Thank you Olly! I completely agree with your decision to add Matt Shaw to to your list. The garbage he spews out on pages and his immature, cruel behavior directed toward content creators is so pathetic…..

I agree with what you said about some extreme authors almost daring you to read their book. I love horror, but don’t jive with someone being gross just to be gross.

Aww, I loved Watership Down. I went in with very low expectations and was surprised by how hooked I got on the characters' adventures.

Hey Olly, i just wanted to say thank you for your open criticism of Matt Shaw. What he did was misogynistic and wrong, and his words and actions should be held to the light for all to see. I always feel grateful to see people speaking up about it. We appreciate you, Olly!

I can't stand it when authors get butthurt because someone doesn't like their book. Are they seriously holding out for universal adoration?

Your list included more than I thought it would as I thought it would focus on mystery/horror sort of authors. I like how you worded that they aren't for you, but you aren't judging anyone who likes them. Great video!

I've never disagreed with you more than on this Watership Down take, I found that book to be so engrossing and I'll never forget the character of Bigwig, and the way the religious stories they tell mirror what's going on in the present was so well done in my opinion.

My review of "Octopus" suggested that there were better tentacles in the seafood menu of my local Italian restaurant.

Great video. I love how respectful you are. 🤎

It's interesting how we occasionally come across a book that everyone else seems to love, but which doesn't connect with us at all. The two that spring to mind for me are House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski, which I've seen some people say is the scariest book they've ever read but which I just found tedious and pretentious, and Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw, which I thought was so over-written that it just killed any sense of tension or involvement in the story.

Watership Down is a modern classic, praised by most crirics, then, at the time of publication in 1972, and today. Its a great novel. That's your only choice here that shocks me. A beter book to try instead of Shardik would be his The Plague Dogs, if you ever decide to give Adams a second chance.

I like Scalzi's humor but the Kaiju Preservation Society didn't work that well for me either. He did however write it in only 2 months, after he had a problem with his planned release for the year and it does read rushed. If you ever try to give him another chance, I'd say try "Locked-in" it's a sci fi crime novel about an FBI agent who's been paralyzed by a virulent type of flu and operates a robot (think Full Metal Alchemist) around. It's funny and discusses the culture and fellowship within disability groups.

Really loved this video! You always have a very articulate way of speaking and expressing your opinions, and I couldn't agree more with what you said about Matt Shaw.

Hey, there’s still hope for Tolstoy! 😅

I haven't read any of these books except for Watership Down and A Court of Thorns and Roses. I struggled a bit with Watership at first, but the more I dug into it, the more I enjoyed. Conversely, I absolutely hated ACoTaR 😆A friend of mine tried to get me to read the sequels because she said they got better, but I couldn't get past the first 20 pages. It's interesting how differently people approach the same piece of art 😊

I KNEW Matt Shaw would be one of these. I've only read one of his books (Cumshot), earlier this year.... it was so fucking gross. To the point where it made me question if the Author himself is okay in the head... total edgelord.

Hello Olly, I really enjoy your channel and find that, while I may not always agree with your every assessment, I appreciate how you don't just dismiss authors and books out of hand; often times giving them a better chance than they probably diserve. Like in this video: You gave these authors a go, decided they weren't your thing, and said, So long, and please take your smelly fish with you when you go. I did a similar thing with Anne Rice. Loved the early vampire novels, but, over time, I just fell out of love with her flowery prose, homoerotic obsessiveness, and convoluted plotting. After Tale of the Body Thief, I had to let go. I can't speak to the other authors you named, but I really encourage you to reconsider Richard Adams. I have no opinion on Watership Down, as I have not read it, but both Shardik and its sequel, Maia, are masterclass novels that excel at world-building, plotting, characterisation, and stuff happens and just keeps rolling along. There are no talking animals, but there is a bear worshipping society, sexual slavery, war, intrigues, etc. They are both very much fantasy, but magic is not a thing, and there are no elves, dwarves, pixies, dragons, and the like. Maybe fantastical is a more apt word for these books than is fantasy. And I'll bet even odds that authors like Jeff Vandermeer, China Mieville, and Jeffrey Ford have at least one of these books sitting on their bookshelves next to Dune, The Books of the New Sun, and Gormenghast. Since you already own Shardik, please just read the prologue, at least. For me, the strength of the prologue or first chapter is what usually carries me through the whole rest of the book. I mean, I totally get it if Watership Down soured you so much on Richard Adams that you just can't conceive that he'd have written anything else worth your time to know, but I just about promise that Shardik is a whole other animal, altogether. Honestly, just read the prologue, then you will either put it down and think me off my meds, or you will dive right on into the Beklan Empire and thank me for planning your trip. Again, love your channel. Respectfully, Bunny D

