Books you hated but everyone else loved

KeptInStitches · August 2013

I'm procrastinating weighing and measuring all my corrosion samples, so here we go.

What books have you read that you hated, but everyone else thought they were oh so awesome? I read Catcher in the Rye and still think that the main character needs to grow up and get a damn job already.

labro · August 2013

The Great Gatsby because I couldn't stand Daisy. When the movie came out earlier this year that brought out all my 11th grade annoyances with everyone obsessing over it again.

I'm sure I'll come up with more later but that one is still at the front of my mind...

[Deleted User] · August 2013

The Phantom Tollbooth. It's a kid's novel that I was required to read and write a report about in elementary school. It was a required reading since our teacher loved it, all the other students came to love it. I still shudder at the mention of it. It has all the things I should love as a child's lit aficionado, an English major, and a fan of science fiction -- but I hate it.

bethsmiles · August 2013

@ImHollister - I hated the Great Gatsby too!

I read this book called Room. It had really great reviews on Goodreads but I couldn't even finish it. It was horrible.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is another one I couldn't get through.

Pride and Prejudice - I don't hate it but I don't like it as much as other people seem to.

[Deleted User] · August 2013

@BethSmiles - You didn't like ROOM or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series? I loved those! I have to admit though, I probably wouldn't have ever gotten through TGWTDT if a girlfriend hadn't sworn how good it was. I was so confused with all the characters in the beginning. About halfway though though, I was hooked!

I really haven't read a book I didn't like in a long time. I've only read recommendations from friends though, so maybe that's helped? I HATED what they did with the movie version of The Help though. It really pissed me off that they made light of the whole thing. In the book I thought it was much more serious...and probably realistic. So many of my friends loved the movie though...

bethsmiles · August 2013

@Allusive007 - I think what the writer attempted to do in Room by telling the story from the child's perspective was interesting and had potential to make a good book but I didn't find the voice of the child believable and that style of writing got really old really fast.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I honestly didn't give much of a chance. I was only reading it because it was so popular and my mom downloaded it on my Kindle when she borrowed it. It didn't catch my attention fast enough for me to want to finish it.

phira · August 2013

Room is NOT a book for everyone. My partner and I liked it (although he was a little upset that I didn't find it as devastating as he did), but it's not good if you 1) don't have a stomach for squicky violence, or 2) don't like emotionally devastating books. One plus with Room has been the addition of the word "meltedy" to our vocabulary.

Popular books I read and absolutely loathed:

- The Da Vinci Code

- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

- The Hunger Games series (I promised my sister I'd read the whole thing, and it took, like, a day)

The Da Vinci Code was just obnoxious to read. I mean, they'd get to a puzzle mystery and one of them would just HAPPEN to know the key to solving it. The whole thing was contrived and unexciting.

My mom liked the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and we have very similar taste in books, so I gave it a go. I thought it was awful. I worked in sexual violence prevention education for a while, and I found the whole book to be a really misguided attempt to write about sexual violence. The author had also very clearly inserted himself into the book as the protagonist; every female character was in love with him, and oh my god I am not interested in Swedish journalism even a little bit.

The Hunger Games are just ... terribly and inconsistently written. I liked the movie because Jennifer Lawrence is such a wonderful actress, but the books make no sense.

KeptInStitches · August 2013

I thought the first 2 Hunger Games books were good, but the last one it felt like Suzanne Collins left way too much of her story yet to be told and ended up cramming it in to make it fit.

bethsmiles · August 2013

@Phira - I've had several people give me that as the reasoning I must not have liked it. I can assure you it's not at all true. I read lots of books that are just as or more violent and emotionally devastating and thought they were excellent. I didn't like the book because I don't think it was well written.

The Hunger Games I enjoyed but the story just rips off bits and pieces of other books/short stories. I didn't really find anything original about it.

phira · August 2013

@bethsmiles I completely get what you mean. Thanks for the clarification!

@KeptinStitches I heard the 3rd book was getting turned into two movies. I have no idea how--almost nothing happens in that book.

minskat30 · August 2013

I think a number of you ladies hate the book but I know a ton of people that loved 50 Shades of Gray. I think I got through the first few chapters before giving up.

cu97tiger · August 2013

Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy - I couldn't get more than 20 pages into it.

