This is going to be my top five disappointments of the year. I'm not going to number this one like I did with my top books because this one is my top disappointments in general, not really much to it, which means the order doesn't show the biggest disappointment. I won't have a hate list because I really don't read a book that leaves me hating it and if I start reading a book and I just don't like it I'll just DNF the book and I'm very picky with what books I get and they are usually already on my radar.
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
This was a huge disappointment for me and even left me in a book slump! Evvie Drake was one of the books I got for my birthday and it was definitely expensive but I was so sure about it! The reviews were good, the first chapters were great, and I was really interested in the authors writing style, which she is an author I've never read before. So all of these should've equaled out to be an amazing book! Well, it didn't end that way. The first two-thirds of the book was amazing and I loved it. It was even a could not put down book! But then the stinking thing crashed and burned. One of the first things that threw me was the writing timeline. The chapters were so choppy so it pulled me out of the story because it was like every chapter was later and later in time, which wouldn't have been an issue but the way it was written it made it hard to follow. It sounds like I'm contradicting myself a little bit because I just said I loved her writing. I loved the writing once I got into it but every chapter really threw me a little bit and took me a hot second to get back into it. So I could tolerate it and even like the beginning a lot. But the end of the book just imploded, kind of the same reasons as Little Fires Everywhere the book just sort of fell into a rush and it was rough reading these rush plots. Just slow down and give me more details instead of trying to include everything and rushing everything.
I ended up giving the book 2 out of 5 stars while the rest of the Goodreads community gave it 4 stars. So I think this one has the biggest gap in ratings out of everything on this list. Most of the people loved that it had a real-life feel to it, which I can see and agree with but the timeline is what threw me. There were a lot of people mentioning how it started dragging towards the middle which this could've been what happened to me but I just felt like it was too choppy. Another thing I saw a lot was that there wasn't much comedy which I can see that too but I didn't go into it thinking there would be a comedy I saw it more of rom-com or chick lit.
An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
This book, for me, left me feeling a lot like how Daisy Jones left me feeling. I absolutely loved The Wife Between Us, which was even my favorite book of the year. Guys I literally recommended this book like crazy last year to the point where my friends got it as Christmas presents! I'm seriously in love with that book! So this was one of the first buys of 2019 for me and I started reading it but it went downhill really fast for me. I never felt bored reading the Wife Between Us, and I was always on the edge of my seat. I don't normally read thrillers but the Wife Between Us has really left me wanting to branch out into thrillers a little more. I think the only big complaint with Anonymous Girl is that I just kept getting bored with it and could not get interested in the book which was awful since their first book was amazing! I've kind of decided that I will give their new book a try since they are coming out with a new book but I just don't know. I think if I have the same feelings that I had with Anonymous Girl then I might just think that Wife Between Us is was just a fluke that I enjoyed it so much. Or if I love it then I will think that Anonymous Girl was just a fluke and continue instabuying all of their books. I just don't know. I wanted to love Anonymous Girl so much but it just kept falling flat. I might have to try it as an audiobook but I really didn't enjoy the story that much to motivate me to do that.
Even though I had some tough thoughts about this book I ended up giving it a 4 out of 5 stars but looking back now I really think it should have 3 stars, not 4. On Goodreads, its average star is 4 out 5. I think a lot of the complaints in the comments for this book is the same that everyone had for The Wife Between Us, which was that it was okay but left them wanting more or they saw everything coming. I'm not typically a thriller reader so it was really good and I didn't see any of it coming. One of the things that I saw over on Booktube was that a lot of the thrillers were about a woman killing people and why or why the woman was mistreated, and so on. This was really true in the last couple of years most of the bigger, popular books have had a woman lead and they follow the same basic outline of her being the bad guy in the end.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
I've heard nothing but good things about Little Fires Everywhere and I just had to read it. But when I picked it up it became really tough. I listened to it as an audiobook and I loved the beginning, the middle was okay, but then the end of the book just ruined it for me. I think the book tried to fit everything into it that left it feeling rushed and it was rough to get through it. I think if the ending would change and make the book feel less rushed it would be a really good book. It has a TV show or movie coming out based on the book and I definitely want to watch it. I think it might be better than the book or maybe show me something that I apparently missed while reading the book. We'll see.
