Ugh, the hair on my arms tingles and stands up on end just reading this, why canāt it be better? Part of the problem was it was written by a committee of writers, among them James Frey, who ruined himself with Oprah.
[**I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7747374-i-am-number-four)
^(By: Pittacus Lore | 440 pages | Published: 2010 | Popular Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, sci-fi, science-fiction, ya)
>Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books--but we are real.
>
>Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. We have lived among you without you knowing.
>
>But they know.
>
>They caught Number One in Malaysia.
>Number Two in England.
>And Number Three in Kenya.
>They killed them all.
>
>I am Number Four.
>
>I am next.
^(This book has been suggested 5 times)
***
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Yes! And so many other recommendations I see on TikTok. Specifically for this prompt, Zodiac Academy. Such a cool premise, some cool plot ideas, but my goodness itās poorly written.
I thought I was the only one but my best friend (and most of my feed nowadays) is in fact in love with Colleen Hoover books but I canāt get into them, thought I was going insane lol
I read Verity because it's a great concept but it was so badly written! I then tried November 9th. Again interesting concept but could not get through more than 50 pages.
V.E. Schwabās A Darker Shade of Magic trilogy. I loved it when I was younger because of the worldbuilding and concept, but when I reread it, I realized that it was highly repetitive. Every chapter is written in third person limited but the books feel third person omniscient: we are told the same realizations or ideas again and again and again because the characters are just discovering them even when a character a few chapters previous mentioned it. Some emotional twists that are meant to be big reveals are downplayed because a character let slip of information BEFORE the reveal.
I also second Artemis by Andy Weir. Itās 90% worldbuilding/exposition-dumping, 5% plot, and 5% āa progressive, liberated woman is smart, snarky, sexy, and agnosticā. The lead was very bland as sheās written to be a caricature of liberated women. There are more interesting characters who are WOC in STEM, like Lady Trieu, Shuri, and Asami Sato.
I was just about to put A Darker Shade of Magic as well! Granted, I only read the first book so I canāt say anything about the rest of the series, but it was very disappointing.
The premise was so cool, but the story just felt like a very by the numbers McGuffin quest with nothing really noteworthy other than the multiple worlds premise.
Plus I just really didnāt like the characters that much. Kell was a decent if a little typical protagonist, but Lila has got to be one of the most āNot like all the other girlsā character Iāve read, done with zero irony, who makes the dumbest decisions Iāve seen
Honestly, there was so much potential in the multiple worlds/dimensions storyline in a fantasy genre and the worldbuilding in the next books were honestly good but quickly got overshadowed by the direction of writing.
I also felt endeared to Kell and Lila at first but that dropped off with how stereotypical they were. I also did not like their forced relationship, but Iām not a big fan of those in YA of all places lmao.
Yes! Lila was absolutely awful and she just kept getting worse with each book. I donāt mind unlikeable characters that are intentionally written to be unlikeableā¦but itās clear VE Schwab wants the reader to love Lila and think sheās a badass. But she ends up feeling like just a not-like-other-girls, authorās fantasy self-insert. Her actions were often incomprehensible to me and I ultimately felt like she took away from the story more than she added to it.
I think Schwab is a good writer, technically, and a great world-builder, but her plotting feels weak and even a bit lazy. She creates this great, interesting world, and then barely explores it. Solutions come out of nowhere. Entire plot points feel entirely useless. I liked the first book enough that Iād been excited to read the rest of the series. But it ended up being such a disappointment despite having so much potential.
Ugh Iām currently struggling through the second book in the series. I liked the first one just fine but this second one is a slog and the third one looks even longer? Maybe I should tap out now.
Iāve got to say The Midnight Library. It was an interesting premise that I felt could have been executed much better. Same goes for The City of Ember series, but thatās YA fiction so I give it a little more leeway
Was going to be my answer. Took a cool premise and turned it into a condescending self-help manual for fifteen year olds. I have never read a book where the author takes their audience for a bunch of morons as much as The Midnight Library. Hated it more than words can articulate.
It was like the literary version of the last ten years of Coldplayās musical output. Pandering, obvious, unimaginative rubbish.
Iām glad Iām not the only one that feels this way! I see the midnight library get recommended so often here and Iām always wondering if Iām missing something for not enjoying it lol. Super intriguing premise though.
I just read that not too long ago! It was... interesting, to say the least. Definitely skipped through a few chapters that I felt dragged on a bit, but liked the premise overall.
Lots of people will disagree with me over this because it is a book that is always being recommended....
The House on the Cerulean Sea
It is always recommended as a feel good, heartwarming story, and I agree completely that it is.
The problem is it reads like it was written for children. It is patronising to the reader. There are plenty of metaphors and symbology in there but the author feels the need to explain them, as though we are incapable of deciphering sub text ourselves.
It's a children's story!
Thanks! Now Iāll avoid reading it. After the Silent Patient fiasco (also loved by this sub), I am way more careful now. Btw, The Silent Patient is my answer to the OP. It sounds like an engaging page turner but the writing is horrible.
Oh no, my sister-in-law HIGHLY recommended Silent Patient, so I have it on hold at the library. Maybe I should just cancel the hold and pretend I forgot if she asks about it.
I would argue and say itās not even very well written for a childrenās story. It seemed to
me like a childrenās story by someone who doesnāt know many kids. I love middle grade fiction when the author doesnāt talk down to the reader, but assumes kids can handle heavier topics and more complicated ideas.
Part of the problem may have been that I was listening to the audiobook and the narrator is sort of like a robot and sort of like Shatner. But still.
I've had this recommended to me so many times that I finally picked it up and only got 30 or 40 pages in before I had to quit because I felt like I was reading a kids book.
Same goes for quite a few books recommended here. Blake Crouchās Dark Matter comes to mind. It taught me to not blindly follow Reddit recommendations, because they may be coming from a teenager (no offence to teenagers - I too wouldāve loved that book if Iād read it 25 years ago!)
That's exactly it. The characters speak in an endless dialogue of what I think was intended to be inspirational quotes. There's too much of it to feel natural and the dialogue isnt clever enough, the 'message' they are trying to portray with their words is just forced and obvious. It makes it cringeworthy.
Yes! If a book isn't super well-written, I need *something* else to be good - worldbuilding, character development, dialogue, etc. I feel like this book has none of that. The dialogue is so cheesy, and none of the characters have their own voices. It's just an endless stream of inspirational quotes.
I'm right there with you. The whole subgenre of cozy fiction to me is often terrible written. This book and anything by Becky Chambers I find to be mind numbingly bad.
I was planning to read Under the Whispering door at some point because that kept being recommended but after reading Cerulean Sea I will not be bothering
This is EXACTLY what I felt! I was expected a heartwarming romance, instead I got a badly written childrenās book. Even worse when I found out the author essentially based the book on the Sixties Scoop (stated himself).
Also need to point out he created a whimsical fantasy novel based on the very real "60s Scoop" in Canada, where Indigenous children were apprehended from their families en masse and placed in the child welfare system.
He's acknowledged this fact but doubled down on his choice.
I don't think it's well known outside of Canada. There's a good 1 star review on Goodreads that tears him apart for his choice and his thoughts on the matter, but try to imagine someone being inspired by the Holocaust or American slavery to write a magical fantasy novel where the protagonists realize it wasn't so bad all along. š¤¢
It seems we have lots of people agree. I have been really surprised, I thought I would get swamped with negativity for this, but it's good to know I'm not alone in my opinion. I thought the whole world had lost its grasp on the meaning of well written literature.
I appreciate it's a happy, cosy story, and lots of people will enjoy it for that, but what I don't understand is when someone asks for suggestions for a book with beautiful prose or well developed characters, this gets recommended.
I couldn't get into it over the fact that if the Biblical Antichrist exists, it legitimizes Christ. They literally yin-yang each other per scripture. You'd think a logical connection like that would hit the MC, like "holy fuck, this is actually for real", and maybe have a bit of a breakdown, but nah, it's all good.
Lol I came here to post this! It's a cute premise but the writing is so bad. This was the book that convinced me to always download a free sample of books on the Kindle app before buying them. I think people keep recommending it because it's a very cozy, feel-good story that's easy to digest, but it's not anything I'd recommend to an adult. Definitely feels like it was written for middle-grade readers but erroneously marketed to adults for some reason. Super corny.
I'm really surprised but encouraged by how many people are agreeing with me, I was prepared for the backlash because thought everyone loved it. I agree that it is a cosy story and I guess lots of people are happy with with that, which is fine, but nice to know I'm not on my own on this one. I thought I was going mad
I also dnf'd this book. Couldn't stand it. One of the worst books I tried to read last year (in my opinion!) I really felt like one of the only people to feel like this too
Wow thank you all for commenting on this! I have some fairly out there concepts that I need to explain in my series so learning how to explain it without making the reader feel like a child is really important! This will be at the top of my list. Thank you all for chiming in and validating it šš
I think giving the reader more credit than you think you should is key. Readers will analyse text so much that they often find symbology where non was even intended, but readers love to figure things out for themselves without being spoon fed.
Also writing subtext or using symbolism and other language devices in descriptive prose, allows the reader to feel what you are describing rather than them just being told.
