It’s been a good year but unfortunately, it’s coming to an end.
In honor of 2015 and upcoming 2016, I thought to share with you all my top 5 worst books read in 2015 (credit to a Goodreads status). I also decided to make headers for each book. (It’s funny that I spent so much time making headers for books I don’t even like. But who cares? They came out pretty good, in my opinion. I even color-coded them.)
Let’s get this party started.
Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins
Oh, gosh. Anna Elephant and Étienne McDreamy: they gave me a headache. Anna was the stereotypical ignorant American tourist with first world problems. Étienne was the ridiculously loving and dreamy British-French-American hunk. Together they were… a headache. Their indecisive and “complicated” romance was a headache. This whole book gave me a headache.
Definitely will not read the rest of the books in the series. Ever.
See a full review on Goodreads.
–
Inferno
by Dan Brown
I remember reading this, thinking it was going to be epic. Everyone made it seem as if it would be so. Was it epic? The art, the history, and Florence left me BREATHLESS. It was evident Dan Brown knew his information and could effortlessly describe. However, Brown lacks, overall, the ability to story-tell. The book felt rushed, a bit infantile, and could’ve been better in several ways.
Such a long book yet such an unsatisfying read.
–
Talon
by Julie Kagawa
You know when you read the synopsis and get super excited with the promise of kick-ass action, a strong female lead, and dragons? Unfortunately, the book delivered everything BUT what I expected.
The female lead was written to seem strong and badass, but in truth came off as weak and whiny. The action? HA. What action??????????? More like terribly developed romance and teenage hormones. And the dragons? Pft.
–
Paper Towns
by John Green
Look, I know what you’re going to say. “Sara, what is wrong with you?” Many things, my friend. But one of them is definitely not my dislike for this book. Gosh, the characters were bland, typical, and infuriating (ahem, Looking for Alaska, anyone?). The romance was your average John Green pooping unicorns and rainbows. The metaphors and “in-depth” poetic/romantic phrases were rushed and, in my opinion, not romantic.
–
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter
by Cassandra Rose Clarke
This book wasn’t sci-fi. It was a tragic love story; one I could not get on board with. It wasn’t the robot with feelings to human relationship that I was bothered by. No. I just simply did not see the chemistry, neither did I see the appeal in their romance. All I wanted was a mind-blowing science fiction plot. I didn’t understand what was so impacting about it. I thought it was a waste of time.
For future reference, don’t mention the word mad scientist in the title if we aren’t going to get some mad scientist action!
YOUR TURN!
Thoughts on my choices? What are YOUR top 5 worst reads of the year?
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About Sara
I’m Sara, a Colombian teenager with a never-ending enjoyment for reading. I’m a Netflix and Disney enthusiast and my monumental obsession is coffee.
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Wow, I’m glad I didn’t decide to buy Talon a few weeks ago. :P
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Yeah, it was horrible. :/
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I wasn’t a fan of Paper Towns, either. Margo just ticked me off the whole time I was reading the book. The other characters weren’t much better, either.
I haven’t read any of the others, but I know I will pick up Anna and the French Kiss, but I have always heard mixed reviews. Mostly either, you love it or you can’t stand it!
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UGH, MARGO! Don’t even get me started about Margo.
I recommend you do give ATFK a try, because you could end up liking it. I hope you enjoy it in the way I didn’t :)
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I read Anna and the French Kiss a few years back – I think if I had to reread it now, I’d find a lot of issues with it! Ditto with John Green – he seems rather formulaic, and the profound quote things that I once would have loved now serve to piss me off.
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John Green is definitely formulaic. Most of his books are a replica of each another.
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I read Anna and the French Kiss since everyone seemed to love it so much. But after reading the book it was clear that I won’t read the other Stephanie Perkins’ books. What a waste of my time it was :(
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I thought it was going to be amazing before I read it because everyone said it was… It turned out to be a waste of time :(
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This list :D :D :D <3
I agree with you on every single item on this list ;)
~Sarah
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Thanks, Sarah! :)
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I’m not a fan of John Green at all, so Paper Towns didn’t appeal to me… now I’m even more glad I didn’t pick it up! I haven’t actually read any from this list, and I’m really glad about it. I was looking to read Talon (the cover is beautiful!), but now I’m not so sure either.
Great list, Sara! Thank-you for sharing these with us :)
Denise | The Bibliolater
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Paper Towns was just a typical John Green book, so if you’re not a fan, I wouldn’t recommend it. And Talon was horrible, but the cover is beautiful!
