I felt the same way about Cassandra Khaw's Nothing But Blackened Teeth. Some of the language was pretty, but I had no clue what the sentences were telling me. Which is hard in horror when characters are literally being chased by ghosts.
I agree with A House with Good Bones. I was so confused throughout the whole book. It felt like a fever dream, the kind which you know you’re dreaming and just want to wake up but couldn’t
i enjoyed it but also thought it felt like a fever dream. maybe i enjoyed the first half and then once the weird stuff w/ grandma started happening i was like what is going on?? and when i look back and try to visualize the plot at that point it definitely feels fever dream.
The Push was recommended so much for mothers, and I feel like it would actually be enjoyed way more by non-mothers. As a mom, I didn't "relate" to it at all and in fact felt unsettled (not in a good way)
Hi Kayla! I know this maybe isn’t ~your thing~ but would you ever consider linking or listing where your clothes are from? Our hair color is basically identical and I love everything you wear!
Just finished The September House and the dialogue was actually one of my favorite parts, I loved getting such a deep glimpse into their complex family relationship and history through their conversations ♥️ Found it through you and thought it sounded like smth up my alley :D
Oh no I loved "The September House"! Super weird because I normally don't love haunted house books. It felt very "Needful Things" meets "Dolores Claiborne" to me. ☺️
it's the way almost all of the ones ive read on this list were 4 or 5 stars 😂 but tbh agreeing on A Twisted Love Story is a win for me 🤷🏽♀️ lol i almost want to read all your worst books to test our opposite tastes
I've definitely seen it on just as many favourites lists as least favourites! I love a divisive title, so fun to watch everyone's reactions roll in 😅 Sad it wasn't a win for you!!
Not The Push on this list! It was one of my best of the year back when it first came out. 😢 Then again, I also liked her new book The Whispers and I seem to be the outlier there.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who didn’t love The Push. All of my friends who have read it have raved endlessly about it and then I read it and was like, “why is this book loved so much? The writing is terrible!” 😂😂😂
I agree with you on The Push! The messaging and commentary was good, but the story was sooooo boring. I didn’t understand how it was labeled a thriller. 😅
I DNFd The Death I Gave Him pretty early on. Just wasn't for me. The Salt Grows Heavy was like reading in French. I felt like I couldn't make it a paragraph without having to look up a word!
I'm so curious about The September House... I kept going back and forth between interested or not.. but my interest was finally piqued enough and I got it. We shall see if it's a 👍 or a 👎 for me!
I enjoyed it. The main character deals with traumas and uncomfortable truths in a way you either get or will find too passive. I found it moving, but I get how it could make you want to scream.
my most disappointing this year was Sharks in the Time of Saviors. i originally gave it a two star because i felt like the problems i had with the book might’ve just been personal (didn’t connect with the characters, felt like nothing happened, underdeveloped magical realism) but then i found out the author isn’t indigenous Hawaiian. the book is about a native Hawaiian family and the complicated relationship they have with their homeland. so to find out that the author isn’t actually native Hawaiian but is telling us this story and allowing us to believe he’s native Hawaiian didn’t sit right with me so i bumped my rating down to one star.
My most disappointing read this year was The Thursday Murder Club! I love British humour so I was so hoping it would be a favourite but I ended up DNFing it. I was bored and the voices of characters all sounded similar.
Oh I’m so glad you said that. Everyone is raving about it. I usually like a group of seniors, quirky characters and a detective. I found none of these characters funny or lovable or even likable.
I haven't liked a Ruth Ware book since 'The Death of Mrs Westaway' so I'm glad I was right to avoid Zero Days. It sounds like she's doing too much talking/build-up and not enough time on the action and/or payoff. And it sounds like 'A twisted Love story' is a badly written soap opera that would have been written better by Danielle Steel in her heyday of the 80s.
Finally I find someone who didn't care for The Push. I read it a couple years ago and could not understand all the hype it got. I also found it dull and barely finished it.
As a romance reader, I'm sorry you didn't like those you chose to read. To be fair, of those you showed in this video, I didn't read most of them and the one I did, I wasn't too impressed with. Romance is a HUGE genre with so many subgenres. If you restrict yourself to only one trope, like fake dating or only one "feeling," i.e., it must be happy and funny, then you are setting yourself up for failure. You have to give yourself the opportunity to actually explore the genre, like you would any other. I've read romances that I loved and didn't love, but I've kept open the potential of different tropes and sub-genres. Or maybe romance just isn't for you. That's okay. I absolutely hate horror. I don't enjoy blood and guts and murder. It's just not something I can enjoy. So, I just do not read it.
Hey Kayla! There is currently a boycott of St. Martin's Press right now and even negative reviews of SMP titles (and SMP Imprint titles) are being asked to be withheld. At least one of the books mentioned is an SMP title as far as I know
Why is there a boycott? Actually no need to answer that as it's better I do my own research why and decide for myself if they deseve a boycott. Though tbh these days if I boycotted every time something not good comes up with a company I might as well never buy anything at all.
@languageswithmadiison once you do your research you will see the boycott does not ask the public to stop purchasing those books. Simply do not promote books by that publisher if you're an influencer.
i'm sure you don't want this, but i also find a lot of mainstream romances disappointing. i recommend gay indie romances but that's also like russian roulette to get what you're looking for. i prefer more genuine, serious ones, while i know you prefer more real RomCom™- but my point here is you may likely strike an author you gel with in that arena.
Same opinion about The Push. The povs were kinda confusing, and the ending was anticlimatic, having the same old formula of "turns out you were not as crazy as everyone believed."
2023 was me realizing that cozy horror is just NOT my thing. I totally get why people loved The September House and A House With Good Bones, but they just didn’t work for me either!
Trust me you're not the only one that hated The Push. It was so predictable and boring that by the last page, I was like I should've dnfed this book for my own sanity! It seems our thriller tastes are starting to align finally!
So, I really enjoyed The Push (I’d call it contemporary, not thriller) BUT I normally eschew the contemporary genre as I find it dull…but I’m kind of wondering if it was targeted at people like me who don’t normally enjoy contemporary novels by adding some thriller elements to it. Though I agree the actual writing wasn’t the best
I dnfed T.Kingfisher because it was too quirky for my taste. My biggest disappointment this year was Rouge, Ordinary Human Failings, The Handyman Method, The New One, and The Two Doctors Górski. All of them were 5 stars predictions that I’ve given 1-2 stars eventually 😢😢 heartbreaking
worst books for me were Lemon by Kwon Yeo-sun (only 145 pages, meant to focus on grief after a loved one's murder goes unsolved, but it was just so.... detached, and surface level, and didn't really address the theme the book was meant to, and too many POV shifts to really give us any kind of understanding of how they were meant to be feeling/coping. not to mention, some wasteful chapters only hinting at who the possible killer was, but they didn't add to the plot in the slightest). and then The Time of My Life by Rosie Mullinder - good god i HATED the mc in this. no character development until the last 20 pages but it felt rushed and undeserved. and flashbacks to her teenage years revealed what a horrendous friend she is. zero accountability, very immature and negligent - not to mention down right EVIL at times. when it was revealed what happened to make her relive the same day i remember laughing and thinking "good, it should have stuck." worst 4 hours of my life reading that book. don't even want to wish it onto another human being, i want to burn my copy of it to ashes.
I still plan on reading Zero Days but I'm really not excited about it anymore 😩😩 My least favourite read this year was BIg Gay Wedding; would not recommend AT ALL.
![ลองสั่งของจากแอพ temu ถูกจริงหรอ?? ( part : 1/2 ) [โกงไหมครับ ep.89 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RTcZSQTiDZw/mqdefault.jpg)
I felt the same way about Cassandra Khaw's Nothing But Blackened Teeth. Some of the language was pretty, but I had no clue what the sentences were telling me. Which is hard in horror when characters are literally being chased by ghosts.
I agree with A House with Good Bones. I was so confused throughout the whole book. It felt like a fever dream, the kind which you know you’re dreaming and just want to wake up but couldn’t
i enjoyed it but also thought it felt like a fever dream. maybe i enjoyed the first half and then once the weird stuff w/ grandma started happening i was like what is going on?? and when i look back and try to visualize the plot at that point it definitely feels fever dream.
The Push was recommended so much for mothers, and I feel like it would actually be enjoyed way more by non-mothers. As a mom, I didn't "relate" to it at all and in fact felt unsettled (not in a good way)
My most disappointing / worst was The Secret History and I’m so sad
Kayla, you are so good at summarizing your thoughts. I get why you didn't like every single book that you talked about. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Hi Kayla! I know this maybe isn’t ~your thing~ but would you ever consider linking or listing where your clothes are from? Our hair color is basically identical and I love everything you wear!
Just finished The September House and the dialogue was actually one of my favorite parts, I loved getting such a deep glimpse into their complex family relationship and history through their conversations ♥️ Found it through you and thought it sounded like smth up my alley :D
Oh no I loved "The September House"! Super weird because I normally don't love haunted house books. It felt very "Needful Things" meets "Dolores Claiborne" to me. ☺️
My favorite video of the year!! Yes, I love snark 😅
it's the way almost all of the ones ive read on this list were 4 or 5 stars 😂 but tbh agreeing on A Twisted Love Story is a win for me 🤷🏽♀️
lol i almost want to read all your worst books to test our opposite tastes
I think there's a video idea for both of us here 👀
@@BooksandLala i meeeaannn my content calendar is always open for you 🫶
@@BooksandLala perched
I feel like I need to love T. kingfisher…but I just am not their audience😢
this and the reading books from childhood series, like u really did ur thing with those ones
The Writing Retreat was one of my worst books of 2023.🙈
Me too!
I've definitely seen it on just as many favourites lists as least favourites! I love a divisive title, so fun to watch everyone's reactions roll in 😅 Sad it wasn't a win for you!!
I skimmed it after seeing so many good reviews. I ended up not reading it...too much sex for my taste.
Not The Push on this list! It was one of my best of the year back when it first came out. 😢 Then again, I also liked her new book The Whispers and I seem to be the outlier there.
Aw loved the push 😅 I have several of the others on my tbr…
I felt the same about A House with Good Bones!! The pacing really bothered me
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who didn’t love The Push. All of my friends who have read it have raved endlessly about it and then I read it and was like, “why is this book loved so much? The writing is terrible!” 😂😂😂
Kayla, Are you going to read The Whispers by Ashley Audrain?
I agree with you on The Push! The messaging and commentary was good, but the story was sooooo boring. I didn’t understand how it was labeled a thriller. 😅
I DNFd The Death I Gave Him pretty early on. Just wasn't for me.
The Salt Grows Heavy was like reading in French. I felt like I couldn't make it a paragraph without having to look up a word!
I'm so curious about The September House... I kept going back and forth between interested or not.. but my interest was finally piqued enough and I got it. We shall see if it's a 👍 or a 👎 for me!
I enjoyed it. The main character deals with traumas and uncomfortable truths in a way you either get or will find too passive. I found it moving, but I get how it could make you want to scream.
I feel exactly the same!
@@michellerever3564 oh interesting!
@@Silverraine1 well hopefully we like it!
It was one of my faves this year. What did you think?
my most disappointing this year was Sharks in the Time of Saviors. i originally gave it a two star because i felt like the problems i had with the book might’ve just been personal (didn’t connect with the characters, felt like nothing happened, underdeveloped magical realism) but then i found out the author isn’t indigenous Hawaiian. the book is about a native Hawaiian family and the complicated relationship they have with their homeland. so to find out that the author isn’t actually native Hawaiian but is telling us this story and allowing us to believe he’s native Hawaiian didn’t sit right with me so i bumped my rating down to one star.
I think I'm done with Ruth Ware books. Zero Days was dull, dull dull!!
I also wasn’t a huge fan of The September House 🫠 and lol A Twisted Love Story made my worst of the year too 😢
My most disappointing read this year was The Thursday Murder Club! I love British humour so I was so hoping it would be a favourite but I ended up DNFing it. I was bored and the voices of characters all sounded similar.
Omg I forgot that one!! I guess I should've included DNFs here or done a dedicated DNF video
Oh I’m so glad you said that. Everyone is raving about it. I usually like a group of seniors, quirky characters and a detective. I found none of these characters funny or lovable or even likable.
Agree @jedibookmasterivy - I got so bored so quickly reading that. DNF’d after about 40 minutes into the audiobook
A late day treat! ❤
The only one I’ve read is the push 😬
Aw, I loved The Salt Grows Heavy 😢 But I also love this video so much! :)
I just got it for Christmas so I hope I like it
here's how it goes: you love the books that i hate and you hate the books that i love, this is the perfect rec video for me
I loved The Push!
Zero days is pretty awful. I put it down then tried to pick it back up twice and just said I can't finish this one. Horrible.
I really hope her next release is better!
My worst book of the year was honestly my worst book of ever 🤣 "You Shouldn't Have Come Here" was Truly Terrible™️.
Could not agree more about The Push. I disliked it so much. So overhyped
bromance, noooooo... I loved that whole series so much!
Same! ❤
AHHHH i’ve never clicked faster!!!
Zero Days was so disappointing. I was so excited to read it and then it just dragged!
The end of house with good bones was what made me not enjoy- before that was fine, but the end just felt too rushed for being a short story
I haven't liked a Ruth Ware book since 'The Death of Mrs Westaway' so I'm glad I was right to avoid Zero Days. It sounds like she's doing too much talking/build-up and not enough time on the action and/or payoff. And it sounds like 'A twisted Love story' is a badly written soap opera that would have been written better by Danielle Steel in her heyday of the 80s.
Finally I find someone who didn't care for The Push. I read it a couple years ago and could not understand all the hype it got. I also found it dull and barely finished it.