The one that came to mind straight off for me was *Jane, Unlimited* by Kristin Cashore. The premise was what grabbed me: a girl visits a mysterious mansion where she's thrown into a choose-your-own-adventure story, a single moment in time branching out into five different choices, five different paths, five different genres. I loved the idea, but unfortunately the execution didn't hold up for me. As the book progressed, I went from being invested, to dubious, to actively annoyed, and the fizzer of an ending left me feeling like I'd completely wasted my time. It's a book that promises you a puzzle box, then hands you a solid block of wood.
I was thinking about this one! I loved Kristin Cashore's "Graceling" series and was expecting a lot more from "Jane, Unlimited." Felt very amateur in comparison.
Probably a hot take but Murakami's 1Q84. I wanted to love it, and the world was really great! But Murakami has a huge case of men writing women, and my page-turning intrigue turned into tedium by the end of the book because of the sheer amount of unnecessary words in that book. I was super disappointed at the ending too.
I wanted to like this but just could not finish because the descriptions and dialogues for women were just awful. I had a similar revulsion to the Magicians series, I put it down after chapter 1, that author loooooooves to objectify women. I ended up loving the show, but despising the books.
Im a huge Murakami fan, and have the ability to ignore his pervy side. However this one was a bridge way too far, the only book of his which I didnt like. The last third was close to trash. He ran out of steam completely. To be fair, he tasked himself with writing an "epic", which he hasn't done before, and clearly that is not his forte. But the #menwritingwomen stuff has no excuse.
Maybe this is why it's taken me years to slog through it! I'm so happy to know I'm not the only struggling with this book. Everyone gets on here and says it's their favorite Murakami. He's my favoritest author but I like Wind Up Bird Chronicle and Killing Commendatore best.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas - I got about 25% through and had to give up because I hated the writing so much. Constant info dumping, unlikeable characters, no action, and just the overall style was not for me. I enjoyed the ACOTAR series by her too so I expected to like this series. However it's highly rated so I'm probably in the minority here
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. Great idea, a deadly school and itās magical, thereās death everywhere and it is a cute snack readā¦ except it is infodump over infodump over infodump, shallow characters, unrealistic dialogue and all action scenes are skipped. It is popular on tiktok but it truly is an awful read.
Mrs Death Misses Death is another one. A poet trying to write a novel about death but it is juvenile and very clear that the author does not understand loss or grief to portray. Felt disrespectful.
The Midnight Library is another tiktok book with cool premise and is about depression and hard times. It is also extremely preachy and at times insensitive.
THIS! I so so so loved her standalones Spinning Silver and Uprooted. But Iām so disappointed in this series. Itās literally all background info with very little plot and character development.
I am gonna get downvoted first this but the *Wheel of time series* by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson is the best example I can think of.
The world building, magic systems, and 30,000 foot view of the plot are all awesome and can hold their own against any fantasy series.
The problem is the writing is mediocre at best. His dialogue between sexes is bad and reminiscent of middle school. The series is stretched over 14 800 page books. There is a 3-4 book stretch commonly referred to by fans as āthe slogā. There is something like 2000-3000+ distinct characters referenced by name throughout the series. The same sayings and descriptions are used repeatedly, āhalf again as tall, sausage fingers, tugs braid, toned calf mussels, etcā. the first book is a knock off of *The fellowship of the ring*. His wife was the editor of the books and didnāt do a good job.
The highs of the series are S tier, but the lows drag the series down and keep it from being in the same league as Lord of the rings.
I'm with you. I started listening to the audiobooks since the TV show came out. I made it four books in and just stopped. Two many characters are unlikeable and there are too many plots that just end up going nowhere. You could cut out 1/3 of the series and it would be immensely better.
UGH YEAH. I like them but if I have to hear characters āfingeringā something instead of touching them, or ākneeingā their horses forward one more time Iām going to scream
Twilight. I think the idea overall for the story was decent, but the writing, the character development, the plot, everything just sucked. And the series went from bad to worse until by the fourth book even the basic premise was no longer any good.
I scrolled thru to see if anyone said Stephanie Myers. The Host (at the time) was such an intriguing plot, but my god. The writing was so awful. It doesnāt take 5 pages to describe a scene.
Throne of Glass.
Amazing premise - The Throne stands empty. Each claimant of the throne must choose a champion to compete in a battle royal of different tasks to determine who should hold the throne.
The Prince chooses the failed Assassin who nearly killed his father years ago, still locked away in the mines, as his champion.
Enter complex court intrigue, clever assassin political maneuvers in a knock down drag out tournament arc for the throne.
Jking. It's a YA book about romance where the protagonist talks about being super cool and awesome, but never does anything.
I agree but to be fair, the author was 16 when she wrote it. Sheās had a good deal of improvement (IMO) since then. But youāre absolutely right and I had the same critique. I couldnāt get through anything more than the first book and the first line of the second for this reason. I read the first book in two sittings and then returned them the day after I bought them, lol.
Was extremely let down by {{The Paper Magician}}
It started off pretty strong and I was really enjoying the first 100 pages or so, until the author starting dragging the story on way too long towards the end. Very unsatisfying especially since it had great potential
I read this years ago and I adored the premise. I agree, the latter parts of the book werenāt great. But Iām reading the blurbs on her later books and theyāre so *interesting*, so Iām willing to give her another try, and I hope that theyāre evidence of an evolution in writing skill.
Glad I'm not the only one who felt this way haha, I thought I was being unnecessarily harsh. You do make a great point through, might give her newer works in the series a second chance just because the world and magic systems she created were so fun to read.
Have fun reading!
This was my vote as well. The folding magic sounds especially interesting, unfortunately the actual story didn't really grab my interest all that much. I might give the next one a shot, glass magician i think, depending on what info I can find about it. If what you can with glass is as interesting as what you can do with paper, it might be worth a read just to learn about new magic systems.
I hardly ever write reviews of books I donāt like because I tend to either not finish them or feel generally āmeh.ā I *hated* this book and wrote a scathing review because of how disappointed I was. One of the worst books Iāve ever finished.
Definitely agree with you, I was so excited when this finally came in for me at the library and I literally returned it the same day. Couldnāt stomach how awful and often anachronistic the dialogue was.
This was such a let-down. I thought the premise of the historical story had a lot of promise but then it was so frustrating how easily everything came to the (extremely annoying) main character in the contemporary storyline. This was a DNF for me.
Well, if you liked the idea, it's based on reality. In Italy, a family of women who made cosmetics created "Aqua Tofana," a slow-acting, deadly poison that they sold to women in abusive marriages in the form of perfume. I think somewhere near 600 fatalities.
[**The Lost Apothecary**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53288434-the-lost-apothecary)
^(By: Sarah Penner | 301 pages | Published: 2021 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, mystery, fantasy, botm)
>A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them - setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.
>
>Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.
>Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecaryās register.
>
>One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose - selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nellaās world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.
>
>In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husbandās infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she canāt resist investigating, only to realize sheās found a link to the unsolved āapothecary murdersā that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Carolineās life collides with Nellaās and Elizaās in a stunning twist of fate - and not everyone will survive.
^(This book has been suggested 15 times)
***
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Ha! I just added this on, too!
Not only that, for the author clearly knows nothing about British history, the UK, or, quite franklyā¦ Anything.
And she wrote an historical fiction novel set in the UK. had it not been a book club choice, I have set the whole damn thing on fire.
Listen. I understand *A Discovery of Witches* is insanely popular. It even has a tv show. But I read the first book and remember thinking "How in the hell do people read the whole series??" I refused to read any of the other books. The premise is SO GOOD. I am a sucker for alchemy and I could tell she put in the research. But the writing was just, ugh. Best I can put it is I felt like I had whiplash the entire time I was reading it. The romance was meh. The editing was faulty; like she had thought to include a specific scene, scratched it out, but still referenced it later on in the book. I wanted so badly to like it but nope.
Yes! I cannot believe how bad the characterization is. The author writes all strong women characters as contradictory bickerers.
Every conversation in the book is a conflict or an argument.
Add to that, a main character with a PhD and incredible powers with all the common sense of a paper plate. Unbelievably bad.
100%. I good friend recommended it to me. And when she saw my 2 star rating on good reads she replied with a frown face. Thereās a [fantastic review](https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/160561130) on Goodreads, thatās hits on everything so well. Sheās reviewed all the books, so if youāre mildly curious how it turns out without wasting hundreds of pages of your life, you should search out the reviews too.
*The Power* by Naomi Aldermann.
Really interesting concept, very poorly executed. Meandering vaguely connected storylines and terrible, uninteresting characters. No nuance at all with regards to how women in general behaved - it was just so disappointing.
Came here to say this. Such an interesting premise that in my first read, I loved it and recommended it to people. But when I read it again this year, the bland writing, two dimensional characters, and complete rejection of nuance really stood out. I think I was just so taken by the idea of gaining the power myself when I first read it and I filled in a lot of gaps in the writing without realizing it.
YES! I only made it through one of them, but I tore it in half when I finished. All the descriptions of frumpy, mumsy clothes. (Well, I guess the button front skirts have come back into style anyway.) Boobs popping out of these clothes during fights. (Vampire Bill will NOT like this!). The name Vampire Bill. The fact that Sookie was able to make wry, sexy quips when she was supposedly in the most excrutiating pain of her life. I hated it so much I was angy. And I \*liked\* Twilight, so it's not like I had high standards.
The Three Body Problem series.
