Disappointing Books of 2020

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the most controversial post of the year! As always this is just my opinion and if you liked books on this list, sorry but we can’t all like everything equally.

My list isn’t ordered by worst to least worst, instead it’s order by date read with the most recent reads at the end.

I feel like I was much harsher in my star ratings this year. I only had 5 books on my most disappointing books of 2019 list while this year I have 9 and probably could have added more.

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Instead of making a separate post for my reading stats, I’m including the most relevant ones here.
# of pages read: 55318
# of books read: 130
# of eBooks: 60
# of physical books: 71
# of ARCs: 34

So, without further ado…. 

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I’m almost at a loss for how to rate and review The Kingdom of Liars. On one hand, I enjoyed the characters and idea of the world. In contrast, I had a lot of issues with the world building and magic system. The Kingdom of Liars is a semi successful fantasy novel that bit off more than it can chew. 

3.5 Stars

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is disappointing at best. This book will probably go down as the most disappointing book I’ve ever read. After the perfection that is The Hunger Games trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes reads like shitty fanfiction. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is an incredibly boring villain origin story that lacks drive and villainous actions. Instead, Collins gives readers a long and drawn out story that offers nothing in terms of world building and character development.

2 Stars

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As with everyone else around my age, I was both excited and apprehensive about Midnight Sun. I read the leaked version way back when and got all into my feelings when Meyer said she postposed it indefinitely. Twelve years later, here we are with the finished version. From the teasers, I thought Edward would read as juvenile, but I was wrong. Thankfully. However, he’s unnecessarily verbose and long winded making Midnight Sun slow and a chore to read.

2 Stars

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Beach Read follows January as she makes a bet with her college rival to each write a book outside of their comfort zones. I wish I could have loved this book, but, unfortunately, I thought it was slow and the love interest, Gus, felt lackluster. Beach Read is exactly as titled. It’s a lighthearted romance that tries to dig deep, but only skims the surface.

3 Stars

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I’ve never read The Inheritance Cycle before, but I’ve only heard good things about it so I was excited to finally read a Paolini novel. Unfortunately, I had to DNF To Sleep in a Sea of Stars at 280 of 878 pages. It feels like I’m in the minority with my thoughts regarding this novel. I was expecting a thrilling space opera, but instead got a slow paced novel with bland and poorly written characters.

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DNF @233 of 313

A Deadly Education is a disappointment to say the least. I picked up this book, like most people did, expecting a Harry Potter style experience, though told from an evil or Slytherin perspective. Unfortunately, Novik’s writing, character choices, and plot make A Deadly Education a flop.

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Dune Messiah is an incredibly different novel than its predecessor, Dune. Taking place twelve years after the events of Dune, Dune Messiah digs into the nitty gritty of Paul’s rule as emperor by taking a philosophical approach to it. Dune Messiah is a philosophical novel. I took a couple of philosophy courses in university and hated them. So, Dune Messiah was a difficult read for me to get through.

3 Stars

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I’m not sure what everyone sees in The Bronze Horseman to justify it being rated so favourably on Goodreads (4.30 stars) because I found it to be a very slow and mundane romance that had the potential to be great. The reason I rated the novel two stars instead of one is because the setting was well written. Simons’ portrayal of the Soviet Union during WWII was well researched and the only worthwhile thing in the novel. 

2 Stars

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The Project follows Lo as she tries to expose the cult that stole her older sister away from her so many years ago. The Project’s premise is what drew me to the novel. Also, Summer’s writing is always lyrical (i.e. Sadie and All the Rage). Unfortunately, the execution of this intriguing premise and Summer’s writing is lacking. The Project was a disappointment after how much I loved Sadie. I was expecting The Project to be a darker toned mystery, but, instead it’s a slow moving novel that never really amounts to anything.

2 Stars

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This is the first time I’ve rated a Hoover novel less than favorably. Throughout Layla I kept going back and forth between rating it two or three stars. I ended up settling on two stars because I didn’t connect with the characters or the plot and I was bored for most of the novel. It’s difficult to review this novel without spoiling it, so all I’ll say is that felt nothing for or between the main characters and was bored for most of the novel.

2 Stars

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Were you disappointed with any of these? If not, what are some of your most disappointing books of 2020?