What were the most disappointing or overhyped books you've read this year?

Emily bashing books is a mood

Six of Crows doesn't have those Russian inspired things, cause it's inspired on Amsterdam and The Netherlands. Which made me so happy cause I'm dutch, and it was fun to read something (anything) inspired by The Netherlands. So maybe it'll make Crooked Kingdom more fun for you, though I liked Six of Crows better. Btw, hutspot is a super dutch dish that every dutch person knows about (just adding that fact here)

Over a hundred books! You go girl! Me myself are very proud that I read 24 books. But hey we all got different goals, right? ❤️❤️❤️

I SUPPORT YOUR CRUEL PRINCE THOUGHTS SO HARD. NOTHING HAPPENED. It's one of those books that was written to be a series but there wasn't enough content to make it a series so they just decided to cut the exposition/opening of a book and make it it's own. There was no climax or resolution etc. Stop cutting long books into series because I'm never going to buy the rest or read the rest if it feels like you've just decided to charge me twice for one book.

This made me realise that even though I loved The Cruel Prince and gave it 5 stars I don’t remember what happened either....may have to reread that one 😬

I'm filming a Q&A this week so ASK AWAY!!! Can be about anything, doesn't have to be about books but can still be book related, you choose!

Fae are 2010-2020 vampires. Congratz.

LMFAOOO that sheldon cameo was everything

With Hitchhiker's, it helps to read the whole trilogy I think. After going through the entire thing it became one of my favorite books. The story is so complex and interesting. And yes, super silly.

I love unpopular opinions Emily so keep 'em coming!! Haha, I personally enjoyed Six of Crows and Strange The Dreamer but I can understand where you are coming from. Sometimes books get so much hype it ruins it!

I'm so thankful I'm not the only one who doesn't like the alcoholic female (unreliable narrator) in these new "domestic" thrillers!!! SOOO terrible. The worst ones for me were, "The Woman in Cabin 10," "Let Me Lie," "In a Cottage in a Wood" and "The Woman in the Window". I also don't know why they're popular. I don't mind an unreliable narrator, nor do I think it's unimportant to write about women who are suffering from alcoholism, agoraphobia, PTSD, depression, etc...but thrillers that only feature female leads who are alcoholics and portrayed as if they're going crazy isn't okay. I think the other reason these books really bother me is because they're written by women. It makes me wonder what these authors (and the readers who enjoy their books) think about women who suffer from things like PTSD, depression and agoraphobia. Becoming an alcoholic is not the route every woman travels, nor is alcoholism something to assume women who either work at/from home do on the daily. It's disappointing that more female (and male) readers enjoy reading about drunk, "crazy" women who have suffered from some type of trauma (death, burglary, divorce, etc...) and are trying to deal with the aftereffects.

Lmao right? Six of crows was a series of hey something bad happened but ohhhh it was all part of the plan 😂😂😂

I think I also gave Six of Crows 4 stars and I agree with your with that I was overhyped, but the second one was soooo good! I hope you get to read it soon! I read the first 2.5 books in the Wayward Children series and they were sooo disappointing. I just really don't get the hype! Loved this video!

You don't know how excited I am for this video! 23:59 minutes let me get some tea and chocolate

Loved the video and can't wait for the next! I'm right there with you on the Hitchhiker's Guide, I read it a few months ago for the first time and totally didn't get what all the fuss was about...

I agree with you about Cruel Prince and it made my worst of 2018 list. I respectfully disagree with Six of Crows as it was my #1 of 2016 and Strange was like my #3 of 2017. I agree there was love at first sight or instalove which is usually the kiss of death for me but Taylor's storytelling is so refreshing and beautiful that it didn't bother me. I'm curious what YA fantasies are tops for you because you don't seem to like the most critical ones.

I might be wrong I don't know but I feel like you might have the same tastes as Merphy Napier here on youtube. Do you follow her ? She reviews quite a few of Fantasy, Mistery, even some classics... I've already put Rebecca by Daphné du Maurier and The ocean at the end of the lane on my wishlist thanks to her !

One of the reason why I love you and your videos is because you give honest opinions and your opinions are different than mine and that's so important to have in this world.

