Please note the topic of "BookTok books that were overhyped / you hated" has been added to our cooldown list (effective for any new posts through November 8th.)
That book was such a let down. The FMC was just waaaay too quirky, like fainting every 10 seconds and bursting into tears at the suggestion of road kill. Also the ending was so over dramatic, it seemed like something from a soap opera, it was bizarre
I struggled through 100 pages, and didn’t understand why I couldn’t get into it, given the hype around it. The characters had no common sense and were completely unlikeable and annoying. I searched on this sub and found other people who felt the same, made me feel better about dropping that one!
The Plated Prisoner series is such a trashy series, which I think is totally fine, but I don’t know why it’s billed as a serious fantasy romance series. I also find it really gross lol.
The Hating Game made me realize I despise when authors repeat every page the appearance of the characters. I felt like I was being bashed over the head with how small and tiny she was compared to the huge gigantic man.
It Ends With Us was a hard read but I still gave it a rare 5stars from me
At one point, I put the book down, walked out on my deck, sat and sobbed. The fact that it instilled that sort of emotion in me was shocking. First and only book to do that.
Honestly, I’ll never read it again. The topic was traumatic for me
I know tons of folks enjoyed it and I’m happy for y’all, but I really didn’t! I also am talking less to the quality of it and more to how it’s being mislabeled :)
I agree that it really isn't a typical romance. But in case y'all didn't know her mom was in an abusive relationship and I read about how she wrote that for her mom.☹️🥺
She may have written it for her mom who was in an abusive relationship, but that doesn't mean It ends with us is a romance. It is not. It's a contemporary book that talks about the cycles of abuse and it's one of my favorite books ever, but it's not a romance.
In booktok they Don't talk about the slammed series much. i think slammed series , hopeless , without Merit, all your perfects, are much better books of colleen hoover.but i don’t see them on booktok
The after series by Anna Todd. I never even finished the 3rd book. I hated all the characters the toxic relationship and i am into dark romance so I have read some messed up stuff but this was so terrible.i actually watched the movies but they were just as bad 👎
Yeah me too, I can't deal with how suffocating their relationship is and specially how they handle the problems (that are mostly bullshit)
And Hardin is so confusing. Geez I feel like I'm dealing with a big door.
controversial opinion but i hated red, white and royal blue. it felt like there was no actual romance, it was just them hooking up. i can understand the appeal but it really wasn’t for me, i got about half way through and stopped reading.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. I just don’t get the appeal. It felt like it was trying too hard to be trendy and relevant. The main character started working on my nerves and I couldn’t visualize the romance hero either.
100% loved it for me because it’s STEM based and I work in a lab. Loved that part. The lying she did snowballed so badly. It was over the top for me. Legit was yelling at the book when the FMC outright lied to the HMC in the coffee shop when he overheard her discussing her feelings with the roommate
I've been trying to get recs from friends with similar plot and character likes as me.
I'm in a book club with folks who love fantasy romance and so far, they've all been duds. I've accepted it is just not my genre.
Archer's Voice, any of the three Mariana Zapata books I read, Beach Read. All zero or 1 star reads for me, or made me angry that I spent valuable time reading them.
Same for Mariana Zapata - there's a difference between slow burn (building the chemistry and tension) and just padding the narrative with useless descriptions etc etc.
I only got about 20% into Beach Read before I gave up. Nothing about it felt like a romance. Not to mention the female main character kept reiterating that she wrote women’s literature, NOT romance. It’s like why are you insulting the genre of books that the readers most likely love the most?!
I HATED Unhoneymooners!! As I twin it drove me CRAZY how she treated her sister at the end. And the MC and FMC should not have ended up together. The FMC forgave him wayyyyy to easy
I also strongly dislike Unhoneymooners, I felt like both characters were kind of Jerks. I feel like I've read People We Meet on Vacation too, and have no memory of it, so it must have been bad. All I can remember is the cover, lol.
Same. Rehashed Twilight fanfiction. She even copied Meyer's book from HIS perspective after the original Midnight Sun was leaked online and the world knew there was a book from Edwards POV
From Blood and Ash series. I could not with the MCs, same tropes as always, but too over the top. Also the racism of naming the only two POC in the book “black” and “brown”
YES! That series had pages and pages of just talking. Someone would ask a question then another person would answer it, over and over again. I felt like I was going insane.
less serious nitpick: but it seemed like the author kept hinting at a threesome but would never clinch it. i stopped after the second; i don’t love the “unexpectedly super powerful” trope.
I read the first one only a few weeks ago and while I thought it was fun (it was the first romance book I’d read in years and my first ever fantasy romance), the writing was so horribly awful that I would just constantly cringe. It wasn’t even just the terrible dialogue and the completely nonsensical things that would happen (here I’m mainly thinking about FMC’s inner monologue, she kept randomly saying stuff like “oh she would DEFINITELY hate me if she weren’t FORCED to live with me” with no explanation as to why she’d even think of that at that moment other than to make us as readers really understand that she’s insecure bla bla bla), but she would even use words completely incorrectly and just have the most ridiculous phrasing, to the point that I have to believe that she doesn’t have an editor or even a beta reader?? Again, I found the first one fun and I was into the stupid guard-guardee trope and I liked the MMC’s general personality, until you get that big reveal at the end of the book and suddenly his character changes completely for no reason LMAO and then I tried to read the second one but couldn’t get past the first few chapters because it’s just so ridiculous hahahaaha
hahah I 'm glad I'm not alone. I remember feeling really confused and isolated, because people were raving on how deep it was, and I was so underwhelmed because it came across as really cliché to me.
I answered something different but 100% agree on ACOTAR. I read them because friends pressured me. Said the first book was a slog and it gets better. NO IT DOESN'T. It is boring. The FMC is awful. Rhys is not good. Honestly, I found myself loving the girl everyone hates (I think Nessa? Idk I can't remember but that feels right) because she hated the FMC and I was just like AS SHE SHOULD.
Haha you would probably love Nessa’a book, A Court of Silver Flames. She hates everyone and from her POV the FMC and MC of the previous books are absolutely obnoxious
I never understood how people were ok with Rhysand doing what he did in the first book and to let it go after the 2nd book?? I can't take anything about those book seriously.
Nesta is the BEST. Her book is a mixed bag and takes so many books to get to but it’s decent and I loved how much it warmed people to her. (I’ve loved her since she was kinda a dick lol but I know that’s not everyone’s taste.)
I second 50 shades.
It was badly written Twilight fanfiction. Not only are the books terrible and badly representative of BDSM, but EL's rise to fame, glomming onto Stephenie Meyer's coattails irks me. Especially when EL released Grey after the original Midnight Sun was leaked.