Great video Olly! I'm intrigued to read some of these now haha 😅

I appreciate your honesty here. I haven’t read anything from these authors, but have heard loads about them. It’s always fascinating to hear a different take on popular books. 😁

I've not read Watership Down by Richard Adams, but I did read and enjoy Shardik. It's been decades since I read it, so I don't remember what I liked about it,but it was enjoyable for my teenage self.

Thanks for this video, Olly! 😊 I enjoy reading horror, but I’m not into extreme horror or torture porn. I respect your opinion and will steer clear of Matt Shaw. I have only read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, and I’m one of the readers who enjoyed it. 😂 I have never read Watership Down, but I have seen the film. I’m sure I can skip reading it. I’ve never heard of John Scalzi or read anything by Sarah J. Maas. I appreciate your explanations as to why you are no longer reading these authors.

omg! I read "Octopus" by Matt Shaw as well! My first foray into extreme horror, and it was almost my last.

I got the Midnight Library as a gift for a friend (having not read it), then tried to read it myself and hated it. Turns out they did too but were too polite to say 😂

I have just read John Scalzi's new book, Starter Villain, and I loved it. Not read anything else by him though.

Thanks for the heads' up on Matt Haig. My sister-in-law was recommending The Midnight Library to me just this weekend. Then she also said Stephen King is a hack who writes to a formula (but couldn't name books of his she had read), so flags went up. And my taste definitely aligns more to yours than hers. I disagree with you on Watership Down though. Yet I've also had Shardik on my 'to read' list for years and haven't picked it up. So maybe subconsciously I agree with you

I bought a couple Matt Shaw books out of curiosity but haven’t opened them… He made a statement regarding his exchange with the critic, but it wasn’t a particularly convincing one. Thanks for the interesting video watched the whole thing. Just finished Tampa. Cheers bud!

Thank you, Olly❤ You are appreciated

I’ve spoken to you here and on discord about my hate for Matt Shaw and I’ve read about 4 or 5 of his books all being the Game series. I get that there is a market out there for “extreme gross just for the sake of being gross” and sometimes it works but with Matt Shaw’s books, it doesn’t, my biggest issue is that although some of the concepts are interesting there is little to no substance when it comes to character development, I’ve never felt any connection to any one of his characters to the point where I hate them enough to want them tortured or like them and hope they survive. I still think that the toughest part of Matt’s books is the grammatical, typing and plot errors. He gave away a massive spoiler in one book by mixing character names up. Haven’t read a single one of his books where there weren’t errors. To be fair I’m a self professed queen of typos and autocorrections so I don’t really have a leg to stand on in that respect (but then I don’t make a living writing and self publishing novels. I had to pause your video to read up about this meltdown he had and I’m appalled. If I was ever inclined to read another of his books before, I certainly am not now. Also going to actively seek out the reviewer so I can follow her.

Hi, Olly. Good to see you are back on your feet. I thought I was in a minority with regards to my thoughts on The Midnight Library, as sooo(!) many people recommended it to me. I started by listening to the audiobook, but quickly gave in as the narrator's voice lacked emotion and depth - almost monotone. It took me three more attempts over the course of a year to actually finish the paperback. It started out mildly fascinating but ended up boring me. As for Watership Down, I loved it. I also enjoyed Plague Dogs by the same author. This being said, I was around twelve years of age when I read both of these, so I wonder how they'd stack up now? 11:57

Wow Olly, did you take this list from my brain?? While I haven’t read Matt Whatshisname, I did hear about that drama and felt quite icky about it. I hope you also are reading good stuff, and wearing cool watches. 😎

