Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion
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Worst YA books
Ryan wrote: "I'll nominate Marked as the worst YA that I've read. It was just so boring, so catty and the stupid references to pop culture thrown in everywhere made my head hurt."Ohhh... I agree. Marked was bad. Maybe I'm just too old for it, but my thirteen year old sister tells me everyone does not talk that way. The dialogue was painful, I mean it literally pained me to read it.
I also strongly disliked Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, When I finished it I said to myself, "Why the heck did I even finish that? I never want to see this thing again.". So I used it to replace a missing wheel on my bed-stand.
I also didn't likeA Great and Terrible Beauty, even though the writing was decent and the character were well developed (but easy to despise), but the plot just flopped.
But I can't agree with you when it comes to Twilight, I think people are just so hard on this series because it is so popular. Hating the 'mainstream' makes you better than everyone, right? Stephanie Meyer has an active voice, her characters are developed, and her writing 'shows' rather than 'tells', so it's hard to deny her books have merit.
Noelle (AKA Noella) wrote: "I hated Incarceron. It was really bad. I mean who would like a book like that! it was just trash! I mean who would buy the book? ( other then a library)? why when there are so many good books are w..."Actually, lots of people like it and it is even nominated for some awards.
Do you just not like dystopian novels?
I also disagree that Incarceron is a bad book. I'm reading it right now, and I'm enjoying it a lot, so I'd like to ask Noelle (AKA Noella) two questions to understand why she doesn't like Incarceron. 1) What defines a good book in your eyes?
2) What did you dislike so much about Incarceron?
I think there is a different between badly written books and books that I didn't like personally - the theme didn't work for me, or I didn't like the writing style or characters. I would place books like Evermore, Breaking Dawn, Hush, Hush, Jekel Loves Hyde, Blue Bloods, City of Bones,Glass Houses, The Luxe in the first category. There are some books I didn't personally enjoy, but I wouldn't categorize them as the worst YA books.
Tatiana wrote: "I think there is a different between badly written books and books that I didn't like personally - the theme didn't work for me, or I didn't like the writing style or characters..."And that is fine. I don't like when people say that a book is horrible and no one else should like it. There are, of course, books that we, as readers, don't like or thought were bad, but you shouldn't put down other people liking it.
I enjoyed the Twilight Series as a guilty pleasure, but when I read Breaking Dawn, I had to shake my head.It felt, to me anyway, that there just wasn't enough story for S.Meyer to write, so she threw in the Jacob part for filler. Add onto that the fact that Bella became a whole other character, physically, emotionally, mentally - it was a mess, it was inconsistent, it was...bad. It's like when they replace an actress on a TV show and you hear "the role of so-and-so will now be played by so-and-so".
And the ironic part? They did that in Eclipse: replacing Rachelle Lafevre with Bryce Dallas Howard.
I think that part of the problem with YA and adult books now is that there are really not that many standalone books anymore. Everything is a series. Some series are very good - Hunger Games, for example. Others kind of should have stopped at book 1. But everything is relative. What I like might not be what others like.
Rita wrote: "Ryan wrote: "I'll nominate Marked as the worst YA that I've read. It was just so boring, so catty and the stupid references to pop culture thrown in everywhere made my head hurt."O..."
It's kinda funny with Marked though because I am only a little older than your sister and all my friends do talk like it's written in the book. I liked Marked but I don't know if I'm going to feel that way about the rest of the series. I did read the first book quite quickly and I have a feeling that if I were to reread it I wouldn't like it as much. Because when I started to reread Cirque Du Freak (one of my favorite series) I did notice that the way the book was written was really annoying and I never noticed that the first time I read it.
AH wrote: "I think that part of the problem with YA and adult books now is that there are really not that many standalone books anymore. Everything is a series. Some series are very good - Hunger Games, for eor example. Others kind of should have stopped at book 1. But everything is relative. What I like might not be what others like. ..."I agree to a certain extent, but there have always been series and sometimes it is necessary to have more than one book to explain a world and its conflicts. I, personally, really enjoy trilogies and there aren't that many that are bad. I do think that some series go on for too long, but that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be series.
