Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. 

Did anyone really think I would blow off this prompt? xD I love talking about my unpopular bookish opinions, because I usually find other people who feel the same way I do. I don’t like to just bash on books or authors (especially authors) for the fun of it, but it can be frustrating to hear nothing but praise for a book you really disliked. For that reason, and for anyone out there who is tired of praise for these books, I give you my Bottom Ten Books!

Sam’s Bottom Ten

10. Unfabulous Five – Graphic Novel by Jerry Frissen

This was a SDCC Graphic Novel book club pick, and I gave it 1 star. I found it to be incredibly misogynistic and racist. It relied overly much on stereotypes and tropes. I didn’t find much to enjoy in this one.

9. All the Crooked Saints – Maggie Steifvater

I tend to have issues with Steifvater unfortunately. I always want so badly to love her work, but most of the time I dislike more aspects than I like. In this case, I was just confused about what this book wanted to be. It was interesting, but I couldn’t really connect with anyone, and I do feel like the representation wasn’t amazing. I still want to read The Scorpio Races at some point, but I don’t know if I’ll give her many more chances to be honest.

8. Sleeping Beauties – Stephen & Owen King

Another book I wanted to enjoy! Initially it seemed to be saying something interesting about the plight of the modern woman but ultimately I found the message muddled, but simultaneously overbearing. I think the stories in this book would have been better suited to a collection of short stories, similar to World War Z.

7. Dance of Thieves – Mary E Pearson

After reading Kiss of Deception and meeting Pearson at SDCC last summer, I was so interested in Dance of Thieves. Sadly, after the first book in this world, it was all downhill for me. In Thieves especially I found the story overly tropey and predictable. I couldn’t get into the characters, and the romance was totally uninteresting.

6. ACOFAS – S J Maas

Do I even need to say it? This book was a bit of a mess. No plans to continue with this author.

5. Ink – Alice Broadway

When I see synopses that involve some form of magical tattoos I am always intrigued. Ink was one of the first such books I encountered, and I wanted so badly to enjoy it. The general premise and world is interesting, but the plotting and characters really grated on me. The plot is motivated primarily on people keeping secrets from each other, which I don’t find compelling. If you want a better book with cool fantasy tattoos, I recommend The Bone Charmer by Breeana Shields.

4. Batman: Nightwalker – Marie Lu

Maire Lu is such a delightful person, and I have enjoyed each time I get to meet her in person. It was frustrating for me to read her adaptation of a Batman story in the DC Icons series. It was more of a Bruce Wayne story than anything, which is ok, except they called it Batman! It felt way too short, though there were several scenes that dragged on for too long.

3. Four Dead Queens – Astrid Scholte

I know a lot of people loved this one, but it just wasn’t for me. In many ways, it seemed like the primary entertainment was watching people die in various ways. Their deaths didn’t have a ton of meaning, since they are predicted in the title! The plot structure didn’t work for me, and the romance was completely unnecessary.

2. Mirage – Somaiya Daud

Daud is a delight to hear speak. I got to see her at Yallwest and she was so passionate and energetic about storytelling and diverse stories. Sadly, her own story was not one I enjoyed. I found it tropey in a bad way. Once again, there was far too much focus on a romance I did not care about. Just wasn’t for me.

1. Roar – Cora Carmack

Whoooo baby I did not like this one. Toxic masculinity, tropiness I didn’t enjoy, and no matter how interesting the storm magic is it wasn’t enough to keep me invested in the story.

There are plenty of other popular books I don’t enjoy, I honestly try to see the good in books as much as I can. It does feel good once in a while to express my negative feels. Let me know if you’re salty about any of these titles as well!