Thank you :)
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Haha I love this list! I think I’m going to make one now lol
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Yes, go for it!
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LOL! Your comments about Talon and Looking for Alaska especially cracked me up! I have yet to read any John Green and to be honest, the reason is because I’m not sure I’ll like his style. Like, at all O.O I was initially excited for Talon but my arc for it is STILL sitting unread on my shelf. There has to be a reason for that, right?! I also have yet to read any Dan Brown. I want to, but it’s good to know that the newest installment isn’t all that impressive. Might as well go in prepared ;) Awesome post Sara^^ and if I don’t chat with you all again before then: HAPPY NEW YEAR DEADLY DARLINGS ♥♥♥♥
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Give John Green a try, you’ll either love him or hate him. And ugh, Talon… Read it and you’ll know what I mean.
Thanks so much!!! Happy New Year to you as well <3
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*cries for Anna and Etienne* aww.. I loved that book. I feel quite lucky in that I didn’t read any duds this year I don’t think. I was disappointed with Carry On, but I think that was because of all the hype.
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Yeah, I’m in the minority when it comes to ATFK… but that’s ok :) I haven’t read Carry On, but I don’t plan to either way. I’m glad to hear your year in books has been great!
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I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy Anna and the French Kiss – I loved it! I read Paper Towns a few months back and although I liked it, I really didn’t enjoy the ending and I really didn’t like Margo, but I think that was the whole point? MEH I DON’T KNOW. I actually have Talon from the library but I’ve heard a lot of bad things about it which is such a pity as it sounds so good!
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I didn’t like Margo either. I found her to be infuriating.
Talon does sound soooooooo good, but read it and you’ll know what I mean.
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I liked Anna and the French Kiss, although I’m not a huge fan of the contemporary romance genre, as well as Paper Towns, although Paper Towns isn’t my favorite John Green novel — An Abundance of Katherines is. I’ve heard meh things about Inferno and Talon, and not really much about The Mad Scientist’s Daughter…
This year I read a number books I really didn’t like, and my top 5 worst (according to me) are: Prophecy by Ellen Oh (what a disappointing mess), The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma (the dance information inaccuracies were so annoying), Mosquitoland by David Arnold (I just couldn’t care for the characters and the quirky writing), Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein (which I DNF-ed), and Hunter by Mercedes Lackey (which I also DNF-ed). Obviously I read some amazing books this year which have made me forget about the flops. But it is interesting to take a look at Goodreads and see the books I rated 1 star… haha.
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I’m not a fan of contemporary romance, either. I tried to read An Abundance of Katherines and I honestly could not get through it.
I’ve actually been looking forward to Hunter, so I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it. But you’re definitely right, the amazing books we’ve read this year beats all the flops.
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ok i have to admit i’m a little dismayed to see anna and the french kiss on here but you have paper towns on here and as horrible as it is to rejoice over someone else disliking a book you do, I AM because nearly everyone i’ve met LOVES john green and paper towns and i am sitting over here like UM UM UM. his writing style just doesn’t work for me at all. i despise all his characters, really don’t find any of his plots particularly interesting and find his books overall very formulaic. AND OMG THE METAPHORS. the metaphors are probably my least favourite of all time. i think it’s just that they come as very phony, very overly saccharine and like they’re just MADE to be one line snippets that teen girls reblog on tumblr and get tattooed on themselves. and though i haven’t read inferno by dan brown, i’ve read the da vinci code and remember not being very enthused by it either. i typed this whole angry review and i really can’t recall what i said in that review at all. anyway, really enjoyed reading this post! i think the book i liked the least this year would probably be the darkest minds which i know is also very popular among many!
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A lot of people disagreed with me on ATFK… :( I just couldn’t get on board.
BUT YESSS!!!!!! Everyone is like John Green this, John Green that, and I just don’t understand the hype. I agree, his books are formulaic and repetitive. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one :)
Hopefully next year is way better!
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Thank goodness I thought I was the only one who didn’t like Anna and The French Kiss
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Yeah, we’re a small minority, haha.
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LET’S HIGH FIVE. I always feel like I’m the only one who dislike Anna and the French kiss (but based on the comment, that’s not the case) There was so much drama.
My top 5 worst books.
1. Betsy Cornwell – Mechanica (forever sad)
2. Patrick Rothfuss – The name of the wind (boooooring)’
3. M.G Reyes – Emancipated. (UGH)
4. Maggie Lehrman – The cost of all things (terrible)
5. Kathy Macmillan – Sword and verse (so disappointing. I was highly anticipating this one)
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*HIGH FIVES*
I heard Mechanica was horrible, which is why I never picked it up. I haven’t read the rest but gosh I’m glad I didn’t.