Catcher in the Rye - eh, boring

Catch-22 - I just did not get that book. I tried reading it again many years later and still didn't like it.

bethsmiles · August 2013

@cu97tiger - I didn't care for Catch 22 either. I had to read it my freshman year of high school. It was torture getting through it.

KeptInStitches · August 2013

@cu97tiger, it makes me sad that you don't like HHGTTG and Catch-22.

Simply Fated · August 2013

50 Shades of Grey, especially the third book in the series. My friends all love it, I just don't get it.

I also couldn't get through the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Catcher in the Rye felt somewhat overrated. Maybe it was just hyped up to much for me. Perhaps that was the case with both of those books.

My Sister's Keeper was another book. *spoiler alert* A friend suggested it to me.. I read the whole thing and loved it until the very end. It was so upsetting that I literally threw the book to the ground in hatred and disgust. I haven't read another Jodi Piccoult book since. And I'm usually perfectly okay with sad endings, but this one seemed so contrived to me. Like the author was trying to pull emotional heartstrings. It wasn't organic, KWIM?

Peaseblossom55 · August 2013

I just reread The Great Gatsby I hated it in high school I hated it now. That's the only one I can think of for now.

KeptInStitches · August 2013

@SimplyFated, I agree on My Sister's Keeper, and I wish I could get my mom to quit pushing Jodi Picoult books at me (we often recommend stuff for each other to read, and usually provide a copy).

bethsmiles · August 2013

@SimplyFated - We are eye to eye on My Sister's Keeper!

chibiyui · August 2013

I hated Less than Zero. We had to read it for a class and I was the only one who didn't like it.
I also didn't care for Catcher in the Rye, I have liitle tolerance for whiny rich kids.

leia1979 · August 2013

I never actually read Catcher in the Rye. My English teacher had a tendency to summarize the reading for us, so I was able to get through without reading (isn't that awful?).

I found Girl with the Dragon Tattoo difficult because I really hate when the protagonist is in a helpless situation (not that she isn't a strong character). I also barely got through the final Twilight book (Breaking Dawn) because it was so ridiculous. I'm saying that as someone who is currently tearing through Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series, which are also about teenagers and demons/vampires/werewolves/etc.

I also once read Northanger Abbey and found it horribly boring. I read it because I'd seen it referenced a couple times in the Victorian-era set novels that I read as a teen.

I can't think of others because I have a tendency to only read things that sound good to me rather than popular things. (Hence why it took me awhile to get to The Hunger Games.)

KeptInStitches · August 2013

I think most of my year didn't read Invisible Man. My English teacher required each of us to summarize one chapter, so everyone only read the chapter they were assigned.

a13049 · August 2013

I agree with 50 shades of grey. I wanted to give up, but kept thinking. Everyone loves it, it must get better. Wrong!

cu97tiger · August 2013

@simplyfated - My Sister's Keeper was actually the only Jodi Piccoult book I ever liked. I kind of hate her for how she emotionally blackmails you (and IMO, it's totally unecessary).

psychbabe314 · August 2013

I am not a picky reader, I will read just about anything I can get my hands on, but several books mentioned I do have to agree on.
The Twilight series... nope.. could not do it. I read 1/2 of the first book and never picked it up again. Girl the the dragon tattoo, I really wanted to like it, but... never quiet got into it. Lastly, the hunger games series. A highschool friend ragged on me for weeks because I didn't care for it. It was not that I thought it was a bad book, I just personally found it boring.

southernbelle0915 · August 2013

Cutting for Stone - I'm sorry I know it made it to the top of pretty much everyone's lists, but I could not get into that damn book.

missjecka · August 2013

I adore dystopian novels (my personal favorite being 1984) but I could. not. STAND. Fahrenheit 451! I watched the UK movie from the 70s(?) and enjoyed it more than I did the book, but still prefer many other dystopian reads than it.

Hummingbird125 · August 2013

Hmmm, I can't stand Jennifer Weiner books, and I guess she is somewhat popular. Ironically, I am reading a Jodi Picoult book right now, since my sister asked me to, but I really can't stand her. Her books used to hold my attention, but they are all exactly. the. same. So predictable, and rely far too heavily on on something "shocking" (i.e., school shooting, pedophiles, kids with cancer).

Books you hated but everyone else loved

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