Name a book that was really popular that you absolutely hated (or strongly disliked).
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The first one that comes to my mind is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I still can’t understand how she won a Pulitzer for it. The word that came to my mind when describing it was “bloated.”
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I do not know how popular this was but I disliked Red, White and Blue by Casey McQuiston and felt I had to read to the end as it was a gift!
I’m with you. I listened to it and that made it even worse.
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The Women by Kristen Hannah. I didn’t hate hate it, but felt it was extremely shallow and did not like the main character at all. Disappointed because I really liked the Nightingale.
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I don’t use the H word, but the single book that immediately came to mind as being absolutely forgettable was Louise Penny’s most recent Gamache mystery, The Grey Wolf.
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… and of course, one’s taste in reading is subjective. It’s perfectly fine to dislike a book others love. We can agree to disagree as long as it’s done respectfully (and I know you guys are always great in that regard!).
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In my sophomore year in HS we read Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck and I rated it a C at the time. But I was not a fan of that teacher who loved the book which probably greatly influenced me in not liking it much. More recently Lincoln in the Bardo was a book I did not like and did not finish.
Understandable since both have a strong style. It also never ceases to amaze me how many people dislike a book they were assigned to read, only to come back to it later and love it.
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I’m going to go out on a limb and say Harry Potter - mostly the last few books. I found that they got so complicated, and the plot holes became so numerous I couldn’t stand it.
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Where the Crawdads Sing. Everyone raved about it–I was working in a public library and so many patrons came up & asked, “didn’t you just love it?” and I had to be so diplomatic. I finished it but sure didn’t enjoy it.
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This one was tough for me. I loved all the previous but it was hard for me to keep track of what was going on in this one. Maybe it was just me?
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@nick right?!? I absolutely loved the first Harry Potter book or two, but man, by the end I was not enjoying it at all.
@nick yeah, I totally agree. But I think that’s largely because some high school teachers assign books they love - books that are appropriate for them, at their time of life. As I look back at the books I hated in high school, I find that I simply wasn’t mature enough to understand them. Gatsby is a great example. I’ve appreciated that one a lot more as an adult than I did as a teen.
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Yes! I was coming on to say the same. 
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Not sure about hate but I DNF’d Margo’s Got Money Troubles.
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I haven’t read The Women yet but did you see this? Kristin Hannah’s The Women: The bestselling Vietnam novel is terrible.
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Thank you for your honest review. All friends gushed about it, but I agree it wasn’t up to quality of the other books by Hannah. A woman in my bookclub is a retired Vietnam nurse and felt it was disrespectful.
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The Corrections by Franzen. Not a fan of dysfunctional family novels. The incessant whining was annoying. Only book I never finished.
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I don’t think it is just you, Evonne. I’ve read a lot of reviews and comments about the book and overall it just isn’t receiving the kind of broad or immediate acceptance by her reading public. For me, there was a lot of referring back to situations and characters in many of the other books, most of which I remembered but not especially clearly. As a result, I didn’t feel as though I had a firm grasp on the plot and felt a bit yanked back and forth. I do believe that at some point in time I will return to the book and attempt to finish it.
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