Catriona wrote in the Heyer/Grand Sophy thread:
Sarah, can we do a thread on romances that we want to love, we should have loved, everybody else loves them…but that we can’t stand because something just left a bad taste in our mouths?
I like this idea for two reasons. No, three. First, we’ve done it before. But let’s do a new one. It’s been years.
Second: not enjoying a book that it seems like everyone loved or enjoyed can be an isolating experience, but as I’ve learned on the internet, you’re never alone in your likes and dislikes, no matter how outlandish they might seem. 0_o
And third: everyone’s buttons are different (woo, kinky!). What ticks me off may not bother you in the slightest, and vice versa. For example, and I’ve used this example before: there are many who are intensely bothered by historical inaccuracies in romances. I am not one of these people. The Duke can in fact drive a Porsche to Almack’s, and I’m fine with it. Whatever.
My hot button is stilted, unrealistic and awkward dialogue. If characters, like, for example, the Duke of Porsche, say things that real human beings wouldn’t say, and use cliches to the point that they don’t sound like actual people, I get really annoyed. Yanks me right out of the story and into Land of Crankypants. But the Porsche? Meh. Whatever.
I am not alone in that preference, but I do think that among romance readers, especially historical romance fans, I’m in the minority. And this is not to insult any author who busts her ass doing the research. Go on with your bad self – and your Porsche.
Catriona’s example is a bit more specific:
My example is As You Desire by Connie Brockway. Everybody is in love with this book and it always appears on people’s top romances list. I should love it – I enjoyed Brockway’s other books, I’m crazy about Egypt and archaeology and I love romances that are supposed to be funny and witty. It had everything going for it.
But I’m telling you, this book is like my own personal berserk button. To this day, I still can’t think about it or hear somebody sing its praises without my blood pressure spiking. My issue is with the way the author set up an “older” woman (I think she was in her early 30’s) to be the younger heroine’s foil. Basically, the older woman was rejected by the hero and pretty much every male in the book because she wasn’t as “perfect” as the seemingly smarter, blonder, younger heroine. I would expect this kind of ageism/blondeism in a book from the 1970’s, but this book was from 1997! This passage in particular, in which Marta, the other woman, sees the heroine at a restaurant, encompasses everything that bothers me about this book:
“I say,” Lord Ravenscroft suddenly breathed, “Now, there is a treasure worth coveting. Have you ever seen such a piece of tiny, golden perfection?”
…Marta followed the direction of everyone’s gaze to where Miss Carlisle’s progress through the room was marked by a wave of men scurrying to their feet as she passed.
To blatantly steal a phrase from you, Sarah: OH COME ON NOW AND I MEAN IT! Is this supposed to be a parody? Because it fails if it is. I ended up feeling whole lot more sympathy for Marta, while I wanted to bury Desdemona Carlisle headfirst in the sand. Normally the perfect, blonde, child prodigy, men-literally-fall-at-her-feet woman is the RIVAL, not the heroine.
Maybe I’m letting this bother me way too much…. But somewhere deep down, it grates on me that the heroine has to be this drop-dead gorgeous, “oh save me” frail young creature. I often wonder why people loved this book so much when I, who was much closer to Desdemona’s age when I read it, was so bothered by the discrimination against the older, more experienced, more capable other woman.
I got to wondering, is this just a case of me finding it difficult to relate to the heroine, and seeing myself as a rival to her to the hero? Nah, I thought Harry was an idiot too. His famous “you are my Egypt” speech just made me cringe. I would’ve heaved if anyone said anything so ridiculous to me, but apparently a lot of readers disagree judging by the links out there:
I fully expect the pitchforks and torches to come after me on this one, but bring it! Catriona “Encyclopedia Hittanica” is ready!
Ok, I’m about to come off even more objectionably: I have never read this book, but now I’m so very curious.
So, what’s your book that everyone adored, but you couldn’t enjoy it? You certainly don’t have to limit your example or response to this one. No shame and no shaming, please! Bring on your least liked books that made you feel the most isolated in your lack of enjoyment.