Ashley,I usually love fairy tale retellings set in our world or one like ours. I didn't love Dean's Tam Lin because I felt it wasn't realsitic for what it was. Why is it your "worst book, hands down?"
I've read a lot of YA books over the years, and I still love reading them to get a feel of what literature is out there and what people who love the genre like. I do have an open sense of appreciation. Even if I may not like the way a book is written, if the story grabs me or some other aspect grabs me, I'll give it due credit and won't write it off.That said, probably the worst YA series I've read in recent years is the House of Night series. I stopped reading at book 5, but I've been debating whether or not to give it another shot just to see where the author's take it. Something tells me that with 15+ books in the series, it'll be a while before it ends.
Worst YA book? I'll have to think about it a bit more, but I'm certain there's one book on the tip of my tongue that I read a long time ago and I can't think of what the title was.
Katie wrote: "Evermore the first book from the immortal series was just so horrible, load of words just thrown together. It was the possibly the worst book I'd ever read."
The House of NIght series was recommended to me by a friend's 13 yr old daughter. Although I know kids these days know a lot more about a lot of things..the sexual act in the beginning of the book was too much for me. I've read them all, but only because I read fast and am a little OCD about reading book series. It's not the worst I've read but totally agree that when I'm done, I'm disappointed in myself for the waste of time.
Angie wrote: "Ralph wrote: "I think Narnia is better read as an adult. I think when it's read as a child, you miss a lot of the symbolism in them. And even if you don't like them, you've gotta admit they're at l..."I agree w Ralph that they are better read as an adult. I read the series in real book form at least once a year and listen to them on my ipod several times. (I listen to books as I sleep). There are some in the series I don't like as much (Last Battle, Horse and His Boy) and others I really like, Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Silver Chair.
I don't mean this to offend anyone, but probably a YA book that I really did NOT enjoy AT ALL was Wicked Lovely. I had a really hard time trying to read on, but I kept on going, to give it a chance. When you have to 'force' yourself to read a book, it's a bad sign. I found it really repetitive, the only part that was interesting was the end. But that soon ended after a few pages. That's just for me though, many people may disagree.
Tatiana wrote: "I think there is a different between badly written books and books that I didn't like personally - the theme didn't work for me, or I didn't like the writing style or characters. I would place bo..."
and I would love to chat with you just because I love all the books you mentioned. I find it interesting to see why someone doesn't like a book I love. I am not sure there are many bad YA books, just so many people with so many tastes. Twilight saga may not be the best written, or a good series to read, but it got me hooked on the paranormal theme and i have went on to find many more books from that one book that I would never of read if someone didnt convince me to read Twilight.
I could never be a professional reviewer, but my reviews and ratings are all about how I feel about a book,
Kellee wrote: "Tatiana wrote: "I think there is a different between badly written books and books that I didn't like personally - the theme didn't work for me, or I didn't like the writing style or characters..."..."I agree with you, just because you hate a book, doesn't mean everyone should hate it. And if you love a book, it may not be the book everyone should read.
I am glad on GR we can have many different opinions on the same book and still discuss it nicely.
Teresa in Ohio wrote: "Tatiana wrote: "I think there is a different between badly written books and books that I didn't like personally - the theme didn't work for me, or I didn't like the writing style or characters. ..."
Oh Teresa, I am always happy to chat about books. Sorry I listed your faves as the worst YA books, I didn't do it intentionally. And you are right, people have different tastes and different expectations and standards. Some people find enjoyment in what it familiar and don't mind reading the books with the same plots and characters, some prefer to be challenged by new themes and settings. I found my tastes and expectations changing as I read more YA. After reading books with excellent world-building, great characterization and skillful writing, I no longer find books like Twilight or Evermore satisfying, their flaws stand out so much more in comparison to good YA books.
Petrina wrote: "I don't mean this to offend anyone, but probably a YA book that I really did NOT enjoy AT ALL was Wicked Lovely. I had a really hard time trying to read on, but I kept on going, to give it a chance..."I didn't like Wicked Lovely either, but I can sort of see why it could appeal to some people, mostly to those who like emo fantasy. I thought the lore in the book was good, but way too much describing of everyone's feelings and too confusing for my taste. So I would categorize this book as something which is not the worst YA book ever, but something I didn't personally enjoy.