The last time I have watched you is in your makeup vlogs I am really delighted I saw this channel. I will definitely binge watch your vids 😍

I totally agree with you, it’s ok to voice an unpopular opinion!! I really enjoy your book channel and appreciate your honest opinion (followed you here from your makeup channel). So far your book channel is the only one I really like, regularly follow and that ispires me to read more :)

You should do a video about books you DNFed this year

I agree, I haven't read the Grisha trilogy and didn't know about it, and when I read Six of Crows I was SO CONFUSED at the beginning!!

The cruel prince is like the buttered white dinner roll of YA fantasies

I hope you can do review for high-rated classics (or modern classic). Anw, helpful video and insight. Cant wait for the surprising/worth the hype book video!

Aww man you didn't like Cruel Prince? That was one of my favorites of the year. TBF, it's one of the few YA books I've ever read so I really liked it.

100% agree Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom are both over hyped! I liked them and I like the world was well but the books were kinda meh. I expected so much more!

I agree with you about the cruel prince. It was so hyped by everyone that I bought and started to read as soon as it arrived. It was so boring and I kinda felt like there wasn't even a solid plot. It had nothing original and it's definitely not a YA version of Game of Thrones like everyone keeps saying. The Prince was just a bully. And I knew she was going to go with "he can do every terrible thing but since he is pretty and has a sad story, let's just love him". When did the main girl even started to love him? We are in her head but somehow we don't know many things. Anyway, it was a terrible book for me

Lmao I knew six of crows would be on this list from just reading the title while on Twitter . I love these types of videos 💕

I only agreed with you on The Cruel Prince. The other first five hurt my heart.

Literally watched this while packing Six of Crows for my trip LOL

Glad I’m not the only one who didn’t like the second half of Strange the Dreamer and has no desire to read the second one

If you're looking for a good thriller I would recommend Too Close To Home by Linwood Barclay. It's about a family that gets murdered for no apparent reason one night and the story follows their next-door neighbors trying to piece the reasoning behind it and uncovering lots of secrets about both of the families and other people in the town. It's so fast paced and addicting, I really enjoyed it.

I read two Shirley Jackson books this year. “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” and “The Haunting of Hill House” both of which are obviously popular books, I was really disappointed by both of them.

For mystery/thriller I would recommend Elizabeth Haynes. Especially her book "Into The Darkest Corner"

Totally agree on Six of Crows. God! I am so relieved to hear what I wanted to hear about this book from another person. I tried a lot owing to its hype but for some reason couldn't connect. Still managed to read through the first book but haven't had the heart to finish the Crooked Kingdom yet.

OMG! I work in a bookstore and I totally agree on the "Domestic Thriller" thing this year, like what the hell was going on!

TOTALLY AGREE about The Cruel Prince. The romance was weird af! Also found it super boring, could not understand the hype at all!! For a good thriller I would recommend The One by John Marr ( I think I recommended it before but I thought it was really good and a unique premise)

Omg, I remember commenting on one of your goodreads reviews saying that I was pretty sure you and I both felt similarly about domestic thrillers and now I finally have someone on my side! I feel like they are always so hyped and then I read them and it's like: Wife drinks, Husband cheats, blah. Anyway, I totally agree that thrillers were kind of a let down this year, but my two favorite thrillers of the year, by far, were Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear (which is like a mix of detective and thriller) and The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager! The Last Time I Lied was also my biggest surprise of the year because I didn't like the author's first novel but this one was soo good! :)

Reading The Cruel Prince is like following a young Hermione Granger who does not have any magical aptitude or any common sense, but who is oddly hellbent on impressing Draco Malfoy and his family. Even so, it kept me engaged because I like underdog stories and Fae stories.

ahh i completely get what you mean about hitchhiker's guide! it's my favorite book of all time (i have a tattoo about it lol) but i definitely understand that it's not for everyone. the first time i read it, i didn't love it that much, but i've come to love it more and more with each successive reread and i reread it every year now! I'm glad you at least gave it a chance tho :)

11:42 LOL! I'm reading strange the dreamer right now and that's how I felt when they introduced the romance. I went into it blind and I LOVED the first part, up to the point when she showed up. The moment the POV switched I cried a little on the inside knowing they are gonna be forced together eventually.

altho the cruel prince and six of crows are like everything to me i completely understand what you were talking about in this vid!

