This week’s topic: Have you read a book where you feel the Author missed the opportunity to write something more interesting?
Have you read a book where you feel the author missed the opportunity to write something more interesting?
Pretty much every book that I have ended up not enjoying as much as I’d initially expected. When I pick a book that has caught my attention in particular, I usually expect something interesting. But, unfortunately, that’s not always the case. So here’s a list of a few books that I felt could have been so much better.
Books with wasted potential?
For the sake of the topic, I will be selecting a few books only. Opinions are my own.
1. Nevernight
Not sure if it’s about whether the author could have written something more interesting or whether he could have written it in a different way. Nevertheless, Nevernight had so much potential within the Dark Fantasy genre, some quality world-building, and a great premise. You can read my review of Nevernight here.
2. Writers of The Future
I can’t understand what went wrong with this one, because being considered one of the most prestigious writing contests, I was more than excited to read the winner stories of this edition. Experts should know it better, but opinions are opinions. Beautifully written stories that unfortunately didn’t grab enough of my attention plot-wise. You can read my review of Writers Of the Future Volume 31 here.
3. Throne of Glass
Unpopular opinion in this case. A book with an interesting premise that decided to ‘Mary Sueing’ instead of developing the main character. We usually forgive YA characters, but in this case, I felt way too disconnected from the heroine. It did have potential. You can read my review of Throne of Glass here.
4. Secret Origins
I am hoping Comic Books count because this is a good example of wasted potential. Secret Origins promises to unveil the biggest secrets of DC heroes within the context of The New 52
How about you? Have you ever read a book that you thought could be more interesting than it actually ended up being in the end? Give me some examples in the comments.
10 Responses
I can’t possibly count the number of books I have read that have wasted potentials as you mentioned. Some of the books were from known authors of genres I love. Incredibly, some do not only have absolutely captivating descriptions, but also killer titles – and then I start to read and go like… fall asleep and never to get back to those books.
Even from popular authors, especially since everyone seems to be doing series these days, there are those which are bound to disappoint. AHHH! Now I remember. I love Tom Clancy. When I read Red Rabbit, although some people like it, I hated it.
I have read countless books, most of which are educational, journals, papers and the like. My general rule (personal) is to drop a book that doesn’t make sense from the very beginning, i.e., do not waste time reading the whole thing because there are many waiting to be read. And a lifetime is not enough to read all the good ones. You are right when you said that there are technical aspects in literature that only experts can explain, but a book that cannot connect with its intended reader is a waste of time. Hope you didn’t finish reading the books listed above until the last page?
On the contrary, im no bookish.. Hahaha! I love reading and buying books but its weird that after buying it i ended up not reading it. Or if i may start reading it im afraid i cannot finish it.. I got lots of books to read up until now and i wish to have the luxury of time to read a lot..but in relation to the question if i have read a book that i thought interesting and ended up frustrated, yes naman. Meron naman, during my college days.. What i do is i give it away to friends, though we still have a pile of not so good books at home. My husband keeps it. He likes books kase and i love having them on display..
I could hardly remember buying and reading a book that I didn’t like. I usually buy only those that I have read reviews of and those recommended by friends. I also usually buy books of my favorite authors. That way, I am somewhat guaranteed I would like what I will read.
YES! I definitely have. I have come to the end of books and thought – that’s it? Really? I can’t believe this book ended so abruptly, or in such a bad way. It is s frustrating as I love a good read. I love this idea of book reviews with wasted potential. Will be checking out your page some more.
YES!!! I read a book just this year. The beginning of the book was quite interesting but it just failed to develop the characters more and have a solid storyline. I felt so disappointed that I regret the time I wasted reading that book. I should’ve trusted the review in Goodreads before even purchasing the book.
I haven’t heard of the books you mentioned but for me I kinda felt like that with the last book I read which was Eat Pray Love. I heard mixed reviews about it so I thought I’d give it a try. Unfortunately I got bored half way and didn’t end up finishing hehe. Have you read it before?
I haven’t read any of the books you’ve mentioned. The last book that I was reading was John Green’s Abundance of Katherines. I haven’t finished it yet though and I don’t plan to in the near future. That would probably be my choice for book with wasted potential. It wasn’t much of a page turner.
Oh I did like Throne of Glass’s premise – it was a pretty interesting and unique one at the time for me! It’s been a while since I read it though, so I don’t quite remember much about how Celaena develops as a character :S
It’s all subjective opinion, the positive for me is that it’s a book that is quite easy and light to read 🙂 But glad there were people who liked it.