I know some people don't like 'negativity' when it comes to book reading, but it's all in good fun. I think we all like a good rant once in a while. : D
Here to attest: Your housewives video was hilarious and also the pain you put yourself through for that, you deserve an award for 😂 everyone needs to watch it
The worst book I read this year was The Room Upstairs by Kate Murray Browne. Now, I am not normally negative about a book because reading is subjective, but I HATE THIS BOOK. The blurb told me it was a suspenseful haunted house book, so I was excited to read it. They lied, but I pushed through, thinking it would get better. Alas, it didn't, and I ended up in a book slump for nearly two months!!!!! AVOID THIS BOOK LIKE THE PLAGUE!! The only one on your list that I half-read and did not like was A Spoonful of Murder...I should have listened to you 😆
It's really not that ba,d. I enjoyed the characters a lot, esepcailly Kajii. I think it svffers a bit from being a translation, mainly for the speech, which feels a bit janky - the rest is translated very well. Really the only reason I struggled to enjoy it was because it seemed set up as a thriller - from the blurb and cover - and it is really not a thriller at all. So I kept waiting for something exciting, and it never came. I picked it up second hand, so I'm happy enough. I think to enjoy it, you have to take it as is. And what it is, is a "slice of life" of someone who has been bogged down in monotony and expectation, and comes to realise there's more to life. As well as addressing societal expectations, especially around thinness in Japan. It's not a must read. But there's really no reason it can't be enjoyable. I do hope you pick it up. (There's just one really weird chapter that switches to 1st person for no reason- and svfferes from some of the same jankyness as the speech)
The Wasp Factory...great that someone reads that book nowdays. It is a great book because it is so unsetling. But you do have a valid reason about animals. . . . I still had a parrot and a dog when I read it. My parrot lived for 9 years. Died a year after I went to universety 🥺 I still believe he missed me. But maybe he was sick and I didn't know it.
I think Butter is not a thriller or at least not a conventional one. I read it after your vlog, so I expected it to be slow and it was. I just read it as a litfic and I really enjoyed it. So thank you megan for setting my expectation right 😄
I just read butter - because I saw the bright cover (which is perfect as far as I'm concerned) at a seconhand books sale and had to get it. I had no idea it was a "booktok" favourite. I did struggle to enjoy it a bit - but i think only because I *thought* it was a thriller - based on the cover and blurb. I read it coming up with all these exciting twists and turns that could happen, and was left pretty disappointed when they didn't. I would have enjoyed it much more if I wasn't expecting a thriller - because it's really not. I really think by the end, if you take it as it is (and stop waiting for a thriller), it's a pretty uplifting story. It was pretty weird at points though.
I agree with you about Freida's books. I don't understand their popularity. I read The Co-Worker and didn't like the characters, thought the plot had problems and didn't think it was well-written. I haven't tried another one since.
I'm currently plodding my way through Butter and agree that it could lose a couple hundred pages, easily. The only reason I'm not DNFing it is because I own it. Well that, and I'm trying to view it through a different lens. The serial killer - or is she - plot is really a subplot. In chapter 10 it switches to the eye of a different character who I like more than the reporter who starts the thing off. We'll see.
oh my god FINALLY someone who doesn’t like uprooted. i read it a couple years ago and had some of the same issues. it was so long and it felt infinitely longer.
Interestingly I really liked Uprooted but DNFd Bear and the Nightingale. So we are opposites! My worst books are Everyone Here is Lying (the beigest thing I've ever read) and a Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon. Also I watched the Real Housewives video soooo 😇
I read orbital this year which won the booker prize and I thought it was dull and repetitive. I was convinced i was reading the wrong book for most of it 😂 now I'm slightly worried about butter as I'd only heard good things
It's not a thriller. It's more a slice of life - and they can be kind of slow by nature If you are looking for exciting twists and turns - butter is not it. But if you're not expecting that and are happy to be along for the ride as character refind enjoyment in life and the important of things beyond just work, as well as how toxic people can ruin it, then I thought it was pretty uplifting. I was just disappointed because I was expecting a thriller, and nothing happened. It's not for everyone, and that's okay. But yes, it doesn't get anywhere quickly.