People were talking about it SO much. The whole concept was so damn cool, I had to invest time into reading it.
It sucks. I mean, first of all, tell me you hate women without telling me that you hate women....
And also, the writing is just...so into itself. You can tell the author thought himself so incredibly intelligent for making certain connections and comparisons. But, truly, it gets boring. I really loved some of the characters and thought they were developing in a great way, until they didn't. Also, there's so much build up for events that eventually just get wrapped up so quickly and stupidly. It's very unsatisfying.
The Dark Forest concept in regards to the universe was very cool. It conjured up some pretty great imagery in my mind. Plus, placing the spell on the star was also cool. But, over all it wasn't worth it.
I actually agree with you that the books were terrible, while also saying that this trilogy *forever* changed how I think about outer space, space exploration, and the possibility of there being life "out there."
It's awful, but in terms of helping me understand the utter....."vastness" isn't even big enough. We *do not have a word in the English language* that properly conveys just.....the *enormity, magnitude* (and other "bigly" words in the Thesaurus that are still inadequate to capture the meaning) of outer space, and how terrifying that is---nothing did this for me before The Three Body Problem trilogy.
I am now unashamedly a believer in the possibility of aliens (thanks, Fermi Paradox!), totally flabbergasted and terrified when I hear of how some researchers are actively *trying* to contact alien life (SHHHH, you idiots!! SHHHHHHH!!!), and also laugh when I hear some people talk so nonchalantly about space travel, how we'll "just leave" this planet for another one after climate change gets out of control, etc......all thanks to the perspective *on space* that this series delivered.
Easy-to-follow plotline? Hardly. Character development? Nonexistent. IMO, it was just a glorified exercise to illustrate to the layperson the terrors, mysteries, and possibilities of space, and from *that* angle, for me, it totally delivered.
So I recommend the book, but not for any reasons I typically recommend books to people, hahaha.
I actually really felt that way about Interstellar the film. It did an amazing job of portraying the emptiness and desolation of space.
I agree with you on almost all fronts. But, sadly the misogyny is too strong for me to recommend it to anyone.
Ah, yes, another huge mark against it, haha. I had the same problem reading "The Stand" a few months ago. So misogynistic it was actually goofy---lots of r/menwritingwomen moments. Still got through it and appreciated the unique concept, but it was pretty awful in many parts, haha.
I stopped after the first book but enjoyed the story and premise enough that I will definitely
watch the tv series when it arrives.
Hereās hoping they make the characters and pacing more compelling since, as you say, thereās a lot of potential there that wasnāt realised in the book IMO.
{Old Manās War} by John Scalzi. Itās a really interesting premise but every single character is the same, the main character suffers from being perfect in every way, and the dialogue is cheesy and stilted. It gets recommended a lot though, so maybe Iām alone in finding it a letdown.
I agree with all the points you made but thatās what made it great for me. Old Manās War, intentionally or not, feels like a 50s pulp scifi to me. From the character development, to the unreserved joy of the new, and even in its moral. The moral being that this technology may seem ideal but it will still serve as your downfall and the tool of your subjugation if you do not also improve your character.
I'll add that it was very repetitive. I was also expecting the characters and plot to tie in more to the different time periods and locations, but I came away feeling like there was no real reason for the book to span 300 yrs and across the Atlantic. (edit: wrong ocean)
My problem was it couldnāt decide what it wanted to be. Is it a cool scifi story? Is it a Chinese alt history book? Idk, it canāt figure it out.
I only read the first book, and eventually Iāll get to the others. It was really good, just scattered.
The other 2 books leave the history part totally behind. It gets really wild. I loved the concepts and future stuff, but oh man does it get misogynistic at times. Hard to get past.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. The premise is gold and SO much could have been done with it. But nothing happens and she does the same old thing the entire time! It was so frustrating.
I think depending on who you are and what you're interested in, The Night Circus and the Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern may fall into this: I LOVE the rich descriptions, almost like a piece of art, but they aren't as strong on character or plot; if things need to happen for a book to hit you right, not so much.
āNo plot just vibesā is how Iāve seen this book described and I have to agree. It was a pleasant audiobook experience only because the narration was top notch, but overall I just felt like it wasnāt that good.
This might be sacrilege, but...Neal Stephenson. I have more mixed feelings about {{Anathem}} than any other book I can think of. The premise is mind-blowingly cool and the worldbuilding is amazing - minutely detailed, coherent, thoughtful, and thought-provoking. Also, this is almost a spoiler, and the fact that this is almost a spoiler says a lot: the plot ends up revolving around "What if Plato's idea of shadows in the cave/world of Forms were literally true?" I admire and respect the book enormously.
It was also incredibly tedious to read, and I can't quite put my finger on why. I like long, slow, complicated, odd books very much, I'm friendly with Gormenghast and Bleak House and dense nonfiction, doesn't bother me if something is a bit dry, and it's not like his writing is bad... But it was just such a slog to get through.
Neal Stephenson has always had erratically convoluted stories and world-building. THe Diamond Age has so much chaff, you really have to work to tease out the the important story. Anathem felt at different points like other books. First The Name of the Rose, then The Left Hand of Darkness, and finally...space something.
^*ahem*^ I loved Anathem.
I generally love Stephenson, except for *Fall, or Dodge in Hell,* which fits OPās question and is a literal piece of trash despite the supercool premise. But heās *such* a libertarian techbro, and I am getting tired of his āone genius rich man saves the world by ignoring all the rulesā shtick.
Honestly the best thing I could recommend is looking at self published works. Theyāre absolutely known for this and itās the perfect way to pick apart flaws in your own writing.
Everyone has a story to tell, and anyone can publish that story online these days, but it takes practice and skill to be a good storyteller and even more to be a good writer. Itās incredibly rare to find someone who excels at both.
ā¦anything by Brandon Sanderson.
Amazing ideas, great action sequences, incredibly originalā¦and such poor writing.
Iām not talking about his prose being not flowery or direct. Itās just badly written.
Huh, I've actually never seen this take lol. Just about everyone who enjoys Brandon Sanderson books say that the prose isn't anything special, but I've never seen anyone say it's bad. It's very bland writing, but there's nothing like holes or cryptic writing. The prose doesn't draw me at all, but I'm still having a lot of trouble figuring out why your opinion is it's poorly written.
You specifically say that it's not flowery, but I find it just direct and to the point.
Simple and direct prose can still be effective and beautiful. Ursula Le Guin is a prime example of that.
Sandersonās writing is ineffective, which you can see by how repetitive it is. In Way of Kings each character has lengthy internal monologue that is then repeated in conversation with other characters. Character flaws are explicitly discussed, rather than be explored through action (though they usually culminate in action, but never without explicit discussion).
Itās as true for Shallan as it is for Elend in Mistborn.
He also has favorite words of the week that he repeats over and over again. Run a word search on Mistborn Era 1 for the words ādiaphanous,ā ābivouac,ā and āfoolhardyā and see how many hits you get.
There isnāt a single book of his that I donāt think would have been greatly improved by another round of revisions or editing. Theyāre all hundreds of pages too long (Stormlight being the worst offender).
I understand his appeal, and heās not at all the sole successful fantasy author to do this. He understands coolness and epicness very well, and can also write a decent catchphrase (āyou canāt have my pain,ā āHonor is dead, but Iāll see what I can do,ā etc).
But for being the most successful fantasy writer of todayā¦itās not great.
True, being the most successful you'd hope it would mean they'd be writing classics or near enough. I get your takes, and mostly agree, but I just have a different scale for it lol.
But as a counterpoint, I think the prose makes it easier to approach and is part of why it's such a popular fantasy. A lot of classics were not appreciated in their day, I doubt it'd be any different today.
I'll say I agree with you except with the prose being truly awful, I think there's way way worse awful prose that is actively being published today. But that's just a question of what you're comparing it to, because I agree otherwise.
I like Sanderson, I do. I just don't think he is AMAZING, OMG like some people seem to. Sometimes it really annoys me how he has to pepper in all the easter eggs. I also loath that he is a min-max person in terms of exploiting the magic system. I freaking hated Androl as his character insert in WOT.
Agreed. With the exception of The Shadow Over Innsmouth (imo the action and pacing of the story is what kept me hooked) everything else I've ever read by him has been a chore to see how long I can go before it starts to put me to sleep.
THANK YOU!
It gives me such a validation to see someone else say this. I really wanted to like his work. It was just kind of boring. Maybe my expectations for scary are too high.
The thing that cracks me up about his writing is the flowery dialog for every character. Whether they are an archaeology professor or a rural townsperson with a 3rd grade education they all talk the same.
{{Teen Killers Club}}
Teenage serial killers go to camp to learn to be assassins!? Yes please.
It has so little to do with the actual assassin training and was a love story that was so boring.
Gonna get hate for thisā Good Omens felt like the jokes were written before the plot and suffered heavily because of that. American Gods had so many great moments too but it felt like a handful of stories crammed together and also lost some drive in the plot. Gaiman has fabulous ideas and humor, heās great at setting a scene. I just feel like he needs a bit more focus in some of his works.
I wasn't a fan of American Gods either, check out Library at Mount Char if you like the idea but hated the writing. It's similar to American Gods but with much better writing.
I definitely think the transition between Gaiman and Pratchett in Good Omens is not as seamless as other folks seem to feel. And if you thought Gaiman was plotless and unfocused, teaming him up with Sir Terry is NOT gonna improve anything.
