WORST BOOKS OF 2023

[@agohl85]

Your rants about Fourth Wing are my favorite things ever.

[@Harley24986]

The only book I ever DNF'd TWICE. I tried so hard to understand the hype, to really get into it and give it a chance. Could not do it lol

[@DisreputableCharles]

@@Harley24986LITERALLY i tried going back to it thinking i was missing something everyone else saw and nope! it’s just god awful

[@allypagley]

SO glad I only wasted my money on book one! Found book 2 on audio on Libby so decided to give it another shot and IT GOT WORSE 😅😭 glad you all agree with this sentiment

[@isabelleould9090]

Piranesi is one of my all time favourite books. I could relate to the thought of being lost in this inner world of trauma, escaping to lonely, magnificent places while overanalyzing things in order to make sense of them and the necessity, sadness and hope of going back to real life again. Brilliant book.

[@author.gabrielavrivera]

I'm a DNF master so I don't think I have a worst of 2023 (if I do I cannot remember). But I absolutely love your passionate rants about Fourth Wing. I'd love a full-spoiler discussion on Iron Flame from you 😁🫶🏻

[@Saphira46]

I am so glad someone else shares my opinion on Fourth Wing. For a while I felt like I was too stupid to get the story because even people whose opinion I generally trust absolutely loved it😅

[@michaelamarcus3494]

Can you please do a spoiler review for Piranesi? Every time I hear you hint at where you think it was going I get so curious!

[@victoriakeller3761]

Hard same!!

[@renee_3364]

I would love to hear what your theory throughout Piranesi was. Personally I love the book.

[@kattissmall8373]

I haven’t read Fourth Wing, I won’t because I don’t think it will ever be as entertaining as your video about it.

[@SaRyRe]

You shouldn't feel bad about saying that a book is bad. It is a given that this is your own opinion and therefore that assessment may not be true for other people, but you are allowed to say it in a video without having to add a disclaimer every time. I think you are more than fair with your criticism for books and it is also helpful for your viewers to know what to avoid.

[@SaRyRe]

Let's not make generalizations about women and randomly call them narcissist. That has no relation to what I was saying.@@AndrewFrancisIlyrian

[@NonAnonD]

@@AndrewFrancisIlyrianSome people just don’t feel comfortable attacking the work authors put in.

[@SaRyRe]

@@AndrewFrancisIlyrian I don't think they are cowardly. I stand by what I said (which was actually meant to be encouraging), but you are taking this to a level of "hey, let's start bashing booktubers now" and I will not be taking part in that.

[@NonAnonD]

@@AndrewFrancisIlyrian Bad is subjective.

[@NonAnonD]

@@AndrewFrancisIlyrian Alright, this is going nowhere

[@banaa9463]

This was a fun video. My worst were Verity by Colleen Hoover - it just seemed like pointless smut with a dumb twist at the end; and (sorry, you like this) Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong - it was fun at first, but the PLOT HOLES were gaping.

[@surpriseitsus9622]

Hated Verity. No more Hoover after that book.

[@preeti6077]

I so agree with u about every summer after!! I just wanted to added to ur argument👇 ***spoiler alert*** . . . I ABSOLUTELY hated how she did wrong by her best friend!! Completely agree with "dumb fmc" comment!

[@smallstepsdaily]

Same!!! Wonderfully descriptive writing, but I didn’t like the fmc at all. I ended up “hate reading” it about 2/3 of the way through.

[@Marie45610]

I had fun reading Fourth Wing, it was fun to laugh at, but I DNF'd Iron Flame at 5 chapters. It wasn't even bad enough to make fun of, it was just bad.

[@kathleenwheeler5573]

I enjoyed Fourth Wing as a fast paced book with dragons but I could not stand Violet in Iron Flame. She was so annoying to me that I DNF the book at 50%. I’m amazed you read all of it!

[@kristimoore8763]

I love how you traditionally review books. It provides enough information for me to decide whether it sounds interesting or not....not hinged on whether you liked it or not. Thank you for that. :) Now to listen to this video.....

[@ronelia.creative]

I'm curious what you thought the ending of Piranesi was... Because I couldn't guess at all haha

[@lenani9143]

I would love to know what your theory for Piranesi was!

[@Fatherofheroesandheroines]

Based on how my ebook is selling..I expect to be on this list next year lol.