[quote I don’t know how we got on the subject of Lucy since I haven’t read all the comments yet but good lord I hate that show. Lucy was so so stupid and I can’t get behind that kind of stupidity.
Probably why I have so much trouble with Stephanie Plum. I don’t mind a ditz. I can’t tolerate a ditz who never learns a lesson.
WRT Lucy, not only was she dumb as a rock, but the entire premise of the show was cruel mockery of how stupid she was and making fun of her. I hated that show so much, because I too was made fun of when I was a child. I could not understand why anybody ever thought that was funny.
WRT Stephanie Plum, the series started out quite good and I hung with it until it became quite evident that Evanovich had no interest whatsoever in advancing the characters forward in any way. Stephanie never improves a whit at what she does. Lula continues to be a horrible caricature of a black woman (and she started out with some real depth and angst too). It’s the same book written over and over again. Much as I had the hots for Ranger, even I could not believe he would continue to put up with Stephanie’s total idiocy. Smart men get tired of stupid. So if he’s putting up with it, it means he’s stupid too and I cannot abide a stupid hero.
I was in Lucy’s corner; I thought Ricky was mean not to give her a shot, if only to show how terrible she was than anything else. After all, she just went crazier and crazier with her plans – something about a dream deferred?
I loved the Tolkien books but only by skipping all those endless songs. Yes, I know of people who loved those things, but to me it just dragged everything down. Also, thankfully I read the books BEFORE the movies because I just can’t imagine people having the patience to read the books after watching the films. And no, Arwen never showed up in the books except at a dinner or something – she was Aragon’s motivation but she didn’t do anything in the books. I also never felt sorry for the Ents; given how long it took for them to rally in the first place, no wonder all the Entwives left them.
Why romance readers should never read mythological sagas. “Come on, you ridiculously stubborn trees. Get ON with it!”
I used to read Danielle Steel all the time when I was a kid. Jewels was my first grown-up romance novel and to this day is still on my list of favorite books. Her early novels were actually pretty interesting at least to a pre-teen/teen. I haven’t read her in years though because I got pretty burned out on her.
Lord of Scoundrels isn’t my favorite Chase novel, that goes to The Last Hellion but at least LoS is leaps and bounds better than Don’t Tempt Me which I am still trying to figure out how that got published.
Everyone raved over Sherry Thomas’ novels and I bought and/or checked out all of them and so far the only one that’s remotely been a keeper is Not Quite a Husband. The rest of them had pretty interesting stories that were kind of unusual for the genre but the characters themselves were all so unlikable to me that I don’t get why everyone loves them.
@ Brussel Sprout re: Jo Bourne – I didn’t love “My Lord and Spymaster” either (gah, cockney accent and random ferret) but her others are gorgeous. Don’t give up on JB!
@ commenters re: Julia Quinn – *waves* Absolutely agree. Decent characters and plot, but consistently passionless sex scenes featuring descriptions of mewling heroines. Mewling? Blehhhhh. Heroines are not kittens.
@eileen, LOL! Those Entmoots lasted freaking forever!
@msdanielcraig – Lol!
So many sex scenes in romance novels have something, even if it’s just one thing, that always makes me cringe or roll my eyes. It’s a good thing I tend to value characters and the romantic aspects of their relationships more than the sex scenes, or there are many books I probably wouldn’t be able to bring myself to read. All I ask is that a sex scene not make me say “oh, gross.”
@DeeCee and @JL
Yay! Dime Store Magic is my absolute favourite in the series and when I met Kelley Armstrong at RWA Australia that’s the book that I asked to have signed.
Wow. That’s the EXACT same problem I had with Memoir of a Geisha. Ick. Now I know to skip KD
I liked Outlander, but only the first book. It’s funny that so many people couldn’t stand the adultery- I don’t really have a problem with it in fiction. What made me hate the rest of the series is the way Diana Gabaldon keeps raping her characters. I think Book 4 is the only one without any non-consensual sex, and Roger is the sole character who doesn’t get, uh, rogered. (Sorry. That was atrocious. And possibly not even true.)