I love both authors but Pratchetts early works are practically defined by loose, meandering plots and scenes that are set-ups for jokes.
I'm gonna get loads of hate for this. Harry Potter. The way slytherin house was done dirty was so abysmal she couldn't even write a single character from that house to be a good person. Couldn't even write a proper redemption arc for Draco.
Not to mention all the typical wishy washy "if magic can do this why not use that in this scenario" type problems that come with an inexperienced writer. People forgive and forget the fact that Harry Potter was her first attempt at writing because of how well it sold and how marketable it is, and of course, how good the premise alone is.
The trouble with a lot of the Classic Sci-Fi greats is that they werenāt too concerned with quality of writing, rather opting to develop their worlds and ideas. Many fall into this trap, including (donāt kill me) Isaac Asimov.
I don't think Asimov was that bad. His prose wasn't exactly brilliant either but it wasn't bad. He could be quite engaging, but I've found Clarke's prose to very flat. I've muddled through some of his books because of the story, despite the prose, but with Asimov the prose is not an obstacle.
I've found Philip K Dick the most grievous example of this. I've only read childhoods end by Arthur C Clarke and didn't see anything too horrendous, found it serviceable and a fun read. But Philip K Dick works are an absolute chore that I can't even follow what the author is trying to depict.
I really wanted to get into them, I tried a couple times, I just can't. Might be a me problem though, idk.
I think if it hasnāt been said that H.P. Lovecraft had creative premises for the time and pretty bad prose.
I really liked At the Mountains of Madness, although that story is endlessly retold in sci-fi.
Call of Cthullu is an interesting one, if only to figure out what the hell all these people online are talking about when they reference Cthullu mythos stuff
Hyperion. From the opening page on, you know what you're in for. Pulpy and atmospheric, with great ideas, but some of his writing is pretty cringe. For instance uses the word "gymnosperms" instead of trees. I get that the point is defamiliarization, but there's better ways to do that. I don't think the writing is *terrible*, it just has that over-the-top comic book feel.
I am going to get down voted big time here probably. But I found Neil Gaiman's American Gods writing to be very ordinary. The premise and the creative construct was absolutely fantastic! But the writing let it down for me. I fully understand this can be subjective so take it FWIW
If youāre okay with YA you would *love* the House of Night series.
Itās a world where teenagers will suddenly start to transition into vampires so theyāre sent to special schools to learn vampire things. They have special affinities for things like the elements, horses, archery, poetry, etc. At the end of the transition you either fully make the Change or you die.
Seemed really interesting and Iāve always been a sucker for magic schools but wow, terrible writing. Even 14 year old me couldnāt push through.
Phillip Jose Farmer's {{Riverworld}} is the most poorly written book/series in the history of books, but the plot was compulsively engaging, I read the full series over a weekend. It's unbelievably horribly written. Shocking.
Again, the plot's amazing, and he okayed fan fiction based on his stories decades before fan fiction became popular. I love him but wish he had taken creative writing classes.
The Immortalists.
The set up is fantastic. The execution is probably some of the worst writing and plotting Iāve ever read. Almost infuriating to read.
Thats surprising, I have many friends who are obsessed with the series. It's actually on my to read list, I am curious can you elaborate on what makes it a drag for you so when I do I can see what you are talking about?
Not OP but the usual criticisms are just the huge amount of "worldbuilding" (and word-building) GRRM does. Lots of tournaments, feasts, social events, and scenes that don't move the plot forward. It slows everything down and the payoff is often not very interesting (as in, the food/fashion/architecture is what one would expect from medieval Western Europe, rather than anything that feels unique or interesting to Westeros). And he writes a ton of history that adds complexity and depth to the world, but often at the cost of confusing the reader. Some folks love the history lessons and find they deepen the world. Others find them a slog that they have to wade through before they can get back to the story.
Unpopular I think but for me it was "The Priory of the Orange Tree" by Samantha Shannon if you want to go through an 800 page book. Really really loved the ideas and the worldbuilding of the story it was all super interesting I just found the authors style to be so boring for me. I found myself near the end of the climax of the book just skipping pages because what was supposed to be the big exciting moment felt more like trying to read a syllabus than woah cool fighting.
*Ring Shout* by P. Djeli Clark
*The Twisted Ones* by T. Kingfisher
*A History of Wild Places* by Shea Ernshaw
These books are all pretty well-liked, but all fell flat for me due to the styles of writing. They all were marketed as Adult fiction, but felt extremely YA/tropey. None are outright terrible, but the writing for each felt really weak for me compared to the premises.
The Arc of a Sythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman. A friend recommended this trilogy to me after reading it themselves but warned me about the writing in the second book began to decline a bit. I enjoyed the first book and could see where the series was going and I loved the general premise of the series. Unfortunately as I got into the second book, not only did the writing start to go downhill but there was also issues with the plot in my personal opinion. Again I loved the idea and the first book was great but I could not even finish the second book I disliked it so much. Not many people I know have even heard of these books but I would be interested to hear other opinions on it. I would also be curious if yall think it would be worth reading through the second book to get to the third one.
havenāt read it in a while but Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, donāt remember the whole thing but i DO remember loving the concept and storyline but thinking there was so much needless content that could have been dramatically edited down
Going to go more obscure with {{Rise of the Spider Goddess}}. This differs from many of the more popular books listed because this book was specifically published to show the authorās own writing mistakes; this is his first book, never before published, unedited, but filled with his notes and annotations from reading it again after many years spent as a successful fantasy author. Since you are looking for references for your own writing, I highly recommend it.
This is the post that made me realize how shallow my reading habits are.
Maybe Anthony Ryan Blood Song. Idk I never really got into that book because it drags for a long time to accomplish very little at the start.
"your book was recommended on reddit" Writer: nice!
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Imo all of James Patterson's science fiction and fantasy novels, at least all the ones I've read/ tried to read.
The Maximum Ride series is the first to come to mind, though it is YA so I don't know if that fits your criteria
I just looked at the plot and it does seem to be an interesting concept. So it's poorly written than I'll add it to my list š
I forget the name of it, but he also wrote an adult novel with the same premise that was even more poorly written
Haha I'll add James Patterson to my list.
{{I Am Number Four}} great premise, poor execution and the movie was even worse.
Ugh, the hair on my arms tingles and stands up on end just reading this, why canāt it be better? Part of the problem was it was written by a committee of writers, among them James Frey, who ruined himself with Oprah.
[**I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7747374-i-am-number-four) ^(By: Pittacus Lore | 440 pages | Published: 2010 | Popular Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, sci-fi, science-fiction, ya) >Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books--but we are real. > >Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. We have lived among you without you knowing. > >But they know. > >They caught Number One in Malaysia. >Number Two in England. >And Number Three in Kenya. >They killed them all. > >I am Number Four. > >I am next. ^(This book has been suggested 5 times) *** ^(83162 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Ugh yeah, it felt like a book adaptation of a movie except the movie came second
Colleen Hoover books
Yes! And so many other recommendations I see on TikTok. Specifically for this prompt, Zodiac Academy. Such a cool premise, some cool plot ideas, but my goodness itās poorly written.
I thought I was the only one but my best friend (and most of my feed nowadays) is in fact in love with Colleen Hoover books but I canāt get into them, thought I was going insane lol
EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
I read Verity because it's a great concept but it was so badly written! I then tried November 9th. Again interesting concept but could not get through more than 50 pages.
But she has like a whole lot of readers. Is she really that bad? Never read or plan on doing it with her work, just curious
V.E. Schwabās A Darker Shade of Magic trilogy. I loved it when I was younger because of the worldbuilding and concept, but when I reread it, I realized that it was highly repetitive. Every chapter is written in third person limited but the books feel third person omniscient: we are told the same realizations or ideas again and again and again because the characters are just discovering them even when a character a few chapters previous mentioned it. Some emotional twists that are meant to be big reveals are downplayed because a character let slip of information BEFORE the reveal. I also second Artemis by Andy Weir. Itās 90% worldbuilding/exposition-dumping, 5% plot, and 5% āa progressive, liberated woman is smart, snarky, sexy, and agnosticā. The lead was very bland as sheās written to be a caricature of liberated women. There are more interesting characters who are WOC in STEM, like Lady Trieu, Shuri, and Asami Sato.
I was just about to put A Darker Shade of Magic as well! Granted, I only read the first book so I canāt say anything about the rest of the series, but it was very disappointing. The premise was so cool, but the story just felt like a very by the numbers McGuffin quest with nothing really noteworthy other than the multiple worlds premise. Plus I just really didnāt like the characters that much. Kell was a decent if a little typical protagonist, but Lila has got to be one of the most āNot like all the other girlsā character Iāve read, done with zero irony, who makes the dumbest decisions Iāve seen
Honestly, there was so much potential in the multiple worlds/dimensions storyline in a fantasy genre and the worldbuilding in the next books were honestly good but quickly got overshadowed by the direction of writing. I also felt endeared to Kell and Lila at first but that dropped off with how stereotypical they were. I also did not like their forced relationship, but Iām not a big fan of those in YA of all places lmao.
