Worst of 2022
A list of my not-so-favourite books of the year
Quick disclaimer - I know that for a lot of people any (or all) of these books would actually make it to their top reads of the year as these are great books, they just weren't books that I fell in love with.
01
Touch by Claire North
I really enjoyed The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and I do think Claire North is a talented writer, but I hit the 50-page mark of this one and just thought - I don't care enough. The premise grabbed me, the pace was fast, but the main character did nothing for me. If I don't care about the character, I don't care about the story.
No Review as I DNF'd (Did not finish)
02
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
I wanted to love this one, and I still feel that I'm missing out by not sticking with it as I'm sure it's a beautiful read. I just couldn't get passed the fig tree narrator. I've read unconventional narrators before - in fact, this year in my top reads one has a dog POV and another an octopus POV. So I can suspend my disbelief, and I tried to for this, it just didn't work for me.
No Review as I DNF'd
03
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Initially I was really enjoying this story. I liked the characters, I liked the setting, I was ready for King to get weird. And he did. I can't remember what page count I stopped at but I was definitely over a hundred pages when I realised that, while I liked the idea of the plot, I wasn't buying into it. Things were happening that were cool, but the logic of why they were happening (character decisions) didn't make sense to me.
No Review as I DNF'd
04
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
Anne Brontë was impressive to want to write this story. Mrs Graham is a fierce character who must have appeared pretty shocking for the time in which this was written. But although I have a lot of respect for the strength of the character, I found her unbearable to read. There's no character growth and a whole lot of preaching. The lens in which we see the story play out is far too narrow. A more objective POV or perhaps if the novel wasn't epistolary, I could have found myself more attached to the characters.
05
The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers
This is a well-crafted world with some fun characters but it lacks, very badly, a plot. I can see why someone would love this story as it has great representation and the writing is strong, but I can also see why someone would give up reading it. Every scene felt like filler to me and there were no consequences to anything that happened. 400 pages was too long - I much preferred Becky Chambers in novella form.
06
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
This was a fast and gripping read with great gothic tones, but I wish the relationships had been fleshed out more and I did find myself disappointed with the twist and its lack of originality. The dialogue was probably the weakest part of the novel. At times it was cartoonish, most notably with the villain at the end, but mostly it just highlighted how rushed relationships were.
07
Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
The pace is a bit of a whirlwind, and yet I didn't find it a gripping read. Lots of things happen, it's very action packed, I just didn't necessarily care too much what was happening. The tone was a little too breezy for me to really be invested in the story. I get why some would really love the tone as it is ultimately a fun, light read about the love of books and solving mysteries. Some light romance, some light murders, it's a cosy read of the magical variety but one that doesn't leave much of an impression.
08
A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle
This is a good mystery but it has a somewhat unsatisfying ending. I did read this one quickly so I think it's decently paced, though does have a repetitive feel to it as the character dynamics don't change much throughout the novel. It strongly reminded me of The Devil and the Dark Water (Stuart Turton) and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Agatha Christie) though it lacked the spark that those novels both had to make it truly memorable.
09
Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Sutanto
This is a funny book, but the comedy does get a bit over-emphasised at times. Meddy's freak out narration of what's going on stretches out the ridiculous moments for a laugh that I didn't always feel. I think this actually has the potential to be a better movie than book because, although it's well written, the jokes would probably land better for me visually so the fact that this is going to be a Netflix movie is something I'm looking forward to seeing, especially if they get the casting right as there are some great characters here.
10
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
This is a Pride and Prejudice retelling set in contemporary New York city. I liked that it was modern, I liked that it was YA, but while there are a lot of great changes, the disappointing ones really hit hard. It tells a good romance, it just doesn't tell the Pride and Prejudice romance that I came in for as neither Zuri (Lizzie) or Darcy go through any significant changes.