Emily, I stumbled on your channel while gathering info on forming a book club. You are great and helped me so much. Thanks. I will be back and look forward to your videos. Mobile, Alabama New Subscriber

I have to say, I was disappointed with the book Sadie! I had such high hopes and while the audiobook was incredible, the story wasn't as captivating as I was hoping. It felt like there was no real creepy-killer-thriller type suspense since they kept the case so vague throughout the whole novel. I was hoping for more information about the murder and more of a build up to the ending! I would love to hear some of your favorite mystery/thriller/twisted books (that aren't sci-fi based)! It is one of my favorite types of books to read, but I can't seem to find some unique and truly twisted and exciting reads!

You said that you needed to read the Grisha trilogy before reading 6 of crows, I’ve read the first one but do you recommend reading the rest of them or is it ok to just start six of crows?

I totally get it about Rrrrr ^^' and I still have to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! Hope I'll like it! Sending you love in case people get hateful

Girl, I felt the same way about The Cruel Prince. Also, I agree with you. If I ever decide to read the second book I'm going to need to reread this first one, and I didn't read it that long ago!

As soon as I clicked on this I knew you’d hate the romance in Strange the Dreamer haha. It’s one of my favorites, but I get what you mean. I also see people saying that dislike the flowery writing (also understandable) - everyone has their own tastes ^_^ love these videos!!

I love this series of yours! ^_^

I totally agree with most of what you said!!! There were a few I hadn't read, but Only Human, Six of Crows, Beneath the Sugar Sky, Strange the Dreamer.... Totally agree!!!

I totally agree with The Cruel Prince, it was so hyped but I honestly don't understand for what

I always find videos like this enjoyable to watch! We are all entitled to our opinions. Glad you showed up to cut off the hype train for some of these books 😉😂

Are you doing a video about reading stats like last year? :)

I read both Six of Crows books and I struggled a lot! The main character (Kaz?) seems to have smart idea after another, after another and he is what 15-16? The plot wasn't creative, it was just built on tons of sudden smart and unexpected (but obviously planned in advanced duhhh) moves of the main characters. Yeah, okay. Are you planning on reading The Secret History any time soon? Everyone mentions it when talking about mysteries. I've tried reading it long time ago, but DNFed it. I do want to give it another chance, but I need someone else's opinion :D

Oh no! I’m writing this after seeing the thumbnail! I loved Strange the Dreamer! I thought it was so beautifully written! That being said, it was my first read by Liani Taylor. I read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series after and I really didn’t like it after book one, so I’m hoping I like Muse of Nightmares. Okay, at the part where you talk about why! I totally get the love at first sight thing! I loath that as well. I get you!

Have you read anything by Mira Grant? It is the other name Seanan McGuire writes under. I really enjoyed Into the Drowning Deep.

Oh! About The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I actually listen to it as an audiobook. It was still weird, but when I was going through it I kinda knew that if I were to actually read it I would find it not that funny. Maybe you could give it a try that way? Although I'm don't think I would listen to it again, or the next one in the series lol

Did you read Dean. R. Koontz books before? It's horros-mystery thingy, and i just love his writings. He is sick, his books are twisted, but sooooo damn good. I can 100% recommend any of his books. Try it out if you have the chance :) From the corner of his eye is such a good read for example!

I know you said you will quit on Seanan McGuire but I’ve heard amazing things on MiddleGame and would love for you to read it so I can know your opinions on it because honestly I trust your opinion the most!

You should maybe try the Louise rick series, there is a romance but it’s never really the main theme of any of the books, some are pretty dark. Also hitchhikers guide is 5 books when they are small like that and the ending is simply brilliant.

I felt the same way about The Outsider. I LOVED the first half so much and was reading it every free second I had because even though King writes good paranormal, his thrillers are just out of the park. So I was really excited reading this. The paranormal elements just made me so sad. But that said, I did give it four or five stars. Have you read 11/22/63? It's my favorite of his so far. It's fantastic.

I read the SoC duology before reading the Grisha trilogy! The beginning was a bit confusing but I was able to sort it out. When I picked up the Grisha trilogy, it felt like I was reading a prequel series so I enjoyed it. Laini Taylor is the ONLY author I give a free pass when it comes to instalove. I think the themes she explores in her books are done so well. I 100% agree with you about The Outsider! Everything up until the scene outside of the court house was amazing. It was my first Stephen King, and I kept thinking, I totally get the hype! And then the paranormal element came in...whomp whomp My most disappointing reads were The Book Thief, Muse of Nightmares, and We Are the Ants. I could also add in The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, but that’s more on my list of books I hated with a fiery passion. Love your videos!

