I'll go first: I don't think "The Bell Jar lived" up to it's hype.
I expected a really depressing and traumatizing book. However, I found myself laughing a bit and while I enjoyed the book overall, it was not nearly as "traumatic" and dark as it's known to be. I was disappointed in that aspect.
My second one is that "Never Let Me Go" was very boring and I only felt emotions at the end of the book.
Curious to hear other unpopular opinions!!
What is a book that is unpopular but you really enjoyed? I find that GoodRead's doesn't have the most accuracy when it comes to suggesting books.
by DroYo
17 Comments
I didn’t think It by Stephen King was scary at all. Honestly, I was mostly bored reading it.
One Hundred Years of Solitude, more like one hundred years of snooze fest
East of Eden, long boring and drawn out
The Secret History, long, repetitive, and predictable
I actually thought the bell jar was more intended to be a representation of being a young woman struggling with mental health in the 1960’s including all the nuances and joys of life despite the challenges. it definitely does get represented in a certain aesthetic on social media, so i totally see why you expected something really depressing.
personally east of eden didn’t live up to the hype for me. it was a good book and i enjoyed reading it but it wasn’t anything life changing and i don’t find myself thinking about it that often.
“The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah had my eyes rolling to the back of my skull. Couldn’t even finish it. So juvenile.
I don’t have the most high-brow taste in books, and I’ve only been reading on a consistent basis for the past 1-2 years, so I’m genuinely flummoxed by how so many more ardent readers than myself liked this book.
The Count of Monte Cristo gets rave reviews in this sub, but I DNF’d a third of the way in. Once he gets rich the pacing hits an absolute wall.
The Great Gatsby is (extremely) overrated.
I loved the bell jar though!
Frankenstein. Great story, nearly unreadable.
The Martian is an awful book with especially terrible dialogue and an insufferable protagonist.
The Bell Jar is one of my favorite books because when I read it it just absorbs me, it makes me feel like I’m the one going crazy. The Road was one of the worst books I have ever read because it was all trauma and boring. I also don’t think we give enough credit to pulpy potato chip books from the used book stores whose author is someone that no one has ever heard of.
If you liked the Alchemist and find it deep or spiritual I will think you are an idiot.
“Outlander” is full of rape apology, has an annoying as Hell protagonist, and needed tighter editing.
Never Let Me Go didn’t do it for me either, but Remains of the Day is in my top 3 all time.
My unpopular opinion is Blood Meridian was not an enjoyable read. The language is stunning, but the overly descriptive writing about walking through desert landscapes got tired, the lack of punctuation made it confusing, there was minimal plot, and the violence/gore felt over-the-top. That said, I really like All the Pretty Horses as it was more cohesive of a story so will be reading more McCarthy eventually (The Road most likely next).
If it doesn’t have to be a classic, ACOTAR was pretty awful. I did finish the series so I could give a legitimate opinion, but almost every character was an ass to one degree or another. I didn’t give a good g*ddamn what happened to any of them and I won’t be reading anything new in the series that might come out.
The Kite Runner – pablum for the masses
DaVinci Code – short chapters, constantly changing POV, clunky & formulaic writing, flat characters
I really disliked Project Hail Mary. The main character was a whiny child. And it was basically a novelization of a disaster movie where thing keep going wrong and the MC thinks of some last minute quick fix. Rinse. Repeat.
I think the most interesting & complex character in the book was the antagonist Eva. I want to read this story from her point of view.
I really don’t get the love for this book.
Slaughterhouse Five and Vonnegut in general is extremely overrated. It’s like he is so worried about being deep and cutesy that he forgets stories should have a plot.
Piranesi is not the work of genius that people on Reddit seem to think it is. It’s boring and pointless and if it’s just trying to be about *vibes*, it fails there too, as the vibes suck.