I've DNF'd a few on this list, including The Push - it was rather disappointing :(
As a romance reader, I'm sorry you didn't like those you chose to read. To be fair, of those you showed in this video, I didn't read most of them and the one I did, I wasn't too impressed with. Romance is a HUGE genre with so many subgenres. If you restrict yourself to only one trope, like fake dating or only one "feeling," i.e., it must be happy and funny, then you are setting yourself up for failure. You have to give yourself the opportunity to actually explore the genre, like you would any other. I've read romances that I loved and didn't love, but I've kept open the potential of different tropes and sub-genres.
Or maybe romance just isn't for you. That's okay. I absolutely hate horror. I don't enjoy blood and guts and murder. It's just not something I can enjoy. So, I just do not read it.
I hated The Push. Cannot understand the hype, it's so boooooooring
Hey Kayla! There is currently a boycott of St. Martin's Press right now and even negative reviews of SMP titles (and SMP Imprint titles) are being asked to be withheld. At least one of the books mentioned is an SMP title as far as I know
Why is there a boycott? Actually no need to answer that as it's better I do my own research why and decide for myself if they deseve a boycott. Though tbh these days if I boycotted every time something not good comes up with a company I might as well never buy anything at all.
When’s there not a boycott over something. Most people don’t care.
Brb to do research and then no doubt buy a bunch of books from SMP because people boycott over the stupidest stuff
@languageswithmadiison once you do your research you will see the boycott does not ask the public to stop purchasing those books. Simply do not promote books by that publisher if you're an influencer.
V ⁰⁰
i'm sure you don't want this, but i also find a lot of mainstream romances disappointing. i recommend gay indie romances but that's also like russian roulette to get what you're looking for. i prefer more genuine, serious ones, while i know you prefer more real RomCom™- but my point here is you may likely strike an author you gel with in that arena.
I also found the push incredibly dull.
Same opinion about The Push. The povs were kinda confusing, and the ending was anticlimatic, having the same old formula of "turns out you were not as crazy as everyone believed."
A Twisted Love Story was such a disappointment. I expect a lot more from Samantha Downing. It was a snoozefest!
2023 was me realizing that cozy horror is just NOT my thing. I totally get why people loved The September House and A House With Good Bones, but they just didn’t work for me either!
Trust me you're not the only one that hated The Push. It was so predictable and boring that by the last page, I was like I should've dnfed this book for my own sanity! It seems our thriller tastes are starting to align finally!
Dishonorable mentions lol
I still can’t believe you read Pestilence
It's truly a fever dream
So, I really enjoyed The Push (I’d call it contemporary, not thriller) BUT I normally eschew the contemporary genre as I find it dull…but I’m kind of wondering if it was targeted at people like me who don’t normally enjoy contemporary novels by adding some thriller elements to it. Though I agree the actual writing wasn’t the best
Finally someone else who didn't like the Push! I thought I was going crazy!
Thank God I didn’t read ANY of those!
the fact that you didnt like The Push is painful... literal piece of art. lol
I’m so offended she didn’t like it 😂 one of my favorites this year
You were the first person/ youtuber I thought of when she said this! I loved it too!!!
Right on time!!
I dnfed T.Kingfisher because it was too quirky for my taste.
My biggest disappointment this year was Rouge, Ordinary Human Failings, The Handyman Method, The New One, and The Two Doctors Górski. All of them were 5 stars predictions that I’ve given 1-2 stars eventually 😢😢 heartbreaking
worst books for me were Lemon by Kwon Yeo-sun (only 145 pages, meant to focus on grief after a loved one's murder goes unsolved, but it was just so.... detached, and surface level, and didn't really address the theme the book was meant to, and too many POV shifts to really give us any kind of understanding of how they were meant to be feeling/coping. not to mention, some wasteful chapters only hinting at who the possible killer was, but they didn't add to the plot in the slightest).
and then The Time of My Life by Rosie Mullinder - good god i HATED the mc in this. no character development until the last 20 pages but it felt rushed and undeserved. and flashbacks to her teenage years revealed what a horrendous friend she is. zero accountability, very immature and negligent - not to mention down right EVIL at times. when it was revealed what happened to make her relive the same day i remember laughing and thinking "good, it should have stuck." worst 4 hours of my life reading that book. don't even want to wish it onto another human being, i want to burn my copy of it to ashes.
I still plan on reading Zero Days but I'm really not excited about it anymore 😩😩
My least favourite read this year was BIg Gay Wedding; would not recommend AT ALL.
DNFd The September House as soon as the daughter came into the story, I couldn’t do it anymore 😂
excited to watchhh, i clicked so fast ❤😭
Love a good list video :)
Or maybe it’s more accurate to say a bad list video
I guess I'm manifesting a romantasy era since romance let you down this year. Good luck madam 🫡