I have two. The Ritual and Drowning.

The Ritual is pure smut. 61 chapters and every one contains a graphic, demeaning sex scene. I’m convinced the author was an adult film screenwriter and decided to try their hand at writing a novel. There isn’t a single likable character in this book.

Drowning isn’t a great work of literature. I felt that the characters were very two-dimensional. I hated how naive the author made the protagonist. It made me have a lack of sympathy for her. The ending was series finale of Dexter bad.

  • Clay-Rose@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    It wasn’t absolutely terrible, but my least favorite this year that I could have easily DNF’d but didn’t, was The Night Circus. The point and purpose never made itself known to me, and thus it dragged.

    • Inner-Astronomer-256@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I really liked it but I think you have to be in a mood for a pointless book that’s just dreamy and lovely.

      The starless sea, by the same author, I hated. Was far longer and had no point whatsoever, maybe I’m older and grouchier, but it was so repetitive and boring. Bummed me out as my mother got me it as a present cos of the Night Circus.

      • PeanutCalamity@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I devoured Night Circus as a teen, but Starless Sea took me almost a year to get through. It really picked up for me in the last third, but theres like 400 pages of vibes to get through first. It’s a tough read for sure, despite how much I actually liked it.

      • Vanadium_Gryphon@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I agree, my sister and I read The Night Circus when it first came out, and we both loved it. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I remember it being a rather dreamlike, magical experience. I’ve been wanting to return to it, so perhaps I will, and see if my opinion changes any.

        Since we enjoyed Night Circus so much, of course we also read Starless Sea, and that one was…I’m not going to lie, the author really lost me with that book. It felt like an acid trip fever dream. There was way too much wacky stuff going on, and it left me pretty confused. A shame, because it did contain some interesting ideas.

    • kittengoesrawr@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I did there same. I made it halfway through. I loved the characters, and the story building. I just wish it had a plot. The book had so much potential. It was just going nowhere.

    • KiwiTheKitty@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I am totally ok with books that have no plot, but The Night Circus’s problem was that it had no plot or characterization. The characters were so flat and I could not force myself to give a shit about them. It was the best example of an all vibes book I can think of and taught me that I do not like books that are all vibes lol