As my family would say, I am one of the most stubborn people they know, and this translates into my reading habits. I HATE not finishing a book, but there are some where I just simply could not bring myself to finish. Apologies if you loved any of these books; I wish I could have, but I was unable to get myself to the end.
The first one that comes to mind, which is heartbreaking to me, is The Near Witch by V. E. Schwab. I was so excited to try one of her books, having seen her all over my feed, but I just could not get through it. It was such a superficial plot, and I could not get behind the main character. She really reminded me of the epidemic of ‘bad ass’ female characters that came after The Hunger Games; she’s just ‘different’ from the rest. I unfortunately also struggled with the plot, which lacked any sort of depth. It was a no from me.
Another disappointment for me was Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck. Set in Berlin in 1986, the novel follows a very toxic couple (red flag number one) with a huge age gap (red flag number two). I am not someone who needs a fluffy, happy-go-lucky romance in my books, but this relationship made me extremely uncomfortable. I also did not enjoy the writing style. I really like historical fiction, especially ones set in Germany and East Germany specifically, so I was bitterly disappointed with this one.
To round this off with possibly the worst book I have ever read, we have 3 Days Left to Live by James Patterson. Having found this book through one of those book blind dates, I originally had high hopes for this, as I love a good murder mystery/thriller. However, this collection of short stories has become somewhat of an inside joke in my family due to how poor the writing is. The main character is a 28-year-old retired CIA agent, and she is attempting to figure out who tried to kill her, but despite this tense-sounding storyline, it produced more laughter for me than any shivers up my spine.
Therefore, take this as your sign to read what makes you happy. If you are not enjoying a book, put it down and find something else. It is not worth putting yourself through misery to read a bad storyline!
Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash