5 Books I Read Because Of Bookstagram Pressure That Turned Out To Be Duds. BRB, Crying!
Books are my place of solace and I will prefer them over human company any day. Each year, I set a reading challenge for myself that I will read a certain number of books by the end of it. Well, this year I challenged myself to read 55 books and I already have read 40 so far! I would like to say that I am not bragging but I guess, I am!
So, here’s the thing about reading books which is probably the only thing I don’t like about them and it is that they don’t always turn out to be as good as they are hyped up to be. And trust me when I say that this is the most disappointing thing I have ever faced. Not even my broken friendships come close to this heartbreak! I also follow bookstagram and also have a booksta account (the Instagram dedicated to the world of books, book recommendations, book reviews and everything about books under the sun)! This is a great place to connect with other book nerds and share your thoughts on books, too!
It is Book Lovers Day today, and on this day, I am taking this opportunity to list down a couple of books I read because of bookstagram which were super disappointing. These below-mentioned books were way too hyped on the platform and people were singing praises about them as well. So, here are, in no particular order of importance, the hyped books that were not worth the hype at all!
The Cheat Sheet – Sarah Adams
This romcom book was at the top recommendations on bookstagram and naturally, I thought it would be a great one. The Cheat Sheet is based on the best friends to lovers trope, which I am a fan of BTW! Bree and Nathan are shown to be besties but think that the other person sees them as just friends only. This whole push and pull thing between them kills their chemistry. So, I didn’t like it!
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We Hunt The Flame – Hafsah Faizal
This is the first book in the Sands of Arawiya duology which stirred a storm on bookstagram because people loved it a little too much. So, I picked it up and learned that it has 515 pages and honestly? I was taken aback at the chunkiness of it. What I liked about the book was the world-building of it and the various concepts explained in it. The knife-to-the-throat scene in the book was another thing that was worth the hype, and that’s about it. The rest of the book is just as dry as the desert it is set in.
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One Last Stop – Casey McQuiston
I brought this one after having read her Red White and Royal Blue which is my forever favourite! Naturally, I had high hopes for this one. It was my first lesbian romance and I feel sad while writing it that the plot was sh*t. The characters, Jane and August, had no chemistry except for the bit when they have sex in the train.
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Dark Places – Gillian Flynn
Gillian Flynn, the brilliant writer who wrote Gone Girl, really disappointed me with Dark Places. Given there was the word dark in the title, I was expecting dark things from the book but it clearly fell short. I hate it when murder thrillers do not have the motive to commit murders. I am all the saltier about this book because I took a month to finish it in the hopes that it will end on a banger as hyped by bookstagram, but it does not deliver one ounce of it!
Also read: 5 Books With Queer Love Stories That’ll Make Your Heart Go Mush!
Kingdom Of The Wicked – Kerri Maniscalco
Oh my God! Kingdom Of The Wicked was a rage on bookstagram and the primary reason behind this was that people were simping over the male protagonist, Wrath. To be honest, he wasn’t that hot either. The plot was interesting and could have been executed way better. The whole enemies-to-lovers trope here was also so drab and meh that I felt like shutting the book and putting it far behind on my shelf!
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Also, these are my personal opinions on the above-mentioned books so, if you liked any of them, I am happy for you! On a side note, happy Book Lovers Day, fellas!