I also do not love Catcher in the Rye, Midsummer Moonlight, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and The Da Vinci Code (yeah, I know these aren’t all romances). Holden is indeed a whimpering infant and Dan Brown’s “history” is questionable and simplistic at best, outright lying at worst. But regarding Kinsale and Larsson- was no one else appalled by the way character’s with Asperger’s were treated? Adult men with seemingly functional brains were having sex with women who were emotional children. Realistically, people of the 19th century would not have understood or cared about autism, but that does not make it sexy now.
Did people really dislike Kushiel’s Dart? I won’t try to change your minds on the books you dislike, but the older man in is not the least bit interested in Phedre. (If you want to talk about his relationship with Alcuin, though, I won’t try to defend it.) And I’m so glad to hear other people’s love for Lymond!
I hated Outlander and struggled to finish it to figure out what the fuss was about. I have friends that can quote paragraphs to each other, they have read the books so many times.
As for Stephanie Plum, I am always annoyed that she is so bad at everything in her life. Also the stereotypes of Lulu and Connie offend me. Okay, I got it, Lulu is queen size and likes spandex in size small, and Connie has boobs and a mustache. Do we need to have it highlighted every other chapter? If Stephanie was in my family, I would stage an intervention and sign her up for vocational training, possibly there is a job out there that she could do with some degree of competence. Also, how does she get car insurance? She needs a job that allows her to take the bus to work.
But even worse than 17 books (more if you count the books with Diesel) of Stephanie Plum’s failure to thrive as an adult, there is a series that is a clone of all the worst that Evanovich
offers. I am referring to the Sofie Metropolis books by Tory Carrington. Sofie Metropolis has a goofy grandfather, left her cheating
fiance at the altar, lives alone in an apartment building with mostly elderly people, has multiple love interests, interacts constantly with her interfering proudly ethnic and feuding family. She works for her uncle as a junior PI, and has a mysterious hunky character that seems to drift in and out of her life who is a bounty hunter. Sound familiar? Note to authors, if you are going to copy a successful series, try to pick a good one okay? Maybe even put a little work into it, change a few of the details to make it your own.
I disliked the Guardian series by Meljean Brooks, liked the short story that was set in the world of the Iron Duke. The Iron Duke did not live up to the hype.
I disliked all of the Sweet Savage Love rape as romance books that were so prevalent in the late ‘70s and early 80’s. They turned me off from buying most so called romances for years – I was perfectly happy reading harlequin category books and traditional regencies.
I own most of Georgette Heyers romances and mysteries, but not her novels. There are certainly offensive sterotypes in her works as discussed last week but I still enjoy her books. Anti-semitism was the topic, but she has offensive stereotyping of Italian, Russian, Spainards, etc all over the books. I can deal with this in books written 50-70 years ago. The same with Dorothy L Sayers. her first mysteries were published almost 90 years ago.
Authors that I will never read again include MaryJanice Davidson and Sherrilyn Kenyon. I enjoyed the light and fluffy Betsey, vampire queen, but the last two books were DNF. Sherrilyn Kenyon needs to stop writing 6 series at a time, and get a good editor, or better ghostwriters. I cant believe I own so many of her books and kept buying up until the torturefest that was Acheron.
Another popular series I didn’t like areThe Faefever books by Karen Marie Moning, I struggled through the first few, the last one was DNF.
I love or hate Susan Elizabeth Phillips books, Breathing Room is one of my all time favorite books to reread. I found Honeymoon repulsive.
The rape of Kevin by Molly in This Heart of Mine was at least acknowledged as called what I was so I can reread these books without hesitation.
Nora Roberts, I generally like her books, The Bride Quartet was decent reading even though I agree with everyone that Mac was extremetly annoying, Hey, there was a reason she lived in the garage instead of the main house with the others. And again, I agree with previous posters about the shoes. I enjoy the JD Robb books, with the exception of the recent short stories which she seems try to jump on the paranormal bandwagon. Of her recent trilogies, I think the Vampire one was the only one I actively disliked.
Of her categories, lots of them had major ethnic sterotyping going on, which seemed to me to be 40 years out of date. I lived in Brooklyn in the 70’s and 80’s (still do) and the Eastern European immigrants were chic and worldly, and didn’t wear aprons over their housecoats. They were more likely to own a good mink coat that I was and wear designer clothes. I also had an Irish au pair in the same year (1987) her first categories was written, she and her friends were no where near as unwordly as the girls in those books.
