The Ranking Of The WORST Books Of The Year

NO SPOILERS INCLUDED

Before we start, these are just my personal opinions on these. While these books were my least favorite of the year, I have to say that these weren’t really that bad. I did enjoy some aspects of these books. So, who knows? One girl’s trash could be another girl’s treasure. (This only applies to reading, not boys!) Maybe you could enjoy them more than I did. After reading this post, if you feel intrigued by any of the books I mentioned, feel free to read and enjoy them. (But don’t tell me I didn’t warn you if you hate them).

Finally, let the complaining begin!

1. another time, another place by Joe Lovette

No offense if you like it but..Nobody who has read a good book would like this book. I can only think of two circumstances where this book would seem appealing

a)If this is the very first remotely ok book you are reading in your life

b)If you are a Wattpad reader(there are A LOT better books on Wattpad, so probably only if you are on the wrong side of Wattpad)

Now that I’ve successfully come off as an arsehole, let me explain!

1. Writing – Average. Nothing new. Nothing remarkable. Pretty meh.

2. Jokes(If there even are any) – Someone, somewhere might like it on some days. But unfortunately, that someone is not me. Nothing in this book made me laugh or even blow air out of my nose.

3. Plot – The timeline jumping, even though not a completely original or new idea, is what drew me into reading this. (Well, i.e apart from the fact that it was free on Kindle for Prime Members.) Even with the timeline jumping the plot is actually very uninteresting. Just two people, Ben and Liv, meeting each other for 8 years and having uninteresting convos until in the eighth year they decide to spend one week hooking up.

The first scene is the only part of the story I liked. And the rest of the plot is just a bunch of repeated nonsense. Both the characters meet each other through boring co-incidences, and these meetings are spaced months and sometimes even years apart from each other, over 8 years. Even though they are basically just strangers, they feel connected to each other, like they are meant to be.

As a reader, I could not find any chemistry between them after the first scene. There seemed to be no reason why they would be attached to each other. Nothing memorable about their meetings. Their meetings have nothing magical about them that screams “meant-to-be”. There are no cute, swoon-worthy, or heart-fluttering movements between them. Neither of them is a particularly remarkable person or “ideal partner”.

So, I don’t know why Liv decided to choose Ben, a man she barely knows, over her boyfriend of five years who even proposed to her. Like, girl what?!! What is wrong with you?

Then towards the end of the story, it gets a bit interesting as we try to figure out why Ben is acting like a total piece of shit. At least, we could’ve tried to figure out if it wasn’t obvious. I mean yes, parts of it were not obvious. But the one major reason why this story even has to exist in the first place is pretty predictable. And even if it isn’t I still don’t get why Liv decided to declare her love for Ben when she knew nothing about him except his name and profession. (It’s probably because she is a dumbass but that is a discussion for later).

If you want a story with a good plot then you’ll not find it in this book. As the title says, “Another time, another place.”

4. Dual POV – Just wanted to say that even though it has a dual POV, 98% of the book is from Liv’s perspective. And Ben’s perspective was pretty useless anyway..so not complaining.

5. Characters – Liv and Ben are pretty boring characters with no specific/relatable/quirky traits or flaws that a reader would try to find in a book. I did not feel attached to them in any way.

On the contrary, I felt completely annoyed by them as the story progressed.

Liv, our female lead spends the first half of the book trying to run away and avoid falling in love with Ben…and thinking about him way too much for a stranger. Almost to the point where it is kind of obsessive (but not toxic yet). During this period, she also makes the very questionable decision to date Tommy (who is much better than Ben btw). Tommy’s only flaw is his name.

Her relationship with Tommy lasts four years. And it is clear to everyone (except Tommy of course) that Liv does not give a shit about that relationship. But she leads on Tommy all along to the point where he proposes. And then she decides, she can’t settle for her relationship with Tommy. Bish even has the audacity to think of Ben (again, a complete stranger) while rejecting Tommy’s magical proposal. Honestly, she did Tommy a favor. Would’ve been pretty hard for him to be married to a woman with no brain cells.