Another young adult book I HATED was Thirteen Reasons Why.
I actually really liked Thirteen Reasons Why when I listened to it on audio (it works better to have the two narrators instead of alternate chapters). The only issue I have with the book is why the author felt it was necessary to go into such specific graphic sexual detail in the hot-tub scene at the very end of the book. I was okay with every thing until it went just a little bit too far. Those couple of sentences could have been left out of the book without ruining the story, the character development or anything. I personally feel it was only there for shock value.
Brenda wrote: "I actually really liked Thirteen Reasons Why when I listened to it on audio (it works better to have the two narrators instead of alternate chapters). The only issue I have with the book is why th..."I just didn't like the book at all. I read it in 7th grade. I don't believe in suicede and (I forgot the main charecters name) could have gotten help with her problems. It was her choice to kill herself she shouldnt have made tapes blaming other people for it. They may have done some non nice things to her but I'm pretty sure she wasn't an angle all her life either. Also it seemed to me that all her "problems" were normal things that a lot of teens have to deal with. But if I compare her "reason" for suicide to someone that has lived on the street for years and managed to turn their lives around, her problems seem like nothing.
Amanda, not to be dismissive of your opinion, but based on the fact that you read the book in 7th grade, I conclude you are very young and have a lot to learn about what can drive people to suicide. You can never know a person's mental state and which event can push him/her over the edge. This is exactly what this book is about. It's OK not to like a book, but I think you are mistaken thinking that one can just "not believe in suicide" or get over it. People get depressed, people feel beat down, people see no reason to go on. The book's purpose is to teach us not to be dismissive of such people in distress and to attempt to give them a hand in time when they think no one cares. Sorry this topic only irritated you.
I'm not sure anyone has mentioned it, but I have to throw out King Dork. I struggled to get through it, because it's basically about some high school boy's sex/attempts-at-sex life.And I also read Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why as a 7th grader (I'm going into 9th next year), and I really liked being able to see what would lead someone to such extremes. I never really understood it before I took the time to read this book.
Alyssa wrote: "I'm not sure anyone has mentioned it, but I have to throw out King Dork. I struggled to get through it, because it's basically about some high school boy's sex/attempts-at-sex life...."
I didn't have a problem understanding suicide. But her reasons just didn't seem so horrible she had to kill herself. I mean she sat in a closed while a girl got raped! (if I remember right) I think that problem was worse than all Hannahs put together. I just don't believe in suicide. Life is hard and it has it's bad points and good points. Some people are lucky and get the good stuff while other get the bad stuff. But she could have worked through it. She just didn't want to.
Tatiana wrote: "Amanda, not to be dismissive of your opinion, but based on the fact that you read the book in 7th grade, I conclude you are very young and have a lot to learn about what can drive people to suicide..."I'm okay with other people having their opinion. Yes I know people get depressed. I may have read it as a 7th grader, but I am more than mature for my age and I understand the topic. If I wouldn't have understood the topic I would have asked questions. This girl would have only been a little older than me (I don't remember her exact age), it's not that much of a diffrence. Yes by my statment I don't belive in sucide, I truly mean I don't agree with it. People do need to learn to work out there problems. I know people get depressed as some people have good reasons too. But what I'm trying to get threw is that Hannahs reasons are not horrible enought for her to commint suicide. I have friends at 13,14 that have done what she has or has been threw what she had and there are still here. I have had friends that were raped and they didn't commit suicide. I'm not trying to be rude at all, I am just trying to get my point across. I respect your opinion as I hope you do mine. But I just wanted to make it clear that I am wiser beyond my years and based on someones age you souldn't conclude that they are young and have a lot to learn. Just because someone is young doesn't mean they don't understand strong topics. with todays world kids learn about everything young. Suicide happends to people at all stages of life sometimes even younger than Hannah. I don't think people should kill themselves to get out of life, I think it is wrong. Yes I know people get depressed but Hannah didn't have as good as reasons as some people do. She was a teenager dealing with teenage issues. I just wanted to say again sorry if I came of rude I didn't mean too. I was just trying to state my opinion. Also I just wanted to add that it was two years ago when I read this book, and I still feel the same way about it.
