In 2020 it was such a good year for reading. I found some new favourites that I am obsessed with. However, with any good thing there is an opposite and these are some of the books that I am really disappointed by. I know that some of these are very popular books and these are controversial opinions, but this is how I personally felt about these books. I am not saying that no one should read them because you might love the books, but this is just how I feel.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

This book is loved by a lot of people so when I came to read it last year, I was extremely excited for it. However, when I actually got to it, I was disappointed by the message that is created around the representation of disabilities. This book follows Louisa Clarke who takes a job caring for Will Traynor who has recently been left in a wheelchair. Louisa sets out to make Will realise that he can still live his dreams despite being bed bound.

The first problem I had with this book was the pacing. I found that in parts the plot felt like it was not moving forward. My other issue with this book is the representation with the disability in this book. Will acts as though once you have a disability that your life is not worth living. That you cannot do anything. The ending seemed to have morally and ethnically apposing ideas and something did not sit right with me in the way this book played out.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I was really disappointed with this one. This was on my most anticipated books of 2020, but I was let down a lot by the ending. When NoemÍ receives a letter from her cousin begging for someone to save her, she rushes to help. NoemÍ is not sure of her cousins’ new husband and the house he is living in. Once she begins getting nightmares in the house, she knows something is wrong and being kept secret. Eventually she begins to realize she needs to find out what is going on before she cannot leave the house herself.

I loved the beginning of the book. It was looking to be one of my favourites of the year. The atmosphere and the characters were beautifully written. It felt like a slow burn mystery romance which was looking to have an amazing twist to it. Also look at the cover; it’s gorgeous! As soon as I found out what was occurring at the house, I was immediately put off reading it. The characters were creepier in a weird way than an atmospheric way. And the ending, I honestly just did not understand it in the slightest. There also seemed to be barely any Mexican setting in it whatsoever.

Regretting You by Collen Hoover

I have heard such amazing things about Collen Hoover that I was really let down by this book. It follows a mother and a daughter after their family is struck by tragedy. Chris the husband and father is killed in a questionable accident. As the two attempts to get along they find themselves being torn more apart by secrets.

I found the characters quite unlikable in most of the scenes within this book. Throughout I really hoped that the book would focus on grief and heartache, but it seemed to focus more on teenage drama than the accident. It needed the characters to communicate instead of making matters worse by lying. I do want to try and give more of Collen Hoovers book a chance, but this was not my favourite.

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

This was a book that has sat on my shelf for a long time and I think I knew I was not going to enjoy it. This is about two teenagers; Stutter who is the popular guy that everyone wants to be but has a serious drinking problem and Aimee. The clueless naive girl who has her entire life planned out but is a disaster when it comes to real life. When the two meet and Stutter decides he’s going to help Aimee but soon realises the situation is more than it seems.

The whole book just fell a little bit flat for me. Aimee seemed to have no personality and the whole narrative of the book just felt like a teenage boys rambling. The way that girls are spoken about depending on their weight. My main issue was that the book was completely unmemorable. I felt like the plot went nowhere and the ending was just a little underwhelming regarding Stutters drinking problem. I just felt like the whole plot was unrealistic and uninteresting.

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Finally, we have the sequel to Carry On. Carry On is the fanfiction that Cath writes in Rainbow Rowells other book Fangirl. It’s almost a retelling of Harry Potter with the chosen one trope but if the chosen one was not as good as everyone makes him out to be. It features a magical school and vampires and all the stuff that sets up for this to be a really good book.

I did love the first book; it was cute, and I loved the characters in the book. But this one just did not give me the same feeling as the first one did. It just felt so flat to me and it was almost as though this was a filler book between the first book almost a ‘second book syndrome’. The ending felt very abrupt and dissatisfying overall.

So, these are the very few books I did not enjoy last year. Overall, I had a very good reading year, but these were the few that let it down. I’m not saying these were bad books, but they did not work for me personally. Thank you for reading and let me know if there were any books you found disappointing in 2020. Please follow down below and I’ll see you in my next post!