I've actually read all the authors mentioned which I'm happy I have as it's a good point of reference to your comments. Can't agree more with author #1. 100% correct! Also just wanted to say how much I enjoy your content, its intelligent and still kind and always resonates with me. Always fun to watch when I tune into my YT subs. Big thanks :)

Very interested to see who these authors are - let’s go!! !!! - Just finished this video review & the only book you listed among the authors you will not read again - I only recognized one title, which is Watership Down. All of the other authors I’ve never heard of them so I was glad to see that all of these authors are people that I have not read, but I am pretty sure I have reviewed Watership Down in my past many years. 🤔🤔🤔 Thx for your review. 👍

I'm tempted to do a similar video but one of my choices would be so controversial I'd probably be drummed off BookTube and marched right out of town.

All very valid reasons, especially with that first author, though I'm not familiar with Matt Shaw, that is very immature of him.

Varied list of suspects. I enjoyed the audiobook as read by Wil Wheaton of The Kaiju Preservation Society. Wheaton's performance was very good and seamed together a lot of rough tonal shifts.

I’ve never read Watership Down but I did read Adams’s The Girl In a Swing and, although I was overwhelmed at first by the minutiae of details he shared about pottery, the book really took hold of me when the eerie and supernatural elements appeared. So much so that I know count it among my favorite horror novels.

Your plot description of 'Old Mans War' sounded alot like Joe Haldemans 'The forever war'.

Never heard of the 5th author but I've heard you talk (and disparage) the others. I've only read Watership Down (as part of your read along) and quite liked it. I shouldn't have, it has everything I hate about fiction (overly long, boring in parts), but I liked it. In fact I live my life in a similar vein to BigWig. 🤭🤭

LOVE Richard Adams-totally understand your thoughts. And I myself had trouble keeping up with all the rabbits. lol

I'm one of those people who went into Watership with just enough skepticism to enjoy it, but I think of Adams as a one hit wonder. I have Old Man's Forever War sitting on my Kindle. Also have Redshirts. Checked to see if I had Midnight Library and found Humans instead. Weird. I must have read a good review for it, but I could have sworn I never heard of it. Life is short and I own a lot of books, but I still plan to read these...someday.

I just picked up a nice copy ($1.00) of The Midnight Library in a book haul a couple of days ago, lol. But I knew from reviews that it's twee/trite etc... Just wanted to see for myself. I'm actually more interested in the format (short chapters & "Howl" etc) than the story. I fully expect to be rolling my eyes as I read.

I've read five of Haig's books and enjoyed him and I gave The Midnight Library 5 stars on Goodreads, which I don't do often. Scalzi: I read Lock In, which was ok, but probably not good enough for me to read another of his books.

Hi Olly. Off topic, but ive been wondering for a while and think you are a good person to shed some light on this. I read a lot of crime novels. It's definitely my favourite genre. A lot of the crime books i read are ones with particularly gruesome or sadistic murders - for example Chris Carter's books featuring the Ultra-Violence Homicide Squad detevtice Robert Hunter. I rarely have any issues with the violence and sadism depicted in detective novels - the more gruesome the nthe better! Yet i struggle with the violence depicted in a lot of of horror novels, even when the violence is less extreme or less explicit than that in a lot of crime fiction. I would absolutely love tonhear your thoughts on this, if you ever want to do a video on this topic. Have a great day, amazing content as always! You are easily my favourite book tuber.

New subscriber here! just found your channel. love your approach!

I have both of those Matt Haig books and haven’t read either, mainly cos my daughter agreed with you 😊. I read Watership Down as a kid and found it unnecessarily long. Not tried the others.

Good video! Nice to know that I have good company in the minority of people who hated The Midnight Library! 😂 It was too saccharine for my taste. There's a trend with contemporary mainstream books to be super pandering that I'm too cynical for. I'm finishing up Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, which was given such rave reviews, and I'm not a fan. It's too on-the-nose and black-and-white, almost as if the author is condescending to the reader. As for ACOTAR, I also loved the first book and was disappointed by the second. I have the third and I am so hesitant to read it. Almost everyone I've talked to thinks the first is the weakest book, which is kind of surprising to me as I thought Book 1 had a clear, focused storyline (also, I love Beauty and the Beast retellings), but Book 2 was all over the place and felt more like the author's wish fulfillment fantasy than anything else.