I'll chime in. Worst YA books I've read lately: The Hollow (With Sleepy Hollow as her backdrop, this novel should have been rockin'), The Angel Experiment (James Patterson should leave the YA genre alone), The Looking Glass Wars (too many reasons to list), and Uglies (couldn't fall in love with the characters).Favs! In my humble opinion the best YA books out right now: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Graceling, The Book Thief... I'm sure there are more, but these surfaced first.
Also, if we're including Children's fiction here, I'm in love with HP, the Inkheart Trilogy, and Percy Jackson.
Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Shannon wrote: "I'll chime in. Worst YA books I've read lately: The Hollow (With Sleepy Hollow as her backdrop, this novel should have been rockin'), The Angel Experiment (James Patterson should leave the YA genre..."Good choices on both the Worst Books and Best Books, Shannon. :)
Re: "Thirteen Reasons Why" - that's still on my "to-read" list right now, but I can see why it could be the subject of much debate on the matter without having read it. My personal opinion is that I wouldn't write off something controversial or something I'm completely against as qualifying for a "worst" book. Unless the author does a terrible job with handling the material, it could be a good book, or even a very well written one, but just not my thing. If it's unconvincing or terribly handled, however, I will consider it a book on my own "worst" list.
That said, I guess I can throw another title out which does that for me - I didn't like Robert Cormier's "The Chocolate War" for more reasons than one. I read it initially in middle school, read it again in college. Didn't like it the first or last time I read it because the way the book was written (violence and blunt sexual themes included) didn't convince me of the conflict within. Felt really overdone for the central conflict and didn't match up to me. I know many people consider it a classic, so I might get backhanded for throwing it out there. It's not that I don't understand the valid themes he wrote about, and I reason that's why many people say it's a classic. I saw many of the points he made with the characters and standing up for what they believed in, but I just wasn't convinced at all, and I didn't like the way certain ideas were expressed in the book - it felt terribly stuck in one plane.
At first I thought it was just that book I disliked from the author, but then I read "I am the Cheese" and had some of the same problems with it in the aftermath (I also read that in middle school).
But even with both of those books, it's still hard for me to call them "worst YA reads", because I can think of so many other books that are worse in writing and have no point to them.
Shannon wrote: "I'll chime in. Worst YA books I've read lately: The Hollow (With Sleepy Hollow as her backdrop, this novel should have been rockin'), The Angel Experiment (James Patterson should leave the YA genre..."I agree with you on Hunger Games and Catching fire Awesome books! I also live Percy Jackson series.
Shannon wrote: "I'll chime in. Worst YA books I've read lately: The Hollow (With Sleepy Hollow as her backdrop, this novel should have been rockin'), The Angel Experiment (James Patterson should leave the YA genre..."Why Looking Glass Wars?
The Chocolate War is a sort of an ugly book with boys (and men) being awful to each other. I understand why you don't like it. It wouldn't be on my 'worst' list, it's a 'boy' book and boy books don't always work for me. But in general I do like Cormier.I hated A Separate Peace. It's another boy book, and I was reading it the week I broke my arm, I was in pain, I was moving -- and I couldn't, my cat was missing and it was blizzarding outside!
OTOH, I really liked Thirteen Reasons Why, also Cut and Boy Toy.
Amanda (Cirque Du Freak Freak) wrote: "Tatiana wrote: "Amanda, not to be dismissive of your opinion, but based on the fact that you read the book in 7th grade, I conclude you are very young and have a lot to learn about what can drive p..."I don't think suicide really is an issue that people should try catergorising under things they agree or disagree with. Sticking a life is hard but you just need to keep going tag on it is easier said than done clearly, although I agree with the sentiment I think the danger is that you fall short of understanding how people arrive at this state - sucide is tragic, complex and likely symptomatic of issues that you might not always be aware of, and while I'm sure you are older than your years the reality is you never stop adjusting your view of the world no matter how old you are, I do all the time and I'm probably 10 years older than you are.
On a separate note I've officially given up halfway through Ever by Gail Carson Levine - its not a particularly long story but I just can't finish it!