Then, her thing with Ben starts to progress. And by progress, I mean they talk about random stuff with each other and shag a lot. It’s constantly just Liv oversharing, while Ben says nothing about his own life. And she does get suspicious about Ben’s very weird behavior and absolute refusal to speak about his own life. She even suspects Ben has another girl. But decides to remain ✨delusional ✨.

And even when the consequences of her stupidity start to hit her she chases behind Ben like an idiot. The whole book is just Liv going above and beyond to get together with a man who refuses to put in any effort for the relationship.

Ben is quite obviously a red flag, from the beginning. Even after being thirty-seven years old, he refuses to communicate with the person he apparently “loves”. We wouldn’t have had to read through this nonsense if Ben had just proceeded to develop a relationship like a normal human. Instead, he decides to run away and act all “misunderstood mysterious hero” like a teenager.

I just CAN’T understand how he does not know how to deal with forming a relationship based on trust and communication even after having more than 10 years to ponder about it. Like he really made a BIG deal about something that could easily be resolved with some maturity and common sense. (I don’t wanna spoil this book, just in case you decide to go ahead and take the idiotic decision to read it so I won’t get into specifics about why exactly he is immature.)

Ben did not put any effort into the relationship with Liv.

And even worse, both Liv and Ben do not have any character development. So we basically have to sit through their stupidity for the entire book.

In conclusion, “Another Time, Another Place” was definitely not worth my time. And I highly doubt that it will be worth yours.

2. A Winter's Promise

( Book 1 of The Mirror Visitor Quartet)

Note: A quartet is a book series that consists of 4 books.

A Winter’s Promise is set after a world-altering event called the Rupture when the Earth literally shattered into a bunch of floating islands called Arks. Our main girl, Ophelia, is from an Ark called Anima, where people can communicate with objects when they touch them. Ophelia can tell the entire history of an object just by touching it. Sounds cool, right?

Well, here’s when it gets a bit messed up.

Due to unknown political reasons, Ophelia (who does NOT want to marry) is forced to marry a stranger, Thorn, from the Ark called Pole. Even worse, Ophelia has to leave her huge family behind to stay in the Pole, and she will probably never see them again. Thorn, her husband-to-be, is also a bitch to her most of the time. So, could things really get any worse?

Actually, it does.

Because Ophelia soon discovers that the Pole is probably the worst place for her to be. Not just because 99% of its people are borderline abusive, crazy, and kinda creepy. But because the people there follow a pretty shitty social structure. And most of them seem to hate Thorn and his family with a burning passion. Due to this, they often try to unalive/harm Ophelia (which apparently is a minor inconvenience to her).

Obviously, Ophelia is struggling. But she refuses to do anything about it except complain cause she is an NPC in her own game and has just accepted that she is in hell.

But wait! Things get worse. Ophelia realizes that her marriage with Thorn has much bigger reasons than she thought. And everybody refuses to reveal it. Now, she has to find out by herself why Thorn decided to marry her. Why did he choose her, the most basic bitch in all of Anima, out of all the goddamn people in the world to be his wife? And also, why does everyone in Pole want to kill her?

Now that you’ve finished reading the premise, here’s what I thought about A Winter’s Promise:

1. Firstly, Let’s talk about The Vibe: The Vibe of this book is the only thing I can confidently say I like. It has a cozy steampunk vibe with a bit of historical aesthetic coupled with a dash of Pride And Prejudice and a tinge of Alice In Wonderland.

2. Secondly, The World building: Long ago, the Earth as we know it now, “ruptured” in a phenomenon that is very creatively named ‘The Rupture’. And the “fragments of the earth (???)” that remain are known as the Arks. I loovvedd this concept. BUT it was barely explored or elaborated on.

Ophelia is from the Ark called Anima, and we know nothing about Anima except that it has a spirit called Artemis, the people there can read objects, and that their matriarchs just sold one of their most powerful Readers to a hostile Ark called the Pole for NO REASON whatsoever.

However, I loved how the clans on Pole each had their own magical powers. Whether it was The Web, The Mirages, or The Claw all the talents were very innovative.

