It’s not often that I really dislike a book. I have a lot of respect for authors. I can only imagine how challenging it is to put your work into the world. This is a list of books that I didn’t care for not necessarily because they were poorly written. I know for certain plenty of people adore these books. The simple truth is, I just didn’t care for them myself. That happens sometimes. We all have our personal preferences for the written word, our own experiences and lenses that we bring to the table when reading. What is the best book in the entire world for one person might not quite hit it out of the ballpark for another, and that’s okay. So here are 7 really popular books I didn’t like.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
This is at the top of my list, because I really didn’t like this book. Nevertheless, I have mad respect for it. I was thinking about it constantly for weeks afterwards. That rarely happens for me with a book. Any author that can get me to think that much is pretty good. Even so, I still don’t like it. The ending made me mad, but since we’re a spoiler free zone, you’ll have to email me if you want to talk about it.
The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner
I actually really liked this series for the vast majority of all three books. I mean, sure, there were some things I didn’t care for. But there has to be conflict in order for there to be a story. I’m fine with that. But I went from really enjoying the books to being 100% displeased in the last 10 pages. Again, no spoilers here, but send me a message if you completely disagree with me!
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
My feelings one way or the other about this book aren’t as strong. It was okay. Normally, my thirst for closure drives me to immediately start reading the next book in the series, but I didn’t really feel that way with this book. I could take it or leave it, so I’m deciding to leave it. This way I can make room for more books that I would enjoy more.
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
There are parts of this book that I really enjoyed, but I feel like it sort of fizzled out in the last quarter of the book. I didn’t come away with inspiration or resolve or tangible knowledge or anything much, other than some entertainment and a bit of education on India and Indonesia. The information on Italy didn’t seem to go much past the stereotypes that people are typically already knowledgeable about. In general, the story felt a little bit self-absorbed to me. That being said, I really did enjoy her other book Big Magic, which is all about creativity.
His Dark Materials Series by Philip Pullman
I liked how this series started off. The fantastical elements are really fun and Pullman creates some really interesting characters. At first I was a little bit put off by the anti-Christian message, being a Christian myself, but I was certainly willing to give the books a shot for the sake of having an open mind. Just because my personal faith is that of Christian doesn’t mean that I think there can be no criticisms of church or church leadership. But by the end of the series, it felt like all that the books were about were Pullman’s extreme distaste for Christianity. This is especially frustrating when his of Christianity seemed incomplete and misguided in the first place. It felt more like a crusade than a young adult fiction series. I wanted to like the series but I felt like I was getting slapped in the face repeatedly in the last one, so it was hard to enjoy it.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
I honestly think I’m just not cool enough to like this book. It was okay. Just okay. I didn’t come away with strong feelings like I did for some of the others. The story felt a little bit shallow and the protagonist hard to relate to. I felt like the book was mostly just going for the world building and the general feelings it evoked, similar to “Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Corpse Bride.” I would have liked a little more plot and morality lesson. But then again, I never felt the appeal of those movies to begin with, so maybe I’m just not the target audience.
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
I really wanted to like this series. I read the first book or two and then was like, nope. Who wants to read a story in which horrible things keep happening to children and there’s no light or redemption to be found in the end? (I don’t think this is much of a spoiler since it’s basically the premise of the book). I like to read fiction because it’s not like reality, thank you very much.
I’d love to hear your insights! Disagree with me? Is there something you think I’m missing with any of these books? What’s on your list of books you didn’t like?
I liked Miss Peregrine for the most part, but I didn’t get too far into the sequel so I’m not sure I’ll ever continue. I really liked Gone Girl but it’s not my favorite by the author (who is a favorite author of mine – that would be Dark Places). Fun post! Thanks for sharing. One of my “popular” books I read and didn’t really like would be Girl on the Train. Way too obvious to me.
-Lauren
That’s really interesting that you didn’t like Gone Girl but like Dark Places. I’ve been too afraid to read Dark Places because I worried it would be just like Gone Girl.
I haven’t read Girl on the Train yet but was sort of planning to. I feel like it’s another one that EVERYONE loved.
I liked Gone Girl but i liked Dark Places better (same author) I tend to shy away from the “Popular” books, because I tend not to enjoy them as much as I expect to. Maybe all the hype raises my expectations too much.
That’s a really interesting theory. I think you may be right. I don’t read a lot of popular books when they’re actually popular because I seem to be a couple years behind the times. I also really hate spoilers, so maybe I subconsciously avoid the hype for fear of getting spoilers. I don’t even like reading the descriptions on the back of the book, which gets me into trouble sometimes! I thought Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a YA Novel and was a little surprised by some of the content lol.
With the exception of Eat, Pray, Love, I agree with your list. When I read it, it resonated with me at that time in my life. I’ve gone on to read and follow Elizabeth Gilbert. I supposed at some level I’m a superfan!
As for Gone Girl – OMG I wanted to give it some leeway and then I read Sharp Objects by the same author and I knew I could not bring myself to like no matter how popular it was!!
I’m surprised about Gone Girl. I liked the book, but also found it a bit graphic so I can see why people didn’t like it. I’d be interested to see what your favorite books are. Everyone has such unique and interesting tastes in books.
WOW! It’s almost like you and I were separated at birth LOL. I also wanted to like the Maze Runner books (I have this thing for YA Dystopian books) but I just could not force myself to finish. I was sick of it halfway through! I did enjoy the movies though.
In fact, nearly every book on this list I considered the movie much better – which is odd for me because usually it is the other way around. Great list!
Hello, long lost twin! That’s interesting that you didn’t like the Maze Runner books either! It’s been a few years since I’ve read them, but I think they lost me after the first book. I pressed on because I thought there would be an ending I liked. I was wrong. It was so disappointing. I haven’t actually watched the movies for any of these! I assumed that if I didn’t like the book that I wouldn’t like the movie either. Maybe I’ll reconsider.
I just clicked over to your website because I noticed the name Tucumcari. Are you from NM? I grew up in Abq and don’t see that name very often 🙂