Top 5 Wednesday – Top Books I Will Never Read

It’s been far too long since I did a Top 5 Wednesday! I spotted this one on YouTube this morning and decided that I have far too many ideas for this list, and I should try to narrow this down to 5 books. So after a lot of deliberation, I have chosen my top 5 books that I will never read. Most (all but one) of my choices are YA books, as I am hesitant to choose an adult book. Over the last six months, I have been interested by more and more adult books, and in anticipation of my tastes changing, I don’t think I could guarantee that I wouldn’t read a particular adult book, so I am sticking to the YA books for this one (with the exception of one particular series). All of these choices are also sequels to books I have previously read, hence why I am certain I will not read on; I don’t like to say that I won’t try a book, but if it is a sequel to something I already hate I can say I’ve already given it a try, so can justify not wanting to even try it.

Before I begin, I would like to add a disclaimer: just because I do not want to read these books, doesn’t mean I will think badly of you if they are your favourites! We all have different tastes, and these ones just are not for me.

5. ‘Forbidden’ by Jana Oliver

I actually own this one in a bind up with the first book, ‘Forsaken’, and normally owning it would be enough for me to cling on to the idea that I might eventually read it, but I can guarantee that this one is just never happening. The first book is one of my least favourite reads of this year so far, and it took me far too much time and effort to struggle through (I reviewed it here if you want to know all the issues I had with it). For that reason, the sequel will just never happen.

4. Any James Bond Books by Ian Fleming

I have read ‘Casino Royale’, and while it was not a bad book, I certainly do not desire to read any more. Firstly, if I ever feel compelled to get into this series, I will watch the films (even though that is very unlikely, and I pride myself in having never watched more than 20 minutes of a James Bond film). Secondly, and most importantly, James Bond is incredibly misogynistic and sexist, and I had many problems with the portrayal of women in ‘Casino Royale’. It certainly left a bad taste, and so I have no desire to read any more.

3. ‘The Evolution of Mara Dyer’ by Michelle Hodkin

I quite enjoyed the first half of ‘The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer’, however the second half of that book went completely downhill; I cannot understand what all the hype is about. I detested nearly all of the characters (yes, including the much-loved Noah Shaw) and thought that it was a complete blow-out of a mental illness/PTSD story (more on that in my full review). I’ve heard that the final book in the trilogy is a cop-out anyway, so I feel no urge to continue any further.

2. ‘Crossed’ by Ally Condie

Now, we are getting into the territory of my two least favourite YA series (at least, that I didn’t finish). The runner-up is the ‘Matched’ series by Ally Condie. The short of it is that I hated this book. I hated the protagonist, I hated the love triangle, I hated that she was clearly going to get with the wrong person, and above all, it was one of the most boring books I can remember reading (review here). From what I have heard, the sequel is even more boring – even people who liked the first book hated the second –  so I can tell you now that it will never happen.

1. ‘Unravel Me’ by Tahereh Mafi

This one is going to be controversial, but I detested ‘Shatter Me’. It was such a disappointment to me, as I really wanted to like it, but I just didn’t. I didn’t like Mafi’s flowery metaphor style; none of it seemed to make any sense. I thought that Juliette and especially Warner were vile characters, and I didn’t much like Kenji either. Also, from what I’ve heard of later books, the only character who was actually bearable, Adam, gets worse, and we are meant to feel sympathy for Warner, which just isn’t going to happen from where I’m sitting. Just no. For that reason, I have to say that ‘Unravel Me’ just isn’t worth my time.

There we have it. 5 books I am certain I am not going to read. One final shout out to Lainey, the creator of T5W, and to Top 5 Wednesday’s Goodreads group.

I hope I haven’t slagged off any of your favourites, and if I have, sorry! That’s all for now, so cheerio!

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