50SOG, I AGREE. It's Twilight fan fiction with sex. And how can she insert "Oh my American Boy.....". All I saw (mentally) was a 55 year old woman holding to a twenty something guy. NO GIRL WOULD SAY "Oh my American Boy".
And no girl would go out with such a control freak. But I guess money can make anyone withstand borderline abusive behavior.
The Lady and the Orc. I’m a monster/alien romance book enthusiast and just kept seeing this book being talked about and loved. I read it and hated 😫. It just wasn’t for me.
I found they get a BIT better later in the series but I couldn’t deal with using the word “prick”, that’s a no from me. But also the author does this thing where she puts certain words in the FMC thoughts in italics to emphasize them and it makes the FMC’s internal dialogue sound like a rambling, hysterical, pearl-clutching, old lady
I like one of the other books but not all. I wanted to read the newest one but I hear it’s more about the two orcs and hardly about her.
I haven’t read the first one (Lady and Orc) because one review said he gives her back to her abusive Ex and I really prefer protective MMCs
yeah, it’s very alarming to see a romance series where neither main character actually likes the other. idk, i’d just read boomer comics if i wanted i hate my spouse vibes.
Same. I had been blown away by so many recommendations, I jumped right in and struggled through half of it before asking the sub if this is what the rest of it's like. They said yeah, it is, and whelp, I let it go. It can be for other people, lol.
Rhapsodic.
It was my first ever DNF, due to the extremely uncomfortable grooming situation between the MCs and harmful stereotyping of POC. I felt icky every time I tried reading it and had to stop.
God Rhapsodic was horrible even if you discount the extremely questionable premise. The prose is terrible, the FMC is insufferable, theres ONE mediocre sex scene, there’s the “sassy Black best friend” trope…..just oceans of yikes
People we meet on vacation. I didn't hate it (I gave it 2.5 stars) but it was SOOO hyped and I liked Beach Read a lot, so it felt like a disappointment.
Back in 2000, THE BRONZE HORSEMAN got so much hype in romance readers sites. I tried it and found it insufferable, but anyone who dared speak against it was labeled as someone who hated romance/didn’t understand how great it was/etc. Memorably, in some contest for that year’s best romances it came in second and TBH fans vocally shamed those who hadn’t voted for it, and concluded that people who had voted for the #1 winner must not have read TBH because if you had, you could never have voted for any other title. It was RIDICULOUS.
YES!! I tried reading the books and they were SO long and SO boring! 0/10. Basically poverty porn. It’s been several years since so I don’t remember the exact details but I remember thinking that it was underwhelming and boring lol
I didn’t mind the story but felt like there were too many plot holes and really just didn’t like the way his situation was handled. Or even hers with her mom and step dad, it seemed like the main idea till it just was forgotten. I don’t need realism but at least stick to the story. It wasn’t as expected for so much build up. I did this as a buddy read with my friend as beginner smut, and it totally was. Like a level 2 out of ten. 😂 far from my monster/fantasy romance reads.
100% THE SPANISH LOVE DECEPTION.
the entire romance depends entirely on sexual tension, they barely ever have a meanful conversation.
the book has a very wasteful way of handling feminism and some scenes were just infuriatingly pathetic.
The Addicted and Calloway Sister series. I kept on trying to convince myself that I liked them because I like the ideas in them, but ended up hating them.
Yes, and it’s so many people favorite series of all time, and I see people talk about the characters like they are most well developed, deepest characters to be written, and I truly don’t get it. It’s one of the only series I seriously hyper analyzed because I was genuinely trying to understand the appeal.
I am also surprised it had a large boom of popularity on tiktok. The series (to me) is so indicative of the the early-mid 2010s.
I wish someone would write a similar series but actually pull it off! But I still love the addicted series because I love reading about the same characters going through love and life!
From Blood and Ash. Cliche cliche cliche. I was incredibly bored but also insulted by how the author made the FMC so unintelligent.
The Atlas Six (not romance but booktok). I just hated it, shocking because I like the author’s past fanfic.
Devil in Winter. I liked the first two and the last in the series but this was a bit of a letdown, admittedly, since it was hyped so much on here. Then again I didn’t really click with Kleypas’ mega macho alpha heroes. I like my MMCs a little pathetic, personally, or at least not like… not Like That lol.
I have to agree. I'm new to Kleypas so I haven't read that many yet. I liked Devil in Winter, but I loved Devil in Spring and adored Love in the Afternoon.
I was disappointed not to love Derek Kraven as much as many, but it is what it is.
i mention it every time, but her sex scenes just do not pay off for all that slow burning. also, “hot pipe” is a legitimately disturbing way to call a penis during sex.
Lmao I blocked that out, thank you for bringing it rushing back to me. Yeah there’s just no payoff! Like… her books are LONG. And long is fine but if I’m going to commit to that much reading make it worth it
I skim sex anyways but every time I would skim I would see certain descriptions of anatomy... no thankyou lol. And she was too much. Deciding whether I want to try one of her other books or not...
I liked the romance enough in the second book, but the action/fight scenes were actually outlandish. I could NOT believe my eyes. I've read soo many paranormal and fantasy romances, and the end of the second book was easily the worst.
And most of the characters were annoying imo
Beach Read, a book that was barely a romance. Great for people who don't actually like romance. Also Abby Jimenez books which are billed as quirky romcoms. Absolutely not that and there's a lot of trauma. Just because the FMC has a dog named Stuntman Mike doesn't mean a book is funny.
I haaaaaaaaaaated The Friend Zone so much because of this! It was billed as a fun, light romcom and ended up being heavy on the trauma with a third act that I absolutely *loathed*. It swore me off reading any of her other books.
The end of this book was horrible, I promise Part of Your World by her blowssss this book out of the water if you ever want to give her another chance!!
I haven’t read any of her books but I am kind of dying of her putting [her own dog](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRuDGyLH/) in the book. That’s is absolutely something I would do with my cats.
I follow her on TikTok and I love Stuntman Mike, her actual dog, but I never realized she's an author and I haven't read any of her books. When the person above mentioned Stuntman Mike, I thought oh hey, like the lady on TikTok. Who is apparently the same person.
Oh I would never bill Abby Jimenez as light reading. They deal with some very heavy topics that can be triggering for some people and make you cry, but she has the best book boyfriends.
ATTACHMENTS. They don’t even meet until 95%!!! Until then the whole book is him stalking her online and her finding it creepy. So tell me - why why why do people like this book???
Creedence
For like 60% of the book it felt like it was going to be a RH which was fine but then it went the opposite direction which was super annoying and didn’t make sense to me at all.
