It is time for Tell Me Something Tuesday!
This week's question is from Brooke@The Cover Contessa. Brooke asks:
What are some of the books that frustrated you so much after you completed reading them that you felt like hurling the book at the wall?
If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know the two things that I am constantly bitching and moaning about are: LOVE TRIANGLES and CLIFFHANGERS. I am so tired of both of these concepts that I am seriously trying to avoid reading books that utilize these worn out ploys. Seriously, the horse has been beaten to death, pulverized, resurrected and beaten again as far as love triangles and cliffhangers go.
(Okay this horse is just sleeping but you get the point)
They are especially prevalent in the YA genre. Why is that? Do they think teenagers can't have a monogamous relationship, or that they won't keep reading a book unless it has a jarring ending? Please... Anyway, I can include countless books on this list with love triangles and cliffhangers but then again, it would take far too long for me to track them all down. So I am going to include a short list of books that irritated me so much and made me wish I hadn't wasted my time reading them. I want to say before I start this post, I mean no disrespect to the authors or their books, these books just didn't work for me, and I know that many other readers enjoyed them. This is my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.
I have never been tempted to fling a book across the room, mostly because I read on my kindle, and I would never throw my precious across the room... that being said, I do have a few titles that irritated me and they are:
Mortal Instruments: City of Fallen Angels
This book was a complete miss for me. I had somewhat enjoyed the series up until this point. I really liked Magnus Bane and was pleased with how book three wrapped everything up. I am guessing the series was meant to only be a trilogy, and I personally believe it should have stayed that way...I am dodging tomatoes from all the fans right now......This book once again decided to make everything miserable for Clary and Jace, just when you thought they were going to be happy together. Then it ends with a most ridiculous cliffhanger that totally left a bad taste in my mouth. I have no desire now to continue this series because I don't want to deal with more Clary and Jace drama and I know that Ms. Clare is famous for her cliffhangers. I am still, at this point, a fan of The Infernal Devices, hopefully Clockwork Princess doesn't disappoint!
Next up is a book that many people adored last year but I couldn't stand it, mostly because it had a cliffhanger and the book wrapped with pretty much no resolution to any of the issues and it left me angry. That book is Unspoken. Yes, I know many of you adored this but I couldn't get over the cliffhanger. The book builds to this dramatic climax and then just ends. It really ticked me off, and no I will not be reading the sequel.
New Girl was another book that did not sit well with me. This book was supposed to be a retelling of Rebecca which is a favorite of mine. This novel is a mess. It features a protagonist who has no morals, drinks heavy and uses sex to manipulate boys. There was also a scene in there where a young lady was date raped and nothing was done about it. This book, for me, was disturbing because it had drugs, sex and it was far too mature for the young adult audience. (According to the spefications this doesn't fit into NA either because the characters are under 18 and still in high school). I would recommend skipping this one and reading the classic Rebecca instead.
Last up, a book I read at the end of 2012 for a tour. This book was so bad and so ridiculous that I couldn't even review it on my blog because I honestly couldn't think of anything nice to say, and usually I can pick out at least one or two positives for a book. The book is called Blissful Lies. This book has two grown adults who have a son who has a close group of friends. The friends are always at the house. The mother finds out the father is cheating on her, and she ends up starting an affair with her son's best friend, who claims he has been in love with her his whole life. She considers him to be like a son and she is best friends with his mother. Then it turns out the father is sleeping with another one of the son's friends. The ending is this ridiculous mess where they go to a resort and someone forces them all to confess their dirty secrets to one another and boy are there some unbelievable confessions, oh an the mother is now pregnant even though not enough time has elapsed to make it believable. Then everyone goes their separate ways and the books ends on a sour note. I wish I had never read this one. It totally turned me off from tours as well. I ended up posting an excerpt on my blog since I couldn't review it, it made me sick knowing that I was promoting a book I couldn't stand. And then the author was super sweet and stopped by my blog and returned all the comments and that made me feel even worse. She was a sweetheart, but her book was just not for me.
I can think of plenty of other books that have disappointed me, but these are the worst offenders. I am trying to steer clear of icky cliffhangers. Wish me luck! What about you all? What are some of your irritating reads? Share them. Link up!
Next week's question is a TMST So You Want To Be a Blogger Question and the wonderful Felicia@Geeky Bloggers Book Blog will be helping me out. The question is:
To Pimp or Not to Pimp? How do you decide what books to promote on your blog? How do you feel about the current trend of book blasts, blitzes, cover reveals and tours?
This should generate a fun discussion! See you next week!
