Worse Books of 2022 (and Some DNF's)

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 I will be the first one to say that books are subjective. Sometimes a popular book just doesn't click with some people, and other times books I love have terrible reviews overall. I am also not hesitant to DNF a book if I know I am not enjoying myself, which is why I rarely give a book a 1 star review. Those rarely happen as it is, but I always make it a point to finish books I get from NetGalley, or other arcs. Here are my top five worst books of the year as well as a list of ones I couldn't bring myself to finish. 

1. Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor ("epic" fantasy) - ★☆☆☆☆ 

This was a NetGalley book that I received, hence the one star. Silk Fire suffered from a case of too many ideas with none of them executed particularly well. There were a few things I liked. For example, the political system was matriarchal, and the world was fairly unique. But for a 500ish page book, it tried to do way too much and it was so heavy handed with the messaging. There was no subtlety at all and the main character didn't have any growth. I don't have a Twitter, but I did follow the drama surrounding this book and author. It. Was. A. Doozy. Silk Fire has an overall rating of 2.05/5 on Goodreads, with 50% giving it one star, which is one of the lowest I've ever seen. People do not like this book and I am definitely in agreement. 



2. Can't Look Away by Carola Lovering (mystery/thriller) - ★☆☆☆☆

This was another NetGalley book that I got to read prior to publishing. Now, in contrast to the prior book, I do seem to be in the minority since it has about a 4/5 star review on Goodreads (3.82 to be exact). If you'd like to read my full review, you can find it here. Long story short, this book was marketed as a suspenseful mystery/thriller. However, due to the duel perspective there was never much suspense because the antagonists' motive was never a secret. She explained why she did everything to us and the only thrilling aspect was when the MC would find out and if anyone would die. There was never a sense of danger that I look for in these kind of books. 




3. Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison (mystery/thriller) - ★★☆☆☆

I'm not exactly sure what I expected going in to this book, but it wasn't a plot that could have been in Desparate Housewives. This was fully of over the top drama that was unrealistic and had a "twist" that was so expected I don't know how people didn't see it coming. The ending just fell really flat for me. I pretty much knew how it was going to end as soon as all the guests started showing up to the island. This didn't necessarily feel like a new take on anything in the genre and I am getting annoyed at how many women in these types of thrillers are the tamed artists stereotype. This book has some pretty mixed reviews, with a 3.54/5 stars on Goodreads. 




4. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (fantasy/magical realism) - ★★☆☆☆

This was one of my most disappointing reads of the year. Not only was this a nominee for the Goodreads choice award for fantasy in 2020, but it was a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus nominee for best novel. It also has a 4.25/5 stars on Goodreads. Needless to say, but people love this book. For some reason, it just didn't click with me. You can find my full review here. My main issue with this book wasn't the structure, since I quite enjoyed the journal entry format. I think it helped to build suspense and keep the reader not knowing more than the MC. What I hated was the ending. There was so much build-up, then it ended with no bang. I could have rounded this up to 3/5 but the ending just left me salty. 




5. Sundial by Catriona Ward (horror) - ★★☆☆☆

Last House on Needless Street was one of my favorite books of 2021. I had high hopes for this one, to say the least. However, the voice that worked so well in the previous book, fell completely flat for me in this one. I did not like the internal monologue at all. The first half was ok, but then it went downhill from there. It became confusing, and it didn't help that I listened to this on audiobook. The narrator used a very annoying baby-voice that took me out of the story completely. This does have mixed reviews, but an overall favorable rating on Goodreads of 3.82/5 stars. I do plan on giving Ward another shot since out of the two books of hers I've read, she's split me down the middle of what I've enjoyed. 



And now for the DNF's...I have become very quick to DNF as I get older because there are too may books to read and I don't want to waste my time if there's a different book I'll enjoy. Here are all the books I put down in 2022. 

  • Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne
  • How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao
  • Fate of the Fallen by Kel Kade
  • The Fall by Rachael Blok
  • Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
  • When the Sparrow Falls by Neil Sharpson
  • The First Binding by R.R. Vindi
  • Not Good For Maidens by Tori Bovalino
  • The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal
  • Into the Mist by P.C. Cast
  • A Stranger at the Hearth by Katherine Buel
  • It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
  • The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
  • The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang
As you can see there are quite a few on this list. Some of these I do plan on trying again, like The Fall and Into the Mist. I just picked them up at the wrong time. These books aren't bad necessarily, they just didn't click with me at the time. Overall, I'm hoping there are less books on my DNF list next year. Let me know if there are any you'd want me to try again, since I very well could have put them down too early. I do try to give books at least 25%, but some of these I only gave a few chapters. 

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