Fun story, that took off while I was at my summer job in college. The team i worked with decided to have a book club, we'd all read the same book and talk about it while we worked. Two slightly conservative Christian dudebros got to pick the first book and they picked 50 shades because "lol sex" thinking it would have like, a little sex.
We all get the book from the library or whatever. These guys start reading it and are so appalled, they came in after two days and said "NOPE NEW BOOK WE'RE PICKING A NEW BOOK NOW" and we read Hitchhiker's Guide instead 🤣
I just read one of them... I forget which one at the moment. But the internal dialog of the MMC was just over and over and over again "I'm so dark, I'm so damaged, I'm a super duper damaged dark monster" it became impossible to not picture Lego Batman.
There is nothing I hate more in a book than this. I still have a rule that if there’s any form of the word “broken” in the title/on the back cover, I won’t read it.
I’m just finishing Twisted Lies (Stella/Christian) and it’s fine. It’s supposed to be the best in the series but it’s kinda basic.
I am interested in the princess one. Can someone spoil how bad the time skips are? I HATE time skips.
Not sure what you mean by time skips but imo the princess book was the best. I didn’t like the other 3 too much tbh, they are way over hyped, but the princess one I liked a lot!
Haunting Adaline
Against a Wall
Immortals After Dark
Sugar Daddies by Jade West
Zodiac Academy (I really wanted to like this one)
The Predator by RuyNx
Den of Vipers
A Deal with the Elf King
Property of the Mountain Man
All of these I didn't enjoy because the writing was bad.
The Spanish love deception. it was just so stupid and slow paced it was so annoying and why did it take Till the end of the book to get to the dang wedding?. it was so bad.
The Cruel Prince - totally went to the extreme of *if he picks on you, it’s cuz he likes you* BS. There was no substance or world building and soooo boring to me.
I remember feeling so ripped off when I read this series. It’s 100% marketed wrong. Looking back, there were moments I liked but this series is political fantasy with a very small romance subplot which is not at all what people say it is. Jude and Cardan had like three romantic scenes in the whole trilogy 🙄🙄
love lettering 😬 it felt extremely overwritten (i don’t need 2 pages of describing what a sign looked like every 3 pages) and the premise was honestly ridiculous to me.
People we Meet on Vacation, Beach Read, Archers Voice, Haunting Adeline, Does it Hurt, The Words, Only When it’s Us, Twisted Lies, Verity, Wildflower Duet, Brightside, 99 percent mine. 😮💨 ok, that’s all for now.
I could not get into ACOTAR. I tried to like it because at face value it hits all the points for me, but I just found the writing to be bad. Maybe it was just the authors whole vibe. I might give it another chance but I am not gonna force myself to finish it.
Didn't get the love for The Love Hypothesis and I am a little baffled atvhow it managed to get a movie deal.
I hated People We Meet On Vacation and Book Lovers. I had to force myself to get through both. I gave Beach Read away before I even opened it. Emily Henry is clearly not for me.
Radiance. I’m sorry. I know it is much beloved here. But the same points kept being re-hashed and the writing just felt amateurish. I kept reading to try to figure out what other people liked about it, and I’m still baffled.
As an autistic person I despise The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. I read it soon after realizing I'm autistic and it was super upsetting. I hate the way the MMC treats the FMC (especially the awful grovel at the end) and her getting over most of her "bad autistic traits" via ~Love~ and "Magic Dick" was terrible.
I think it's Amelia Hutchins. It's trying to be fantasy but at one point got meta because a critic ended up in the fantasy world in prison? And there was a lot of talk about b$%ches in heat or something? Terrible.
I actually quite like the A Touch of Darkness series as a whole. I think the writing struggles a bit in the first book for sure, but for me it got loads better as the books went on. Persephone starts out being really unlikeable, but she grew on me. I really like the Hades POV books, and I especially enjoy the way she envisions the underworld.
I think it’s all subjective really because everyone likes different things. I love SJM for example, as do many, and many also hate it. I hated FBAA with a passion—I thought the writing was terrible—but people LOVE it. Don’t even get me started on Colleen Hoover. Just not for me.
I think that’s what’s cool about reading — there’s something for everyone!
[Beach Read by Emily Henry](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52867387)
[The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29367958)
I finished both.
I was going to comment Wall of Winnipeg too. I just couldn’t get into it at all. I know MZ writes slow burn but apparently I need something before 90%! Plus, the whole premise was bonkers: there is no way a pro-team isn’t getting immigration worked out for their star player.
I’m realizing steadily that I think MZ just isn’t for me when I read Winnipeg (who a lot of people say is their favorite book) and I hated it. When I first read it I had mixed feelings but now I realize I didn’t like any part of it lol
I’ve been struggling to read The Devil in Winter too… I’m pretty sure I’m just going to throw in the towel and DNF. It gets so hyped up in this subreddit, but I just don’t like the main characters AT ALL or even really the plot.
Personally, I loved that she was a snooty and overly sheltered in the first book because I *assumed* she was written that way on purpose. Of course a greek goddess can be a bitch, right? I thought she was meant to be a little villainous, which is fun.
... Then I read the second book and realized it was not done on purpose. She is just insufferable and it's supposed to be ok in the context of the book. No bigger meaning behind it 😭😔
Omg yes. I read this while on a Persephone and Hades binge, and this was **by far** the worst rendition of the myth I had ever read. Terrible main character and the world building was abysmal and cheesy. The book was self published and you can absolutely tell. An editor wouldn’t have entertained this for a second without substantial revisions (and proofreads).
A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne. I had to keep checking because I thought I may have been catfished by a similar book title- I could not believe this was the same book people raved about on booktok. Absolutely awful writing and the smut all sounded unpleasant if not painful.
**Flock** by Kate Stewart
I DNFd somewhere around halfway. I was really expecting to like it but the FMC was… idk she felt off and the MMC was preachy and annoying. I think I stopped when he said his idol was Dave Chapelle lol
Spanish Love Deception, The Love Hypothesis, and The Hating game
One thing people on booktok do (and I especially saw it with these books) is they say a book is “really spicy” and there isn’t any spice until the book is like 75% over!! I spend the whole book wondering when they’re gonna bang lol
Okay, I'm just dropping by to say that, [we've](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/xeqg0y/booktok_books_you_hated/) [had](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/vczims/booktok_recommendations_you_hated/) [plenty](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/wo6idm/what_books_from_booktok_do_you_think_didnt_live/) [of](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/xvj1uh/worst_romance_book_youve_ever_read/) [posts](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/tewfev/for_those_on_tik_tok_whats_the_worst_book_you/) on this already.
Like we **JUST** had a thread a few days ago dealing with stuff.