The thing with the random twists is so relatable! I had the same feeling when read 13 Minutes, but it got really high ratings so maybe that's just me.

I 100% agree with you about The Cruel Prince, everyone was really annoying and their motivations never really made made sense. It was meh but I think I'll read the 2nd to see where it goes. I DNF-ed Strange the dreamer at 250 pages so didn't get to the instalove, I found it just started dragging once we were introduced the the godspawn. I may give it a go again, but it was my most disappointing read as I've been looking forward to reading that for a really long time.

I audibly hissed at cruel prince, "back beast, back to the hell from wence you came!"

I agree with you about Artificial Condition, it's easily my least favourite of the quartet. That being said, the next novella Rogue Protocol I thought was the best in the series so I'd encourage you to continue on =] The audiobooks are available on Scrib'd and the narrator is pretty fantastic IMO. As for my most disappointing reads, I'd have to say Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. I loved the first 112 pages, but then the love triangle appeared and the whole book took a nose dive. TLotR, I wish I could love them more but I just CAN'T with Tolkien's writing. Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey, book 3 in The Expanse series. I loved Book 2 but this was meandering and felt like partial filler to stretch the series out.

I felt the same way about the Themis Files. I loved the first book but the second and third went in a direction I didn't really care for. I do think it was a bold move but I felt like it left behind the aspects that drew me to Sleeping Giants in the first place. I was kinda bummed about How to Stop Time by Matt Haig. I'd been wanting to read it for so long because I thought the premise was intriguing, waited for ages for my library to have it, but it felt so mundane in the end.

I definitely support you on The Cruel Prince. I spent the first half wondering what was even going on, and the last half wondering why I was still reading. The romance was cringeworthy, but I'll still read the second book. Hopefully it gets better.

I just read The Other Woman and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure how you would feel about because I probably would classify it as a "Domestic Thriller" but it took me on a wild ride and I was not expecting a lot of the things that happened!

Damn....man...Strange the dreamer....I finally found someone who feels the same about it like me...!!! Gosh...The romance...and the ending...it was literal trash

I loved the book Jane Doe; finally a book with a strong woman

If you're up for a sci-fi thriller, I recommend After Atlas by Emma Newman! It's the second book in a series by can be read as a stand alone. The Dispatcher by John Scalzi is also a fun, quick read.

i agree with most of these! also, i think most books that have a lot of hype turn out to be mediocre, so i usually try and stay away from the hype train hahaha

I read Six of Crows first, then the Crooked Kingdom and a few months after that I finally read the Grisha Trilogy and the collection of short stories connected to this universe. So I didn't have the same experience as you. But I think you made a good point: the Russian-inspired elements were definitively more hidden and not as obvious as in the Grisha books. I think Six of Crows would be a better book with this element more present there. I still think the duology is a great book, but if I read it now, I would probably have the same opinion as you :P

I'm so glad I'm not the only one, referring to Hitchhiker's Guide.

Felt the same with Six of Crows first time I read it even gave it 3 in Goodreads and cannot understand the hype around it. Then read book 2.... became an absolute fan of this series! Reread book 1 and actually appreciated it more, perhaps because I now care more for the characters as I absolutely didn't on 1st book.

That Sheldon laugh tho 😂😂😂😂

I am just excited that you mentioned Rrrrr coz thats a gem from my childhood xD

I felt exactly the same with Strange The Dreamer. Loved the first half, wanted to throw the book out of the window in the second half. I don't understand why there has to be a love at first sight in EVERY YA book. Cruel Price, I couldn't agree more. Woman in the window, Wife Between Us, don't get the hype either. I did like Jane Harper's Force of Nature this year though. The romance in Children of Blood and Bone killed me too. Well, more or less me seem to agree :) We will disagree probably on Poppy War. I really didn't think it was anything special, so DNFed at 50%. Great one, thanks Emily.