I ended up giving this one 3 out of 5 stars which the book wasn't bad. I enjoyed a lot of the book, I was just left wanting more from it. Not really more maybe more structure because I felt like the author wanted to have everything in this book instead of focusing on a few things and really explaining it. The Goodreads crowd gave it 4 stars and it was even one of the 2017 books of the year for Goodreads. Most of the comments state that the book was slow. I didn't think it was slow, I just think there was a lot of stuff in it. I might need to read another book by her to see how I truly feel about her writing.
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy Jones was a huge disappointment for me, and I think it was mostly because of The Seven Husbands Evelyn Hugo. Evelyn Hugo introduced me to Taylor Jenkins Reid last year and I devoured it! It was nice reading Evelyn Hugo before it got really big and hyped up in the book world. Evelyn Hugo was so dynamic and gripping that I couldn't put it down! So when Book of the Month was offering Daisy Jones this year I had to get! The first thing I should mention is I usually love when books are written with an article like scenes thrown in and even with some interview scenes. The writing of Daisy Jones is basically in an interview setting and I did not mind it. That wasn't my complaint with this book. I just feel like Evelyn Hugo was so huge and interesting and then we fall into Daisy Jones where it tried to be as big as Evelyn Hugo but left me disappointed. The book was just missing some of the things that really captivated me in it. This is definitely one of the books that I don't mind the story but I wasn't pulled into the story so I didn't hate the book. I was just left wanting more from it. I did really love how it end when we found out who is interviewing the band! I think after the band scenes were my favorite part of the book which is awful since that is literally the end of the book. I definitely recommend this book as an audiobook because it is done in a full cast so every character has their own narrative and let me tell you that made this book so much better for me! So I really didn't hate this book I was just left disappointed which leaves this book as a prime example of what this list is all about. I don't know how this book beat out books like Beyond the Point and Things to Save in a Fire for the Book of the Month book of the year!
This book ended up getting 3 stars by me and the Goodreads gave it 4 stars. There were also a bunch of awards for this book, which has shocked me a little bit because I don't think it was the best book of the year. It's won Goodreads award along with being Book of the Month book. I just wish there were little more things that we got in Evelyn Hugo in this book. It seems like a lot of people in the comments mention how the book was boring or emotionless which I can totally see both of these things since it is written in an interview style. It really seems like you either loved it or hated it, there was no real middle for this book.
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
When Dimple Met Rishi had so much potential. I even liked a lot of it but the biggest thing for me here is that the book itself kind of forgot its own lot a lot. The book is sold as a girl who convinces her parents to let her go to this summer program where they develop apps. Her goal is to make the best app concept at this summer program and meet her idol. She even actively talks about how she will never let a boy get in the way of her and her goal. But her parents are pushing for her to get married through an arranged marriage instead of focusing on school so much which pushes her to stay away from guys even more. Well her parents sort of set Dimple up by having Rishi attend the same summer program. Rishi goes to this program with the intent of meeting Dimple and finding himself a wife. So Rishi knew everything except that Dimple doesn't know anything about him. Which this love story could have been good if it was splayed out a little more instead you have a little tension then boom she suddenly loves him more than anything and totally forgets about her web design that she was supposed to spend her summer doing. Then all of a sudden everything is okay because Dimple sort of comes out good. I just don't get it. This book was just too much and it made it be a rough read because I wanted it to be good but instead, I get this hot mess of instalove.
I ended up giving the book a 2 out of 5 stars which were under the Goodreads rating, but only by one star. It seems like most people in the ratings had the same issues, instalove, she completely left her app behind, and it was just really rushed overall.
1
No comments:
Post a Comment