I quite enjoyed Old Man's War, but I have to laugh at how you remembered it fondly because you were remembering a different book. 😆

Thank you 🙏🏽

So proud to see you stand up for Hailey and not back down even when his trolls popped up in your comments. Time and again we see authors invading reader spaces and getting butthurt when their work isn’t praised. Readers don’t owe authors anything especially glowing reviews.

It was Shardik that made me decide not to read Adams. Couldn’t get through the first few chapters. You’re going to take some heat for Scalzi :) I have to be in the mood for his books. If I want something light and fluffy, I’ll read one of his and enjoy it. I think the Locked In ones were the only 4-5 star reads for me, but I do enjoy his others when I’m in the mood. Peter Hamilton is an author I may not read again. I thought his books are/were brilliant, but there’s a strong undercurrent of adolescent ick when he writes his women characters. It was so consistent through all the books I finally gave up partway into one of his duologies despite the grand scope.

Scalzi is great and your recall of Old Mans War is way off, but that’s cool. Weird to single him out like this. Same for Midnight Library - I get not liking it, but hating on its a little like being mean to a cute little bunny. Certainly you didn’t ask, but love your content and you’ve lead me to some cool books - so I hope to see more “read this” content vs this stuff.

Colleen Hoover is someone I'll never read again and do not understand the hype about. I've read 3 of her books and the main characters put me off so much...

All the drama around Matt Shaw made more curious about his work more than anything else. Trigger warnings in a genre called extreme horror fiction always amuses me to no end. As stated by @duncanralston5112 she did claim to be a mental health worker, I worry for some individuals that may be relying on an individual that throws undesirables under the bus. I'll have to seek out some of work, especially as I may go the same route with self publishing, it'll be a point of reference.

Like your list. I gave Midnight Library 3 stars, and I won't say I won't read Matt Haig's books, but I am also not looking for them. Sarah J Maas I liked her very first series, Throne of Glass. To me she was a bit of a one hit wonder, in that everything after either felt the same or over the top to shock kind of thing. Watership Down I tried to read but also found it too boring. Always thought my kids might like it, but they didn't. I can't say that I really have a list like yours. I tend to avoid certain kinds of books which are usually by certain authors. I think maybe Ernest Hemingway may fall on that list though, but I have only tried one of his books and I am going to give him another go before I decide. As for Matt Shaw: his behaviour was not ok, not as a human being, much less a writer who should have just ignored other people's opinions about his work (there will always be haters and always be fans; focus on the fans people!).

Just out of curiosity, the Kaiju Preservation Society sounds very close to the premise of the Pacific Rim movies - but Wikipedia states that the screenplay for Pacific Rim '"was written by Travis Beacham and ( Guillermo) del Toro from a story by Beacham. The film is set in the future, when Earth is at war with the Kaiju,[a] colossal sea monsters which have emerged from an interdimensional portal on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean". Some coincidence ?!

Pretty shocked about Watership Down. But different strokes for different folks! And agree about extreme horror. Seems like some writers use the extreme as a crutch for bolstering bad writing.

Ugh, hated Watership Down and DNF'd it. Some authors I have no plans to revisit because I hated their books are Chuck Palahniuk, Cassandra Khaw and John Updike.

You have to read Shardik though, it ties into the Dark Tower!

I’m not surprised by Watership Down as I did find it a bit… dulling. However, it did provoke the right feelings. I think you’re not supposed to be able to see the rabbits as distinctly individual - at least that’s my impression

I'm glad to see you speaking out against Matt Shaw!

I was reading Twilight and the character Bella thought, "I knew, that he knew, that I knew, that he knew.." It went further but I didn't. I don't know the nature of the U.K.'s culture. I have lived the American experience. As an adult, I met people who said high school was the best part of their life. For many, high school was a war zone, and you didn't graduate but escaped to be a refugee. High school is bad for boys, but girls fall further and land harder. We were told, "When we leave high school, every day will be better." This was true, but with millennials, childhood culture has extended for decades. Girls who went through the public school system lived a life of daily harassment, isolation, and physical violence. The school was like a prison for which you committed no crime, and graduating was being released from that prison. That was true, but not anymore. The small-mindedness of high school mentality lives on. If a woman dares to rise up beyond the torment of high school, she is beaten down by those who label you, "Not like other other women." Women who refuse the role of being in a second-class system are again isolated and harassed. That's what's wrong with Young Adult fiction. It's a high school nightmare that lives on forever.