[@jensenwahlquist]

Fourth wing is something that should be right up my alley and I… did not like it. I thought the inevitable “betrayal” (because it’s fantasy romance so there has to be a betrayal) was soooo stupid 😅

[@joycerollins2582]

So I am a huge Red Rising fan but I did not like Iron Gold either….until I reread it. Then I loved it!! And Light Bringer was a great book! So I highly recommend continuing through the next books. You don’t want to miss out on a lot of great reading!

[@saramm3765]

I'm not interested in Fourth Wing based on previewing the first chapter but I am interested in When the Moon Hatched by Sarah Parker coming out soon and yet worried it will be like Fourth Wing based on early reviews comparing them.

[@meowkat347]

Thank you! I wasn’t a huge fan of the end and reveal of Piranesi either! Like the whole story was so magical and beautiful and then the end was just so underwhelming… I was like really? I’m glad someone else is out there that doesn’t like it as much as me 😂. I would definitely recommend it too though! It has really beautiful writing and I did fall in love with that! I just cannot get past the end…

[@nitzeart]

Yeah, it was just barely a 3 star for me. It's fine but the reveal and ending wasn't as interesting as the mystery or the house. Which is sad. I was really expecting to love this book

[@ladyfox6705]

I loved 'Piranesi'! The writing is gorgeous, the setting really 'magical' and interesting, and it was a beautiful literary read (even though I pretty much figured out what was going on early on lol.) My worst read was 'Hollow Places' by T. Kingfisher. I've only read 3 of her books, and enjoyed those, ('Nettle and Bone' and 'What Moves The Dead'.) However, the 'Hollow Places' started off well enough, but then I got very bored in the last half when they went on their adventure to this hollow place. It was SO repetitive, and the so-called humour was crass, juvenile and often said at inappropriate times. Just ugh 😞

[@Kronkgirl]

I am so with you on Every Summer After. Also one of my worst books last year

[@WickedWestBooks]

I've never wanted to read Forth Wing, so the rant was fun. You made me wanna read The Sunlit Man more, though.

[@kkilljoy1830]

One For My Enemy was a major disappointment for me. I was so excited with the hype and I'm a big Shakespeare fan (studied Renaissance lit in college), but it was just so all over the place. I felt the exact same way, that the relationships were like copy/paste, the magic system was purely to allow whatever needed to happen without any real rules, and just did not care about the characters at all. I really don't like when books have no real stakes and this was like the ultimate no-stakes book. I LOVED Piranesi though!! It's one of my top favorite modern books! However, I totally get it is not for everyone. My husband HATED it, he even ended up DNFing like 60% through.

[@Audrey_7]

You should make more videos like this, it's so fun and entertaining! It was interesting to see your point of view about these books~

[@thejustinwestra]

I loved Piranesi. 😭 But I can see why it wouldn’t work for everyone. My least favorite book of the year was Witch King by Martha Wells (which is sad because I love Murderbot). I was interested in the mystery of Kai’s murder but then more and more layers of complexity kept getting added until I just lost interest. The characters were fine but felt shallow.

[@ladyfox6705]

I loved Piranesi, too! Even though I pretty much figured out what was going on quite early, it was a beautifully written, intelligent, literary read in an interesting setting. Made me think, and I love books like that 🙂

[@sydneypreston9876]

I also love Murderbot and was super excited for Witch King and it was really disappointing. The past pov was intriguing but the present day way not interesting at all.

[@thejustinwestra]

@@ladyfox6705 Well said! I recently picked up Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and I’m excited to read it!

[@ladyfox6705]

@@thejustinwestra Eeekkk, me too! That chonker has been sitting on my tbr shelf for c. 15 years 😅 So I'm going to read it this year!

[@thejustinwestra]

@@ladyfox6705 It’s intimidating! I read Under the Dome by Stephen King a few years ago which has a similar word count and I wasn’t a big fan of it. But it was 2020 and I somehow finished it in less than two weeks.😬

[@dhritimangiri4092]

I read Piranesi last year and gave it 5 star ranking Goodreads. Looking back now i will give it a 4 star. The book was wonderful but it was not something outlandish which i hoped for. I think the book is little overpraised, and if you start reading the book after reading the reviews, there's a chance the novel may underwhelm you. And this rant was absolutely funny.

[@serpenttailedangel]

I can relate on the Seven Realms thing. I read the first Shattered Realms book without realizing it was a sequel series, and even though I had a good time with it, I refuse to go back and read Seven Realms because why do I want to risk getting attached knowing what happens?

