My Least Favorite Books of 2021

 I'm not going to say that these books are terrible or not worth the read, because reading is super subjective. These are just the books that I finished, but just didn't like. This is simply my opinion and I know there are people out there that adore these books. No hate, I just wasn't the target audience. 

How was this book a thriller? I was expecting a suspenseful story but there was no point in this book where I was the least bit on edge. I really didn't like the 3rd person POV. The narrator jumped around into other peoples heads randomly and since I listened to it on audiobook, it was a bit hard to discern between who was talking and who was thinking. Also, there were many random sexualized parts that were pointless. Not everything needs to be comparted to genitals. 

I did like the plot. It was interesting enough but open endings aren't my favorite. I wish we got more of what was actually going on in the world. We only got hints but overall it just made for a confusing book. It was also very short. 

I wish I could rate this book higher. It was so promising and seemed like it would have many of the things I love in urban fantasy. However, it fell very flat for me in a couple of ways. First, for being about a monster hunger, there was a surprising lack of monsters throughout. Second, I absolutely love kick ass female characters, but I want them to actually have a personality. I found Maggie to be severely lacking in that regard. She was a monster hunter and that was pretty much it. Third, the setting was never really fully able to be formed in my mind. i love worlds that are fleshed out and super descriptive, but this was more a book about characters. Overall, I think this just wasn't for me. 

I only pushed through to the end of this book to see if there would be anything remotely surprising. Sadly, this book was very easy to predict what was going to happen. Also, all the characters were HORRIBLE people. I get unlikeable characters but there didn't seem to be a redeeming quality about any of them. This was in no way suspenseful or thrilling because it was far too easy to figure out what was going to happen in the end. I barely remember reading it, it was that forgettable to me. 

Most dystopian books I like have really interesting worlds where some sort of authoritarian government is in charge. The world may suck but there are rules and reasons for certain laws. This book had NO worldbuilding whatsoever. I have no clue why theses laws demanding women to draw a ticked (blue = no motherhood, white = forced motherhood). It made no sense and wasn't ever explained. 

Also, it was sort of boring. The book was very slow and we spent most of the time inside the MC's head. There was little to no action and even conversations were sparse. And when there were convo's it was strictly about the topic of motherhood, and most were "the baby is changing my body". Not for me at all.

This had me in the first half, not gonna lie. This was full of drama and while I normally don't enjoy these stories, it was fun and nice to read something different for a change. I went into this thinking it was going to be some suspenseful murder-mystery but by the 2nd half of this book I realized it was something else entirely. 

My mom used to love watching Desperate Housewives and this was something straight off the pages of the script. None of these women were nice people. They were each different stereotypes of what a housewife is. I was annoyed because they were so incredibly stupid and by the end, the big twist was so opaque I wasn't even surprised. 

This was so forgettable. I read this so I could get a sense of Hawkins writing style for 'The Girl on the Train' but I'm just going to skip that now altogether. It was so convoluted with way too many POV shifts and time jumps. Not only did it make for a confusing read but by the end I just didn't care what happened. The big reveal didn't shock me and it left me wishing I just DNF'd it instead of pushed through. 

This just left me feeling disappointed. The story was disjoined and unorganized. I had a hard time following the vague narrative because it was all over the place. It wasn't scary in the least with the one relatively eerie part being the only not confusing bit. I didn't know what it was supposedly focusing on and it just didn't flow with me whatsoever. 

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. It was refreshing to read from this time period with a women who plans her own marriage down to the contract. I liked Jane's strong will and point of view. However, once we reached the halfway mark, I did not have a fun time. it took me much longer than i would have liked to finish because it was such a slow pace. I did like the plot and all the creepy elements that were present, but there was just something that didn't click with me. It felt far too convoluted and almost like the author was trying to do a bit too much near the end. 

I was left very disappointed in this book after reading 'My Best Friend's Exorcism' by the same author earlier this year. This one seemed very messy, mainly because of the main characters constantly questionable decisions. She was honestly one of the dumbest characters I've read from the perspective of in a long while. Although the actual plot as interesting (final girls being picked off one by one) it was almost too reminiscent of 'Final Girls' by Riley Sager, which was done in a much more interesting and well written way. 

I liked the beginning and enjoyed the ending, but the whole middle section of this book as terrible. I get that it was about a complex sister-sister relationship, but the main character was the most insufferably annoying character I've read from this year. I do not like when they constantly complain the whole time and do nothing to change their actual situation. Yes, the character was in therapy but she rarely told the truth. It did get better along the end but I almost DNF'd it about halfway through because I just couldn't stand Jayne. Definitely not for me.