Today’s Top Five Wednesday is all about books that I disliked or were just ‘okay’ to me, but have a few discussion points that I enjoy talking about. Before jumping into the five books below, I’d just to like to say that if you do enjoy or hold the books below near and dear to your heart, by no means I am saying that these books are unworthy of your love. They just were not my cup of tea.

Nemesis by Brendan Reich

THIS BOOK HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO BE A TRUE LORD OF THE FLIES RETELLING BUT IT WASN’T. Nemesis received a ton of hype on Booktube last spring and one of my friends generously gave me her ARC copy of the book. I’ve mentioned this previously on the blog, but the characters in Nemesis just felt very juvenile and I did not like the direction of the plot of well. Fortunately, I passed my copy to my book-loving best friend, and she is highly anticipating the next book in the series.

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Solitaire is my latest literary disappointment mainly because I loved Alice Oseman’s latest book, Radio Silence. For me, Solitaire was very different than what I was expecting, and I experienced a major disconnect with the characters, with some of them being quite frustrating. I’ve seen Solitaire be compared to our generation’s The Catcher in the Rye, which I should have seen as a warning sign, considering the classic is one of my least favorite books ever.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

*HIDES FROM EVERY RAVEN CYCLE FAN EVER*

Definitely an unpopular opinion, but The Raven Boys did not meet the hype for me. I found it to be very slow-moving, I couldn’t connect with this characters, and I really didn’t understand everything with Glendower and the ley line?? I think I’m going to leave this series alone for right now, but maybe I’ll try a reread one day.

Just Friends by Tiffany Pitcock

Just Friends was a struggle for me to get through. I thought the book would be a fun, contemporary read, with its friends-turned-lovers storyline, but I didn’t enjoy the writing style or our two main protagonists. Listen, I have read and loved many contemporary novels with a predictable plot lines and romances, but Just Friends did not bring anything new to the table.

Tatiana and Alexander (The Bronze Horseman #2) by Paullina Simons

The Bronze Horseman series has been heavily (and in my opinion, rightfully) criticized by the book community for the male dominance and non-consent sexual content in this historical fiction series surrounding the World War II period in Russia. I think this element of the trilogy came out for me in the second book in the novel, Tatiana and Alexander. Alexander treated Tatiana horribly, and I decided not to pick up the third book in the series because of how many reviews discuss how Alexander further abuses Tatiana in the third installment. I know this series is based on a time period where men commonly had more power than women, but why not make Tatiana her own heroine, without a man??

Top 5 Wednesday is a collaborative group of book bloggers from various platforms who love sharing lists on Wednesdays. The T5W group can be found here on Goodreads.