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I actually liked Paper Towns, but I’m not a huge John Green fan. And all these sound pretty justified. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you :)
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NOOOOO not Anna! I’m sorry you didn’t like Anna and The French Kiss :( I tried to read Inferno this year and I really really tried I got like 200 pages in but I just couldn’t it was so boring! Awesome post!
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Yes, yes Anna, haha.. I’m sorry I didn’t enjoy it either :( Oh gosh, Inferno was so long and it was boring.
Thank you, Lily!
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I totally agree with the ones that I’ve read on your list! I was one of the rare ones who HATED Anna and the French Kiss, and omg Talon was so terrible and I couldn’t believe it!
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Thank you, Jeann! Those books were horrible.
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I never finished LFA after /that/ happened. I was like “welp what’s left to read” and stopped reading lol. These books sound really terrible though. Anna and the French Kiss sounds exactly like the kind of YA novel I just despise lol.
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Haha, it’s been a year filled with horrible books, ahaha.
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I think I would have enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss a lot more if Etienne wasn’t in the book. I found him SUCH an unattractive love interest as his behavior was pretty cowardly!
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Really?! To me, Etienne wasn’t the problem (the first half of the book, at least), Anna was. She was infuriating.
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Aw, I am sad. XD I loved Paper Towns and Talon and Anna and the French Kiss! Although Anna not so much being in retrospect, Etienne was cheating on his girlfriend and REALLY leading Anna on and gah, he was super clingy and needy. >_>
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Well I’m glad you were able to enjoy those books! Ugh, the cheating was just horrible.
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So sad you didn’t like Paper Towns (although tbh, I’m growing more and more disillusioned with John Green the older I get). HOWEVER I do love all of the graphics you made <3 <3 So gorgeous.
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John Green was never for me, but I’m glad you liked Paper Towns. And THANK YOU!!! You’re the first person who commented on them :D
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Haha, I love that you made such gorgeous headers for books you didn’t like. The irony :D (But they are so shiny and prettyyyy!) I haven’t read any of these, and I’m not going to, for obvious reasons, but Talon has such a pretty cover I’m kind of disappointed even though I didn’t read it XD
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Haha, they took so long to make. Thank you!!!!
Talon was so promising and then it just flopped :/
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I definitely wanted to read The Mad Scientist’s Daughter, but now I’m glad that I didn’t, oh dear. It seems we have pretty similar views, I absolutely hated Anna and the French Kiss, too, but unlike you I wasn’t as wise to stop there. I tried reading Lola and absolutely hated every second of it. Don’t you do that, seriously it’s even worse than Anna.
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Thank you for the heads up! Definitely won’t read the rest of that series.
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What a surprise to see Anna and the French Kiss in this list. I remember I liked it when I read it, but I can see your point. And Paper Towns was just ok for me…not bad but nothing really special.
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A lot of people were surprised seeing ATFK. It’s widely popular, as is Paper Towns. I’m glad you didn’t have a problem with either book :)
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I feel so bad for saying this but I’m glad I found someone who feelsvthe same for AATFK 😂
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Haha, I feel the same way.
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Wow, can I just say YESS to those graphics. They’e gorgeous! But anyway, I’m sad to hear you didn’t like Anna. It know wasn’t mind-shattering or anything, and the cheating was UGH, but I was somehow able to still love it. But I do agree that John Green is overrated and his fandom is scary as! I wasn’t a fan of TFIOS myself (and got so much hate for it. Nerdfighters are a little too diehard!), but I enjoyed Looking For Alaska… so maybe Paper Towns might be more my thing then? Who knows. Great post. Sorry you had to read so many disappointing books!
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THANK YOUU!!!! Means a lot :’)
I’m glad you enjoyed ATFK! Better to love it than hate it. And gosh, Green’s fans are something else alright. I say you give Paper Towns a try, maybe you’ll like it.
Thank you, Rachel!
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While I gave Paper Towns 5 stars initially after reading it and also in my review, looking back on it, that novel was disappointingly underwhelming and I realise now how much I was not satisfied with it! I can’t definitely relate with you on that one, Sara.
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I agree. Thanks, Josephine!