I honestly feel that as long as we aren't getting nasty it is okay to give an honest/bad review, how else can we form valuable recommendations? I have read a few Freida McFadden books now, but the more I read from her the less likely I become to recommend them. I haven't read The Teacher or The Boyfriend yet, but I have recently finished The Inmate which I had strong opinions about. I will still read her books though because I am a glutton for punishment and because they are so binge worthy and they do help me out of a reading slump. Look forward to your videos Megan and thanks for the list of books to avoid or read with caution :D
I’m curious about what you’d think of Spinning Silver, especially since you loved The Bear and the Nightingale. It seems like people who didn’t care for Uprooted love Spinning Silver and vice versa.
Your cat series, not quite figuring out why you did not read a Lilian Jackson Braun. I recommend starting with The Cat Who Knew Shakesphere. Read this in my detective fiction course for undergrad in the states. I think they are cute cozy mysteries this series. Worst book, the freaking series of books by Laura Gilmore. Just pure smut in my book, there used to be a whole section of books called Erotica, that is where those books belong. I do not need chapters of stuff like that. No I am not a prude, I just want to read about character development, not what goes on between their sheets, etc.
oooh I've been stuck at 30% of Butter for so long because of how slow it is. I enjoy the food descriptions and like some of it I like but i've been so bummed because I was SO excited for it. You may have just convinced me to dnf
I think the book disliked most this year was Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee. I wanted to like it, too! Its about a Black woman getting out of prison from drug charges and seeking to get herself back together so she can regain custody of her kids. It deftly covers a wide range of themes both delicate and brutal. But it just... never seemed to go anywhere? It felt like being stuck on a plane next to someone who has decided to tell you their entire life story, and while you sympathize, you would also like them to pick up the pace.
🤔 Maybe, just maybe , there is some invisible rule to things. 🤣We are liking each others "bad book" Like you love Bear and Nightingale and I love Uprooted. Yeah coinvidence.
Omg I read the wasp factory in Jan after hearing it was a banned book and was so shocking when it came out. I didn't find the violence troubling but I have a pretty high tolerance, I just found the violence unnecessary. Its obviously a thriller and the animal/human murder is important but the visceral descriptions added nothing that less detailed descriptions wouldn't. I also found the 'twist' VERY troublesome and promoting of certain -phobias and -isms
finally someone else who didn't like uprooted lmao everyone seems to love this book, even people who I often see being very critical about books LOVED this one, I felt like I was alone. I went into it thinking I was going to love it: the concept sounds like something I would love and everyone hyped it up. Probably my most disappointing read of 2023
Hey Meg, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this series to you before, but you may enjoy the Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunit cosy mysteries by Lilian Jackson Braun. There are 29 books spanning 1966-2007 and 3 short story books. All of them are around the 200-ish page mark and worth a read. Just thought I’d put them on your radar 😊
I enjoyed butter I thought Kano was an intriguing character, her harsh views on women kind of baffled me but as we learnt more about her I understood how she came to feel that way buuuut I didn’t know it was supposed to be a thriller🫣 I thought it was just a character study🤣
I can't stop reading Frieda McFadden because they always sound so good. They're not. They're really not. I will say they're more enjoyable listening to the audiobook because I sometimes don't notice bad writing when I'm listening.
I tried to read uprooted this year and dnf'd it - very glad I bought it second hand as I could at least justify the £1 I spent on it as going to charity.
i loved the housewives video. Just to defend Frieda readers, we do not look to FMF for a moral code. We know she writes about awful people doing awful things and we just hope they get their comeuppances. i would never suggest her books to anyone lol
Love the hatred, some things are just BAD! I was going to read Butter but have seen several negative comments about it and for 450 pages I'm not going to bother trying.
Meg, I adore your videos! The Wasp Factory sounds like my worst nightmare of a book! I LOATHE when writers put scenes of animal abuse in books. I can not read that! People (fictionally) being murdered is fine by me too!😂. I love when you say you hate something with “every fiber of your being!”…..I say that all of the time! And, I think it would be totally understandable if you still did the Goodreads mystery/thriller reading video and just refuse to read Frieda. I’ve never read anything by her and have no plans too!….sounds awful.
