Hello everyone!
I don’t generally like talking about books I don’t like because I feel like I’m discouraging people from reading them. But you have to know that reading is subjective, so what you might like I might not and vice versa. So if you see a book you’re excited to read in this list, give it a try anyway, you might be missing on a great adventure because of someone else’s opinion.
Now that that is out of the way, this is the list books I was intrigued and even excited to read but that when I finished them I was like meh. It doesn’t mean I didn’t like them, I just didn’t have a great time as I expected. I’m not sure I’m making myself clear, but anyway, here are my most disappointing books of 2021. (You can find my disappointing books of 2020 here).
Oh, I almost forgot, I’ll link these books to its Goodreads page so you can read the synopsis for each one in case one of them interests you.
Will You Be Mine? by Rilzy Adams
This book sounded like something I was going to enjoy, maybe even love. Sadly it wasn’t. This is a friends to lovers romance with the fake dating trope. In my opinion the fake dating thing was put in the back seat and the story focused more on other things that were happening. Even though the characters had a great connection, I couldn’t believe in their love story. I was so sad when I didn’t get what I was expecting.
I know I might be the only one that feels this way about this book, but it didn’t meet my expectations. I didn’t even finish the book. This book was everywhere when it was released and everyone loved it and said that it was the best thing ever so I had this huge expectations that crumpled down. I think if this book had been released when I was a teenager, I would have loved the story because it feels like the type of book I used to read and love back then. Right now this is not for me and I was so sad that I couldn’t enjoy it like everyone else.
I love the story about Hades and Persephone, however this retelling was not what I was looking for. It felt to me like the story was as close as possible to the actual myth of these two Olympian Gods, which I liked, but I was bored for the majority of the book. Nothing really happened and the romance wasn’t that good in my opinion. However, I think it is a good book to start if someone wants to know about Hades and Persephone. Unfortunately this wasn’t what I was expecting.
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
I have read this book three or four times already, but for some reason this time when I reread it in preparation of the TV show, it wasn’t as good as I remembered it. I still enjoyed the story and I liked the characters, but something happened that I just couldn’t connect completely to the story, I even felt bored at one point, which I don’t thing was good.
I picked this book because I saw fanart of two characters and I was so intrigued. However the story was simply not for me. I had no expectations since I haven’t seen many people talk about this book, but somehow it disappointed me. I have no idea what it was since the story is interesting as well as the world building and characters. Like I just said, this book is not for me, which makes me sad because the fanart was so cool and the characters looked great.
Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren
I’ve read a few books by these authors but this one was not a fun one. This is a romance book but the romance felt unbelievable to me. The characters were so flat and I just couldn’t care and root for them. I was so disappointed because I love Christina Lauren and this book was like a punch to my love for them. I have no idea if that even makes sense. It was still easy to read.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
I had been wanting to read this book because there’s a TV show so I was so sure I was going to love it. Spoiler alert: I didn’t. I was enjoying it at first but then I started to get bored to the point in which I only cared about finishing the book. I’ve heard great things about the TV show so I thought the book was going to be even better, it wasn’t. Or at least to me.
Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey
I had great expectations for this one since it’s about two teenagers sabotaging the other’s bookstore. However, the fact that they are teenagers ruined the whole story for me. I know teenagers are immature and whatnot, but Madeline acted so much like a child, I couldn’t stand her. I think if the romance had happened between two adults around the age of twenty something, I might have enjoyed it. This is a book about books so I was expecting to love it, and when that didn’t happen, I was crushed.
I knew this book was going to be a cliché, I was even in the mood for it, but I have no idea what happened that I just couldn’t enjoy it. Another book that simply was not for me.
And that’s it. Once again, I don’t want to discourage people from reading these books if interested, I’m just sharing my opinion on them and trying to explain why they didn’t work for me. I also don’t mean to offend anyone by sharing my thoughts and opinions. Feel free to tell me in the comments which books you read in 2021 that didn’t meet your expectations.
Until the next post!
Happy reading 💙
My Bookish Court 
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