Julia wrote: "The Chocolate War is a sort of an ugly book with boys (and men) being awful to each other. I understand why you don't like it. It wouldn't be on my 'worst' list, it's a 'boy' book and ..."I liked cut too. I just wish it had more to it, it seemed to thin to me:( And I really want to read Boy Toy has anyone else read it that like it?
Vampire beach!! no offence to any fans. I just could not get in to it I love vampire books and this is the only book/series I would give 1* to.
Julia wrote: "Ashley,I usually love fairy tale retellings set in our world or one like ours. I didn't love Dean's Tam Lin because I felt it wasn't realsitic for what it was. Why is it your "wors..."
Hi Julia! Like you said, it was extremely realistic, and the way Dean prattled on about Keats for pages on end seemed rather redundant. I felt like she didn't have a good grasp on her characters, just the overall direction of the novel. It felt very hollow, although the writing itself was very good.
There really isn't one strong reason why I did not enjoy it, just a lot of little details that got in the way of the overall effect of a perhaps-decent plot.
I read it because apparently there's a cult following for this novel, and I wanted to see what the hype was about. You just gotta have a certain taste for that type of writing, I think.
Katie wrote: "Evermore the first book from the immortal series was just so horrible, load of words just thrown together. It was the possibly the worst book I'd ever read."I definitely agree with you. I was expecting it to be awesome after reading good reviews about it but such a big disappointment at the middle of the story.
here's a couple from freshman english in 1976 that i really disliked;A Day No Pigs Would Die. all i remember is cruelity to animals. i know, it took place on a farm, still a lousy way to treat God's creation. was turned off of jack london in seventh grade for the same reason.
Daybreak Joan Baez' autobiography. i might like it now, but really hated it then. don't remember it at all. i've seen her in concert three times since college and have fallen in love w/her voice.
Choclate War, Outsiders, didn't like any of them because i couldn't relate to the subject.
It’s kind of funny, but I was never really interested in ya fiction, apart from Harry Potter, when I was in my teens. When my peers were reading R.L. Stein, V.C. Andrews and Christopher Pike, I was reading Lord of the Rings, Catherine Cookson and the classics. My teachers thought me a bit strange, and I had a nun that yelled at me for reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles when I was 13. ;)Recently I’ve been taking a break from the classics for a bit of light reading. I was first introduced a couple of years ago to ya fiction with Twilight after seeing an interview Stephenie Meyer did on Sunday Morning. Picked it up, and didn’t think it was that bad. And I’ve been on the paranormal romance bandwagon ever since.
But now, I’ve had to take a break from them, as they’re starting to feel like variations of the same theme: banal descriptions and tawdry expressions of feeling in a series format. Some of these paranormal romance novels are rather vile such as The VD Return series, The Iron King and Beastly.
I’ve also tried some of the other genres in ya from historical fiction (The Luxe series) to contemporary chick lit (Sarah Dessen books), and on the hit or miss scale, most fall under the “miss” category. Don’t really get The Luxe (kind of boring, and we’re supposed to believe that all of these events take place in a matter of two weeks?). And Sarah Dessen’s novels are rather formulaic and tend have continuity issues. And by novel’s end, they also don’t really answer all of the questions you may have.
However in my reading, I’ve come across some real gems: Kind of liked Graceling and am currently loving Turner’s The Thief. In terms of classic ya, Gallico's The Snow Goose and Love of Seven Dolls are rather well done as well.
Helen, I agree, although I find the majority of popular YA fiction very bad (The Luxe, Twilight, etc.), I have come across excellent teen books - Turner's The Thief series is one of my absolute favorites.
Tatiana wrote: "Helen, I agree, although I find the majority of popular YA fiction very bad (The Luxe, Twilight, etc.), I have come across excellent teen books - Turner's The Thief series is one of my absolute fav..."I agree. I absolutely hated The Luxe. It was poorly written and the author was trying way too hard. Too bad I bought 3 books of the series straight out of blind faith... and now I have to get rid of them.
