A lot of popular books that circulate bestseller’s lists and social media aren’t “worth the hype.” Even books that have stood the test of time and are considered classics are sometimes overrated. The following are popular books that I hated—not books that I just didn’t care for, or books that confused me as to why they are considered classics, but books that I feel really strongly and really negatively about.
I’m fairly sure that a lot of people will disagree with me, and I welcome differing opinions. Some opinions below may be strongly worded, because I felt myself getting riled up when writing the reviews (even though I haven’t read a lot of these books in years lol), but this is not meant to offend.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
So many people love this book; some consider it their favorite classic. I had to read it sophomore year in high school, and again sophomore year in college. I hated it so much the first time, that my stomach sank when I saw it on the syllabus and genuinely considered switching to another professor that was teaching the same class. A bit dramatic? Maybe. But my feelings were confirmed the second time I read it.
Honestly, I think people’s reactions to this book upset me more than the book itself. I don’t remember being particularly offended by the writing style, although I do remember some chapters kind of dragged. And maybe if I first read the book by myself instead of in a classroom setting, it would have intrigued me rather than frustrate me. But the idea that the majority (at least in my experience) feel sorry for the creature even after he murders so many people (including a child), is mind-boggling. They say, “But it’s actually Victor’s fault, because he made the creature feel unloved and lonely” or “But he didn’t know any better” or “What did Victor expect?”
First of all, I think we can all agree that Victor is pathetic, frustrating, melodramatic, and lacks any strain of common sense or emotional intelligence. And nearly every death is at least partially his fault, whether it is indirectly through the monster he created, or purely because his idiocy prevents him from seeing what is in front of him. But none of that makes the creature any less horrible. This is an educated (self-educated, but he obviously did a really good job, which was kind of an unbelievable plot point, but we’ll ignore that for now) creature, who obviously knew right from wrong, he admits he chose the evil path, but he justifies it all because the world treated him badly because he’s ugly. And yes, he did have a hard life, but it’s not a justification for killing innocents.
Long story short: both Victor and the creature are despicable and I despise them, and it bothers me that other people pity the creature till the end.
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
I don’t think The Parable of the Sower is as popular as the other novels on this list, but I thought it was popular enough to include it. This novel suffers from one of the biggest cases of hero complex I’ve ever read. Butler loves the main character, Lauren, and the main character loves herself. It is so incredibly smack-over-the-head preachy that I wanted to smack Lauren over the head with her own self-written bible. I find it really hard to believe that anyone would follow Lauren, as the secondary characters end up doing.
There are also so many plot holes in worldbuilding and in Lauren’s “hyperempathy syndrome,” which is a creation by the author to make Lauren’s empathy into a disease. It’s supposed to be clever, because in this corrupt world, Lauren is one of the few people who have a strong empathetic streak, but Butler pretty much only employs this plot point when it’s convenient. Speaking of convenience, that pretty much describes the plot overall. The explanation of Earthseed (basically the religion/philosophy Lauren came up with) occurs way too late in the novel, and Lauren has convenient answers to the other characters’ questions. Lauren’s religion/philosophy was way too simple. Butler tried to make it profound, but it really wasn’t.
The entire book is a failure in trying to be profound. Basically, an example of how not to write a dystopian novel, and definitely of how not to write a protagonist.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I cannot escape this book. Whenever I see a video/blog of “The Best Books I read in 2021” or of “Modern Books that I think will be Classics one day,” I just know that I’ll see The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and I’m disappointed in being right every time. I read this fairly recently, and I posted a full review on my blog, but I’ll reiterate why I despise this book and why it’s my least favorite read of 2021.
The writing was bland, dull, annoying, and lacking in subtlety or genius. It didn’t give justice to the plot at all, and utterly failed at providing the Old Hollywood atmosphere I was expecting and looking forward to. Everything from the characters to the dialogue lacked depth, and the speeches that were supposed to add emotion lacked any nuance whatsoever and were nothing more than fluff.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
A lot of people get heated at the idea of people not liking this book, which is why I was a coward and snuck it at the end of this post. I’ll admit it, I did it because I don’t want to be labeled a racist. But just because a book addresses important, topical issues, it isn’t exempt from literary criticism. I’m sorry, but the writing is really bad, and in my opinion, not up to par to write about such a sensitive issue.
For one, the writing style sounded like an author trying way too hard to sound “cool.” Maybe younger readers related to this prose; it was too juvenile for my taste. To be fair, I think Angie Thomas intentionally wrote it for a younger audience. Secondly, I appreciated that Thomas tried to add nuance to the characters, but they just fell flat. I found nearly all of the characters annoying, especially the main character. They had no depth, and none were memorable. When I was reading the book, I made a note that Seven, Lisa, and Uncle Carlos are my favorite characters, but I don’t even remember who Seven is or why I liked Lisa. Thirdly, everything except for Starr’s reaction to seeing her best friend being murdered (which obviously would be very traumatic for anybody) is so incredibly melodramatic. Of course, this is a YA novel, and the protagonist is a young teenager, so perhaps I was just too old to enjoy this novel. It’s been a while since I’ve delved deep into the YA genre, but I don’t remember YA novels being this badly written; the teenage melodrama and the juvenile prose felt unique to this novel and this author.
I appreciate that this novel sparked conversations. It filled a gap in the market; it just didn’t fill it well. James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk is older, but still remains topical today, and addresses similar issues. And it’s written so much better; I highly recommend it. Baldwin’s voice is so distinct, and reading his novel is truly an experience. I really can’t recommend it enough. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, but I’m sure you can never go wrong with any of her novels.
I was so annoyed when reading The Hate U Give for two reasons: 1) the writing style, and 2) the knowledge that I had to lie and sing its praises to my teacher (because I read it for a class) so I could be assured of a good grade and stay in her good graces. The novel should be separated from the cultural issue it discusses. It was written by a human being who was not a very good writer.
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I can’t believe these books are still able to get a rise out of me, which I’m learning as I’m writing this. Particularly Frankenstein and Parable of the Sower. And that’s the power of literature. I’m honestly truly glad these books exist, if only so I can actually have an opinion about something.
I’m kidding. I have non-literary opinions….
If you enjoyed these books, I’m glad that they spoke to you. There is something in every book for somebody to love. These books just didn’t do it for me.
