Hello lovely bookish friends! Time for another fun Top Ten Tuesday post!!!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and has been moved to That Artsy Reader Girl since January 16, 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This week’s topic is Books I Disliked/Hated but Am Really Glad I Read (maybe for bragging rights…) I had a really difficult time with this topic. I had to go through my Goodreads and go over all the books I’ve read and really think about them. Surprisingly, I was able to come up with 6 books. They’re a mix of books from my high school required reading and books I don’t necessarily hate, but I didn’t like them as much as I thought I would.
So, without further ado, here are the Books I Didn’t Really Enjoy, But Am Really Glad I Finished Reading.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad – I didn’t enjoy reading this in high school. It just did not sit well with me and I felt so uneasy throughout the entire time. I just thought that the narrative was a bit disturbing and not my cup of tea. But, it’s a classic and required for class so yay me for actually finishing it and not buying the cliffnotes version.
Just Another Girl by Elizabeth Eulberg – I actually had this book on another TTT. So, basically I didn’t like this book that much because the characters just really annoyed me. One of the MC’s POV, Hope, was incredibly exhausting that I thought about DNFing the book. I almost did a few times, but the other MC’s POV, Parker, was a little better and had more depth so I liked that. Overall, this book wasn’t amazing, but also not completely horrible… so yeah I guess I’m a bit glad that I finished it. I really don’t like giving up on books.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain – I don’t really get a long with classsics, but there are several that I enjoyed and loved. This book wasn’t one of those. I don’t know what it is about Huckleberry Finn, but I DID NOT LIKE this at all. I dreaded having to read it and I just could not get into the story. It was just soooo BORING to me. I’ve never read it again and I did not finish any other Mark Twain book. At least I actually made it through this one…even if I disliked every moment.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – Here’s another classic that I could not get into. I just didn’t like the story and couldn’t really connect with the characters. I’m still kind of glad I read it since I enjoyed learning a bit about the Chinese culture (I’m 1/4 Chinese).
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge – I love fairytale retellings and I was so excited for this book, but it wasn’t what I expected. Not a bad thing, but also not so great. I was a bit confused on some parts and I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Overall, it was okay… I don’t think I dislike this book, but I was frustrated with so many things. And the writing wasn’t that amazing either. That being said, I’m happy I actually finished it cause it was pretty unique and interesting. I 100% would never read this book again and really want to give away my copy to someone who might actually like/love this book, but that darn cover is just too gorgeous.
Odd and True by Cat Winters – I just did a review for this book HERE, so if you’ve read that, then you know why I didn’t like this book that much. Odd and True was just not for me AT ALL. The premise was interesting and there were a few enjoyable parts, but it just didn’t hold my interest. As I mentioned in my review, I read this probably 3-4 times before I actually finished the entire book. BUT, the good thing here is I didn’t DNF!!! Took me a few times, but I got to the end!
Well that’s the end of my list. What are some books you didn’t really like, but are happy you actually finished reading them? Leave your links in the comments so I can check out your post.
As always, have a wonderful day!
Sincerely Karen Jo 