Books That Are Not Worth It: Part One

Books That Are Not Worth it: Part One

By Haylee Crapo

A good reader should always know when they don’t click with a book. Maybe the author's writing style is off-putting, maybe the plot doesn't make sense, or maybe it’s too easy of a read. Either way, a good reader knows when to put one down, and this is a collective list of some books that, to me, just weren’t worth reaching the finish line for.

Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson

Reason: Boring!

Brandon Sanderson’s novel, Cytonic, is the third book in his series about a sci-fi universe where humans are at war with aliens. I have already made my thoughts on this series clear in the review I made for Skyward, but I will repeat them here. I bought the book personally, and then I abandoned Cytonic when I was almost halfway through it. At that point, I had realized that the plot wasn’t going to improve. It was boring! The main character had very little problems to face, there was a forced romance subplot that I did not like, and all in all I was losing interest in the series very fast (plus, I had learned that one of my favorite characters was not going to make it through the rest of the book, and that was not something that I approved of).

Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson

Reason: It didn’t grab my attention.

Before We Disappear is a historical fiction that takes place in the early 1900’s. The plot surrounds two love interests, one with real magical powers, and the other who must fake his own to survive. To be frank, I thought I was going to fall in love with it, but I didn’t. There was nothing special about it, nothing that really grabbed my attention. I made it through the first five or six chapters before a different book grabbed my attention and I wanted to read that instead. Before We Disappear just…fell behind. Once I put it down, I never picked it back up again, it just didn't hold my attention that well. 

Snow and Poison by Melissa de la Cruz

Reason: Too Easy.

Melissa de la Cruz, known for her The Isle of the Lost series, also wrote this book based around the Snow White fairy tale, which puts a twist on the original story. At first, it seemed like a perfect match for me–it was fantasy, I already knew the basic gist of Snow White, and it had a really cool looking cover–but by the time I had read three chapters I knew that it was way too easy for me. This would have been a book that I would have read in fourth, maybe fifth grade, not high school. Not to say that reading books below your reading level is bad, it’s not, I just wasn’t looking for an easy book at that time, and so I put it down for a different one.

While all of these books just don't seem worth it to me, they may be for other people. Just because I didn't like them for one reason or another, doesn't mean that others will feel the same. I encourage you to try them out for yourself, read a few chapters, and come to your own conclusion.