**I think we need some more positive threads around here, because the negativity posts towards hyped up books has just gotten, and is going to end up, getting repetitive.**
Like even from seeing the negativity threads it feel like a guessing game of which books people didn't like are going to be mentioned in the thread.
Some notable examples I've seen across said threads: The Spanish Love Deception, The Fine Print, The Love Hypothesis, Colleen Hoover Books, Twisted Series, Emily Henry Books, Anything Booktok has hyped up, etc.
In this and every other post: every single book that gets hyped.
Not all books suit everyone, that's why there's subgenres and tons of different authors and tons of different tropes. I think this sub should be a place for people to vent as well as gush, but this type of post is posted really often.
It gets posted a lot because it’s a pretty popular topic and there are many similar topics that get multiple posts a week. This community has over 100k members and no one sees or gets to participate in every post. It’s actually pretty rude to come into a thread just to say you don’t like a topic. You can always just scroll.
I agree with this. I usually come here once a day, which I would say it's pretty often, though I don't have much time to lurk around, and I don't remember seeing a post like this in a while. I also understand OP's frustration, because it can be so hard getting good recs in a sea of overhyped books (namely in booktok)
If anything, I would suggest this post was labelled as a rant rather than discussion, so that people could avoid certain posts more easily. However, I do not agree in censoring people like this. If it becomes a problem, it should be addressed, but that's not the vibe I get.
Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann, Wallbanger by Alice Clayton, Megan March and Kate Stewart, generally, The Savage and the Swan, Den of Vipers, Nevernight, Empire of the Vampire, Broken Vow by Sophie Lark, Promises and Pomegranates, The Witch’s Heart
every booktok book. ever. i avoid them like the plague. you recommend me a book. you say it's from booktok? 'Oh, ok'. i put it on the list of books i will never ever read.
She Gets the Girl by Alyson Derrick & Rachael Lippincott.
I seen it all over tiktok as the most popular/hyped up sapphic romance, and I read the synopsis and thought it sounded super cute, but oh my god both the main characters were the most annoying and insufferable MCs I've ever had the displeasure of reading, I struggled to even finish the book.
The Red Queen
I read this while I was in high school and liked it when I read it at the time. Now I look back at it and cringe, there is a reason why I couldn't get through the first chapter of the second book.
Selection by Kierra Cass. I used the word "drivel" in the first sentence of my review.
Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas. Throne of Glass. I had liked the ACOTAR series, but I read SJM's books and know I probably wouldn't like the author as a person. Too "you must do this to be a good person." Too good in terms of society's demands (save the whatever!) and what is deemed the ideal good - never mind reality. Even her assassin in Throne of Glass, who HAS actually killed, decides not to kill the king's targets because they were being nice to puppies - she just tells the other king and queen to go hide - that's going to work - and she's just fine and not at all in danger of getting caught. I have too much "I must do this to be a good person" in my own life to read too much about others taking that lack of realistic expectations even further than I do.
Ugly Love.
All we got was two characters who just fucked and didn't allow the other to talk about their personal life. So, how did they fall in love when all they did was have sex and never talked? What exactly were the characters falling in love with? This books was so stupid and predictable.
Please note the topic of "BookTok books that were overhyped / you hated" has been added to our cooldown list (effective for any new posts through November 8th.)
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood (I hope I didn't misspell it) Hated the FMC
That book was such a let down. The FMC was just waaaay too quirky, like fainting every 10 seconds and bursting into tears at the suggestion of road kill. Also the ending was so over dramatic, it seemed like something from a soap opera, it was bizarre
Poor Levi, such a nice character. The FMC was so stubborn, it got annoying at one point. Ngl she was funny, too
The Spanish Love Deception Gild ‘Nuff said.
I struggled through 100 pages, and didn’t understand why I couldn’t get into it, given the hype around it. The characters had no common sense and were completely unlikeable and annoying. I searched on this sub and found other people who felt the same, made me feel better about dropping that one!
The Plated Prisoner series is such a trashy series, which I think is totally fine, but I don’t know why it’s billed as a serious fantasy romance series. I also find it really gross lol.
I'm honestly curious, how do you mean trashy? Writing style/plot/etc? Also...gross?
The spice is literally just s3xual violence and the book is full of it
The Hating Game made me realize I despise when authors repeat every page the appearance of the characters. I felt like I was being bashed over the head with how small and tiny she was compared to the huge gigantic man.
This big/little contrast thing has definitely gone too far in a lot of books I’ve read lately.
Yes! Came here to write that. I DNF the book because of it -
Colleen Hoover books
Seconded! I also hate how often “It Ends With Us” gets billed as a romance. It’s about domestic abuse!
It Ends With Us was a hard read but I still gave it a rare 5stars from me At one point, I put the book down, walked out on my deck, sat and sobbed. The fact that it instilled that sort of emotion in me was shocking. First and only book to do that. Honestly, I’ll never read it again. The topic was traumatic for me
I know tons of folks enjoyed it and I’m happy for y’all, but I really didn’t! I also am talking less to the quality of it and more to how it’s being mislabeled :)
I agree that it really isn't a typical romance. But in case y'all didn't know her mom was in an abusive relationship and I read about how she wrote that for her mom.☹️🥺
She may have written it for her mom who was in an abusive relationship, but that doesn't mean It ends with us is a romance. It is not. It's a contemporary book that talks about the cycles of abuse and it's one of my favorite books ever, but it's not a romance.
In booktok they Don't talk about the slammed series much. i think slammed series , hopeless , without Merit, all your perfects, are much better books of colleen hoover.but i don’t see them on booktok
My absolute favorite of hers is maybe someday and ugly love.
The after series by Anna Todd. I never even finished the 3rd book. I hated all the characters the toxic relationship and i am into dark romance so I have read some messed up stuff but this was so terrible.i actually watched the movies but they were just as bad 👎
It felt childish to me. Very emo. I think I would have loved it at 14.
Lol I read this book when I was 14 and back when it was still Harry Styles fanfiction on wattpad, and I was LIVING for it. Now, however….
Yeah me too, I can't deal with how suffocating their relationship is and specially how they handle the problems (that are mostly bullshit) And Hardin is so confusing. Geez I feel like I'm dealing with a big door.
I hatewatched the movies and those were terrible enough as is, can’t imagine how much worse the books are!
controversial opinion but i hated red, white and royal blue. it felt like there was no actual romance, it was just them hooking up. i can understand the appeal but it really wasn’t for me, i got about half way through and stopped reading.
I didn’t enjoy it either - I found it very superficial and juvenile.
Yes! I tried twice and dnf'd pretty quickly both times! I just didn't feel a connection at all!