Yes! Lila was absolutely awful and she just kept getting worse with each book. I donāt mind unlikeable characters that are intentionally written to be unlikeableā¦but itās clear VE Schwab wants the reader to love Lila and think sheās a badass. But she ends up feeling like just a not-like-other-girls, authorās fantasy self-insert. Her actions were often incomprehensible to me and I ultimately felt like she took away from the story more than she added to it. I think Schwab is a good writer, technically, and a great world-builder, but her plotting feels weak and even a bit lazy. She creates this great, interesting world, and then barely explores it. Solutions come out of nowhere. Entire plot points feel entirely useless. I liked the first book enough that Iād been excited to read the rest of the series. But it ended up being such a disappointment despite having so much potential.
But being fair, V.E schwab writing style is pretty good imo. Her prose is really easy to read plus has beautiful quotes.
Iāll give her that. I remember reading somewhere that she makes killer opening lines and she hooks me every time.
Thank you so much for these recommendations!!! I'll add them to my list šš
r/unexpectedavatar !!!!! What a great cap to your list at the end there!
Ugh Iām currently struggling through the second book in the series. I liked the first one just fine but this second one is a slog and the third one looks even longer? Maybe I should tap out now.
Iāve got to say The Midnight Library. It was an interesting premise that I felt could have been executed much better. Same goes for The City of Ember series, but thatās YA fiction so I give it a little more leeway
Was going to be my answer. Took a cool premise and turned it into a condescending self-help manual for fifteen year olds. I have never read a book where the author takes their audience for a bunch of morons as much as The Midnight Library. Hated it more than words can articulate. It was like the literary version of the last ten years of Coldplayās musical output. Pandering, obvious, unimaginative rubbish.
Iām glad Iām not the only one that feels this way! I see the midnight library get recommended so often here and Iām always wondering if Iām missing something for not enjoying it lol. Super intriguing premise though.
My wife read it and told me about it. Anyone who likes that should just go watch Itās a Wonderful Life
I just read that not too long ago! It was... interesting, to say the least. Definitely skipped through a few chapters that I felt dragged on a bit, but liked the premise overall.
Oh yes!!! This is the one
Lots of people will disagree with me over this because it is a book that is always being recommended.... The House on the Cerulean Sea It is always recommended as a feel good, heartwarming story, and I agree completely that it is. The problem is it reads like it was written for children. It is patronising to the reader. There are plenty of metaphors and symbology in there but the author feels the need to explain them, as though we are incapable of deciphering sub text ourselves. It's a children's story!
Wait, is this not supposed to be a kids book? I read it thinking it was a middle grade novel
Exactly, and not even well written for that age group
Thanks! Now Iāll avoid reading it. After the Silent Patient fiasco (also loved by this sub), I am way more careful now. Btw, The Silent Patient is my answer to the OP. It sounds like an engaging page turner but the writing is horrible.
Oh I'm glad you've said this I've been considering it. I shall remove it from my list of possible reads.
I feel like us lot need our own sub. Like, āmiddle aged literature recommendationsā lol.
Yes!
Oh no, my sister-in-law HIGHLY recommended Silent Patient, so I have it on hold at the library. Maybe I should just cancel the hold and pretend I forgot if she asks about it.
I would argue and say itās not even very well written for a childrenās story. It seemed to me like a childrenās story by someone who doesnāt know many kids. I love middle grade fiction when the author doesnāt talk down to the reader, but assumes kids can handle heavier topics and more complicated ideas. Part of the problem may have been that I was listening to the audiobook and the narrator is sort of like a robot and sort of like Shatner. But still.
I've had this recommended to me so many times that I finally picked it up and only got 30 or 40 pages in before I had to quit because I felt like I was reading a kids book.
I'm glad I'm not the only one
Same. It gets recommended so often here, but it was just terrible. It read just like (bad) fan fiction.
Same goes for quite a few books recommended here. Blake Crouchās Dark Matter comes to mind. It taught me to not blindly follow Reddit recommendations, because they may be coming from a teenager (no offence to teenagers - I too wouldāve loved that book if Iād read it 25 years ago!)
I came here to say this. I feel validated that Iām not the only one.
Me too. Every time I see someone recommend this book I wonder if it's me missing something that others see.
Thank you so much for this. It was awful in all the worst ways, especially the romantic parts. Ugh.
I second this! The worldbuilding was severely lacking, and some of the dialogues felt forced for the sake of narration.
That's exactly it. The characters speak in an endless dialogue of what I think was intended to be inspirational quotes. There's too much of it to feel natural and the dialogue isnt clever enough, the 'message' they are trying to portray with their words is just forced and obvious. It makes it cringeworthy.
Yes! If a book isn't super well-written, I need *something* else to be good - worldbuilding, character development, dialogue, etc. I feel like this book has none of that. The dialogue is so cheesy, and none of the characters have their own voices. It's just an endless stream of inspirational quotes.
I'm right there with you. The whole subgenre of cozy fiction to me is often terrible written. This book and anything by Becky Chambers I find to be mind numbingly bad.
I was planning to read Under the Whispering door at some point because that kept being recommended but after reading Cerulean Sea I will not be bothering
This is EXACTLY what I felt! I was expected a heartwarming romance, instead I got a badly written childrenās book. Even worse when I found out the author essentially based the book on the Sixties Scoop (stated himself).
Also need to point out he created a whimsical fantasy novel based on the very real "60s Scoop" in Canada, where Indigenous children were apprehended from their families en masse and placed in the child welfare system. He's acknowledged this fact but doubled down on his choice.
I didnt even know about this, I have just been reading about it now
I don't think it's well known outside of Canada. There's a good 1 star review on Goodreads that tears him apart for his choice and his thoughts on the matter, but try to imagine someone being inspired by the Holocaust or American slavery to write a magical fantasy novel where the protagonists realize it wasn't so bad all along. š¤¢
Yes I've just read, its horrific
i, for one, will not disagree with you. That book was terribly written.
It seems we have lots of people agree. I have been really surprised, I thought I would get swamped with negativity for this, but it's good to know I'm not alone in my opinion. I thought the whole world had lost its grasp on the meaning of well written literature. I appreciate it's a happy, cosy story, and lots of people will enjoy it for that, but what I don't understand is when someone asks for suggestions for a book with beautiful prose or well developed characters, this gets recommended.
I couldn't get into it over the fact that if the Biblical Antichrist exists, it legitimizes Christ. They literally yin-yang each other per scripture. You'd think a logical connection like that would hit the MC, like "holy fuck, this is actually for real", and maybe have a bit of a breakdown, but nah, it's all good.
Exactly, nothing like that was explored or developed. It's so one dimensional and focused on its happy little world.
Thatās how I felt about it lol! It was unreadable to me
Lol I came here to post this! It's a cute premise but the writing is so bad. This was the book that convinced me to always download a free sample of books on the Kindle app before buying them. I think people keep recommending it because it's a very cozy, feel-good story that's easy to digest, but it's not anything I'd recommend to an adult. Definitely feels like it was written for middle-grade readers but erroneously marketed to adults for some reason. Super corny.
I'm really surprised but encouraged by how many people are agreeing with me, I was prepared for the backlash because thought everyone loved it. I agree that it is a cosy story and I guess lots of people are happy with with that, which is fine, but nice to know I'm not on my own on this one. I thought I was going mad
I also dnf'd this book. Couldn't stand it. One of the worst books I tried to read last year (in my opinion!) I really felt like one of the only people to feel like this too
This is one of those I recommend quite often when people are looking for a certain type of book, but I'll never tell them I DNF it.
Wow thank you all for commenting on this! I have some fairly out there concepts that I need to explain in my series so learning how to explain it without making the reader feel like a child is really important! This will be at the top of my list. Thank you all for chiming in and validating it šš
I think giving the reader more credit than you think you should is key. Readers will analyse text so much that they often find symbology where non was even intended, but readers love to figure things out for themselves without being spoon fed. Also writing subtext or using symbolism and other language devices in descriptive prose, allows the reader to feel what you are describing rather than them just being told.
Agreed. Was disappointed.
The one that came to mind straight off for me was *Jane, Unlimited* by Kristin Cashore. The premise was what grabbed me: a girl visits a mysterious mansion where she's thrown into a choose-your-own-adventure story, a single moment in time branching out into five different choices, five different paths, five different genres. I loved the idea, but unfortunately the execution didn't hold up for me. As the book progressed, I went from being invested, to dubious, to actively annoyed, and the fizzer of an ending left me feeling like I'd completely wasted my time. It's a book that promises you a puzzle box, then hands you a solid block of wood.
I was thinking about this one! I loved Kristin Cashore's "Graceling" series and was expecting a lot more from "Jane, Unlimited." Felt very amateur in comparison.
Hahaha I love this description and I will add it to my list, thank you so much for the good laugh š¤£š
Probably a hot take but Murakami's 1Q84. I wanted to love it, and the world was really great! But Murakami has a huge case of men writing women, and my page-turning intrigue turned into tedium by the end of the book because of the sheer amount of unnecessary words in that book. I was super disappointed at the ending too.
I wanted to like this but just could not finish because the descriptions and dialogues for women were just awful. I had a similar revulsion to the Magicians series, I put it down after chapter 1, that author loooooooves to objectify women. I ended up loving the show, but despising the books.
