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*Spoilers Ahead*
Sometimes books just miss the mark. As much as you want to like a book. As incredibly popular as it may be, because everyone, and I mean everyone, is buzzing about it, you just don’t vibe with it. But you stick it out and finish it so you can say, “Unpopular Opinion! I read it, and I didn’t like it.”
And these books that become mainstream popular typically have one thing in common… They’re going to be movies. And honestly, in a lot of these cases, I totally think the movie is better than the book. In my very ~amateur~ opinion, so please don’t hate me, if this is the case, then the book wasn’t that great to begin with. Also, I read most of these books 10+ years ago, and I still remember I hate them. So while I can’t recall all the details, in my heart of hearts, these books just irked me and that stuck with me.
Even though these books missed the mark for me, one of these books might still work for you! I’ve still included affiliate links for books and the movie/show adaptions. However, these books are not available in my Shop.
Here are the 5 books that were a no for me…
Title: Mockingjay – Book 3
Series: Hunger Games Trilogy
Author: Suzanne Collins
Release Date: August 24, 2010
Pages: 289
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I think a lot of people feel this way… Basically Katniss did a complete 180 to her previous character. She faced a lot of trauma, and she sadly lost all her fight. It was incredibly disappointing and kind of disrespectful to see our heroine that was formerly so strong become so broken without much healing happening. Also, Gale having a large part in the rebellion and strategy. Ugh. No. You are irrelevant.
For this book, it’s the last in the series. Finish it. Be done. You got this.
p.s. this book is a ~classic~ 2 part finale movie so they could make more $$$.
Official Blurb:
The greatly anticipated final book in the New York Times bestselling Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss Everdeen. The final book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins will have hearts racing, pages turning, and everyone talking about one of the biggest and most talked-about books and authors in recent publishing history!
Title: The Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold
Release Date: August 7, 2002
Pages: 352
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I mean this book is just fucked up, weird, creepy, and also tragic. I don’t even know where to start. Susie is raped and murdered by her neighbor, George Harvey. He builds DOLL HOUSES for a living.
That’s a red flag for me; I’m sorry. He’s not a dad making his daughter a doll house, or a sweet old man that owns a mom and pop woodshop in town. He is just not. And the police don’t even consider him sus?! Maybe I watch too much Lifetime…
So Susie basically has to chill as a ghost from Heaven, because she needs to know what’s going on with her past life, and someone needs to figure out the truth of her death. It’s incredibly disturbing when she inhabits Ruth’s body to have sex with a boy from school that had a crush on her. Like what?! No. That’s very uncool to just use Ruth’s body like that. The only redeeming part of this book is the very end when freaking despicable Harvey gets hit with an icicle and falls to his death. God is good. Amen.
Official Blurb:
When we first meet 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. This was before milk carton photos and public service announcements, she tells us; back in 1973, when Susie mysteriously disappeared, people still believed these things didn’t happen. In the sweet, untroubled voice of a precocious teenage girl, Susie relates the awful events of her death and her own adjustment to the strange new place she finds herself. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. With love, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie watches her family as they cope with their grief, her father embarks on a search for the killer, her sister undertakes a feat of amazing daring, her little brother builds a fort in her honor and begin the difficult process of healing. In the hands of a brilliant novelist, this story of seemingly unbearable tragedy is transformed into a suspenseful and touching story about family, memory, love, heaven, and living.
Title: My Sister’s Keeper
Author: Jodi Picoult
Release Date: April 6, 2004
Pages: 423
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If you haven’t read this book, or seen the movie, you might live under a rock. The book and movie actually have different endings, and I think I prefer the movie honestly. Anna was born to be a savior sister for her sister, Kate, who has leukemia. Her parents really only care about helping Kate get better, and it’s incredibly sad to see how Anna and her brother are ignored or used (in Anna’s case).
Basically, Anna’s parents want her to give one of her kidneys to Kate, whose kidney is failing. Anna starts a court case to fight against this and have the right to choose what is done to her own body. I mean, this makes sense! A lot of things come to light in the court case and during the court case, and it helps shape the narrative of the book.
The ending. I couldn’t stand it. This is why I hate the book. Anna wins the court case, and then becomes brain dead from a freak car crash leaving the courthouse. This is AFTER basically saying she still wants to give her sister the kidney, since the case wasn’t her idea to begin with. She loves her sister. So Kate gets the kidney and lives. And her parents are sad. Good. Sorry.
What pisses me off is not that Anna died. It’s a good twist. Her parents would do anything to save Kate, but still end up losing a child. It’s sad. It’s devastating. I absolutely agree. But I feel like doing it this way, we lost the moment where Anna gets to truly decide to donate the kidney to her sister. I think she deserved that moment after everything. There could have been a complication in surgery and result in a similar ending, but with Anna getting the moment she deserved.
Official Blurb:
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate—a life and a role that she has never challenged… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister—and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
A provocative novel that raises some important ethical issues, My Sister’s Keeper is the story of one family’s struggle for survival at all human costs and a stunning parable for all time.
Title: City of Bones
Series: The Mortal Instruments
Author: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: April 2, 2009
Pages: 529
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How I feel about City of Bones? Skip the book. Skip the movie. Go watch Shadowhunters – this show is fire.
I think this book has a good concept, but I remember it taking me forever to get through. Then at the end, a bomb is dropped that our love interest couple might be siblings. Like hey, what the actual heck? Why? Ew. As someone who loves romance, that immediately killed my vibe. The show is much better at hinting this is a lie, but Book 1 of this series drops it like an absolute truth.
Official Blurb:
When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing — not even a smear of blood — to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…
Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare’s ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.
Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Pages: 419
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This book was hard for me to get into. It was an incredibly slow read for me. They’re unhappy people, chasing perfection that’ll never come. He sucks; she’s super messed up and manipulative. Idk. I wasn’t interested. Save yourself many hours and watch the movie if you care to know the story.
Official Blurb:
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?
Let me know if you’ve read these books and what you thought – in the comments or over on Instagram! If you liked this book list, I’d love for you to share this post!