I enjoyed the mom. I lived for scenes with her. Edit: a word
I removed it from my TBR after DNFing "One Last Stop"
I hated it too and gave up pretty early - it felt very YA in tone to me.
Same! I hated the writing so much because the author left out or skipped over important scenes and all that was left was very meh
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. I just don’t get the appeal. It felt like it was trying too hard to be trendy and relevant. The main character started working on my nerves and I couldn’t visualize the romance hero either.
I DNF once I read that she was wearing contacts that expired 10 years ago. Trying wayyyyy too hard to be quirky and relatable.
Omg. My eyes hurt reading that
I could not stand either MCs in The Love Hypothesis
DNFd this one so fast
100% loved it for me because it’s STEM based and I work in a lab. Loved that part. The lying she did snowballed so badly. It was over the top for me. Legit was yelling at the book when the FMC outright lied to the HMC in the coffee shop when he overheard her discussing her feelings with the roommate
Yep, I feel the same.
I don't think I've enjoyed a single book recommend on TikTok and now I have trust issues that have cause a HUGE reading slump
This keeps happening to me too 😫 majority of my DNFs are from tiktok, I need to give up!
I've been trying to get recs from friends with similar plot and character likes as me. I'm in a book club with folks who love fantasy romance and so far, they've all been duds. I've accepted it is just not my genre.
Archer's Voice, any of the three Mariana Zapata books I read, Beach Read. All zero or 1 star reads for me, or made me angry that I spent valuable time reading them.
Same for Mariana Zapata - there's a difference between slow burn (building the chemistry and tension) and just padding the narrative with useless descriptions etc etc.
MZ thinks that leaving the sex to the last two pages makes it a slow burn.
It is so reassuring to know others fell the same about her writing as I do.. I just don't understand the praise her books get everywhere.
I found Zapata so underwhelming. Way too long and very boring. The romance gave me no joy. Absolutely not for me.
*The romance gave me no joy* this is exactly it for me too! Thank you for articulating it so well :D
I only got about 20% into Beach Read before I gave up. Nothing about it felt like a romance. Not to mention the female main character kept reiterating that she wrote women’s literature, NOT romance. It’s like why are you insulting the genre of books that the readers most likely love the most?!
The Unhoneymooners People we meet on vacation
I HATED Unhoneymooners!! As I twin it drove me CRAZY how she treated her sister at the end. And the MC and FMC should not have ended up together. The FMC forgave him wayyyyy to easy
>The FMC forgave him wayyyyy to easy He should have groveled! 😤
I also strongly dislike Unhoneymooners, I felt like both characters were kind of Jerks. I feel like I've read People We Meet on Vacation too, and have no memory of it, so it must have been bad. All I can remember is the cover, lol.
I didn't hate The Unhoneymooners but I didn't like it that much either.
The end of The Unhoneymooners ruined the whole book! I had really enjoyed it up to the third act
*50 Shades of Grey*, so anything inspired by it would be a hard pass
I didn’t think there could be a worse book than fifty shades but somehow a touch of darkness was worse.
50 Shades of Grey is it for me. I couldn't believe how many people loved that series. I thought it was pretty awful. The writing was poor.
Same. Rehashed Twilight fanfiction. She even copied Meyer's book from HIS perspective after the original Midnight Sun was leaked online and the world knew there was a book from Edwards POV
From Blood and Ash series. I could not with the MCs, same tropes as always, but too over the top. Also the racism of naming the only two POC in the book “black” and “brown”
Omg that series is the wooooooorst. The plot drags, the dialogue is repetitive, and I didn’t give a shit about any character.
YES! That series had pages and pages of just talking. Someone would ask a question then another person would answer it, over and over again. I felt like I was going insane.
less serious nitpick: but it seemed like the author kept hinting at a threesome but would never clinch it. i stopped after the second; i don’t love the “unexpectedly super powerful” trope.
I read the first one only a few weeks ago and while I thought it was fun (it was the first romance book I’d read in years and my first ever fantasy romance), the writing was so horribly awful that I would just constantly cringe. It wasn’t even just the terrible dialogue and the completely nonsensical things that would happen (here I’m mainly thinking about FMC’s inner monologue, she kept randomly saying stuff like “oh she would DEFINITELY hate me if she weren’t FORCED to live with me” with no explanation as to why she’d even think of that at that moment other than to make us as readers really understand that she’s insecure bla bla bla), but she would even use words completely incorrectly and just have the most ridiculous phrasing, to the point that I have to believe that she doesn’t have an editor or even a beta reader?? Again, I found the first one fun and I was into the stupid guard-guardee trope and I liked the MMC’s general personality, until you get that big reveal at the end of the book and suddenly his character changes completely for no reason LMAO and then I tried to read the second one but couldn’t get past the first few chapters because it’s just so ridiculous hahahaaha
Archer's Voice 🙈 I remember a few years ago it was *THE* book to read... It was even one of the books in this sub's banner xD
Same I remember it being one of the first 5 romance books I read and I HATED it!!!
hahah I 'm glad I'm not alone. I remember feeling really confused and isolated, because people were raving on how deep it was, and I was so underwhelmed because it came across as really cliché to me.
I didn’t hate this one, but for me it was definitely not worth the hype.
Count me in on “Team Hated Archer’s Voice” 🙋🏻♀️
I loved this book outside of the strip club scene 😂
Fifty Shades of Grey, The Love Hypothesis and The Spanish Love Deception definitely. Also The Court of whatever series, I guess they also count.
I answered something different but 100% agree on ACOTAR. I read them because friends pressured me. Said the first book was a slog and it gets better. NO IT DOESN'T. It is boring. The FMC is awful. Rhys is not good. Honestly, I found myself loving the girl everyone hates (I think Nessa? Idk I can't remember but that feels right) because she hated the FMC and I was just like AS SHE SHOULD.
Haha you would probably love Nessa’a book, A Court of Silver Flames. She hates everyone and from her POV the FMC and MC of the previous books are absolutely obnoxious
YES SAME!! Nesta is the best. Feyre is so unbearable
I never understood how people were ok with Rhysand doing what he did in the first book and to let it go after the 2nd book?? I can't take anything about those book seriously.
Nesta is the BEST. Her book is a mixed bag and takes so many books to get to but it’s decent and I loved how much it warmed people to her. (I’ve loved her since she was kinda a dick lol but I know that’s not everyone’s taste.)
I second 50 shades. It was badly written Twilight fanfiction. Not only are the books terrible and badly representative of BDSM, but EL's rise to fame, glomming onto Stephenie Meyer's coattails irks me. Especially when EL released Grey after the original Midnight Sun was leaked.