Things I hate in all romances include pirates and books set in Scotland where everyone is saying och, lassie, I willna, I canna, etc every other paragraph.
I enjoy most books by Loretta Chase and Jennifer Crusie. I don’t understand the attraction of Katie McAllister, the cute factor in these books seems so labored. Julia Quinn leaves me cold, and Eloisa James’ last few books seem to be phoned in without too much thought.
Just about anything with vampires-as-teh sexay. I’m sorry. A humanoid undead creature who sucks blood is just not hot. I don’t like mosquitoes in any shape or form.
The one exception are a handful of vampires in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, but Sir Pterry is a genius who actually considers what would happen if you took a 110-pound woman and turned her into a bat.*
And I read the first four Outlander stories, and still think Jamie is an arrogant jerk and Claire is not my idea of a heroine. This ties into the accuracy button—not historical so much as medical. You don’t just get penicillin by leaving a piece of bread out to get moldy. Researchers tried to duplicate Fleming’s serendipitous discovery by putting culture dishes all over the building and the neighborhood where he found penicillin—to no avail.
I liked the Phyllis Whitney books when I was a teenager, but I found one at a yard sale this summer, and the heroine was.. kind of limp. Some things are best left in the attic, I guess.
* lots and LOTS of bats, and it’s a pain to pull herself together… or one big fat bat that’s not very aerodynamic.
I can’t stand the whole group of books that are tres popular now where there’s a group of amazingly hott and sexxy werebeasts who have a destined mate…and whether that mate is interested or not she has to give in and be mated to Mr. Hott-n-Sexy Beast.
This includes a series I SHOULD love, Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson books. I adored her Raven series, Hurog series, and Hob’s Bargain. But when poor Mercy Thompson, a nice, smart mechanic, who also happens to be a coyote shifter, basically gets handed the whole I-am-your-werewolf-overlord-and-you-don’t-have-much-choice-about-it, I lost interest completely. Wouldn’t pee on one of the books if it was on fire.
Just don’t like the idea of people being “destined” to be mates, or having a particular scent that makes them unable to resist each other. To me the idea of a great relationship is when two people find each other delightful in AND OUT of bed.
Though there are many books I don’t care for that others do, there are two authors that push my buttons the most.
While Nora Roberts is raved about, reading her these days makes me actually angry. Maybe not for the typical reasons, and at least she can hold down a basic plot/grammar, but because all her books are complete copycats of each other in their own ways, both in characterization and basic plot structure. The characters are interchangeable in the most basic elements for all they’re supposed to be radically different, and to be honest, they don’t even come close to acting/talking like real people most of the time or having real relationship interactions. She writes cookie cutter books. More of the same, with slightly different frosting.
Her books may be a button issue for me it seems.
Another are the books by Lori Foster. People rave, I rage. I don’t really DNF books, but in two cases of her novels that I was given I actually signed up for an account on chapters.ca solely so I could leave actually honest reviews for her books. Are we reading the same thing people? I know most romance novels could never be construed as feminist, but hers are horrible – especially as they are contemporaries (or bullshit time travel I don’t even know how to classify).
This discussion is fascinating. I love many of the “most hated”, and have some company, at least, with my dislikes. Interesting. I don’t care for Catherine Coulter, Danielle Steel, Dan Brown, Nicholas Sparks, and many others whose names I can’t remember right now. (I should have taken notes reading all the comments, but can’t get over the fact that it’s nearly midnight and I’ve been riveted by the differing opinions.)