Watership Down is slow but I liked that about it!

Bro I can't agree on scalzi, old man's war reminds me of heinlein, abd I love it! 😊

Any chance you mixed up Old Mans War with The Forever War which is a brilliant bit of Sci-Fi.

Wonderful video. Too bad you didn’t like The Kaiju Preservation Society. That was the book that made me a Scalzi fan, though the humor was cringey. That being said, Scalzi’s public persona is a bit fractious. So I think it’s good that you take him down a peg here. 😜

I’m old enough to remember when my friends were reading Watership Down and my fundamentalist Christian friends were outraged by the rabbit sex.😂😂😂😂😂

I wanted to like Richard Adams works because I like what they stand for, but both Watership Down and The Plague Dogs didn't work for me. It was mostly due to the writing style (and some other aspects). Watership Down was also well-meant 3 stars because I wasn't into the story. 🥺

I remember mostly enjoying The Old Man’s War, but throughly disliking the ending. He also wrote a homage to Star Trek novel which wouldn’t interest me in a 1,000 years. I’m not saying I would never read another book by the author, but I can’t think of a good reason why I should.

I do love a bit of Matt Haig! Also Watership Down! Love that! Oh dear Olly - I’m sure there are authors we must agree on. 🙈John Scalzi is one actually - I’m not a fan either! 😂 I had the same experience with Sarah J Mass - fun in the beginning but god awful as it went on and I dnf’d the fourth book! Defo one for the fans! Also that series is fairy porn and couldn’t believe the level of spice in it when it claims to be YA! 🧚🍆😂 ok- so we agree on a few things! 😁

I liked the premise of Scalzi's Lock In, but couldn't finish it. I found the dialogue I read to be terrible (but maybe he intended it to be cliched or it was intended to be humorous and i just misread it).

I am afraid you got the The Old Man's War completely wrong 😅 Old men are being sent to war and given new young bodies to fight. I did not like that the main character is pretty much a super man but I really enjoyed the rest of the book.

As a Godzilla fan I Loathed Kaiju P S he didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Gojira came out in 1954 so I gave KPS -1954☆. Also agree about Matt Haig (and never wanted to try the other Matt)

Apparently you are not missing much with Richard Adams. Watership down was brilliant but not Shardik (according to a few people I've spoken to). But plague dogs wasn't bad.

The first auther that I think of that I will probable not read again is Erle Stanley Gardner he wrote the Parry Mason series. The thing was he got paid by the word so he always used Mason's full name and I think he did the same for moat of the characters and drove me nuts when I read two of his books. The other might be the Nick Carter spy series I bought a few and read two. They are not bad for short pulp books but I have read better and it doesn't help that you know every woman he sleeps with will die and or be a baddie.

Lightning rarely strikes twice for some authors. It's just the way it is.

Scalzi doesn't work for me either! His writing is very tell don't show, and I cannot for the life of me get into it. I've felt weird DNFing all his books when I've seen people only rave about his stories, so I'm glad to hear I am not alone!

the only author from this list I have heard about is Sarah J Maas and I it would never occur to me to read any of their books (unless someone gives it to me or something)

Appreciate you calling out Shaw. His behaviour was abusive and his attack on a reviewer was misogynistic. Also agree on SJM. Enjoyed the first ACOTAR book and became bored as the series went on, until she finally landed on my dnr list... if for nothing else, for her incessent repetious vocabulary.

Yeah I read The Midnight Library too - it was fine, but will not read anything else by him.

One author I refuse to read due to who he is is Nicholas Sparks. A colleague at work loves his novels and gave me one for a birthday gift (the Last Song) and granted I enjoyed the book for what it was, then I discovered what an absolute trashy human being he is and I swore never to pick up or purchase another book of his.