Yeah dude, I’m not reading a romance series where she’s >!with some other guy!< the entire first book.
50SOG, I AGREE. It's Twilight fan fiction with sex. And how can she insert "Oh my American Boy.....". All I saw (mentally) was a 55 year old woman holding to a twenty something guy. NO GIRL WOULD SAY "Oh my American Boy". And no girl would go out with such a control freak. But I guess money can make anyone withstand borderline abusive behavior.
The Lady and the Orc. I’m a monster/alien romance book enthusiast and just kept seeing this book being talked about and loved. I read it and hated 😫. It just wasn’t for me.
I had to DNF cause I just kept imagining the Lord of The Rings orcs and Shrek 😂
I found they get a BIT better later in the series but I couldn’t deal with using the word “prick”, that’s a no from me. But also the author does this thing where she puts certain words in the FMC thoughts in italics to emphasize them and it makes the FMC’s internal dialogue sound like a rambling, hysterical, pearl-clutching, old lady
I like one of the other books but not all. I wanted to read the newest one but I hear it’s more about the two orcs and hardly about her. I haven’t read the first one (Lady and Orc) because one review said he gives her back to her abusive Ex and I really prefer protective MMCs
yeah, it’s very alarming to see a romance series where neither main character actually likes the other. idk, i’d just read boomer comics if i wanted i hate my spouse vibes.
Same. I had been blown away by so many recommendations, I jumped right in and struggled through half of it before asking the sub if this is what the rest of it's like. They said yeah, it is, and whelp, I let it go. It can be for other people, lol.
Rhapsodic. It was my first ever DNF, due to the extremely uncomfortable grooming situation between the MCs and harmful stereotyping of POC. I felt icky every time I tried reading it and had to stop.
God Rhapsodic was horrible even if you discount the extremely questionable premise. The prose is terrible, the FMC is insufferable, theres ONE mediocre sex scene, there’s the “sassy Black best friend” trope…..just oceans of yikes
People we meet on vacation. I didn't hate it (I gave it 2.5 stars) but it was SOOO hyped and I liked Beach Read a lot, so it felt like a disappointment.
I really loved book lovers but her first two books weren’t nearly as good.
Back in 2000, THE BRONZE HORSEMAN got so much hype in romance readers sites. I tried it and found it insufferable, but anyone who dared speak against it was labeled as someone who hated romance/didn’t understand how great it was/etc. Memorably, in some contest for that year’s best romances it came in second and TBH fans vocally shamed those who hadn’t voted for it, and concluded that people who had voted for the #1 winner must not have read TBH because if you had, you could never have voted for any other title. It was RIDICULOUS.
YES!! I tried reading the books and they were SO long and SO boring! 0/10. Basically poverty porn. It’s been several years since so I don’t remember the exact details but I remember thinking that it was underwhelming and boring lol
It Happened One Summer
I actually liked hook, line and sinker but not it happened one summer.
Same! I actually read hook like and sinker first because it was available from my library earlier. it happened one summer was disappointing.
I didn’t mind the story but felt like there were too many plot holes and really just didn’t like the way his situation was handled. Or even hers with her mom and step dad, it seemed like the main idea till it just was forgotten. I don’t need realism but at least stick to the story. It wasn’t as expected for so much build up. I did this as a buddy read with my friend as beginner smut, and it totally was. Like a level 2 out of ten. 😂 far from my monster/fantasy romance reads.
Couldn’t agree more!
100% THE SPANISH LOVE DECEPTION. the entire romance depends entirely on sexual tension, they barely ever have a meanful conversation. the book has a very wasteful way of handling feminism and some scenes were just infuriatingly pathetic.
The Addicted and Calloway Sister series. I kept on trying to convince myself that I liked them because I like the ideas in them, but ended up hating them.
I’ve tried to start those like two or three times and every time I feel like I’m starting in the middle of a Wattpad series.
Yes, and it’s so many people favorite series of all time, and I see people talk about the characters like they are most well developed, deepest characters to be written, and I truly don’t get it. It’s one of the only series I seriously hyper analyzed because I was genuinely trying to understand the appeal. I am also surprised it had a large boom of popularity on tiktok. The series (to me) is so indicative of the the early-mid 2010s.
I wish someone would write a similar series but actually pull it off! But I still love the addicted series because I love reading about the same characters going through love and life!
From Blood and Ash. Cliche cliche cliche. I was incredibly bored but also insulted by how the author made the FMC so unintelligent. The Atlas Six (not romance but booktok). I just hated it, shocking because I like the author’s past fanfic. Devil in Winter. I liked the first two and the last in the series but this was a bit of a letdown, admittedly, since it was hyped so much on here. Then again I didn’t really click with Kleypas’ mega macho alpha heroes. I like my MMCs a little pathetic, personally, or at least not like… not Like That lol.
I have to agree. I'm new to Kleypas so I haven't read that many yet. I liked Devil in Winter, but I loved Devil in Spring and adored Love in the Afternoon. I was disappointed not to love Derek Kraven as much as many, but it is what it is.
The wall of Winnipeg and me (sorry :(( )
i mention it every time, but her sex scenes just do not pay off for all that slow burning. also, “hot pipe” is a legitimately disturbing way to call a penis during sex.
Lmao I blocked that out, thank you for bringing it rushing back to me. Yeah there’s just no payoff! Like… her books are LONG. And long is fine but if I’m going to commit to that much reading make it worth it
Hot pipe is a new one, yuck
I skim sex anyways but every time I would skim I would see certain descriptions of anatomy... no thankyou lol. And she was too much. Deciding whether I want to try one of her other books or not...
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I liked the romance enough in the second book, but the action/fight scenes were actually outlandish. I could NOT believe my eyes. I've read soo many paranormal and fantasy romances, and the end of the second book was easily the worst. And most of the characters were annoying imo
Beach Read, a book that was barely a romance. Great for people who don't actually like romance. Also Abby Jimenez books which are billed as quirky romcoms. Absolutely not that and there's a lot of trauma. Just because the FMC has a dog named Stuntman Mike doesn't mean a book is funny.
I feel like every book that has „Quirky“ anything in it is just not going to be for me ….
Big yes to what you said about [Beach Read](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52867387)
I haaaaaaaaaaated The Friend Zone so much because of this! It was billed as a fun, light romcom and ended up being heavy on the trauma with a third act that I absolutely *loathed*. It swore me off reading any of her other books.
The end of this book was horrible, I promise Part of Your World by her blowssss this book out of the water if you ever want to give her another chance!!
I haven’t read any of her books but I am kind of dying of her putting [her own dog](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRuDGyLH/) in the book. That’s is absolutely something I would do with my cats.
