Most Disappointing Reads Of 2021

I hate talking negatively about books but when recapping the year it's hard to avoid talking about the books that let you down. Last year I did a least favourites of the year, but I decided to go back to doing disappointing instead of least favourite this year as I never want to claim that a book is bad. Books are so subjective that what I dislike, someone else loves. So, instead of talking about the books I liked least in 2021, I thought I would share the books I had high expectations for that ended up disappointing me. These are not necessarily books I disliked, most of these were three star reads, just books I expected more from.

 

1. Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson

It pains me that this was probably my most disappointing book of the year as it was also my most anticipated. I love Morgan Matson and was excited to get a new release from her after a little while. Take Me Home Tonight follows two best friends as they spend a night in New York City and all sorts of chaos ensues. I really thought with a New York City setting, a great Morgan Matson friendship and her brilliant writing that this would be another hit for me, but it sadly wasn't. It was just too unbelievable and chaotic for me and I really didn't enjoy the friendship between the main characters. There was also a really weird and unnecessary subplot that I often wonder if I dreamt. This just wasn't for me at all.

2. We Are Inevitable by Gayle Forman

Another new release by an author I have loved in the past and another disappointment. We Are Inevitable follows Aaron who is running a bookstore in a small town with her father and feels like he is being left behind. This was the perfect book for so many people but it was not the book for me. I was incredibly bored for most of it and really hated our main character. Aaron basically hates everyone so is incredibly rude to everyone and that is something I just can't stand. I didn't like a lot of his choices or actions and that really made it hard for me to enjoy the rest of the book. I also had some issues with the way addiction was discussed at points. 

3. The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

I had such high hopes for this one and it just didn't live up to my expectations. This follows Alexa and Drew who get stuck in an elevator together and while there Alexa agrees to be Drew's fake girlfriend for his ex's wedding. Stuck in an elevator, fake dating and weddings are three things I love in my romance books. However, these things were all only part of the story for the first quarter of the book. After that it was just boring and repetitive. I stopped caring about this couple after the first trips to see each other. This could have been my perfect book had it taken place over just the weekend of the wedding but the rest of it I just didn't care about.

4. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

I know this is a majorly unpopular opinion so please don't hate me! This is one of the most hyped books in the romance community so when I finally picked it up in 2021 I went into it with very high expectations. I think that is where my problems came from. This is an enemies to lovers, workplace romance following Lucy and Josh, work rivals who are competing for the same promotion. I enjoyed this book enough, I gave it 3.5 stars, but I couldn't work out why everyone loved it so much. I thought it was an average enemies to lovers, workplace romance with decent characters but nothing particularly special. The hype made this one a disappointment for me.

5. The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Christina Lauren have been a bit hit or miss for me since I discovered them in 2020, so it shouldn't have been much of a surprise that I didn't end up loving their latest release. However, I was super interested in this premise and had heard some great things about it so did end up going in with high expectations. It follows a single mother who signs up to a new dating app that finds your soulmate based on a DNA sample. When she receives one of the highest matches ever with the founder of the company, she agrees to fake date him in order to get the company more publicity. This was fine but nothing all that special. I was bored for a lot of it and didn't enjoy the conflict and how that was handled. Another one that a lot of people enjoyed but it just wasn't for me.

There was probably a lot of unpopular opinions there but those are five books that were disappointing for me in 2021. As I said, they were not necessarily bad books but just didn't live up to my expectations. Books are so subjective that they can't possibly appeal to everyone and that's what makes it so exciting that there are books out there for everyone to fall in love with. 

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

Sophie :)