I haven’t given up completely on ya, and like you said Tatiana, there are some good choices out there. I still have some on my to be read list, such as The Hunger Games trilogy and the rest of the Queen’s Thief series.I think the main problem with these popular series writers is that they’re constantly writing just trying to meet deadlines and are not really interested in producing quality work—for instance LJ Smith’s Return series and Mead’s Vampire Academy books. But if you consider what Turner does with her series—a book published every four/five years or so—and compare the quality of the prose, you begin to wish other writers might do the same thing, even though the readers might be secretly cursing the author, waiting for the next installment. *wink*
I completely agree with you, Helen (again), particularly in regard to books like new VD additions and VA. It saddens me that authors with a lot of potential like L.J. Smith and Richelle Mead sacrifice the quality of their work for the sake of meeting deadlines. It is the worst in Mead's case, because she is writing 3(!) series at the same time, producing 3-4 books a year. Her writing is getting sloppier and sloppier. While she used to be one of my favorite writers a couple of years ago, I now contemplate not picking up her books any more. Same goes for LJS, whose earlier works I much enjoy.
I think that a lot of YA books hover around the same themes and that really bothers me since I can generally figure the books out after reading only a few chapters. The worst of them for me would have to be Twilight, which I read before evryone went crazy about it and I have to say that after the first book the series just went down hill. I felt like she was feeding everyone what they wanted instead of going with the flow of the first book.
I also thought that the Luxe series was boring. It was interesting and i will admit I liked them at first, but once I got half way through the second book I was tired of the series.
I like books that don't give away the ending until the end. And I am really tired of the way some authors portray teens because I am a teen and we are not as stupid or naive as some books make us look. Ahem, Bella from twilight. Ahem the annoying main character from Evermore.
And I agree with you Helen about authors who take their time. It might make me very annoyed at the author because I want the book to come out, but the book usually turns out much better.
I have to say I love most other YA books, but I do like adult books a bit more since the plots are more complex. For example the Hannibal Lecter series. Thomas Harris did an amazing job on those books!!!!
I only started to read LJS’s novels within the past year or so, but I really enjoyed those earlier works. The characters and settings were simple and tangible; you could actually somewhat believe the existence of her vampires, witches, and whatnot in these everyday environments. But regarding her new spin on the vampire lore, I just find it too farfetched… that it’s crammed with too many myths and creatures and is no longer believable; and it just doesn’t really catch my interest as those other books did. In regards to contemporary adult fiction, I’m not that crazy about it. I never liked the post-modern take on the novel… alienating the reader, making them work for the story. I prefer stories that tell themselves, with good characterization and development. For instance reading Zadie Smith’s White Teeth in conjunction with Dickens or Forester or even A.S. Byatt’s Angels and Insects with Middlemarch and Tennyson’s In Memoriam can be quite rewarding if you can manage to finish it all. (I barely did.) ;) I also like Joanne Harris’s novels; and as a side note, she even wrote a ya novel called Runemarks, which I thought was rather good.
I’ve even tried some adult urban fantasy. Some of it is OK, I really liked Anne Rice’s The Mummy. I even tried some of Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series, after reading her Darkest Powers, trilogy, since I wanted to know more about the background story and lore. I started with Tales of the Otherworld; thought it interesting, and loved Beginnings describing Clay and Elena’s burgeoning romance. I followed it up with Bitten, but hated it… found it too shallow with no character development, unlike that novella. A shame really, as I so wanted to like it.
Helen wrote: "...and on the hit or miss scale, most fall under the “miss” category."Try Carl Hiaasen. He writes some books for adults and some for a younger audience. In my opinion, none of his books miss. They all have something to say. The only thing predictable about his writing is the ironic humour...and that's very good and something to look forward to.
Thanks Grace, they seem rather good. Love the cover art for his ya novels. Didn't they make a film from the book Hoot? When I saw the title, I had a moment of déjà vu.
I don't really like twilight series.. but a lot of people crazy about it..
Young Adult Book Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Incarceron (other topics)Sapphique (other topics)
Reached (other topics)
Matched (other topics)
Crossed (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Emma Bull (other topics)Terri Windling (other topics)
Charles de Lint (other topics)
Beth Fantaskey (other topics)
Worst definitely has to be