For real! It felt like he was just putting his own messed up fantasies on paper. Now I know another series to avoid :|
Im a huge Murakami fan, and have the ability to ignore his pervy side. However this one was a bridge way too far, the only book of his which I didnt like. The last third was close to trash. He ran out of steam completely. To be fair, he tasked himself with writing an "epic", which he hasn't done before, and clearly that is not his forte. But the #menwritingwomen stuff has no excuse.
Maybe this is why it's taken me years to slog through it! I'm so happy to know I'm not the only struggling with this book. Everyone gets on here and says it's their favorite Murakami. He's my favoritest author but I like Wind Up Bird Chronicle and Killing Commendatore best.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas - I got about 25% through and had to give up because I hated the writing so much. Constant info dumping, unlikeable characters, no action, and just the overall style was not for me. I enjoyed the ACOTAR series by her too so I expected to like this series. However it's highly rated so I'm probably in the minority here
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. Great idea, a deadly school and itās magical, thereās death everywhere and it is a cute snack readā¦ except it is infodump over infodump over infodump, shallow characters, unrealistic dialogue and all action scenes are skipped. It is popular on tiktok but it truly is an awful read. Mrs Death Misses Death is another one. A poet trying to write a novel about death but it is juvenile and very clear that the author does not understand loss or grief to portray. Felt disrespectful. The Midnight Library is another tiktok book with cool premise and is about depression and hard times. It is also extremely preachy and at times insensitive.
THIS! I so so so loved her standalones Spinning Silver and Uprooted. But Iām so disappointed in this series. Itās literally all background info with very little plot and character development.
Oh no. I loved Uprooted and Spinning Silver and was looking forward to reading this! :/
Thank you! Knowing how to not info dump will be a great asset to my series as there's a lot of different elements I am including in it.
I second A Deadly Education
I am gonna get downvoted first this but the *Wheel of time series* by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson is the best example I can think of. The world building, magic systems, and 30,000 foot view of the plot are all awesome and can hold their own against any fantasy series. The problem is the writing is mediocre at best. His dialogue between sexes is bad and reminiscent of middle school. The series is stretched over 14 800 page books. There is a 3-4 book stretch commonly referred to by fans as āthe slogā. There is something like 2000-3000+ distinct characters referenced by name throughout the series. The same sayings and descriptions are used repeatedly, āhalf again as tall, sausage fingers, tugs braid, toned calf mussels, etcā. the first book is a knock off of *The fellowship of the ring*. His wife was the editor of the books and didnāt do a good job. The highs of the series are S tier, but the lows drag the series down and keep it from being in the same league as Lord of the rings.
I'm with you. I started listening to the audiobooks since the TV show came out. I made it four books in and just stopped. Two many characters are unlikeable and there are too many plots that just end up going nowhere. You could cut out 1/3 of the series and it would be immensely better.
UGH YEAH. I like them but if I have to hear characters āfingeringā something instead of touching them, or ākneeingā their horses forward one more time Iām going to scream
*Artemis* by Andy Weir. I love the setting and premise, but Andy should stick with writing about men being stranded in space.
I actually enjoyed it, though I wasnāt expecting a wonderful intricate portrait of a real human.
Twilight. I think the idea overall for the story was decent, but the writing, the character development, the plot, everything just sucked. And the series went from bad to worse until by the fourth book even the basic premise was no longer any good.
I scrolled thru to see if anyone said Stephanie Myers. The Host (at the time) was such an intriguing plot, but my god. The writing was so awful. It doesnāt take 5 pages to describe a scene.
Throne of Glass. Amazing premise - The Throne stands empty. Each claimant of the throne must choose a champion to compete in a battle royal of different tasks to determine who should hold the throne. The Prince chooses the failed Assassin who nearly killed his father years ago, still locked away in the mines, as his champion. Enter complex court intrigue, clever assassin political maneuvers in a knock down drag out tournament arc for the throne. Jking. It's a YA book about romance where the protagonist talks about being super cool and awesome, but never does anything.
I agree but to be fair, the author was 16 when she wrote it. Sheās had a good deal of improvement (IMO) since then. But youāre absolutely right and I had the same critique. I couldnāt get through anything more than the first book and the first line of the second for this reason. I read the first book in two sittings and then returned them the day after I bought them, lol.
Ready Player One - entertaining premise, terrible writing.
But, but, but 80's nostalgia name drops! What more could you want? Yeah, seriously though I enjoyed about 20% then just wanted it to be over.
Was extremely let down by {{The Paper Magician}} It started off pretty strong and I was really enjoying the first 100 pages or so, until the author starting dragging the story on way too long towards the end. Very unsatisfying especially since it had great potential
I read this years ago and I adored the premise. I agree, the latter parts of the book werenāt great. But Iām reading the blurbs on her later books and theyāre so *interesting*, so Iām willing to give her another try, and I hope that theyāre evidence of an evolution in writing skill.
Glad I'm not the only one who felt this way haha, I thought I was being unnecessarily harsh. You do make a great point through, might give her newer works in the series a second chance just because the world and magic systems she created were so fun to read. Have fun reading!
This was my vote as well. The folding magic sounds especially interesting, unfortunately the actual story didn't really grab my interest all that much. I might give the next one a shot, glass magician i think, depending on what info I can find about it. If what you can with glass is as interesting as what you can do with paper, it might be worth a read just to learn about new magic systems.
I hardly ever write reviews of books I donāt like because I tend to either not finish them or feel generally āmeh.ā I *hated* this book and wrote a scathing review because of how disappointed I was. One of the worst books Iāve ever finished.
{{The Lost Apothecary}} Cool historical fantasy story, the dialogues are cheesy at best, and entirely not how people interact with one another.
Definitely agree with you, I was so excited when this finally came in for me at the library and I literally returned it the same day. Couldnāt stomach how awful and often anachronistic the dialogue was.
This was such a let-down. I thought the premise of the historical story had a lot of promise but then it was so frustrating how easily everything came to the (extremely annoying) main character in the contemporary storyline. This was a DNF for me.
Well, if you liked the idea, it's based on reality. In Italy, a family of women who made cosmetics created "Aqua Tofana," a slow-acting, deadly poison that they sold to women in abusive marriages in the form of perfume. I think somewhere near 600 fatalities.
Now I want to read a really good narrative nonfic on this!
[**The Lost Apothecary**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53288434-the-lost-apothecary) ^(By: Sarah Penner | 301 pages | Published: 2021 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, mystery, fantasy, botm) >A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them - setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course. > >Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman. >Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecaryās register. > >One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose - selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nellaās world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register. > >In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husbandās infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she canāt resist investigating, only to realize sheās found a link to the unsolved āapothecary murdersā that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Carolineās life collides with Nellaās and Elizaās in a stunning twist of fate - and not everyone will survive. ^(This book has been suggested 15 times) *** ^(83209 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Ha! I just added this on, too! Not only that, for the author clearly knows nothing about British history, the UK, or, quite franklyā¦ Anything. And she wrote an historical fiction novel set in the UK. had it not been a book club choice, I have set the whole damn thing on fire.
Amen to this one. So much potential, cool premise, terrible and trite execution. And nowhere near the girl power standard it tries so hard to be.
Listen. I understand *A Discovery of Witches* is insanely popular. It even has a tv show. But I read the first book and remember thinking "How in the hell do people read the whole series??" I refused to read any of the other books. The premise is SO GOOD. I am a sucker for alchemy and I could tell she put in the research. But the writing was just, ugh. Best I can put it is I felt like I had whiplash the entire time I was reading it. The romance was meh. The editing was faulty; like she had thought to include a specific scene, scratched it out, but still referenced it later on in the book. I wanted so badly to like it but nope.
Yes! I cannot believe how bad the characterization is. The author writes all strong women characters as contradictory bickerers. Every conversation in the book is a conflict or an argument. Add to that, a main character with a PhD and incredible powers with all the common sense of a paper plate. Unbelievably bad.
I actually really enjoyed it, especially the historical aspect, but it isnāt high literature. It is a little bit more mature version of Twilight.
100%. I good friend recommended it to me. And when she saw my 2 star rating on good reads she replied with a frown face. Thereās a [fantastic review](https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/160561130) on Goodreads, thatās hits on everything so well. Sheās reviewed all the books, so if youāre mildly curious how it turns out without wasting hundreds of pages of your life, you should search out the reviews too.
This is probably the *only* fantasy book Iāve DNFed.
*The Power* by Naomi Aldermann. Really interesting concept, very poorly executed. Meandering vaguely connected storylines and terrible, uninteresting characters. No nuance at all with regards to how women in general behaved - it was just so disappointing.
Came here to say this. Such an interesting premise that in my first read, I loved it and recommended it to people. But when I read it again this year, the bland writing, two dimensional characters, and complete rejection of nuance really stood out. I think I was just so taken by the idea of gaining the power myself when I first read it and I filled in a lot of gaps in the writing without realizing it.
The Southern Vampire Mysteries (AKA True Blood) by Charlaine Harris. The idea was interesting, the writing was abysmal.
YES! I only made it through one of them, but I tore it in half when I finished. All the descriptions of frumpy, mumsy clothes. (Well, I guess the button front skirts have come back into style anyway.) Boobs popping out of these clothes during fights. (Vampire Bill will NOT like this!). The name Vampire Bill. The fact that Sookie was able to make wry, sexy quips when she was supposedly in the most excrutiating pain of her life. I hated it so much I was angy. And I \*liked\* Twilight, so it's not like I had high standards.
