another case where it just isn't my thing. I don't like speculative sci-fi very much, and that's exactly what this short story collection is. I thought three of the ten stories were okay, but I didn't like the rest. I even DNF'd two of them because they were so far out of my comfort zone.
7. Fireborne by Rosaria Munda
Another really disappointing read. This was probably one of the most hyped up books of last year, and the sequel got even more hype this year, but I didn't care for this story at all. It was a dual-POV story and I couldn't care less about the female POV. She wasn't compelling in the slightest. I was little more interested in the male POV, but not enough to keep me going. I almost DNF'd this book multiple times, but I have no plans to continue reading this series.
6. Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
This is honestly a story that didn't need to be published. It does literally nothing. I understand of course that a book doesn't need a profound message to be published, but I feel like the only reason this actually came out is because it's attached to Rainbow Rowell's name. It's truly pointless. The characters were super flat and one-dimensional, and there was zero substance in the plot. The colors were pretty.
5. The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen
This novella is supposedly one of the most horrific and grotesque horror stories ever published, and I was bored to death by it. It's only 96 pages but I truly felt like I was slogging through it. I was expecting to be disgusted and freaked and have nightmares after reading it, but all I felt was vague disappointment. Definitely a product of its time (it was published in 1890).
4. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Ah, I'm beginning to think that I'm not a fan of classic (as in, by-the-book) horror, because I didn't find this scary, only gross. I like horror that leaves you questioning what is really happening and scares you to the point of sleeping with the lights on, and this book just wasn't that. It also didn't help that I knew who the bad guy was, and what he was, because it made all the supposedly suspenseful scenes boring. I'll definitely be trying other Grady Hendrix books, but this did not do anything for me.
3. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I really had bad luck with classics this year. This was another book club buddy read, and I hated it. Like, truly despised it. The only character I was vaguely invested in was Anna herself, but then once she got married and had her baby girl she became a plot device for Vronsky, and her character just deteriorated. I know it was supposed to represent her depression, but it made it impossible to root for her. Also, I couldn't stand Levin, and he had huge chunks of the book dedicated to him, which made any sort of enjoyment for me impossible.
2. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
This has to be one of the most disturbing books I have ever read in my life. There are so many trigger warnings for this book (I have them all listed on my Goodreads review here) but even past all of that, this book makes no sense. I really enjoyed Convenience Store Woman by the same author, so I was super excited to read this book, but now I don't know if I'll be picking up any more by her.
1. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh
And we've come to the worst book I read this year. I truly think I read a different book than everyone else, because I have only seen rave reviews for My Year of Rest and Relaxation. I suppose that it is a fairly accurate depiction of depression, but I thought that it was objectively bad. The writing was terrible and the main character was so ridiculous in her unlikability, that I just had the worst time reading this book. I read this pretty early on in the year so I don't remember much about it, but even thinking about it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
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Well, there you have it! The worst books I read in 2021. Is there any overlap between your worst books and mine? Let me know in the comments or tweet at me @AllyEmReads. My next post will be the best books I read this year, so look forward to that!
Until next time!
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