Now, my bigggggessst issue with this book is that the supposedly “matriarchal” society is so fucking misogynistic. And even though our main girl is suffering because of it, she chooses to do ✨️nothing ✨️absolutely nothing. Instead, she simply accepts the fact that there is no purpose to her existence except for becoming Thorn’s wife. And she does nothing about it except mildly complain about it to herself. All her complaint sessions and internal monologues lead to no resolution except that Ophelia knows she is doomed and that she DOESN’T GIVE ENOUGH SHITS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!

3. Next, I’ll complain about the Characters: WTF? There was NOT A single character in this book that I liked or felt connected to. Every person except Ophelia (the main girl) and her aunt are untrustworthy. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. All of them are manipulative and borderline abusive. Yet none of them are scary or morally grey or the slightest bit interesting.

And Ophelia… omg that girl. Initially, I thought I would relate to her “timid and quiet” misunderstood character but no.

While the author did get all the mannerisms of such a person to be spot on. Ophelia seems like just a shell of a character. She has no personality except for her being a misunderstood quiet person. She has no spine, no determination, no motive, no drive, and no qualities of a main character. She seems like just a random witness who got stuck amid all the shit going on in Pole, until the very end.

I find her powers to be very fascinating yet there are very few instances of her using it. And not even once has she used it to her benefit even though she is supposed to be the best at the said power in her ENTIRE Ark. Ophelia has sooooo much potential yet she chooses to be the most spineless, weak female protagonist in existence.

The Knight is the only remotely interesting character in the whole book but the author refuses to explain why the fuck he exists! I hope that is done in the next book at least.

4. Finally, let’s talk about the non-existent Plot: Did this book even have any Plot? No.

Did this book need to exist? No.

Did it need to be this lengthy? Absolutely not.

Did I still force myself to read 502 pages of it? Yes. Yes, I did.

A Winter’s Promise seems like it is just setting up the premise for the next three books. If all four of the books in The Mirror Visitor series were combined into one, and shortened to 500 pages. This book would consist of the first 60 pages. But instead, apparently, the author chose to turn it into 502 pages of vague nonsense.

In the end, A Winter’s Promise did keep me entertained and I can sense the potential it has, which is why I am giving it 3 stars despite its many flaws. I will also be picking up the next two books because I am an optimistic idiot who believes this story can be salvaged if given a chance. (And also because I already bought them.)

Hey, future me here. I did read the next book in this series. And it was A LOT better than this one. And it did achieve all the wasted potential in the first one. In fact, I liked it so much that I decided to include it in this blog:

3. Princess Of Souls

Honestly, this book is the best one on this list. And I’m sure there must be some of you who might enjoy reading this one.

So, take whatever I say with a grain of salt.

I read Princess of Souls because it was by the author of ‘To Kill A Kingdom’ and is also set in the same world. To Kill A Kingdom, as most of you might know, was pretty popular on BookTok and Bookstagram. And not gonna lie, I was part of the hype. That book was my whole personality for a week.

I may or may not have been biased because I read it after reading some pretty lengthy and emotionally wrecking sci-fi books that were out of my comfort zone. So, I will have to re-read and figure that out.

But nonetheless, in my memory it was a pretty decent book and I wanted to bask in its glory again. So I decided to buy Princess Of Souls.

Here’s the premise of the books as given on Goodreads:

From the author of To Kill a Kingdom comes Princess of Souls, a Rapunzel-inspired YA fantasy romance about a teen witch groomed to steal souls for an immortal king and the reckless, rebellious boy to whom her fate is tied.

For sixteen years, Selestra Somniatis has been trapped in a castle on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother’s place as King Seryth’s right hand. Tied by blood to steal souls for the immortal King of the Six Isles, the Somniatis Witch foretells the deaths of participants in the Festival of Predictions. To outrun your fate is to save your soul and steal the King’s immortality. But if you die, your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death.

As a soldier in King Seryth’s army, Nox Laederic is an unlikely candidate for the Festival, but he has no plans to die at the hands of the King or his witches. His plan is more akin to violent revenge: steal the King’s immortality and kill the entirety of his court, starting with Selestra herself.