On the other hand, I adore Outlander. Of course, I took from the book that Claire believed she needed to wed and bed Jamie or die, and I was pretty sure I’d have made the same choice. I was also astonished at the people who thought Jamie was turned on by belting Claire, when my take was that he enjoyed it only because she had terrified him when she set off alone and ended up a prisoner of Black Jack Randall. (Hate Black Jack! ) Jamie was so remorseful when he learned that she’d been attempting to get back to her time and her husband. I found myself wondering if I’d read the same book everyone else had. Weird. I also adore every book Jennifer Crusie has ever written (Cal did not make that bet!!!!!). Well, maybe not Sizzle, but that was very early days. But everything else? I think that woman is brilliant and funny and I head for her books when I have bad days. I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips and the earlier Patricia Gaffneys. I still laugh at Stephanie Plum. I wouldn’t miss a Nora Roberts. I know what I’m going to find and I like that consistency. On the other hand, if I wade through a book expecting a happy ending, and I don’t get it, I’m liable to use strong language. I cherish everything Georgette Heyer ever wrote. Love Jane Austin but the Bronte ladies not so much. I think Sherry Thomas has a lovely, lyrical voice and Loretta Chase is a goddess. I’m in awe of Judith Ivory. I’ve enjoyed every Amelia Peabody. My seven year old nephew is listening to them on audio now. He’s a big Ramses fan. I love the heart of Dean Koontz and the mind of Stephen King even though King is a scary dude and I’m still creeped out by that freaky clown, Pennywise. I don’t care if they’re sometimes formulaic. I love the soul of Lani Diane Rich. I’m a huge fan of Sara Donati and The Wilderness series. I devour every Anne Bishop in big gulps. The list goes on, but I’m fading fast. I’ll be back tomorrow night to read more loves and hates. Wait a minute… Was I supposed to just put down my dislikes? If so, sorry about running on so long and disregard the second paragraph.
Because I drive about 100 miles every weekday in L.A. traffic (God help me), I listen to audiobooks. A lot of audiobooks.
Maybe it’s just the narrator (but I don’t think so), but Linda Howard’s “MacKenzie Mountain” is about to be the first audiobook I DNF. I got it based on recommendations from this site and from the first CD, I’ve been like, WTF?? Can’t stand the heroine, particularly can’t stand the heroine’s voice as portrayed by the reader and really can’t stand the whole “ooooo … he’s an Indian, he’s a half-breed, we can’t trust him, he’s a bad man, he’s sooo skerry … ooooo” and the endless racism practiced by the good townfolks.
And yeah, I realize the book was written eons ago, but still, this audiobook was just recorded and released (so you’d think they’d at least get decent voice talent). The story is just.not.believable and I sure hope I can get some of my investment back when I list it on eBay.
OK, there. I feel better.
And I can’t believe Iris Johansen hasn’t gotten her deserved drubbing. Oh good GOD! People who know I’m a “horse person” kept telling me to get “On the Run” because “it’s about horses, you’ll love it.” I wanted to smack every last one of them upside the head. Still do—and I’m not a violent person. That woman no more knows the first thing about horses than I do about building jet engines, but at least I have the SMRTs to know not to write about building them.
Then I stupidly tried to listen to another of her books because I thought, hey, so the woman has no clue about horses; how bad can her non-horsey books be? Words fail how bad I found them to be. Just … ugh.
capcha: costs72. Yup, that’s about how much I spend every month on audiobooks!
I never read the Twilight books even though a friend had loaned me all of them. My high school age son, who reads everything, decided to read the 1st one on a long car trip to see what all the fuss was about. He made it to the last chapter, slammed the book closed annouced that just couldn’t take anymore.
@ rudi_bee—I really enjoy the Women of the Otherworld, but I need to catch up with the last few books.
I thoroughly enjoyed A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, and I’m looking forward to her sequel, due out in 2012.
I read the THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY by Waller, and I’m so glad I didn’t waste my money…I borrowed it from the library. I DID go see the movie, and it was much better than the book (which wasn’t difficult).
I read “Romeo and Juliet” when I was about 12 or 13 and thought they were the most idiotic teens in literature. Dying for a guy is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read. I resolved not to be as big an idiot as those two when I was a proper teenager.
Likewise, I loved “Catcher in the Rye” as it spoke to me in a similar way: Holden is a self-centered idiot and I was thrilled I was nothing like him. But I understood his feelings of being pretty much the only real person and that everyone else was fake. His problem was that he was fake also but never owned up to it (that I can recall). Years later, at the ripe old age of 22, I met grad student activists who, I thought, had some of that earnestness but with the willingness to change the world (I didn’t take them any more seriously than I took Holden but I was glad there were idealistic people like them in the world).