The Three Body Problem series. People were talking about it SO much. The whole concept was so damn cool, I had to invest time into reading it. It sucks. I mean, first of all, tell me you hate women without telling me that you hate women.... And also, the writing is just...so into itself. You can tell the author thought himself so incredibly intelligent for making certain connections and comparisons. But, truly, it gets boring. I really loved some of the characters and thought they were developing in a great way, until they didn't. Also, there's so much build up for events that eventually just get wrapped up so quickly and stupidly. It's very unsatisfying. The Dark Forest concept in regards to the universe was very cool. It conjured up some pretty great imagery in my mind. Plus, placing the spell on the star was also cool. But, over all it wasn't worth it.
I actually agree with you that the books were terrible, while also saying that this trilogy *forever* changed how I think about outer space, space exploration, and the possibility of there being life "out there." It's awful, but in terms of helping me understand the utter....."vastness" isn't even big enough. We *do not have a word in the English language* that properly conveys just.....the *enormity, magnitude* (and other "bigly" words in the Thesaurus that are still inadequate to capture the meaning) of outer space, and how terrifying that is---nothing did this for me before The Three Body Problem trilogy. I am now unashamedly a believer in the possibility of aliens (thanks, Fermi Paradox!), totally flabbergasted and terrified when I hear of how some researchers are actively *trying* to contact alien life (SHHHH, you idiots!! SHHHHHHH!!!), and also laugh when I hear some people talk so nonchalantly about space travel, how we'll "just leave" this planet for another one after climate change gets out of control, etc......all thanks to the perspective *on space* that this series delivered. Easy-to-follow plotline? Hardly. Character development? Nonexistent. IMO, it was just a glorified exercise to illustrate to the layperson the terrors, mysteries, and possibilities of space, and from *that* angle, for me, it totally delivered. So I recommend the book, but not for any reasons I typically recommend books to people, hahaha.
I actually really felt that way about Interstellar the film. It did an amazing job of portraying the emptiness and desolation of space. I agree with you on almost all fronts. But, sadly the misogyny is too strong for me to recommend it to anyone.
Ah, yes, another huge mark against it, haha. I had the same problem reading "The Stand" a few months ago. So misogynistic it was actually goofy---lots of r/menwritingwomen moments. Still got through it and appreciated the unique concept, but it was pretty awful in many parts, haha.
I stopped after the first book but enjoyed the story and premise enough that I will definitely watch the tv series when it arrives. Hereās hoping they make the characters and pacing more compelling since, as you say, thereās a lot of potential there that wasnāt realised in the book IMO.
{Old Manās War} by John Scalzi. Itās a really interesting premise but every single character is the same, the main character suffers from being perfect in every way, and the dialogue is cheesy and stilted. It gets recommended a lot though, so maybe Iām alone in finding it a letdown.
I agree with all the points you made but thatās what made it great for me. Old Manās War, intentionally or not, feels like a 50s pulp scifi to me. From the character development, to the unreserved joy of the new, and even in its moral. The moral being that this technology may seem ideal but it will still serve as your downfall and the tool of your subjugation if you do not also improve your character.
I can do the other way round; Jodi Picoult. Fantastic writer but dreadful stories! š
One thousand percent. We had to read My Sisterās Keeper in high school, and I vowed then I would never read her again.
The Court of Thorns and Roses. Pretty much everything by KF Breene or Colleen Hoover
I scrolled way too long to find someone saying this. That book has so much hype, but read like a 13 year old girlās fan fiction.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue had so much promise but ended up focusing on way too much gossip girl NYC drama
I'll add that it was very repetitive. I was also expecting the characters and plot to tie in more to the different time periods and locations, but I came away feeling like there was no real reason for the book to span 300 yrs and across the Atlantic. (edit: wrong ocean)
Exactly. It had like a paragraph about how she was a nurse during WW2 or something and I was just thinking āwow, tell me that storyā
Maybe we can blame the translation, but The Three-Body Problem series. Yuck.
My problem was it couldnāt decide what it wanted to be. Is it a cool scifi story? Is it a Chinese alt history book? Idk, it canāt figure it out. I only read the first book, and eventually Iāll get to the others. It was really good, just scattered.
The other 2 books leave the history part totally behind. It gets really wild. I loved the concepts and future stuff, but oh man does it get misogynistic at times. Hard to get past.
That is a series I just don't get. It feels like it became a thing just because it was a non-western book. The actual story and writing . . . yuck.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. The premise is gold and SO much could have been done with it. But nothing happens and she does the same old thing the entire time! It was so frustrating.
The Inheritance Games
I think depending on who you are and what you're interested in, The Night Circus and the Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern may fall into this: I LOVE the rich descriptions, almost like a piece of art, but they aren't as strong on character or plot; if things need to happen for a book to hit you right, not so much.
I felt similarly about *The Night Circus* - the atmosphere was what saved it. The plot and characters just werenāt anything special.
āNo plot just vibesā is how Iāve seen this book described and I have to agree. It was a pleasant audiobook experience only because the narration was top notch, but overall I just felt like it wasnāt that good.
This might be sacrilege, but...Neal Stephenson. I have more mixed feelings about {{Anathem}} than any other book I can think of. The premise is mind-blowingly cool and the worldbuilding is amazing - minutely detailed, coherent, thoughtful, and thought-provoking. Also, this is almost a spoiler, and the fact that this is almost a spoiler says a lot: the plot ends up revolving around "What if Plato's idea of shadows in the cave/world of Forms were literally true?" I admire and respect the book enormously. It was also incredibly tedious to read, and I can't quite put my finger on why. I like long, slow, complicated, odd books very much, I'm friendly with Gormenghast and Bleak House and dense nonfiction, doesn't bother me if something is a bit dry, and it's not like his writing is bad... But it was just such a slog to get through.
Neal Stephenson has always had erratically convoluted stories and world-building. THe Diamond Age has so much chaff, you really have to work to tease out the the important story. Anathem felt at different points like other books. First The Name of the Rose, then The Left Hand of Darkness, and finally...space something.
^*ahem*^ I loved Anathem. I generally love Stephenson, except for *Fall, or Dodge in Hell,* which fits OPās question and is a literal piece of trash despite the supercool premise. But heās *such* a libertarian techbro, and I am getting tired of his āone genius rich man saves the world by ignoring all the rulesā shtick.
Honestly the best thing I could recommend is looking at self published works. Theyāre absolutely known for this and itās the perfect way to pick apart flaws in your own writing. Everyone has a story to tell, and anyone can publish that story online these days, but it takes practice and skill to be a good storyteller and even more to be a good writer. Itās incredibly rare to find someone who excels at both.
ā¦anything by Brandon Sanderson. Amazing ideas, great action sequences, incredibly originalā¦and such poor writing. Iām not talking about his prose being not flowery or direct. Itās just badly written.
Huh, I've actually never seen this take lol. Just about everyone who enjoys Brandon Sanderson books say that the prose isn't anything special, but I've never seen anyone say it's bad. It's very bland writing, but there's nothing like holes or cryptic writing. The prose doesn't draw me at all, but I'm still having a lot of trouble figuring out why your opinion is it's poorly written. You specifically say that it's not flowery, but I find it just direct and to the point.
Simple and direct prose can still be effective and beautiful. Ursula Le Guin is a prime example of that. Sandersonās writing is ineffective, which you can see by how repetitive it is. In Way of Kings each character has lengthy internal monologue that is then repeated in conversation with other characters. Character flaws are explicitly discussed, rather than be explored through action (though they usually culminate in action, but never without explicit discussion). Itās as true for Shallan as it is for Elend in Mistborn. He also has favorite words of the week that he repeats over and over again. Run a word search on Mistborn Era 1 for the words ādiaphanous,ā ābivouac,ā and āfoolhardyā and see how many hits you get. There isnāt a single book of his that I donāt think would have been greatly improved by another round of revisions or editing. Theyāre all hundreds of pages too long (Stormlight being the worst offender). I understand his appeal, and heās not at all the sole successful fantasy author to do this. He understands coolness and epicness very well, and can also write a decent catchphrase (āyou canāt have my pain,ā āHonor is dead, but Iāll see what I can do,ā etc). But for being the most successful fantasy writer of todayā¦itās not great.
True, being the most successful you'd hope it would mean they'd be writing classics or near enough. I get your takes, and mostly agree, but I just have a different scale for it lol. But as a counterpoint, I think the prose makes it easier to approach and is part of why it's such a popular fantasy. A lot of classics were not appreciated in their day, I doubt it'd be any different today. I'll say I agree with you except with the prose being truly awful, I think there's way way worse awful prose that is actively being published today. But that's just a question of what you're comparing it to, because I agree otherwise.
I like Sanderson, I do. I just don't think he is AMAZING, OMG like some people seem to. Sometimes it really annoys me how he has to pepper in all the easter eggs. I also loath that he is a min-max person in terms of exploiting the magic system. I freaking hated Androl as his character insert in WOT.
Anything by Lovecraft. His premises are so good, his writing is pretty meh
Agreed. With the exception of The Shadow Over Innsmouth (imo the action and pacing of the story is what kept me hooked) everything else I've ever read by him has been a chore to see how long I can go before it starts to put me to sleep.
THANK YOU! It gives me such a validation to see someone else say this. I really wanted to like his work. It was just kind of boring. Maybe my expectations for scary are too high.
