Most Disappointing books of 2020

December 24, 2020 Stormi Misc. 1

So these were books that could have been in the worst section but I really had high hopes for them and so I was really disappointed at how much I didn’t like them. 🙁 Don’t come at me if you like some of them! 🙂

From the bestselling author of E. B. White Read-Aloud Honor Book Liesl & Po comes a timely and relevant adventure story about monsters of all kinds—and a girl brave enough to save them.

Cordelia Clay loves the work she and her father do together: saving and healing the remarkable creatures around Boston at the end of the nineteenth century. Their home on Cedar Street is full to the brim with dragons, squelches, and diggles, and Cordelia loves every one of them.

But their work must be kept secret—others aren’t welcoming to outsiders and immigrants, so what would the people of Boston do to the creatures they call “monsters”?

One morning, Cordelia awakens to discover that her father has disappeared—along with nearly all the monsters.

With only a handful of clues and a cryptic note to guide her, Cordelia must set off to find out what happened to her father, with the help of her new friend Gregory, Iggy the farting filch, a baby dragon, and a small zuppy (zombie puppy, that is).

I think I have officially gave up on this author. I have read two MG and one YA book from her and just not cared for them. I think I was hoping for a really cool book with monsters but there really wasn’t much in the way of monsters in it and they sure were not magnificent! 🙁

The #1 bestselling author of World War Z takes on the Bigfoot legend with a tale that blurs the lines between human and beast—and asks what we are capable of in the face of the unimaginable.

As the ash and chaos from Mount Rainier’s eruption swirled and finally settled, the story of the Greenloop massacre has passed unnoticed, unexamined . . . until now.

But the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town’s bloody wreckage, capture a tale too harrowing—and too earth-shattering in its implications—to be forgotten.

In these pages, Max Brooks brings Kate’s extraordinary account to light for the first time, faithfully reproducing her words alongside his own extensive investigations into the massacre and the legendary beasts behind it.

Kate’s is a tale of unexpected strength and resilience, of humanity’s defiance in the face of a terrible predator’s gaze, and inevitably, of savagery and death.

Yet it is also far more than that.

Because if what Kate Holland saw in those days is real, then we must accept the impossible. We must accept that the creature known as Bigfoot walks among us—and that it is a beast of terrible strength and ferocity.

Part survival narrative, part bloody horror tale, part scientific journey into the boundaries between truth and fiction, this is a Bigfoot story as only Max Brooks could chronicle it—and like none you’ve ever read before.

I was so excited for this one and thought it was going to be a really cool bigfoot book and all I got was a boring journal from one of the main characters about their day to day accounts leading up to the bigfoot part which was only like the last 20% of the story and by then I could have cared less and almost DNFed it a few times.

When people go missing in the sleepy town of Smith’s Hollow, the only clue to their fate comes when a teenager starts having terrifying visions, in a chilling horror novel from national bestselling author Christina Henry.

When the bodies of two girls are found torn apart in the town of Smiths Hollow, Lauren is surprised, but she also expects that the police won’t find the killer. After all, the year before her father’s body was found with his heart missing, and since then everyone has moved on. Even her best friend, Miranda, has become more interested in boys than in spending time at the old ghost tree, the way they used to when they were kids.

So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging the remains of the girls through the woods, she knows she can’t just do nothing. Not like the rest of her town. But as she draws closer to answers, she realizes that the foundation of her seemingly normal town might be rotten at the center. And that if nobody else stands for the missing, she will.

I really wanted to like this one as it sounded good. I loved this authors book called Lost Boy but since then I have tried two and didn’t like either one. I didn’t like the stereotypes of a small town and the extremely racist old lady. I could see it being in there a bit as this is set in the 80’s but the author just went at it a little to much and I think we could have gotten to point without it being as it was. I liked the storyline somewhat even though I guessed the bad person fairly early on, but did like Lauren and the police officer Alex (I think that was his name). I am not prepared to give up on this author yet and she has one coming out next year so I am going to try it and then make my decision.

Elle can’t believe her luck; she’s spending a month house-sitting the beautiful Gillespie property. Hidden near the edge of the woods and an hour’s drive from the nearest town, its dark rooms and rich furniture entice her to explore its secrets. There’s even a graveyard hidden behind the house, filled with tombstones that bear an identical year of death.

If only the scratching in the walls would be quiet…

The house’s dark and deadly history quickly becomes tangled with Elle’s life. At the center of it is Jonathan Gillespie, the tyrannical cult leader and original owner of the house. As Elle soon learns — just because he’s dead, doesn’t mean he’s gone.

I have heard so many good things about this author so maybe I had her hyped up in my head more than I should have, so when finally read one of her books I wasn’t impressed. Or maybe I just picked the wrong one to start with but I just didn’t like it. I think mainly it was the main character and how she acted at the house she was sitting for. I mean if your house sitting and there are locked doors that probably means stay out not break in! So it was just hard to be on board with the haunting with a MC I loathed…lol. I will try Darcy Coates again in the future before making a decision on if she is not for me or not.

In Rockridge, Ohio, a sinister family moves into a sleepy cul de sac. The Eldreds feed on the negative emotions of humans, creating nightmarish realms within their house to entrap their prey. Neighbors are lured into the Eldreds’ home and faced with challenges designed to heighten their darkest emotions so their inhuman captors can feed and feed well. If the humans are to have any hope of survival, they’ll have to learn to overcome their prejudices and resentments toward one another and work together. But which will prove more deadly in the end, the Eldreds . . . or each other?

Although I have never loved this authors books I have always enjoyed my time with them. To be honest this is only my third one but I like the other two so I was expecting something strange and weird and it was but this one just didn’t hit the mark. There was things in it that creeped me out but not in a good way and it was also a bit boring. 🙁

Ten-year-old Henry Springs is thrilled when the wintery resort town he and his mom recently moved to experiences a record-breaking snowfall. There are even rumors that the extreme weather could mark the beginning of a new ice age.

One day, while exploring one of the many tunnels running through the town’s snowbanks, Henry discovers a strange, prehistoric-like creature that is seriously injured. Henry immediately names him Yarp and hauls the wounded animal back to his house on a makeshift sled. There he builds a secret cave for Yarp and slowly nurses him back to health. But, as Henry soon discovers, Yarp is not the only unusual beast lurking in the neighborhood. Where did these creatures come from and how can Henry keep his new friend safe?

This is a 2021 release and I got a jump on it because it fit with a prompt for a reading challenge and I was excited to try it because it looked so cute, but ugh. The MC is ten but acts five a lot of the times and I think he might be hyperactive or something but still he was super annoying! I think this was just a middle grade book that doesn’t work so well with adults as I do think kids would like it, but adults might find to many faults with it. Like the behavior of the MC, the fact they are outside all the time but never cold (Henry is outside so much he should have hypothermia!), just things like that. So I was disappointed, but the illustrations where really good! 🙂

Did you have some books you really wanted to like but they missed the mark?