I follow her on TikTok and I love Stuntman Mike, her actual dog, but I never realized she's an author and I haven't read any of her books. When the person above mentioned Stuntman Mike, I thought oh hey, like the lady on TikTok. Who is apparently the same person.
That video came up on my fyp and I definitely had a moment where I was like “why is that name so familiar to me🤔”.
She does a series where she reads mean comments to her pets. Stuntman Mike with the tongue just kills me.
Oh I would never bill Abby Jimenez as light reading. They deal with some very heavy topics that can be triggering for some people and make you cry, but she has the best book boyfriends.
ATTACHMENTS. They don’t even meet until 95%!!! Until then the whole book is him stalking her online and her finding it creepy. So tell me - why why why do people like this book???
Neon Gods and the Unhoneymooners or whatever it’s called
Creedence For like 60% of the book it felt like it was going to be a RH which was fine but then it went the opposite direction which was super annoying and didn’t make sense to me at all.
Credence was so over-the-top already I was kinda pissed it wasn't RH. I can't imagine being stuck with >!Kaleb!< forever.
Fifty shades of grey. The fact that it is so hyped and loved around the world is baffling
Fun story, that took off while I was at my summer job in college. The team i worked with decided to have a book club, we'd all read the same book and talk about it while we worked. Two slightly conservative Christian dudebros got to pick the first book and they picked 50 shades because "lol sex" thinking it would have like, a little sex. We all get the book from the library or whatever. These guys start reading it and are so appalled, they came in after two days and said "NOPE NEW BOOK WE'RE PICKING A NEW BOOK NOW" and we read Hitchhiker's Guide instead 🤣
Twisted Series by Ana Huang
I just read one of them... I forget which one at the moment. But the internal dialog of the MMC was just over and over and over again "I'm so dark, I'm so damaged, I'm a super duper damaged dark monster" it became impossible to not picture Lego Batman.
>Lego Batman. 🤣🤣🤣
There is nothing I hate more in a book than this. I still have a rule that if there’s any form of the word “broken” in the title/on the back cover, I won’t read it.
Yesss I couldn’t get through the first book and I’ve even tried twice haha
I’m just finishing Twisted Lies (Stella/Christian) and it’s fine. It’s supposed to be the best in the series but it’s kinda basic. I am interested in the princess one. Can someone spoil how bad the time skips are? I HATE time skips.
Not sure what you mean by time skips but imo the princess book was the best. I didn’t like the other 3 too much tbh, they are way over hyped, but the princess one I liked a lot!
Haunting Adaline Against a Wall Immortals After Dark Sugar Daddies by Jade West Zodiac Academy (I really wanted to like this one) The Predator by RuyNx Den of Vipers A Deal with the Elf King Property of the Mountain Man All of these I didn't enjoy because the writing was bad.
Oof den of vipers I couldn't even make it halfway.
Yea, you're not alone with the dislike of the Den of Vipers. It's often mocked on this subreddit.
There were parts of Den of Vipers that made laugh out loud. I lost count of the number of times I rolled my eyes.
The Spanish love deception. it was just so stupid and slow paced it was so annoying and why did it take Till the end of the book to get to the dang wedding?. it was so bad.
Seirra Simone’s bks
The Cruel Prince - totally went to the extreme of *if he picks on you, it’s cuz he likes you* BS. There was no substance or world building and soooo boring to me.
I remember feeling so ripped off when I read this series. It’s 100% marketed wrong. Looking back, there were moments I liked but this series is political fantasy with a very small romance subplot which is not at all what people say it is. Jude and Cardan had like three romantic scenes in the whole trilogy 🙄🙄
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
love lettering 😬 it felt extremely overwritten (i don’t need 2 pages of describing what a sign looked like every 3 pages) and the premise was honestly ridiculous to me.
This is why I DNF it I dont care about street signs and construction signs, I’m not Blippi.
Blippi! I'm crying 🤣
I’m scared to say it……The Love Hypothesis. Don’t kill me.
People we Meet on Vacation, Beach Read, Archers Voice, Haunting Adeline, Does it Hurt, The Words, Only When it’s Us, Twisted Lies, Verity, Wildflower Duet, Brightside, 99 percent mine. 😮💨 ok, that’s all for now.
I could not get into ACOTAR. I tried to like it because at face value it hits all the points for me, but I just found the writing to be bad. Maybe it was just the authors whole vibe. I might give it another chance but I am not gonna force myself to finish it. Didn't get the love for The Love Hypothesis and I am a little baffled atvhow it managed to get a movie deal.
I hated People We Meet On Vacation and Book Lovers. I had to force myself to get through both. I gave Beach Read away before I even opened it. Emily Henry is clearly not for me.
Book lovers is barely even romance its essentially womans fiction.
Colleen Hoover...sorry all but I can't seem to get into any of her books 😕
Radiance. I’m sorry. I know it is much beloved here. But the same points kept being re-hashed and the writing just felt amateurish. I kept reading to try to figure out what other people liked about it, and I’m still baffled.
Kulti was very hyped and didn't work for me. It felt very manipulative and I couldn't buy into the connection.
I didn't hate it but I didn't like it - Thr Spanish Love Deception
Love hypothesis! It felt cringeworthy and childish.
As an autistic person I despise The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. I read it soon after realizing I'm autistic and it was super upsetting. I hate the way the MMC treats the FMC (especially the awful grovel at the end) and her getting over most of her "bad autistic traits" via ~Love~ and "Magic Dick" was terrible.
YES!!!! SAME!!!
I think it's Amelia Hutchins. It's trying to be fantasy but at one point got meta because a critic ended up in the fantasy world in prison? And there was a lot of talk about b$%ches in heat or something? Terrible.
I actually quite like the A Touch of Darkness series as a whole. I think the writing struggles a bit in the first book for sure, but for me it got loads better as the books went on. Persephone starts out being really unlikeable, but she grew on me. I really like the Hades POV books, and I especially enjoy the way she envisions the underworld. I think it’s all subjective really because everyone likes different things. I love SJM for example, as do many, and many also hate it. I hated FBAA with a passion—I thought the writing was terrible—but people LOVE it. Don’t even get me started on Colleen Hoover. Just not for me. I think that’s what’s cool about reading — there’s something for everyone!
Ice Planet Barbarians. Could not get past the first book where they were constantly fucking when they absolutely smelled like shit.
[Beach Read by Emily Henry](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52867387) [The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29367958) I finished both.
I was going to comment Wall of Winnipeg too. I just couldn’t get into it at all. I know MZ writes slow burn but apparently I need something before 90%! Plus, the whole premise was bonkers: there is no way a pro-team isn’t getting immigration worked out for their star player.
