Big Named Authors That Disappointed You?

Cobalt Jade · Feb 26, 2019

Apologies if it's already been covered, but Holly Black.
My best friend gushed and raved and was frankly /in love/ with Tithe as a teenager. I can't remember if I read that one, but she thought it was The Best Thing Ever. Sometime last year I was scouting around for something to read and saw Twitter losing its collective mind over Black's book The Cruel Prince. YA fantasy isn't usually my thing, but I remembered how much my friend had loved Tithe and thought I'd give it a shot.

Oh. My. Word.
Dear friends, I struggled through 6 chapters hoping it would get better before I could no longer read another word. The world building is insipid (They're fae~! Everything is d-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t~!) and the narrative juvenile. I couldn't conjure up any emotion for what the characters had been through, nor any enthusiasm towards seeing how their story progressed. Plus, the main narrative seemed to be "guy is an abusive [insert insult of choice] but maybe there are, like, /reasons/, or he'll redeem himself so it will be OK". Nope. Straight-up not my cup of tea. Makes me wonder if I'm just getting crotchety as I get older, but people love this stuff and I don't.

Haven't read Cruel Prince, but Tithe was just awful. You avoided a bullet there.

JeanGenie · Feb 26, 2019

I found the Inkheart-series really disappointing. The story was meh, and all the similes drove me crazy.

Brightdreamer · Feb 26, 2019

JeanGenie said:
I found the Inkheart-series really disappointing. The story was meh, and all the similes drove me crazy.

The first book was decent, IMHO, but it just nosedived after that. And that ending - along with Funke's slap in the face to the ladies of the cast, how it's okay to perpetuate the attitude that "nobody wants to read about women" even if the women do all the work...

And I haven't been able to get into the author's Reckless series; gave up a chapter and a half in. Just too dense.

JeanGenie · Feb 27, 2019

Brightdreamer said:
The first book was decent, IMHO, but it just nosedived after that. And that ending - along with Funke's slap in the face to the ladies of the cast, how it's okay to perpetuate the attitude that "nobody wants to read about women" even if the women do all the work...

And I haven't been able to get into the author's Reckless series; gave up a chapter and a half in. Just too dense.

I didn’t make it to the ending, for me the writing was in the way of the story. What was the deal about the women not being interesting??

mselephant2015 · Mar 17, 2019

I've enjoyed a couple of Jane Fallon's books so when I spotted a new one out, I was eager to get it. However I've recently picked up on how often her characters have jobs in the field she used to work in (the television industry) and it's beginning to grate on me. It's a more personal thing than a slight on Fallon herself. I find it jolts me out of the story, like 'here she goes again, falling back on what she knows'. I know they say 'write what you know' but not every book please.

Earthling · Mar 25, 2019

DimelioraL said:
I've enjoyed a couple of Jane Fallon's books so when I spotted a new one out, I was eager to get it. However I've recently picked up on how often her characters have jobs in the field she used to work in (the television industry) and it's beginning to grate on me. It's a more personal thing than a slight on Fallon herself. I find it jolts me out of the story, like 'here she goes again, falling back on what she knows'. I know they say 'write what you know' but not every book please.

I feel like that about any book where the protagonist is a writer. Usually a struggling writer. It just seems so lazy and makes me worry that the character is a self-insert.

writergirl1994 · Jun 10, 2021

I've never been able to get into Stephen King the way most people have, unfortunately.

writergirl1994 · Jun 10, 2021

Priene said:
Tolstoy, Hemingway and F Scott FitzGerald spring to mind.

Seriously, what's with all the hype over 'The Old Man and the Sea?' It could have been a twenty page short story and the basic essence wouldn't have been lost.

Cindyt · Jun 11, 2021

Danielle Steele. Loved her at one time. I'd buy her books without reading the premise because her stories never disappointed me. And then Vanished did. Big time. Too much backstory and the whole thing was just not good as if she had written everything that came to mind and then edited out the good scenes. I quit reading her.

Big Named Authors That Disappointed You?

Cobalt Jade

JeanGenie

Such a Greenie

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist

JeanGenie

Such a Greenie

mselephant2015

Earthling

I come in peace

writergirl1994

writergirl1994

Cindyt

Gettin wiggy wit it