We’re kicking off the 2020 rankings with my most disappointing reads of the year!
2020 has been a YEAR. Luckily it’s almost over.
On a positive note, this was pretty fantastic reading year for me. But it wasn’t without it’s disappointments. Not all of these were particularly low rated. But they were all books I thought I’d love to pieces. And instead I was left wanting. (There’s one or two I downright hated though 😅)
Without further ado: My most disappointing reads ranked from lowest to most disappointing!
7. Every Little Piece of Me (Orchid Valley #1) by Lexi Ryan
I obviously didn’t hate this book. I gave it a decent rating and a solid review. But I 5 starred the prequel novella so I was totally expecting to love this book to pieces. And sadly that wasn’t the case. I just didn’t get the same steam and tension in this full length novel that I got in the novella. So I was slightly disappointed by this.
6. The Kingdom of the Wicked (The Kingdom of the Wicked #1) by Kerri Maniscalco
Another solid rating but this was a book I thought I was going to love. And instead my feelings were a little all over the place. The concept for this is a total 5 star. But the execution and style left a little underwhelmed. I’m hoping some of my qualms are cleared up in the sequel which I definitely still plan to read.
5. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
I buddy read this with the amazing Autumn from Chapter Malliumpkin and this book left us both underwhelmed… This book tried so dang hard to be dark. It was constanting bashing you over the head with reminders that it was so dark. And it got old. It wasn’t awful, but it definitely was a pretty big disappointment.
4. The Chase (Briar U #1) by Elle Kennedy
I… did not enjoy this. I loved the first 3 books in the Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy so I thought I would love this spinoff too. But this was a hot mess and I hated it. I couldn’t stand the characters and everything just felt very surface level. Maybe I’m over NA, who knows.
3. Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
I’m still sad about this one. I had this on so many most anticipated lists and the cover is still one of my favorites of the year. But this story was a bit of a bummer. I loved the atmosphere and concept but it felt like too much story was crammed into 300 pages. So nothing felt fully fleshed out or developed. I wish I loved this one as much as everyone else seemed to…
2. A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Marrow
Another one I’m really sad over… I was so hyped when this book released. It has the most stunning cover and the synopsis sounded right up my alley. But honestly this book was a bit of a mess for me. I loved the themes and amazing friendship, but pretty much everything else was a let down. I found the lack of world building and magic system so frustrating. It was like things were haphazardly thrown in throughout the book simply to advance the plot.
1. One by One by Ruth Ware
I went back and forth and where to put this book because honestly I hated it 😅 But I totally thought this was going to be an all time favorite. I even originally purchased a signed edition (that I cancelled after reading the arc) because I was that confident. But this was big nope. This was boring, oddly paced, and the ending is one of my least favorite thriller endings ever. Skip this one.
What were some of your disappointing reads this year?
♥♥♥♥
Paperbacks and Planners 
These were some interesting opinions
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I found Kingdom of the Wicked to be disappointing too. I loved the beginning and it sounded and looked fantastic but I just didn’t love it as much as I thought I would.
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Exactly! I loved parts of it but others just didn’t quite work. Hopefully things are fleshed out a little better in the sequels!
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Yes! The cliffhanger was definitely promising haha.
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I totally agree! The ending had me hooked
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Some titles I DNF this year was The Girl The Sea Gave Back and Lore.
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Oh no, I was so excited about Lore! 🙈 DNF-ing is the best. I have so many fewer reading slumps now
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I feel so bad marking something as DNF but if I literally avoid my Kindle or the book because I don’t like the book then it is what it is lol!
I found Lore to be interesting in the beginning but then once Athena shows up I was getting super confused and a little put off.
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I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy Ninth House and Girl, Serpent, Thorn as much as you hoped! They’re both still on my TBR and I need to try and get to them soon. I also wasn’t a fan of A Song Below Water and I really wanted to be! I ended up setting it aside and I don’t think I’ll ever be picking it back up – like you said, it was quite a frustrating book to read because so little was explained.
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I was also really disappointed by Ninth House this year. I like the point you mad about it just needing to remind you how dark it was all the time. I really wanted to like this book, but the execution just didn’t work for me. I was also really disappointed by The Year of the Witching. That was another book that tried too hard to be dark, but it didn’t work. – Amber
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Ninth House was such a disappointment! Are you considering picking up book two? Also, I’m so sad that you didn’t love Kingdom of the Wicked! Someone ended up spoiling a lot of the book on IG and I haven’t picked it up because of that. So upset about it!
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I agree about Kingdom of the Wicked – I think it got overhyped so was always at risk of falling a bit short of expectations.
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Exactly! It wasn’t bad by any means. Just couldn’t quite live up 🤷🏼♀️
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yeah i agree with you on kingdom of the wicked – i feel like it hyped it up way too much which is probably part of why i didn’t like it. especially the plot.
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I actually quite liked Ninth House but I can see why others wouldn’t. To be fair, I have forgotten half of what happened in it though so that’s maybe not a good sign! My most disappointing read was A Sky Beyond the Storm, the final book in the Ember quartet. I’d waited for two years for it and was so so excited and it was…not what I hoped for. In any way. I feel a bit sick, kind of like I’ve been punched, whenever I think about it to be honest.
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Oh no!! Ughh there’s nothing worse than waiting for a book forever and then being disappointed 😭 That’s one of the reasons I tend to prefer binging a series rather than reading it as it releases. It hurts a little less if later books are a let down. Hopefully you read something amazing soon!! ❤️
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