I completely agree with you about Only Human. I've made my way through all the audiobooks of that trilogy of the last year or so and was greatly disappointed by the last one. I appreciated learning about where the robots came from, but I wanted so much more than the lots of nothing they did on the planet. Everything felt extremely anti-climatic and I felt let down. :(

Completely agree about needing to read the Grisha trilogy before Six of Crows. I haven’t read the first trilogy but just finished Six of Crows and feel like I missed something. I want to read the others before reading Crooked Kingdom.

Personally, I didn't read The Grisha trilogy before reading Six of Crows (and still haven't), and I still absolutely LOVED the book and understood the universe, so I kind of disagree with you. As for The Cruel Prince, it was one of my favorite books of 2018, but I can totally understand why you feel the way you do about it! Also, I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who was disappointed by Strange the Dreamer! Personally, I much preferred the second half of the book because there was more action going on, but I did hate the romance. I feel like it was really unnecessary, and they would have made much better friends.

I was actually disappointed by The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle 🙈 I was SOOO pumped to read it I literally squealed when I found it in an airport bookstore. But it didn’t live up to what I was hoping for 😢

Finally someone on my side about Strange the Dreamer! I feel like Laini Taylor was stretching the story to make the book longer. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is so much better and fast paced!

Funny story about that last book in the themis files trilogy....when the audiobook's opening lines were spoken in that weird alien language i thought i had bought an audiobook in another language at first. Lmfao im.so.stupid and couldnt stop laughing at the alien talk. I listen to the audiobook on speaker in my car and with windows rolled down some of the action and alien talk sounding like radio broadcats had a person or two turn their heads lol. Overall i reallly enjoyed it alot.

I agree with what you said about everything I've read on this list. The Cruel Prince was forgettable because there was no world building and the romance appeared out of nowhere!

Sometimes I Lie was so weird and I agree about the forced twists especially at the end! I left it feeling so dissatisfied as the start was just boring, I thought it started to pick up and then it was just twists for shock value. I actually tried to google the book after to see if anyone felt the same!

I feel like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy gets better on rereads. I was lukewarm on it the first time, but kept rereading it and liked it more. Plus, I feel like the radio series is a lot better.

I agree with you 100% about Strange the Dreamer. Why would something so beautiful ruin itself with a terrible trope. Also, I gave Six of Crows 5 stars purely based on the characters and their relationships because I was completely lost on the magic system and had to keep flipping to the front to remember what each power was. I’m definitely excited to read the original Grisha trilogy.

I loved the cruel prince but I’m not one of those people who cares about dissenting opinions I’m always along for the ride I’ve read it twice it’s just fun to me the romance was realistic cause in high school you randomly date someone then your like why am I doing this. Like neither of them were invested so it came off like a young relationship we don’t see in ya I think that’s why I found it interesting the plot I agree is totally from other popular books but in ya total originality is like almost not possible cause we have so many books. Love your videos em! I love your end of the year videos :)

Completely agree with your comments on A Cruel Prince, I thought it was very average. But I loved The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

yeah thrillers make up the majority of my worst books of this year. but the 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was amazing, thank you for recommending it!

i’m scared yUH... cant wait to finish this video

I am soooo with you on Strange the Dreamer. That book was so ridiculously hyped, and I just couldn't get into it. It was written beautifully, but the first half dragged so much that I almost put it down. Normally insta-love doesn't bother me, but this one really did. The best part of the book was the last 10%. I will also not be continuing with the sequel.

I liked six of crows, but didn’t feel inclined to jump into the next one. Maybe i will one day, but im on the same page as you, slightly over hyped. I also kind of forgot what happened as well...

I'm silently judging those who liked Pretty Girls, tbh. It was pure torture porn! The plot isn't even worthy of one's attention. Also, mediocre writing. The book heavily relied on those heavy descriptions of torture. 🤢

That's so funny, I forget almost everything about books I've only read once, but I remember quite a bit about The Cruel Prince 😹 It's probably because I usually speed through books really quick but that one was really slow going so I spent a long time with it. I'm sorry some of these books were overhyped for you, I'm definitely guilty of letting my love for an author or series influence my enjoyment, even when I probably wouldn't love the book so much if it was the first I read from them. If that makes sense 🙈

I probably should re-read the Hitch-Hiker's guide to the galaxy, but my memory of my impression of it sort of fits with what you say. It was sort of silly, entertaining, but I never got why people were so crazy about it....

100 books 😨😨😨 I read 27 books this year.. 🙌 gonna finish 40+ books this year