[@craigwarren4202]

Totally agree with Fourth Wing. I did think the magic was cool, but the romance was over the top! And the audiobook narration wasn't great. I'm actually interested to try Piranesi despite your experience

[@jennifermorrison580]

Carley Fortune, a Canadian from here, Toronto! 2nd book is a bit better, Meet Me at the Lake. ... really want to read Fourth Wing, :(

[@MonikaBury]

I'm a little scared. I really like the Sanderson "Stormlight Archive", but all these "secret projects" are boring and flat in my opinion, so I was only irritated by the first 3 books and I probably won't read the rest ;/

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

lol comparing fourth wing to too hot to handle is HILARIOUS

[@sarahbarden4135]

😂😂 Fourth Wing rant. Thanks for explaining One For My Enemy. I am not in the space to deal with all that, so I will unhaul. I haven't heard good things across many people who have read it. I do want to try Piranesi.

[@kimberlyjensen111]

OMG. I just noticed that you have Crimson Crown on your shelf!! One of my all time favorite series. ❤

[@thisisnancybot]

“I don’t like West Side Story.” GASP! “I love the music.” Phew. That’s understandable then.

[@andrewmmbogori8339]

Elliot "I don't want to affect authors and people not reading their books because I hate them". Me deciding I'm never gonna read fourth wing after listening to Elliot Rant 😅. Seriously though, you should make these spiteful videos more often. Top entertainment!

[@missallisnow]

You're doing yourself a favor lol

[@ryancook8532]

There was a record scratch moment in my head when you said your thoughts about West Side 😶 Also used to play drums in Orchestras, I never did West Side but I imagine vamping near the end must be a snooze fest

[@LarkandLegend]

I so appreciate how you can articulate what you disliked about a book, and still remain respectful of folks who might dig it, etc, so refreshing lol. 2023 gave me a lot of subpar reads, which I’m bummed about lol. The Navigating Fox just radiated untapped potential for me, as the premise was so cool sounding. But the story’s narrator just seemed super uninterested in his own plot, which wound up going nowhere and answering zero questions raised up until that point. So yeah, not a win for me. And then my biggest like “Omg, how is this so popular?” moment was with The Poppy War 😅 I’d heard so many great things, but it just felt like X-Men misery porn with a startlingly YA tone, considering the subject matter. And I couldn’t stand the MC’s inability to learn from her mistakes, or her almost never reaping consequences for them. 😅😅😅 It’s all subjective obv, but yeah, I’ll never get those hours back and I’m bummed 😂 here’s to a better 2024!

[@jh-pc4iw]

Warm bodies is the best retelling of Romeo and Juliet 🤣

[@hannahollihan]

I was a bassoonist for a West Side Story production in high school and it was a BLAST! That music is FIRE and a challenge

[@katieparks826]

Everything you’ve said about Every Summer After is 100% accurate and yet I still loved it 😂

[@aldan7812]

Nahhhhhhhh i dont think i read any of those this year lol, my only bad read - and only DNF this year was 5th Season, absolutely could not stand that book lol.

[@victoriamasters]

Good choice avoiding the shattered realms series. Haha. I read the first two books and then quit the series because it did not live up to the seven realms imo. And it almost felt like a different world because of the stuff thrown in that was so different from the first series

[@OrcaneVault]

I have the same feelings about Sunlit Man. Also DNFed the continuation series for Red Rising but I do tell myself I’ll give it a second shot some day

[@dianeal-hakari1479]

We need more of this ranting Made my day

[@spcyfic68]

I feel like Fourth Wing could have been a good book, I really liked the dragons and idk I felt like there was potential. But I was annoyed by the main character from the beginning and the love story made no sense at all 🤯

[@cschultzy]

This video absolutely cracked me up... laughing out loud... amazing. Thank you for your honest reviews!

[@salkamaria]

I agree so much with your opinion on Fourth Wing. It's like reality TV in book form. Super entertaining, but not serious at all and so ridiculous. But I have to continue on to Iron Flame cause I can't lie: it's addictive and I'm hooked😂

[@NonAnonD]

Hold on, you DID read iron flame? And no video? 😢

[@Shinclair]

Please do a spoiler-video where you talk about *what* theory you had for Piranesi! I'm dyinggggggggggggggg to know! 😁

[@amandaplaysthesims]

Your discussion about the first romance is the exact reason that I can't stand real enemies to lovers as a trope. If you truly show me why they're enemies it's either going to be a miscommunication trope (which is lazy tension to me), OR I really dislike one of the characters. If there is a real reason they are enemies, then one of them isn't going to be likable. I just can't stand this trope.