Okay, I’m going to say it.
I’m not a big fan of Jacquelyn Frank’s books. The first one was good, but after that, the plethora of purple prose overwhelmed me.
@ Alyssa (aaaages ago):
The basic error which enraged me so much is when the heroine asserts that Greece must have had close ties with Egypt because they have so many myths and plays set in Thebes. Which is nice and all…….except for the bit where they’re actually set in the other Thebes – the one that was a major city state in Greece.
It wouldn’t have been so annoying* if it hadn’t been used to demonstrate the Awesome Brainpower of the Very Smart Heroine Who Knows About These Things.
*Well, it might have been, I’m pretty fussy about these things. 😀
This thread is genius! I’ve only just got around to commenting because I have been waiting to read everyone else’s contributions.
Don’t read Outlander—but you might like the Lord John books, much better. Lord John and the Private Matter is fabulous!
I also LOATHE Catcher in the Rye. I taught it last year, and I had university students who were completely ‘I adore Holden, I AM Holden’, which freaked me out.
@darlynne and @Katie: I totally agree with words that drag you out of a world. For me, ‘ambles’ (to walk leisurely, but with a suggestion of aimlessness or wandering) when the writer means ‘walked’; and heroines who ‘squeak’ in the middle of sex, which always makes me think of unoiled hinges…
Wow- I have never felt the slightest desire to reade Outlander, and now I don’t think I ever will. I like romance, I like hisrorical and I like time travel, but it has never appealed.
Julia Quinn- have to be in the right mood, and can’t read too many at once. The last Bridgerton child (can’t remember the title but the plot involved missing family jewels and the hero being fathered by his uncle) was only finished because I lived in Japan and wasn’t going to waste an english book. I bought the secret diaries of miss miranda cheever off a bargain bin table, and was ready to bin once read (ok, but not a keeper). My husband saved it- as in specifically decided to keep it, still not sure what he sees in it.
Dan Brown. Hate with a fiery passion. I read Angels and Demons before Da Vinci came out (again japan, althouhg library book) and the whole religion vs church thing just ticked me off. For the record,16th and 17th century scientists were not anti church, they believed (on the whole) that their work had religious merit. Grrr. Especially Galileo.
I can’t beleive I cannot see a single mention of Candace Bushnell (of Sex and the City fame) awful . worse than shopaholic. The tv show has its moments (and it does get some stuff very well), but on the whole it is a monumument to consumerism. And Charlotte being both a Smithie and a sorority girl. Gah. I foolishly read one of the books (4 blondes? again Japan). Not one of the characters was in anyway sympathetic.
However, I adore Marion Keyes, and find it odd that the same people who rave about Brown and bushnell give me the stink eye for picking up Rachel’s Holiday. Yes chick lit, but the characters do at least grow. And have realistic episodes. Only popular fiction book I have ever read that indicates that just after giving birth (first month or so) that not everything is spiffy in the nether regions and you don’t magically spring back to pre baby shape and get back to the sexy times.
It is funny how tastes differ. I also hated Bridges of Madison County, DNF because of the treacle & the adultery, but why does the adultery in “Outlander” not bother me so much? I guess because at that point Claire had no way of getting back to her own time, so the people there were as good as dead to her, and she to them. I loved LoS and Mr. Impossible, but Mis Wonderful bored me to tears-although I did force myself to finish it.
Also, I hate all vampire books, including the one that started it all by Anne Rice, never have been able to read a single one.
I tried reading 4 Blondes a couple of months ago (because I really liked Sex and the City—when I was finally old enough to watch it), and within the first few pages, I gave up. I just did not like her prose.
I feel the hatred and I adore this topic!!!
My list:
– The rape-y Cath Coulters
– the Evanoviches…that love triangle just goes on and on and on and on…
– “long eyes” by Nora/Robb…WTF does this mean anyway? I love La Nora’s books, but I could go my entire life without reading that phrase. Ever. Again.
