Wherein I gripe about the books that failed me.
We’re only a bit more than halfway through 2018, yet it’s as if I’ve read at least two years worth of books that could use several more passes through the edit machine. Or perhaps fed to another.
I’ve been disappointed, frustrated, and just plain annoyed with these reads.
Seriously, my eyes hurt from rolling.
Artemis by Andy Weir
A woman takes a break from admiring her body to run a heist on the Moon.
I enjoyed The Martian (which I DO recommend!) so much that I immediately jumped into Artemis upon its release.
Gripe: Unlikable characters. Uninspiring plot. The MC, a woman-cum-teenage boy, begged the question: Has Mr. Weir talked with women much?
The only word to describe this low-gravity novel: Ugh
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
An amnesiac boy must run through a maze for reasons unknown. Mildly scary creatures pursue.
I’ll concede that I’m not the intended audience for this book, but this is just not quality fiction. My kids are discerning readers and I definitely wouldn’t give it to them to read.
Gripe: The characters wanted to be served as the Lord of the Flies or the Lost Boys of Peter Pan, but they lacked the flavor. After a lot of telling, a ton of repetition, and very little happening, I stopped reading.
Who’s trapped in the maze? The reader
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
Two women are connected over centuries by a quest for the true Grail.
This book saddens me. I love the premise, the prose is quality, and Mosse obviously spent a great deal of time researching this dual timeline story, but in the end I just couldn’t finish it.
Gripe: Labyrinth is the most overly verbose work of fiction my ocular orbs have pored over in many a span of the Earth circuiting the sun.
There’s descriptive writing—which I love—and then there’s writing where the adjectives have adjectives and a simple stroll takes as much time as Frodo’s trek to Mordor from the Shire.
En Français: Ennui
Any thoughts on these books?
Let me know! I would love to hear from you.
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Your last sentence made me laugh out loud. great review.
Thanks, Tasha! Happy to give you a laugh. 🙂
I feel like I’ve been exposed to so many bad books since I started reviewing. It’s so frustrating when ARCs look like they haven’t even been run through a spell checker.
I agree! There are so many poorly edited books out there, especially with all of the self-pubbed ones. It’s discouraging sometimes.
I am addicted to adjectives and adverbs 😉
I really do love them too, but only if they don’t make my eyes glaze over. 🙂
I haven’t read any of these, but I definitely understand the book gripe. Hopefully next month is filled with 5-star gems!
Thanks! I’ve already read two that I really liked!
Good thing I haven’t read any of these!
Indeed! 🙂
Aww that’s so sad about Artemis! I loved that one.
I really wanted to like it!
I can’t really comment on them as I’ve never read any of them. Pity they didn’t live up to your expectations.
I’ve made up for the bad reads with two recents that I really liked.
I have attempted Maze Runner. And it became my only DNF of last year. I just couldn’t subject myself to it.
I hate not finishing a book, but I just couldn’t devote any more time to this one. Glad to hear I’m not the only one! 🙂
I loved The Martian, but when I read the synopsis for Artemis it didn’t snag me, so I waited until some of my blogging buddies read it. All of them said I probably wouldn’t like it, so I was right. I love my book blogging buddies. ✨
Sounds like to you have a good group for recommendations! The Martian was so good that Artemis was a major letdown.