I understand that what denotes a good or a bad book is completely subjective. Just because I didn't like a book doesn't mean other people won't like it. In fact, most of these books have some great ratings on Goodreads. Here are the five worst books I read in 2023.
1. Device Free Weekend by Sean Doolittle (★☆☆☆☆)
The premise of this book sounded amazing. College buddies reuniting on a private island only for a mystery to present itself? I love locked-room mysteries so I really did think I'd enjoy this. However, once the plot started to unfold, it started to make less and less sense. I am always excited to read books that are set where I live and as soon as I started reading I could tell this was going to be very stereotypically "Seattle". This book relied far too heavily on technology for a book whose title made it seem like a mystery with no tech. I was very disappointed as the characters had little redeeming qualities and the actions of the "missing person" made little to no sense.
2. Don't You Dare by Jessica Hamilton (★☆☆☆☆)
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
This book disappointed me to no end. Every single character was unlikeable. I usually don't mind unlikeable characters if there is a point to them, or at least a redeeming aspect, or even if they happen to be intriguing even if they are horrible people. But Hannah, Scarlett, Thomas, and the side characters didn't feel like real people in the slightest. I am also so very tired of the alcoholic woman trapped in a marriage trope. Why is this always a thing in domestic thrillers? It didn't seem original. I am also over books that are marketed like dangerous thrillers that just turn out to feel very childish. The truth or dare games seemed like something I'd read in a YA book, which if this was a YA book, might make more sense. I really struggled with this book because it just didn't feel like a thriller. It was a chore to read, but I know plenty of people who disagree with me as there are a lot of really high ratings. This just didn't do it for me.
3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (1.5 ★)
I hold nothing against the thousands of people that enjoyed this book. If I read this in high school, I'm 100% I would have been right along side them. It was extremely reminiscent of Sarah J. Maas books in the sense that yes, they technically are fantasy, but there was very little in terms of actual fantasy elements.
I should have known that this wasn't the most "fantasy heavy" fantasy book. It seemed to be a mashup of a lot of different YA fantasy and while it was entertaining, I did find that I had to slog my way through the last 100 pages. Those pages were supposed to be the climax but it was way too long of a book to wait that long for any real conflict.
This book had a ton of plot conveniences and it really fell into that "not-like-other-girls" tropes. How as this girl, who had never trained for this until half a year prior, suddenly pass every obstacle thrown her way? She didn't seem like that hard of a worker, rather she complained anytime she had to do anything remotely challenging and repeated "I'm too small so I can't do XYZ" a lot. Then suddenly she does XYZ, all amidst people trying to kill her for being her mother's daughter.
And don't get me started on the world building. At least make it make sense why this nation, seemingly starved for soldiers with not enough to guard the borders, kill off over half of their trainees. Was it entertaining? Yes. Did it make sense? No. And half of the answers to any question had to do with "because that's how dragons work". I wished there was more natural information given rather than these massive expositions of info dumping. Every time the main character was in a sticky situation she just recited these details and it felt clunky and awkward. I also wanted more information on the war they were training for but there were only very minor details given.
The other characters were all very stereotypical and ones I've read about in a dozen other books of this nature. The hot mysterious one who is off limits because he's a traitor, but then again he's so hot and I want to "climb him like a tree". That quote was said multiple times. The spunky friend who is 10 times cooler than the MC but is relegated to the best friend. The boy who our MC grew up with and they secretly have a crush on each other. This felt so forced and I swear it was just there to add a love triangle aspect.
Even the school setting didn't feel original. I've seen other reviewers complain about this and 100% agree. Nothing felt well thought-out and the obstacle course was literally ripped straight from Ninja Warrior, complete with a Warped Wall.
While I do appreciate how fast-paced this was, it still felt long. I did end up liking a lot of the aspects about the Dragons, but other reviews say this was a copy of Eragon. I haven't read those so I can't speak on that, but I really enjoyed the Dragons, which was a large portion of the book. There just seemed to be no depth to the MC, and I am the type of reader that really connects with well thought-out and put together characters. Sadly this wasn't it and I don't foresee myself reading the rest of the series.
4. Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh (★★☆☆☆)
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
This was marketed as a locked-room mystery/thriller. While yes, the characters were technically locked-in, it was more drama than either mystery or thriller. It had a really interesting layout and setting for a good mystery where all the characters are trapped and unable to leave due to a hurricane, and there were really interesting family dynamics that came up. However, due to the time jumps and fact that there was only one POV where it was clear Jia wasn't revealing necessary information (which can be fine if done well), I never felt connected to any of the characters and instead found myself annoyed by Jia and her actions. She was very judgey, yet hated that everyone was judging her.
Characters aside, I also found the writing style a tad annoying as well. Every chapter ended the same way, with a big suspense only for no payoff in the next chapter. There was so much tension in the house amongst the characters but nothing really seemed to happen. Even when there were murders it was over characters that weren't built enough to care about, so that didn't seem like a big deal either. And the pacing was very slow. I feel like this book could have been at least 50 pages shorter because there were so many chapters that didn't have impact on the overall story. In the end, if this book was marketed as a family drama or something in that realm, it would have been more accurate.
P.S. I really need to stop requesting thrillers from NetGalley.
5. Nestlings by Nat Cassidy (★★☆☆☆)
Was this book well written? Absolutely. However, I don't think the writing could make up for fact that this type of horror does not work for me. It sounded like it was going to be a creepy haunted house story or spooky creature book based off the synopsis. But what I feel like I read was a book about a couple's marital life, and other issues with a sprinkle of horror. Horror-lite let's call it.
More than half of the book was spent with the two parents complaining and doing nothing else. Ana felt like her life had been taken from her, which to be fair, it had, and Reid felt like he was having to give up on his dreams due to circumstance. Yes, both of those things happened and were valid, but I don't want to hear this being repeated in every chapter of a book that is supposed to be horror. I tend to really, really dislike when characters complain about their situation yet do nothing to improve upon it. Both Ana and Reid were pretty passive throughout the book, which might have worked if it felt scary rather than just a bit unsettling. Overall it was nothing like I expected and felt way too long for what it was doing.
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