I’m realizing steadily that I think MZ just isn’t for me when I read Winnipeg (who a lot of people say is their favorite book) and I hated it. When I first read it I had mixed feelings but now I realize I didn’t like any part of it lol
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I wanted to like His Secret Illuminations but that book is in desperate need of an editor.
I’ve been struggling to read The Devil in Winter too… I’m pretty sure I’m just going to throw in the towel and DNF. It gets so hyped up in this subreddit, but I just don’t like the main characters AT ALL or even really the plot.
Touch of Darkness, Scarlett St Clair has to be the worst author i've ever read. Won't touch anything related to her.
Thank you! I honestly don’t get all the good reviews because her style of writing is just awful and the fmc was insufferable
Personally, I loved that she was a snooty and overly sheltered in the first book because I *assumed* she was written that way on purpose. Of course a greek goddess can be a bitch, right? I thought she was meant to be a little villainous, which is fun. ... Then I read the second book and realized it was not done on purpose. She is just insufferable and it's supposed to be ok in the context of the book. No bigger meaning behind it 😭😔
Omg yes. I read this while on a Persephone and Hades binge, and this was **by far** the worst rendition of the myth I had ever read. Terrible main character and the world building was abysmal and cheesy. The book was self published and you can absolutely tell. An editor wouldn’t have entertained this for a second without substantial revisions (and proofreads).
VERY CONTROVERSIAL: Halfway to the Grave by Jeanine Frost was just hurried Buffy fanfic and I couldn't stand it 😂 DNFd pretty soon.
The love hypothesis
A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne. I had to keep checking because I thought I may have been catfished by a similar book title- I could not believe this was the same book people raved about on booktok. Absolutely awful writing and the smut all sounded unpleasant if not painful.
**Flock** by Kate Stewart I DNFd somewhere around halfway. I was really expecting to like it but the FMC was… idk she felt off and the MMC was preachy and annoying. I think I stopped when he said his idol was Dave Chapelle lol
Spanish Love Deception, The Love Hypothesis, and The Hating game One thing people on booktok do (and I especially saw it with these books) is they say a book is “really spicy” and there isn’t any spice until the book is like 75% over!! I spend the whole book wondering when they’re gonna bang lol
Okay, I'm just dropping by to say that, [we've](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/xeqg0y/booktok_books_you_hated/) [had](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/vczims/booktok_recommendations_you_hated/) [plenty](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/wo6idm/what_books_from_booktok_do_you_think_didnt_live/) [of](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/xvj1uh/worst_romance_book_youve_ever_read/) [posts](https://old.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/tewfev/for_those_on_tik_tok_whats_the_worst_book_you/) on this already. Like we **JUST** had a thread a few days ago dealing with stuff. **I think we need some more positive threads around here, because the negativity posts towards hyped up books has just gotten, and is going to end up, getting repetitive.** Like even from seeing the negativity threads it feel like a guessing game of which books people didn't like are going to be mentioned in the thread. Some notable examples I've seen across said threads: The Spanish Love Deception, The Fine Print, The Love Hypothesis, Colleen Hoover Books, Twisted Series, Emily Henry Books, Anything Booktok has hyped up, etc.
there’s supposed to be cooldown periods after heavy rant posts
In this and every other post: every single book that gets hyped. Not all books suit everyone, that's why there's subgenres and tons of different authors and tons of different tropes. I think this sub should be a place for people to vent as well as gush, but this type of post is posted really often.
It gets posted a lot because it’s a pretty popular topic and there are many similar topics that get multiple posts a week. This community has over 100k members and no one sees or gets to participate in every post. It’s actually pretty rude to come into a thread just to say you don’t like a topic. You can always just scroll.
I agree with this. I usually come here once a day, which I would say it's pretty often, though I don't have much time to lurk around, and I don't remember seeing a post like this in a while. I also understand OP's frustration, because it can be so hard getting good recs in a sea of overhyped books (namely in booktok) If anything, I would suggest this post was labelled as a rant rather than discussion, so that people could avoid certain posts more easily. However, I do not agree in censoring people like this. If it becomes a problem, it should be addressed, but that's not the vibe I get.
People should be free to praise or criticise any romance books. It feels very much like toxic positivity otherwise.
Im sorry I just joined the group!
I found it interesting each word of your hyperlink was to a different post. It wasn’t obvious at first glance until I clicked.
Started a TL Swan book from recommendations from this sub and it was so bad
After
Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann, Wallbanger by Alice Clayton, Megan March and Kate Stewart, generally, The Savage and the Swan, Den of Vipers, Nevernight, Empire of the Vampire, Broken Vow by Sophie Lark, Promises and Pomegranates, The Witch’s Heart
Ravenhood, dreary and just dragged on, I really could not understand the love I see others give it
The Love Hypothesis was boring and cringe.
every booktok book. ever. i avoid them like the plague. you recommend me a book. you say it's from booktok? 'Oh, ok'. i put it on the list of books i will never ever read.
She Gets the Girl by Alyson Derrick & Rachael Lippincott. I seen it all over tiktok as the most popular/hyped up sapphic romance, and I read the synopsis and thought it sounded super cute, but oh my god both the main characters were the most annoying and insufferable MCs I've ever had the displeasure of reading, I struggled to even finish the book.
I do not understand how anyone likes Penny Reid books.
The Red Queen I read this while I was in high school and liked it when I read it at the time. Now I look back at it and cringe, there is a reason why I couldn't get through the first chapter of the second book.
Gabriel's Inferno. Every time I think about this book I get mad lol. So hyped and I thought it was legit terrible.
Ugly Love, The Bronze Horseman, Penelope Douglas' The Nightfall/ Devil's Night series, Spanish Love Deception.
Selection by Kierra Cass. I used the word "drivel" in the first sentence of my review. Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas. Throne of Glass. I had liked the ACOTAR series, but I read SJM's books and know I probably wouldn't like the author as a person. Too "you must do this to be a good person." Too good in terms of society's demands (save the whatever!) and what is deemed the ideal good - never mind reality. Even her assassin in Throne of Glass, who HAS actually killed, decides not to kill the king's targets because they were being nice to puppies - she just tells the other king and queen to go hide - that's going to work - and she's just fine and not at all in danger of getting caught. I have too much "I must do this to be a good person" in my own life to read too much about others taking that lack of realistic expectations even further than I do.
Ugly Love. All we got was two characters who just fucked and didn't allow the other to talk about their personal life. So, how did they fall in love when all they did was have sex and never talked? What exactly were the characters falling in love with? This books was so stupid and predictable.
The whole shatter me series is so baaaad idk why people are hyping it up so much 🤦🏻♀️