I'll not encourage sales for a cruel writer. I'll not lose a moment's sleep skipping the ones on your list. On a happier note... I've completed my story I wish to submit to your GarbAugust Anthology. It is in the hands of my beta readers! I should be able to send it your way within 2 weeks! 😊

I did a book report on Watership Down in sixth grade back in the late 70s 😊. The Midnight Library was terrible but I loved The Humans. My problem with Haig is that it's the same theme every time. I was one and done with Mo Hayder. Too gross!

Three I will never entertain again are Matthew Reilly, Donna Tartt and Alex Garland.

Well you did it this time Olly, lol. You got the comment section on fire 😂. No punches thrown from me, just an agreement about SJM. Here books are bleh.

I had a couple of Matt Shaw books on my bookshelf waiting to be read, but I have gotten rid of them recently after his disgusting behaviour. I also didn't get out of Midnight Library what some others did, I found it boring and surface level (for me), so I moved The Humans further down my TBR. Edit to add: Sarah J Maas is constantly mismarketed as YA, In my opinion, she writes NA (or just adult if you don't use the term NA).

Yep ... read "The Midnight Library" a few months back, and it's probably the worst book I read this year lol Fell super flat for me, although I liked the overall concept. The execution was terrible, very on the nose and just repetitive. So far, I've not encountered an author I would not read again ever, but there are some I will never read a book in the first place. Colleen Hoover is probably the biggest example xD

I said this over on Patreon and I’ll say it here APOLOGY ACCEPTED. 😂😂 - MJ

Richard Adams..Plague Dogs

What, no Tolstoy or Dickens?!

I didn’t like the Midnight Library either…so much so that I have zero recollection of what it’s actually about. 😂

Personally, I've found that John Scalzi-at least his lighter, more humorous books-work better for me in the audio versions read by Wil Wheaton.

Ive only tried two of these. I could get into Watership Down nor Shardik and always felt deficient for it. Scalzi, im no fan of. He feels like a terminally online meme author to me. Red Shirts for example, which he pumped out long after that particular Star Trek cliche was playes out. I know lots of people like him though.

Matt Haig in my opinion is overrated, in my opinion, i read Midnight Library too and was unimpressed. I read that Lessons in Chemistry book that everyone raved about and i was bored! SJ Maas has such a fanatical following, i did read her when she first started getting popular and now i cannot be bothered with her books.

The 5 authors off my list: 1. Colleen Hoover 2. Colleen Hoover 3. Colleen Hoover 4. Colleen Hoover 5. Colleen Hoover Having said that, referring to Colleen Hoover as an "author" is a stretch. "Gossip Columnist" would even be a compliment, but a little closer to reality

I have been reading a few more "extreme" titles lately, think I'll give Matt Shaw a skip. I want an engaging, well-written story not just gross stuff. Lol I loved Watership Down as a kid. 😂

I find Scalzi's humor a bit hit or miss, but in general I like his stuff. Haven't loved many of them. Btw, I think you're confusing Old Man's War with something else, because the old people are going off to fight in a war, with new and improved bodies, not coming back from it and reintegrating.

Absolutely hated Watership Down and Kaiju Preservation Society.

I think you confused Old Man's War with Joe Haldeman's Forever War. Old Man's War was about old people that get new, young green bodies and sent to fight in space but can never return to earth.

hey Olly just chiming in... you misremembered the plot of old mans war sounds like you're mashing it together with Forever war. In Old mans war old people are put into new bodies, I really liked that book but have been very meh on His other stuff. I Loved Watership Down. SJMaas is just dreadful. Midnight Library...oh boy. I felt that was one of the most trite and condescending piles of crap Id read since The Alchemist. Its that almost self help feeling book that I guess Im way to jaded for or something but damn some people love to be told how much better they can be if only youd look at life from a certain perspective...yuck

A good idea to bail on Scalzi now as his tongue in cheek writing style is a constant. For me, Scalzi's books are turn off your brain and enjoy the ride entertainment. Not meant as a critism, he made Sci Fi fun for me again, and inspired me to read some Golden Age romps. And if you didn't love Watership Down, flee now! I loved the bunny Odyssey, but found Shardik and Maia repulsive.