– Another epic fail by Nora was the constant mentioning of Parker’s ponytail in the Wedding Quartet. This is an educated, professional, rich woman who runs her own business and the only thing she can do with her effing hair is to put it in a ponytail??? And we have to hear about it every 2 pages??? Shoot. Me. Now. Parker just irritated me in general, just because she was so perfectly perfect in her utter perfection.
– the Betsy books by MJD…clearly, Ms. Davidson began with a good thing, but it rapidly deteriorated into convoluted plots, irritating sidekicks and a shero that makes me want to smack her upside her undead blonde head for being so mutha fricka INANE. I want to stab Betsy in the eye with a stiletto. Repeatedly. Until the world ends.
– Twilight. The books were bad, but the movies were even worse. Is this the kind of claptrap slop into which YA has degenerated? Ooooh, the angst. Ooooh, the sparkly undead people. Ooooh, the one-dimensional relationships. Sign me up for THAT.
– LHK’s Anita Blake. Oh, Anita, you began so well. Although you were somewhat obviously a ripoff of Eve Dallas, only with the undead, you had some potential. And then you turned into a slimy, gleaming orifice with bodily fluids (and “thicker things”) spilling everywhere. You all but castrated Richard, who also had excellent promise as a lead character. How can he still be an alpha when she has his nuts rattling around like ben-wa balls in her purse? Anita, thy name is Skank Mattress with Girly Business that Empowers the World.
spamword: can76 – we CAN name at least 76 books we hate. My heart rejoices.
I never saw the relationship between Desdemona and Marta in As You Desire as the author trying to show how younger is better; I saw it as how women don’t see themselves as everyone else does. Marta felt old and jaded next to Desdemona, while in the next paragraph Desdemona feels gauche and unsophisticated next to Marta. I love the book to pieces and it is a DIK for me. Also on my DIK list are the Outlander series, the collected works of Georgette Heyer, every last word of the Dresden Files, and the collected works of Anya Seton. One man’s trash and all that.
I am glad to see all the Wuthering Heights loathing and the subsequent Twilight hateration. I tried to read WH several times and could never make it through. A friend even sent me a copy of the Cliff’s Notes version as a joke and I couldn’t make it through those either.
I’m so glad to see the hatred for Wuthering Heights. I always thought I was a heathen not to like it. I tried to read it in high school, because we had to, but couldn’t get past the first few pages. Honestly, I tried! I did end up using the Cliff Notes, a no-no for papers, of course, and I think I got a good grade.
On the other hand, I loved Jane Eyre. I may have related a little too much to Jane, and then the George C. Scott tv version sold me.
I always feel so illiterate among my friends, one who even teaches Victorian Literature… or something like that.
@robinjn
I trudged through the first three books because I was incredibly bored. It took me three months. I picked up the fourth one and swallowed the next seven in the series in two weeks. Somewhere around the fourth book, the cleverness picks up and Butcher begins to tease out a story arc dominates until the game-changing ending of Changes. I looked up during Small Favor and discovered there was ominous music filling the air. 🙂
@Lillian
A Discovery of Witches pissed me off. It’s Twilight for grown-ups. Hi, there, creepy vampire stalker!
I also hated how the balance of power or strength shifted, instead becoming equal it became lopsided in the other direction, at least to me. Plus another “everyone grows to love the heroine” books. And the perfection, the amazingness of the heroine! ::gag::
Wuthering Heights (and others have said it before) isn’t a romance. It’s a horrible book about horrible people.
The best analysis of it is Daniela Garofalo’s article in which she makes clear the love is actually about ‘capitalist desire’ and the erotics of the economy (2008, ELH 75(4), 819-840). But if you don’t have to read it for class (either to teach or pass), I wouldn’t bother.
@ Lillian—
On the other hand, I loved Jane Eyre. I may have related a little too much to Jane, and then the George C. Scott tv version sold me.
Lillian—I watched the George C. Scott and Susannah York tv version in the 5th or 6th grade, and I’ve loved it ever since. I’ve also seen all the productions I could get, especially the musical. I love the CD of JANE EYRE.
