Books to Avoid

I was thinking and I realized that you are going to want to seek out your own books on occasion. So, instead of giving you ideas on good books, I'm going to name a couple that you should avoid if you're on a solo hunt. These three books are ones I purchased and have regretted; hopefully, I can save you the time and money by telling you about them.


Death Watch by Ari Berk

The premise of this story should have made this book interesting if the author hadn't give into hyperbole and metaphor so much. It's like reading an 8th grader's attempt at fiction, only instead of using the thesaurus to come up with "cool" yet unnecessary words, he uses excessive (and I mean excessive) metaphor. I almost made it through the first book but couldn't take it anymore. It was almost painful. It was also dreadfully boring. The characters are poorly developed, the story falls flat, and you find yourself - after reading 524 pages - wondering if anything of interest happened or if you were asleep the whole time.

 The Hollow by Jessica Verday

While this is a YA novel, and therefore catered to a younger, more adolescent audience, I couldn't get over how immature this book was. It was like reading a 13-year-old girl's journal. If I was 13 maybe I would have better appreciated it - although I'd like to think otherwise - I just couldn't make it past the first chapter without wanting to gag.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I probably didn't give this book enough of a chance. There are several more in the series, which leads me to think it wasn't as bad as I remember; however, it was so so boring it was almost impossible to get through a chapter without falling asleep. 

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Looking back on these novels I foolishly spent money on, I am reminded why I read at least one paragraph, if not a whole page, of a book before I purchase it any more. You can usually tell if you like the author's writing by then, or if the story is worth your time. Hopefully, I have helped you in your quest to finding good books.