I like Frieda McFadden I haven't read the teacher or the boyfriend and won't only because the plot was interesting. The other three books I have read from her I really liked and no it was not the housemaid series.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
I know some people don't like 'negativity' when it comes to book reading, but it's all in good fun. I think we all like a good rant once in a while. : D
Here to attest: Your housewives video was hilarious and also the pain you put yourself through for that, you deserve an award for 😂 everyone needs to watch it
Freida books: make you deeply worried for society
Lisa Rinna book: makes you deeply worried for Lisa Rinna
And now, for your peace of mind and the state of your bookshelves, you should unhaul every single one of these! They sound putrid
Cannot believe the door book didn’t make this 😭
two videos back to back MEGAN YOU SPOIL US 😭
Freida's first book of the year is already coming out in January so I expect a solid 5+ from her in 2025 😅
I knew the Freida books would make your list 🤭😅
Frauda writes the literary equivalent of tubi original movies
you did it, you broke her writing down to the bare essentials
The Cat Who Caught A Killer is TORY?! Woof that's bad.
The worst book I read this year was The Room Upstairs by Kate Murray Browne. Now, I am not normally negative about a book because reading is subjective, but I HATE THIS BOOK. The blurb told me it was a suspenseful haunted house book, so I was excited to read it. They lied, but I pushed through, thinking it would get better. Alas, it didn't, and I ended up in a book slump for nearly two months!!!!! AVOID THIS BOOK LIKE THE PLAGUE!! The only one on your list that I half-read and did not like was A Spoonful of Murder...I should have listened to you 😆
Why are Freida's book so popular???
Hearing you talk about Butter actually made me want to read it 😅 sounds up my alley hahah 😂
It's really not that ba,d. I enjoyed the characters a lot, esepcailly Kajii.
I think it svffers a bit from being a translation, mainly for the speech, which feels a bit janky - the rest is translated very well.
Really the only reason I struggled to enjoy it was because it seemed set up as a thriller - from the blurb and cover - and it is really not a thriller at all. So I kept waiting for something exciting, and it never came.
I picked it up second hand, so I'm happy enough. I think to enjoy it, you have to take it as is. And what it is, is a "slice of life" of someone who has been bogged down in monotony and expectation, and comes to realise there's more to life. As well as addressing societal expectations, especially around thinness in Japan.
It's not a must read. But there's really no reason it can't be enjoyable. I do hope you pick it up.
(There's just one really weird chapter that switches to 1st person for no reason- and svfferes from some of the same jankyness as the speech)
Lately I'm only reading mediocre books or DNFing, so I'm glad to hear you rant about some books too😂
I feel like you should give yourself a Frieda pass since you know you despise them so much. Be nice to yourself next year 😂
As a teacher, I detested The Teacher.
The Wasp Factory...great that someone reads that book nowdays. It is a great book because it is so unsetling. But you do have a valid reason about animals.
.
.
.
I still had a parrot and a dog when I read it. My parrot lived for 9 years. Died a year after I went to universety 🥺 I still believe he missed me. But maybe he was sick and I didn't know it.
I think Butter is not a thriller or at least not a conventional one. I read it after your vlog, so I expected it to be slow and it was. I just read it as a litfic and I really enjoyed it. So thank you megan for setting my expectation right 😄
You've nailed what I dislike about Novik's style and why I preferred Winternight
I need to make a video of some of my most hated! 😂 Unfortunately that is a long list!
Thank God you posted this video and the goodreads one in time because I was about to buy The Teacher for my dad and THIS JUST SAVED ME🙏🏻🙏🏻
I just read butter - because I saw the bright cover (which is perfect as far as I'm concerned) at a seconhand books sale and had to get it. I had no idea it was a "booktok" favourite.
I did struggle to enjoy it a bit - but i think only because I *thought* it was a thriller - based on the cover and blurb.
I read it coming up with all these exciting twists and turns that could happen, and was left pretty disappointed when they didn't.
I would have enjoyed it much more if I wasn't expecting a thriller - because it's really not.
I really think by the end, if you take it as it is (and stop waiting for a thriller), it's a pretty uplifting story. It was pretty weird at points though.
My worst book this year was Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
The Teacher was one of my worst reads this year too 😅
I agree with you about Freida's books. I don't understand their popularity. I read The Co-Worker and didn't like the characters, thought the plot had problems and didn't think it was well-written. I haven't tried another one since.
