I have more disappointing reads in 2021 than any other year for one of two possible reasons; I’ve simply not been picking up good books like I have in previous years, or I have become more critical in my ratings. There are strong enough arguments for both but ultimately, I like to think it has everything to do with my evolution as a reader.
As I grow older, I have started to appreciate reading more for what it is; strictly entertainment. This is why in the past 2 years, I have gotten more comfortable dnf-ing books that I am not enjoying as opposed to a few years ago when I felt this compulsion to complete every book otherwise I wasn’t a “good reader”. I have also gotten comfortable in rating based on personal enjoyment above all else. Here are all my disappointing reads of 2021.
Two-Star Reads
I had many issues with this one, mostly because I expected so much. Of course, the bulk of the blame is entirely on me for the high expectations I placed on this book but when you hear raving reviews about unsolved murder and a dark academia 10-year college reunion, it’s hard not to get excited. I have an extensive Goodreads review on everything I didn’t enjoy about this book but long story short; the premise was good but the characters were one-dimensional and didn’t act their age, the twists weren’t twisty, and the dialogue was ridiculous. Very high up there on my list of most disappointing reads.
The Anne of Green Gables series has been on my to-be-read list for a long time and this year, I finally bit the bullet and was very surprised by how much I loved the first book. The second book however was very weak. I couldn’t stand the twins, mostly Davy. I still continued on with the series because I enjoyed the world and the characters but nothing really happened in Anne of Avonlea and I hated Davy too much to enjoy anything else.
I’m still unsure how I came across this book. It was a fast read but I was annoyed the entire time. The conflict was stupid, the side characters were one-dimensional and honestly kind of annoying. There were parts that I enjoyed but most of the time, I was just irritated with how unrealistic and rudimentary the dialogue was and how the characters were acting.
Vladimir is my favorite of all the characters in the Bromance Book Club series and so I was excited to read his book, (number 4 in the series). I liked the premise but I think after 4 books in, the author started to get too comfortable and began leaning too much into the implausible. The conflict was kind of rubbish. The ending was so ridiculous and out of place, I actually laughed out loud at the absurdity. It felt like a different book genre altogether. I’m disappointed that Vladimr’s story wasn’t done better but I also don’t care enough.
This is the third book in the Bromance Book Club series and I think it was halfway through this book that I realized I might be losing interest in the series altogether. This book didn’t need to exist. Alexis’ and Noah’s conflict was ridiculous and I didn’t believe them as best friends. Their arguments were the same thing over and over in different words. Also, Noah just didn’t seem like he fit into the boys’ group well enough for the book club intervention.
Boy, do I have thoughts. I really enjoyed the first book. As someone who has read a lot of YA fantasy, I’m not easily surprised but here I was. After being recommended this series every time I inhaled, I was glad that it was living up to the hype until it all went downhill. The second book was bearable at 3 stars but this book was an absolute pain, mainly because it could have been so much better. I wrote an extensive overworded Goodreads review because I simply could not contain my disappointment.
All I remember about this book is that I was not enjoying myself for many parts of it and that I hated the plot of them being flirty anonymous pen pals on top of being friends in real life on top of the whole Twitter feud. It was unnecessary and made an otherwise bearable book, a pain to read. I rolled my eyes more times than I can count but I still didn’t despise the book overall. And so it didn’t deserve one star but neither did it deserve three.
One-Star Reads
I hate this book. I hated every minute reading it and I hate that it exists. I think my strong abhorrence stems from the betrayal I feel by John Marrs. I loved his two books, The One and The Passengers, and had begun to name him a favorite author of mine until this 2020 release. I buddy-read this with a friend and we had an absolute field day ranting about how much we hated this book. The only thing positive to come from this book is the fun bonding experience we had. The writing is good (I mean, it’s still Marrs) but this is awful. Don’t pick it up even if you enjoy hate-reading.
I read this in 3 hours on a random Saturday morning while in bed. It’s an extremely short book and as much as I would like to say the length was a big reason it was lacking so much, I’m afraid it is much more than that. It started out pretty solid but didn’t stay so for long. The characters were ridiculous, the twist was surprising but unimaginative, the writing was basic and had literal typos. This did nothing for me but add to my word count for the year.
DNFs
This was the third book in a 4-book Mariana Zapata binge. This year, I discovered that there is a name for the type of romance that I love to consume most; slow-burn romance. Not long after, I discovered that Mariana Zapata is the reigning queen of slow-burn and so I fell down a rabbit hole beginning with rereading The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, the only Mariana Zapata book I had read. It was just as good as I remembered. Of all 4 books, Wait for It was the only one I simply could not get into because as much as I love children, I don’t enjoy reading about them in adult books.
After completing Anne of Green Gables and really enjoying it, I expected to like the rest of the series but after the disappointment of Anne of Avonlea, I began to worry. Until Anne of the Island (arguably my favorite of all the books) blew me away and I was hooked once again. However, Anne’s House of Dreams did not live up. I find that I didn’t care for reading about Anne as an adult and this was the indicator to stop my Anne journey. You could say my reading experience of Anne of Green Gables was a rollercoaster.
The Obelisk Gate is the second book in The Broken Earth Trilogy and while the first book, The Fifth Season, is one of the best books I’ve read this year, I just could not get past page 3 of this book. I really enjoy the writing style and I’m assuming that I just wasn’t in the right mind or mood to consume this book so I hope to try again in the future but for now, it remains in the dnf pile.
All-in-all, I have to say that despite the higher-than-usual number of reading disappointments this year, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t think I’ve ever read a lesser amount of YA fantasy in a calendar year. I grew so much as a reader and I read for myself first above all else. I didn’t worry about how much I read, what I was reading, looking like a “real reader”, or pleasing anybody but myself with my reading. I am proud of my disappointments as much as my favorites because it means I went outside of my comfort zone.
Thank you for reading!
What were your disappointments of 2021?
Haliyah 
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