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I just bought Anna and the French Kiss as well as the next two today… I’ve heard good things about them but now I don’t know about them… I hope I love it, or at least like it because I bought all of them
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You bought all of them?? Oooh, tough one. Fingers crossed that you love it!!
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When i was younger, I seriously loved ANNA. But I just had the chance to reread it and never realized what garbage it was. No offense to Stephanie, of course. So much slutshaming, girl hate, whining. UGH.
Paper Towns, too. I only read it once. (Never again.) Q was obnoxious & it was so annoying how he referred to Margo by her full name constanty. Like, CHILL.
Sorry, so many books disappointed you this year! I love the graphics, btw!
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Yeah, when you really analyze ATFK, it’s evident that it has too many flaws to it. & ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Q’s idea of Margo as a divine figure infuriated me soooo much.
Thank you!
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I think the only one i’ve read out of these is paper towns and i initially rated it four stars. now that i think about it, it wasn’t that good. um… it definitely wasn’t one of my most hated, though.
i heard a lot of good things about anna. sorry you didn’t like it. blech! i hate cheesy, over the top romances so maybe i won’t like it? i’ll probably end up trying it anyway. and talon? julie’s other series, the immortal rules features a mc who’s totally badass. i’d check that one out.
– Nova @ Out of Time
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Hahaha, I absolutely hated it.
With ATFK, you either love it or hate it. Sadly I wasn’t one of the fortunate ones. But maybe you’ll like it!
The Immortal Rules was okay, in my opinion. Waaaaaaay better than Talon, that’s for sure.
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I haven’t read any of these, but I have tried to read Anna and the French kiss about five times with no luck. I just can’t seem to get into it, and this post made me glad I’m not the only one!
I’m sad to hear bad things about Talon, though. I’ve been wanting to check that one out for awhile.
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Sigh. Some of us aren’t just cut out for Anna and the French Kiss.
And Talon was so horrible I’m not even going to recommend that you try it out. Unless every YA cliche in one book is your thing.
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Nah, you talked me right out of Talon haha. At least now I know and won’t spend my audiobook credit on it, like I was going to!
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High fives since Anna and the French Kiss and Paper Towns are some of my worst reads too (not of 2015 but shhhh…). Anna really annoyed me too and I never got the “complications” of their romance either, I mean THEY’RE the complication for their romance lol And don’t even get me started on Margo from Paper Towns, gosh I hate that girl.
Deyse @ Bound with Words
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WOOHOO, HIGH FIVE!
If Anna and Etienne only talked to each other, they could’ve prevented so much trouble. Man, Margo is the worst.
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LMAO girl I love the graphics even though you didn’t like the books. Paper Towns was an epic disappointment after reading TFIOS, which I actually enjoyed. That was around the time when I realized Green’s propensity for using a formula in his works. I’ve also heard many crap things about Talon and ahh gods, Anna and the French Kiss made me barf only 50 pages into the book. No to the no thank you. Anyways, these were awesome warnings for potential readers.
– Aila @ Happy Indulgence
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Hahaha, thanks so much!
I enjoyed TFIOS as well, and in my opinion is the least formulaic out of all his books. Talon was sooooo bad, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who disliked ATFK.
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I loved Paper Towns and the Mad Scientist’s Daughter but I can totally get your issues with them. John Green sort of has that formula and if you don’t buy into it then it’s like meh. And TMSD is definitely not your typical sci-fi. Lol I still remember your review of Anna. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t read it yet because I feel like I’ll want to punch her in the face.
Also your graphics are gorgeous!
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It’s great that you liked them! John Green is very formulaic, and I couldn’t buy into it. Neither with TMSD, ugh I SHIVER. Hahaha, if you can overlook the problems with Anna, you’d enjoy it. But I don’t overlook many things.
Thank you!
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Yikes! I bought Paper Towns today :( I think, I need to give it a try anyway :) :D
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You definitely need to give it a try. A lot of people love it!! Sadly, I’m one of the unfortunate.
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of the books you listed, I’ve only read two of them and I actually really enjoyed them haha! xD But you’re totally right in your statements. Anna and the French Kiss did get a little annoying, but I enjoyed it. Same for Paper Towns (the rainbow pooping unicorns and the metaphors LOOORDD you’re so right!). Is it weird that I ENJOYED the hell out of these books, but still totally agree with you? My worst book this year was Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares. Couldn’t stand how pretentious Dash was, and how much of a six year old Lily was. I had to put it down >.<
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I’m glad you enjoyed them! I was the small minority that sadly didn’t. I’ve never even heard of Dash and Lily’s book but I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy it!
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