The Teacher was such a miss for me this year too 😅
“No, no, you’re not getting the nuances of cat narration” IM LITERALLY DYING
I'm currently plodding my way through Butter and agree that it could lose a couple hundred pages, easily. The only reason I'm not DNFing it is because I own it. Well that, and I'm trying to view it through a different lens. The serial killer - or is she - plot is really a subplot. In chapter 10 it switches to the eye of a different character who I like more than the reporter who starts the thing off. We'll see.
I read Uprooted this year too and felt the same way.
oh my god FINALLY someone who doesn’t like uprooted. i read it a couple years ago and had some of the same issues. it was so long and it felt infinitely longer.
Interestingly I really liked Uprooted but DNFd Bear and the Nightingale. So we are opposites! My worst books are Everyone Here is Lying (the beigest thing I've ever read) and a Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon. Also I watched the Real Housewives video soooo 😇
same for me I remember really liking uprooted but hating bear and the nightingale
I read orbital this year which won the booker prize and I thought it was dull and repetitive. I was convinced i was reading the wrong book for most of it 😂 now I'm slightly worried about butter as I'd only heard good things
It's not a thriller.
It's more a slice of life - and they can be kind of slow by nature
If you are looking for exciting twists and turns - butter is not it.
But if you're not expecting that and are happy to be along for the ride as character refind enjoyment in life and the important of things beyond just work, as well as how toxic people can ruin it, then I thought it was pretty uplifting.
I was just disappointed because I was expecting a thriller, and nothing happened.
It's not for everyone, and that's okay.
But yes, it doesn't get anywhere quickly.
I honestly feel that as long as we aren't getting nasty it is okay to give an honest/bad review, how else can we form valuable recommendations? I have read a few Freida McFadden books now, but the more I read from her the less likely I become to recommend them. I haven't read The Teacher or The Boyfriend yet, but I have recently finished The Inmate which I had strong opinions about. I will still read her books though because I am a glutton for punishment and because they are so binge worthy and they do help me out of a reading slump. Look forward to your videos Megan and thanks for the list of books to avoid or read with caution :D
I’m curious about what you’d think of Spinning Silver, especially since you loved The Bear and the Nightingale. It seems like people who didn’t care for Uprooted love Spinning Silver and vice versa.
I ate The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden up. I was so entertained.
Same!!!
Your cat series, not quite figuring out why you did not read a Lilian Jackson Braun. I recommend starting with The Cat Who Knew Shakesphere. Read this in my detective fiction course for undergrad in the states. I think they are cute cozy mysteries this series.
Worst book, the freaking series of books by Laura Gilmore. Just pure smut in my book, there used to be a whole section of books called Erotica, that is where those books belong. I do not need chapters of stuff like that. No I am not a prude, I just want to read about character development, not what goes on between their sheets, etc.
Freida is my guilty pleasure reads… like watching a trashy tv show
Thank you for your commentary on Butter, it was so dull. Biggest disappointment of the year for me.
I cannot believe that I am here this quickly!
oh yeah i eat these videos up. spite fuels me.
oooh I've been stuck at 30% of Butter for so long because of how slow it is. I enjoy the food descriptions and like some of it I like but i've been so bummed because I was SO excited for it. You may have just convinced me to dnf
I think the book disliked most this year was Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee. I wanted to like it, too! Its about a Black woman getting out of prison from drug charges and seeking to get herself back together so she can regain custody of her kids. It deftly covers a wide range of themes both delicate and brutal. But it just... never seemed to go anywhere? It felt like being stuck on a plane next to someone who has decided to tell you their entire life story, and while you sympathize, you would also like them to pick up the pace.
🤔 Maybe, just maybe , there is some invisible rule to things. 🤣We are liking each others "bad book" Like you love Bear and Nightingale and I love Uprooted. Yeah coinvidence.