But when Selestra touches Nox in her very first prediction, she sees her own death alongside his–their fates are unmistakably intertwined, and Selestra is no longer safe in the only home she’s ever known. Nox and Selestra will have to enter a turbulent alliance to survive long enough to free the Six Isles from King Seryth’s clutches and escape the new fate that hunts them.

And Here’s my review of it:

I picked this one up because I loved To Kill A Kingdom. And spoiler: This one doesn’t come close to the magnificence of that book. (But then again it’s been a while since I read To Kill A Kingdom and my views might be a bit different as I have explored quite a bit of reading and writing styles in the past year. So, *fingers crossed* my love for it is still the same after I re-read it.)

I enjoyed it for the first hundred pages but as soon as the journey began and our “rapunzel” was whisked out of the tower, the book started to fall flat.

So, before we jump into the bowl of disappointment I have poured and prepared, let’s look at what I liked!

1. Selestra, our main girl – I liked Selestra’s journey and development throughout the book. Of course, a part of the credit is owed to the story of Rapunzel. But I just loved how even though Selestra is quite fierce and sure of what she needs to do in any situation she is only just learning who she actually is. The process of her character development was wonderfully tracked in the book.

2. The Romance – Not the best romance I’ve read, but a clean pure romance in an enemies-to-lovers fantasy book is hard to come by, and I enjoyed that quite a lot. I also loovedd the fun banter between the two although it turned into a weakness once in a while. (will elaborate more on that later)

3. The Premise – As an experienced fantasy novel connoisseur, I approve of the Festival, The Prediction, and the Witches in Princess Of Souls.

And that’s about it. There’s not much really unique in this book, now that I actually think about it. There is, undoubtedly, a stark similarity to To Kill A Kingdom in the storyline. A daughter who sets out against her mother, and forfeits all the evil she is destined to become. And a soldier who hates all that she stands for.

Now, most importantly, let’s dive into the disappointment!

1. The Absolute Lack Of Emotion – This was probably the most annoying thing about this book. From the beginning of the story to the end, I could not feel a single strong emotion.

Even in scenes that are emotionally intense like a brush with death (which literally is supposed to be half the storyline of this book), the loss of a loved one, seeing a loved one being harmed, and the final battle, Princess Of Souls fails to evoke any emotion in me. It is not that I don’t care what happens but the intensity of what’s happening is taken away by how it is written.

Sometimes, it seems the characters themselves don’t care. The funny banter between the characters, which I initially liked, continues in extremely high-stakes scenes. For example, when the main leads are on the brink of death they don’t worry about each other or themselves. They shed sarcastic remarks and refuse to be serious.

The author puts no effort into describing their emotions or turmoil, instead, she fills the scenes with either description of their past, their surroundings, the situation, the setting, or their goal. Not of their current emotions. Not of how they feel.

2. The Uselessness of 99% of its characters – Except for Selestra every other character in the book either has no personality or is just a shell of a character that is important to the story.

Nox our main guy, who needs vengeance from the king, is pretty impulsive, leads a risky life, and thinks of himself as quite charming. He used to serve in the army and has no family except his one friend.

HE HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL. He could have been the next Aaron Warner or Kaz Brekker or whichever other book boyfriends are famous on social media. BUT NO! He is a boring ass bitch who exists just for the aesthetic.

Nox’s hunger for vengeance is literally the only point of his existence. Yet, it is completely forgotten once he embarks on the journey. Yes. the author often talks about it, but it is not shown. We don’t see his desperation or the extent he goes to to fulfill it. I just could not care about his goals or his past. It seems like he doesn’t either.

Nox is also supposed to be a fierce and famous ex-soldier but he does nothing to display his mental strength or experience as a soldier. If it wasn’t mentioned then and again, I would totally have forgotten that.

Then there is Seryth. Our villain, Seryth, doesn’t scare me or evoke any kind of emotion in me. He just exists because this book needs a villain. So does Selestra’s mother whose name I have forgotten. Her character did have potential but it was, once again, wasted.

