Hi, I'm looking for books that have good reviews or straight up have no possessionj quality. I want to read or skim through these books in order to improve myself. Could anyone recommend me a book like that and tell me what people thought was wrong with it. For example, name the book and then tell why people disliked it: plot slow/fast paced, too much/little description, pretentious/weak vocabulary, wording, too "lyricy," bad characterization, stereotypical events, confusion in plot, confusion in history/culture, and all of that sort. So far I've found one book with many one-star ratings by Dylan Soccacio. "The Girl With the Solar Eyes." Thank you in advance!
The Eye of Argon is one of the most famously bad fantasy short stories ever written for many many reason. I don't want to ruin the surprise however.
There's a terrible one in my signature Characterization is spotty, spelling and punctuation would give a grammar-nazi an aneurysm, no ones ever really sure who the narrator is at any point in time or what the setting is.
For me, The letting by Catherine Goldstein. I could NOT stand that book. The writing was very scattered, the plot moved too quickly and a lot of details were missed. The characters were underdeveloped and lacked a bond to the reader, meaning I did not care what happened to them honestly. They also stole away from the plot, which actually was interesting, to focus on a love story, a ridiculous one at that. The main characters sworn enemy that has hated her his whole love falls for her in ONE day. Seriously, I do not normally write reviews but this book I had to, it was so bad. You can more about the book on Goodreads.
For me, The letting by Catherine Goldstein. I could NOT stand that book. The writing was very scattered, the plot moved too quickly and a lot of details were missed. The characters were underdeveloped and lacked a bond to the reader, meaning I did not care what happened to them honestly. They also stole away from the plot, which actually was interesting, to focus on a love story, a ridiculous one at that. The main characters sworn enemy that has hated her his whole love falls for her in ONE day. Seriously, I do not normally write reviews but this book I had to, it was so bad. You can more about the book on Goodreads.
Twilight, because Bella is a vapid and cardboard-like person who has no identity until she meets Edward, and their relationship glorifies behavior that's creepy and controlling and sends dangerous messages to little girls. If my daughter read Twilight, I would never try to forbid it because I don't believe in censoring books, but I'd have a talk with her about why I disagree with the relationships that it promotes. Cassandra Claire's books about the demon-hunters (sorry, I can't remember the title of the series right now), because it's super clear reading the story that nothing is original. The characters all are photocopies of the characters from Harry Potter, with the plot of Star Wars and a couple of other things mixed in. Literally, the girl's male friend turns out to be her brother, and they have the same father who has turned in to a dark lord and is the main villain...I mean come on.
I could mention a really awful one I beta-read a year or so ago, but that probably wouldn't be kosher. From the Amazon "Look Inside" I could tell the author put a little more work into it after it left my hands, but I'm not spending the 99c to see how much. EDIT: Though now that I think about it, that book was more historical romance than fantasy or adventure. But the plot line was so unrealistic it may as well have been contrived by elves and mages. All problems resolved, presto! as if by magic!
I'm going to have to second Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments for just about the same reasons. I never really understood why it had such a large fanbase. It's been a long time since I've read the books (I pushed through to book 3 or 4 because I always try to finish reading a series if I start, couldn't with this one). Clary, the main character, is pulled into the dark world of a mysterious golden haired, sparkling green eyed boy named Jace. More drama ensues when it is revealed that Simon, the best friend, butts heads with Jace because of his hidden feelings for Clary. And thus the teenage angsty YA love triangle ensues. I have no problem with love triangles (along with werewolves, vampires, elves, and such) as long as the author puts his/her unique spin on it. But I just didn't see that here. The initial concept I think was fine, but the execution not so much. I kept waiting for it to get better but it never did. I can't really pinpoint what I didn't like about the plot as I can barely remember the book, but I do remember there being a lot of false conflict that got on my nerves.