@ Catriona
Sorry didn’t mean to make you feel that your opinion wasn’t valid! I just love the book so much but after reading complaints from others, I can see their issues with it. But yeah, he’s not a jerk redeemed by love, he’s a decent dude and she’s a decent chick fighting against intense attraction. There’s no confusion about the bet except by Min who THINKS he bet that he’d sleep with her. But the reader knows the truth.
Tell me lies is the only Crusie I haven’t read because of the review here. I loved most of the rest of them. Agnes and the Hitman was my other favorite and Anyone But You is adorable as well. But I did hate- HATED- Fast Women. There was no way I bought the ending. I hated every character and wanted them all to die. Plus the plot was confusing and there were too many whiny secondary characters. Which to me is Jen Crusie’s greatest weakness; her inability to write best friends that aren’t complete assholes or complete mary sues. I often love her main characters but detest their families and their friends. She’s good at writing love but bad at writing friendship.
Heard a lot of people OMGing about a certain chapter in Jeaniene Frost’s second novel. Apparently it was anal sex. No shock to me, except that the publisher (Avon) is traditional and not ePub. Speaking of which, I demand more m/m fiction from traditional publishers!
On another note, did anyone else give up on Gena Showalter’s Alien Huntress series after she brought in vampires? Alien vampires, but still vampires. Talk about jumping the shark! Tossed that book aside, and have no plans to pick up another.
Did I really just spend my morning reading the second page of comments? So gratifying. Anyone in NYC want to get together a book club?
Almost you convince me to give Singh another try. Only, no.
@Beth I keep trying and failing to like Willig and you’ve made me feel so much better about it. That Thebes thing (among others) totally threw me. Usually historical inaccuracies make me feel clever, but hers were making me angry, and now I understand why.
So for anyone trying to figure out exactly why they hate Dickens, allow me to suggest it’s his petty bourgeois morality. Not that there aren’t other reasons to hate him. That’s just why I hope he’s spending eternity being slowly roasted in a small, filthy chimney. With time off to be bludgeoned with items of blissful domesticity, like red hot irons, say. Sigh. I was trying not to vent on the all my non-romance peeves, which is why I didn’t bring up just about everything written in the 20th century (that isn’t genre fiction) and so-called American Literature.
But what I really don’t get is the John Irvings of the world. He is to me the very embodiment of mediocrity. I love trashy books, so even if I don’t like Danielle Steele or Dan Brown, or any of the chicklit authors, it makes sense that someone else finds it mindless beach read fun. I adore Thomas Hardy (although I do not exactly recommend spending a winter reading all his works in chronological order which was not my happiest idea) but it makes sense to me that someone else wouldn’t, and that they might like Henry James even though he is a flatulent pestilential little toad. But all this filler lit… not bad, not great, not even trying to be bad or trying to be great…what’s the quote? something the the effect of ‘Who wants to be middle of the road? There’s nothing there but two yellow lines and a bunch of dead armadillos.’
And John Irving.
I so hated “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.” It annoyed the hell out of me. I made myself finish it in hopes it would get better. It didn’t. I gave the book my highest token of dishonor—I left it in a bathroom at O’Hare Airport.
I’ve enjoyed the Outlander series for the most part. Helly Belly (I think?) commented way up there that she stopped after “A Breath of Snow and Ashes.” To me, that would have made a great ending for the series. The newest book, “An Echo in the Bone,” (which I have in the bilious green trade paperback edition) needed HEAVY editing. I will not particularly rush to buy the next installment.
Lori Foster’s newest series. I’m convinced there’s a ghost writer involved.
KKW, where in NYC are you? I’m in the ass-end of Queens, and I would love to meet a fellow smart bitch.
you can contact me on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=43903047
I would love to hang out with some Smart Bitches in Sacramento. LOVE this thread! I snarfed down the first few Stephanie Plum books like they were candy – exactly like they were candy, I read so many so fast I got kind of sick. Suddenly I realized that Steph was never going to develop as a character and now I never want to read another of the Plum books again. Although I still like candy.
Have found that some people love Jane Eyre and hate WH (ME!!!) Some are the reverse, but I’ve never met anyone who liked them both.
persons38 – there must be 38 persons in my geographical area to have coffee with.