[@Readersgoingtoread]

I deeply appreciate your videos! I don't have time to waste on "maybe" books and we have a lot of the same taste, so I filter my books through you! I appreciate it greatly!

[@Laf631]

I hated Fourth Wing the most, in large part because of all the people who went "IT'S THE BEST THING EVER, 12/10" and I just want to be like... read more books then, because this was not it.

[@TheArtfulBrittani]

The only book I DNF'd was Bunny by Mona Awad. I think I took it a little too literal, but some of the events were a little to gross for me. I wish I would have put Fourth Wing down...I didn't hate it, I'm a mediocre "it was fine", but I think about the better books I could have used that time for...not falling for hype this year.

[@oforde5072]

I started Fourth Wing...and couldn't finish it. I actually stopped around chapter 4. So unoriginal.

[@RabidSquirrelGaming]

Honestly I just added the Cosmere book you mentioned to my tbr, seems like it could be interesting! My worst this year were These Violent Delights, and Daughter of the Moon Goddess, with runner up House Witch 😅 These Violent Delights had *such* a good setting and premise, 1920s Shanghi with monsters and gangs, communism and capitalism, dissecting colonialism and complicated feelings about the mixing of East and West technologies and idealogies, but MAN did it fall flat. I didnt feel like I was *in* the world at all, there was almost no world building, even though she had such an amazing setting to work with. It felt like she hoped just the *idea* of the setting would carry you into the story, and as a result it just feels like she did almost no research into the complexities of the era and setting. And the *characters* oh my **gosh**, their contrived drama was SO apparent, the thing that drove them apart was OBVIOUSLY a misunderstanding, and I hate plots that are driven by a misunderstanding that can be fixed with one conversation 🙃. It was a lot of telling not showing; the author kept repeating how much they were attracted to each other, but I couldnt see it at all. Nothing they did convinced me they had feelings for each other. All together a very frustrating read. Daughter of the Moon Goddess is one I really really wanted to love, I love Asian inspired myth stories, but again this one just fell flat. The main girl just *let* things happen to her, she almost never took any independent action, and when she did it was only because she somehow had an instant affinity that let her be instantly good at archery, simply because her father (who she had never met) was good at it. And the very obvious love triangle was so dry and blasè. She obviously falls for the first guy but she's gonna go for the second, etc etc. I also just cant stand love triangles, let alone ones that have no spark in them. The main girl just had no spark either, nothing that made me root for her. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea did a much better job with its source material; its not framed around the moon goddess story like Daughter of the Moon Goddess, but it's Asian myth inspired and has much more character development and world building. Just had to get all that off my chesr 😅 here's to good reading in 2024!

[@Ares_0926]

I loved really seeing your personality come thru on this video. The first two books broke down into rants and you became so cute in those critiques. Also the West Side Story story was that same energy. I want more of this.

[@Rachlemm]

My worst book was The Witch Collector. It’s a romantasy and that’s what I was in the mood for, but the male main character was immortal but he kept getting injured & at death’s door?😂 the female main character was 24 and acted like a brat and hated him for no reason(because we obviously need to sell the enemies to lovers trope). She was also planning on running away in the beginning of the book and leave her mom completely alone which made me see her as a shit daughter. It was cool that there was sign language but I DNF’d it little over 100 pages in. I couldn’t do it anymore lol

[@animezinglife]

I pushed through and finished it, but it really did fall flat. Raina was where I had the most trouble--she was extremely petulant, unlikable, and not particularly bright. She came across very entitled. It was also odd that her being a mute/unable to speak through any means other than signing was not once an inconvenience. I liked Alexus just fine, but the story really wasn't there for me.

[@Rachlemm]

@@animezinglifeIt was a shame because it really sounded like it could’ve amazing 😞 I noticed some people say that the series gets better but the first book is rough to get through.

[@rpgoblin]

I'm glad I came across your channel today. I have a question, when you purchase your physical books do you shop online mostly, or do you visit stores? Thanks!

[@brooklynkelsey703]

You're too nice haha. Feel free to rant more. It's entertaining and informative. I'm not offended if you don't like a book and I know it's not a personal attack on the author. I totally agree with some of these rants.

[@Mortibella]

I enjoyed Fourth Wing more after I watched your rant review because it significantly lowered my expectations. But I thought Iron Flame sucked. It was rushed and it’s obvious.