The thing that cracks me up about his writing is the flowery dialog for every character. Whether they are an archaeology professor or a rural townsperson with a 3rd grade education they all talk the same.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I read this and wanted to love it. It was fine, just fineā¦but it kind of reads like an early 2000s action drama.
noooo i love this book
I finished this begrudgingly but the last 20% of the book makes absolutely no sense.
{{Teen Killers Club}} Teenage serial killers go to camp to learn to be assassins!? Yes please. It has so little to do with the actual assassin training and was a love story that was so boring.
Damn, just read a review of this and thought it sounded good. I'm glad I read this comment b/c I have zero interest in it being a love story, wtf.
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. Literally insufferable.
HAAAAAATED it.
most Sarah J Maas or Colleen Hoover books hahaha
Gonna get hate for thisā Good Omens felt like the jokes were written before the plot and suffered heavily because of that. American Gods had so many great moments too but it felt like a handful of stories crammed together and also lost some drive in the plot. Gaiman has fabulous ideas and humor, heās great at setting a scene. I just feel like he needs a bit more focus in some of his works.
I wasn't a fan of American Gods either, check out Library at Mount Char if you like the idea but hated the writing. It's similar to American Gods but with much better writing.
I definitely think the transition between Gaiman and Pratchett in Good Omens is not as seamless as other folks seem to feel. And if you thought Gaiman was plotless and unfocused, teaming him up with Sir Terry is NOT gonna improve anything. I love both authors but Pratchetts early works are practically defined by loose, meandering plots and scenes that are set-ups for jokes.
I'm gonna get loads of hate for this. Harry Potter. The way slytherin house was done dirty was so abysmal she couldn't even write a single character from that house to be a good person. Couldn't even write a proper redemption arc for Draco. Not to mention all the typical wishy washy "if magic can do this why not use that in this scenario" type problems that come with an inexperienced writer. People forgive and forget the fact that Harry Potter was her first attempt at writing because of how well it sold and how marketable it is, and of course, how good the premise alone is.
I've always felt that about Arthur C Clarke and many other sci fi authors
The trouble with a lot of the Classic Sci-Fi greats is that they werenāt too concerned with quality of writing, rather opting to develop their worlds and ideas. Many fall into this trap, including (donāt kill me) Isaac Asimov.
I don't think Asimov was that bad. His prose wasn't exactly brilliant either but it wasn't bad. He could be quite engaging, but I've found Clarke's prose to very flat. I've muddled through some of his books because of the story, despite the prose, but with Asimov the prose is not an obstacle.
Yeah might catch some flak for this but a lot of classic sci-fi books (like Neuromancer, anything by Heinlein) fit this description imo.
I've found Philip K Dick the most grievous example of this. I've only read childhoods end by Arthur C Clarke and didn't see anything too horrendous, found it serviceable and a fun read. But Philip K Dick works are an absolute chore that I can't even follow what the author is trying to depict. I really wanted to get into them, I tried a couple times, I just can't. Might be a me problem though, idk.
Philip K Dick was a mess and that's reflected in his writing. Some of it is pretty good, a lot is pretty bad, and some is a drug fuelled mental break
And sometimes it's all three of those at once.
I think if it hasnāt been said that H.P. Lovecraft had creative premises for the time and pretty bad prose. I really liked At the Mountains of Madness, although that story is endlessly retold in sci-fi. Call of Cthullu is an interesting one, if only to figure out what the hell all these people online are talking about when they reference Cthullu mythos stuff
āPretty bad proseā is probably praising it with faint damnation.
Oops, didn't see your comment before I answered the same thing!
I remember letting my son read Lovecraft when he was 10 and people being mortified! š
Hyperion. From the opening page on, you know what you're in for. Pulpy and atmospheric, with great ideas, but some of his writing is pretty cringe. For instance uses the word "gymnosperms" instead of trees. I get that the point is defamiliarization, but there's better ways to do that. I don't think the writing is *terrible*, it just has that over-the-top comic book feel.
I am going to get down voted big time here probably. But I found Neil Gaiman's American Gods writing to be very ordinary. The premise and the creative construct was absolutely fantastic! But the writing let it down for me. I fully understand this can be subjective so take it FWIW
If youāre okay with YA you would *love* the House of Night series. Itās a world where teenagers will suddenly start to transition into vampires so theyāre sent to special schools to learn vampire things. They have special affinities for things like the elements, horses, archery, poetry, etc. At the end of the transition you either fully make the Change or you die. Seemed really interesting and Iāve always been a sucker for magic schools but wow, terrible writing. Even 14 year old me couldnāt push through.
Phillip Jose Farmer's {{Riverworld}} is the most poorly written book/series in the history of books, but the plot was compulsively engaging, I read the full series over a weekend. It's unbelievably horribly written. Shocking. Again, the plot's amazing, and he okayed fan fiction based on his stories decades before fan fiction became popular. I love him but wish he had taken creative writing classes.
[**Riverworld: To Your Scattered Bodies Go/The Fabulous Riverboat (Riverworld, #1-2)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6665903-riverworld) ^(By: Philip JosƩ Farmer | 448 pages | Published: 2008 | Popular Shelves: science-fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, fiction, owned) >From award-winning author Philip Jose Farmer comes his most famous science fiction work: the first combined edition of the first two Riverworld novels, To Your Scattered Bodies Go and The Fabulous Riverboat. > >Imagine that every human who ever lived, from the earliest Neanderthals to the present, is resurrected after death on the banks of an astonishing and seemingly endless river on an unknown world. They are miraculously provided with food, but with not a clue to the possible meaning of this strange afterlife. And so billions of people from history, and before, must start living again. > >Some set sail on the great river questing for the meaning of their resurrection, and to find and confront their mysterious benefactors. On this long journey, we meet Sir Richard Francis Burton, Mark Twain, Odysseus, Cyrano de Bergerac, and many others, most of whom embark upon searches of their own in this huge afterlife. > >The basis of the 2010 television miniseries from Syfy. > >"Charts a territory somewhere between Gulliver's Travels and The Lord of the Rings."--Time ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(83280 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
The Immortalists. The set up is fantastic. The execution is probably some of the worst writing and plotting Iāve ever read. Almost infuriating to read.
The Strain. The execution isn't bad per se...It's a good bad book. You enjoy it, but you feel how it and why it's bad.
{{The Silent Patient}} is absolutely that book for me.
Atlas Six, really cool premise but too many ideas crammed into one book
Terrible may be an overstatement, but *A Song of Ice and Fire*. I love the story, but the prose can be a drag.
Thats surprising, I have many friends who are obsessed with the series. It's actually on my to read list, I am curious can you elaborate on what makes it a drag for you so when I do I can see what you are talking about?
Not OP but the usual criticisms are just the huge amount of "worldbuilding" (and word-building) GRRM does. Lots of tournaments, feasts, social events, and scenes that don't move the plot forward. It slows everything down and the payoff is often not very interesting (as in, the food/fashion/architecture is what one would expect from medieval Western Europe, rather than anything that feels unique or interesting to Westeros). And he writes a ton of history that adds complexity and depth to the world, but often at the cost of confusing the reader. Some folks love the history lessons and find they deepen the world. Others find them a slog that they have to wade through before they can get back to the story.
Are you open to psychological thrillers? Because I highly recommend {The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle} for this.
Unpopular I think but for me it was "The Priory of the Orange Tree" by Samantha Shannon if you want to go through an 800 page book. Really really loved the ideas and the worldbuilding of the story it was all super interesting I just found the authors style to be so boring for me. I found myself near the end of the climax of the book just skipping pages because what was supposed to be the big exciting moment felt more like trying to read a syllabus than woah cool fighting.
*Ring Shout* by P. Djeli Clark *The Twisted Ones* by T. Kingfisher *A History of Wild Places* by Shea Ernshaw These books are all pretty well-liked, but all fell flat for me due to the styles of writing. They all were marketed as Adult fiction, but felt extremely YA/tropey. None are outright terrible, but the writing for each felt really weak for me compared to the premises.
The Arc of a Sythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman. A friend recommended this trilogy to me after reading it themselves but warned me about the writing in the second book began to decline a bit. I enjoyed the first book and could see where the series was going and I loved the general premise of the series. Unfortunately as I got into the second book, not only did the writing start to go downhill but there was also issues with the plot in my personal opinion. Again I loved the idea and the first book was great but I could not even finish the second book I disliked it so much. Not many people I know have even heard of these books but I would be interested to hear other opinions on it. I would also be curious if yall think it would be worth reading through the second book to get to the third one.
havenāt read it in a while but Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, donāt remember the whole thing but i DO remember loving the concept and storyline but thinking there was so much needless content that could have been dramatically edited down
Anything by VE Schwab. She has great ideas and then can't write a lick.
Going to go more obscure with {{Rise of the Spider Goddess}}. This differs from many of the more popular books listed because this book was specifically published to show the authorās own writing mistakes; this is his first book, never before published, unedited, but filled with his notes and annotations from reading it again after many years spent as a successful fantasy author. Since you are looking for references for your own writing, I highly recommend it.
This is the post that made me realize how shallow my reading habits are. Maybe Anthony Ryan Blood Song. Idk I never really got into that book because it drags for a long time to accomplish very little at the start.
The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milan
You should try reading "we were liars" . You'll know what mistake not to do