Omg I read the wasp factory in Jan after hearing it was a banned book and was so shocking when it came out. I didn't find the violence troubling but I have a pretty high tolerance, I just found the violence unnecessary. Its obviously a thriller and the animal/human murder is important but the visceral descriptions added nothing that less detailed descriptions wouldn't. I also found the 'twist' VERY troublesome and promoting of certain -phobias and -isms
I agree with you about Frieda. I’ve read several of her books, and they were all terrible. I won’t be picking anymore up!
finally someone else who didn't like uprooted lmao everyone seems to love this book, even people who I often see being very critical about books LOVED this one, I felt like I was alone. I went into it thinking I was going to love it: the concept sounds like something I would love and everyone hyped it up. Probably my most disappointing read of 2023
Hey Meg, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this series to you before, but you may enjoy the Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunit cosy mysteries by Lilian Jackson Braun. There are 29 books spanning 1966-2007 and 3 short story books. All of them are around the 200-ish page mark and worth a read. Just thought I’d put them on your radar 😊
Tinsley Mortimer IS Minty Davenport. If you google her, you'll know all you need to know.
I was a Freida girly but I dnfed the teacher after a few pages, because I was disgusted. Why does this exist??
Not The Boyfriend and The Teacher!!! I LOVE those books 😂😂😂
I loved the housewives video, it was wild 😂
Your Housewives video is how I found you!
Currently being forced to read the boyfriend for my office book club and 🥴 Freida hates nuance I fear.
I subscribed the second that you said Butter…. That was one of my very few DNFs of the year.
Also, have you read Out ? That’s a very fun Japanese thriller
I HATED THE TEACHER SO MUCH AND I FEEL SO VALIDATED THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
I enjoyed butter I thought Kano was an intriguing character, her harsh views on women kind of baffled me but as we learnt more about her I understood how she came to feel that way buuuut I didn’t know it was supposed to be a thriller🫣 I thought it was just a character study🤣
I can't stop reading Frieda McFadden because they always sound so good. They're not. They're really not. I will say they're more enjoyable listening to the audiobook because I sometimes don't notice bad writing when I'm listening.
I loved the wasp factory oops
I tried to read uprooted this year and dnf'd it - very glad I bought it second hand as I could at least justify the £1 I spent on it as going to charity.
i loved the housewives video. Just to defend Frieda readers, we do not look to FMF for a moral code. We know she writes about awful people doing awful things and we just hope they get their comeuppances. i would never suggest her books to anyone lol
I have never like Ian Banks books but i did like the Wasp Factory. It was a difficult read though.
My least favourite book of the year was Mind Your Own Murder by Patti Larsen - massively poor excuse of a cosy mystery book
The most popular thrillers generally don't seem very good to me. Nowawadays they're all twists and the characters are so flimsy.
Goodness I love a book roast!
If you have strong thoughts on cat narrators, PLEASE tell me you've read a Warrior Cats book 👀
Have you read 'The Cat Who ....' books by Lillian Jackson Braun - there's loads of them - I'd call them cosy crime - you might like them.
Love the hatred, some things are just BAD! I was going to read Butter but have seen several negative comments about it and for 450 pages I'm not going to bother trying.
My work book club keeps picking Freida books and I'm about ready to quit 😅 I did like the dual timelines in The Boyfriend tbf but please no more
Dun dun Duuuuhn! One of my most anticipated videos of the year!
Meg, I adore your videos! The Wasp Factory sounds like my worst nightmare of a book! I LOATHE when writers put scenes of animal abuse in books. I can not read that! People (fictionally) being murdered is fine by me too!😂. I love when you say you hate something with “every fiber of your being!”…..I say that all of the time!
And, I think it would be totally understandable if you still did the Goodreads mystery/thriller reading video and just refuse to read Frieda. I’ve never read anything by her and have no plans too!….sounds awful.
I haven’t read any of these
I’ve only read Shine… and it was borrrrrring 😂
Seeing you hating on the books I also hated made me instant subscribe lol 🙌
My worst was Alex Michaelides' latest book!
Honestly, I love you’re a Freida hater. I’m kinda sick of majority lukewarm takes about her books. I gave her 3 shots, they were all so bad.
freida books are so poorly written
That's what I've heard too 😮
I like Frieda McFadden I haven't read the teacher or the boyfriend and won't only because the plot was interesting. The other three books I have read from her I really liked and no it was not the housemaid series.
💖💖✨
💗💗
I suspect that Frieda McFadden (pen name) is actually a man and that’s why the female characters are the way they are.
@mattthepageturner OMG that is so funny! I never read any of her books, but I have seen my share of Tubi Original movies 😅😂🤣