Micah, Irenya, Eldara, Lucian, Aslepina, Leo, and Asden, the other characters in the book have NO PERSONALITY. NOT EVEN AN OUNCE OF IT!

3. The Plot – Another spectacle of wasted potential is the plot. There was not really a plot twist or even an interesting plot for that matter. We are told Selestra and Nox need to reach Polemesteis to defeat Seryth and save the world…And they do. There is no twist or turn. No clear obstacle. And none of the characters make any mistakes or face any unexpected events that change the story. The stakes were way too low. Especially, for a book that claims to be a ‘high-stakes fantasy novel’.

4. This might just be me, but I felt that some dialogues in the book, especially the ones in the final battle are extremely cringeworthy. All the heroic dialogues Nox and Selestra deliver are either cliche or cringe.

I mean even though their banter destroyed the seriousness it was more creative and enjoyable than all the unnecessary wisdom and heroic dialogues.

Ok, that’s it. I know I complained a lot about Princess Of Souls. But I am giving it 3 stars (which is an “average rating” according to my scale. ) because I still enjoyed it. And even though it had several irritating traits, the first half or so, and the banter saved it. So, I wouldn’t totally discourage you from reading this.

To sum it up, if you are new to fantasy books, then this could be a good start. And if you can tolerate the above-mentioned flaws you will undoubtedly enjoy this journey.

4. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

This book is probably the most overrated book I have ever read. I can understand why it is famous. And why so many people love it. It is quite sophisticated and honestly a thought-out story. But it isn’t my cup of tea. Something about its characters is just very annoying to me.

Goodreads premise:

In this exhilarating novel, two friends–often in love, but never lovers–come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

Before I bore you with my lengthy explanation of why I hate it, here is a Goodreads user’s take on it (she explains all my points better than I can) :

“This was a hard pass for me. I know I’m in the minority, but I do not need to be emotionally and traumatically destroyed while reading. The prose was pretentious and unnecessary. Both characters are rather insufferable, immature, and showed no growth. For a book supposedly celebrating friendship, this was the definition of a TOXIC, unhealthy platonic relationship between male & female. I’m honestly not sure what the moral of the story was? Other than let’s make sure to include every single controversial issue possible and make our stance known. I also really despise murky endings.

every TW imaginable: gun violence, death, suicide, grief, car accident, toxic relationship, shooting, injury jury, homophobia, chronic illness, racism, sexism, toxic friendship (and more…)”

That is exactly what I think about ‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow’ too. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Also, go check out Katie’s Goodreads and show her some love!

Anyway, here are my thoughts on it:

A well-written book, providing a well-informed worldview. I loved how Gabriele Zevin showed the thought process and ideas behind each video game Sam and Sadie made even more. Though I wouldn’t call myself a gamer, I would still LOVE to play Ichigo and Solution. The story behind them and the imagery they created were brilliant.

The author’s narration style, the scenes where we were put into the shoes of characters and game skins, and the swift shifting of perspectives were all executed brilliantly. The author deeply explored the view of gaming as well as the real world in a writing style that was stunning to read. It almost made me want to create my own video game!

However, where the book fell flat for me was the characters. Sam, Sadie, and Marx were complex characters with good backstories and emotions yet somehow I could not bring myself to give a shit about them. I was not attached to them. I understood their struggles, and I WANTED to feel their emotions and empathize with them. But I simply could not.

Sam’s trauma, disability, and character traits were well done from the pov of someone like me who has never experienced anything he has. Marx was a likable character. However, I did not like anything about Sadie Green. Both of them got on my nerves, to be honest.

Maybe that was what the author intended. I do not know for sure.

Another unignorable shortcoming is that I could not read this book in one sitting. It usually takes me very little time to complete a book I like. However, this one was a pain in the ass.

So, unfortunately, it’s three stars from me. Not gonna lie, I had higher expectations.

Finally, that’s it for today’s blog.
We’ve talked about the worst but what about the ones I loved?

If you liked this blog post then check out my other bookish rants. Or, you can check out my other random blogs. Also, don’t forget to follow my socials for extra content.
See ya later,
Bye!