[@vegemite_toast]

Predicting a more profound ending to Piranesi and then being disappointed by the authors choice.. I felt that haha

[@marylofgren3397]

"Maybe I'm overthinking it" you, never! :P I love the earnest anxiety ❤

[@violetadaguiar9776]

Your explanation of Too Hot to Handle was priceless xD

[@leiselclayton5772]

My worst read of 2023 (I DNF’d it) was The Last Time Traveler. It was like someone wrote some Doctor Who fanfic, and then changed the name to be able to publish it. The writing was so juvenile. It was written by or for hormonal teen-aged boys. There was nothing of substance to it at all… which was so sad, because the premise sounded interesting.

[@thewitchyreader6131]

Great Video!

[@TimeTravelReads]

Booktubers keep saying they don't like Fugal Wizard's Guide. This makes me nervous because out of all Sanderson's books, to me, that has the most interesting premise. I was initially going to start reading Sanderson with that book.

[@Maya76878]

"you're gonna fall out of love with me" reminds me of my ex. i have, in fact, fallen out of love with him lol

[@kerisbookishcorner2864]

I felt the same way about Every Summer After. I was actually enjoying it and was easily sucked in, but then it just went drastically downhill with storyline choices and the female MC’s actions throughout.

[@Junior6288]

I see Fourth Wing in same vein as the Real Housewives/90 Day Fiancé of books. It’s great trash and sometimes you just really want some great trash. Grab a box a popcorn and enjoy the trashy drama. Love read it, hate read or don’t read it. 📚 ✌🏻

[@heatherstiara8033]

I would just like to say… negative reviews are not a bad thing. I’ve actually bought books because somebody wrote a bad review and listed the things they hated but I thought they would be cool. And that’s happened a lot in my life. And I’ve heard other people do that too. As long as you don’t tag the author, it’s fine.

[@user-ch1by3th8s]

Enjoy when you do The Voice(s).

[@laurenschenck5355]

I loved and enjoyed the Fourth Wing series loved the characters and the story too 📙🩵📙📙📚🩵🩵📚📙📙🩵🩵📚📙📙🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉📖📖📙📚🎉🎉🎉🎉📙📖📖📖📙🩵🩵📚📙📖📖📙📚🎉🎉🎉🎉📖📖📙📚🩵📚📖📖📖📙📙

[@lorbito155]

Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo was so bad for me it made me genuinely angry

[@codedecode878]

sleeping with a dude's brother, that's a great move

[@smallstepsdaily]

I feel the same about the Carley Fortune book. Her writing was great, but the protagonist was awful terrible character. I ended up “hate reading” it.

[@christyannie83]

I 100% agree with you on Piranesi!!!!! I totally thought it was going somewhere cool and then it…didn’t

[@surpriseitsus9622]

Mt least favorite book was Babel. I finally dnf'ed at 70%. Then the second book of Bone Shard Daughter. I did finish it, but won't read book 3. Loved book one so much 😢 I loved Wolfsong and Ravensong and awaiting book three. Fourth Wing 😂

[@danilegge527]

Love your sweatshirt

[@deszra]

i still vividly remember the betrayal i felt when i started reading the Seven Realms spinoff series!! i think i still tried to finish the first book but never continued bc HOW DARE SHEEEE 😭😭😭

[@Kriseaf]

SAAAAAAAME. I wish I'd been warned. I ended up DNFing the book because it was ruining my memories of Seven Realms.

[@madimiss]

I hated every summer after! Thank you.

[@amandadamatta_]

Ialso didn’t like Sunlit Man!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great to hear it from a fellow Cosmere fan!

[@Anderswelter]

I utterly despised Piranesi. In my opinion, it was neither beautifully written (which would for me excuse the story) nor did anything interesting happen. The "~reveal" was obvious from the first couple of pages. I rarely dislike books but this was among my top three worst reads of the last year.

[@mishelly]

Yes I’m not the only one who didn’t care for Piranesi! I get its awkward charms- why people like it. I feel it’s a little overhyped.

[@bookstorm7]

Piranesi caught my eye....then I DNFd after 30 pages 😂. I love your approach to the worst books, as it's more 'here's what I didn't like about them' rather than 'these books are awful' like others do. my worst book in 2023 was hands down 'Breakfast at Tiffany's ', while the most disappointing was 'The haunting of Hill House'

[@terrencekent2108]

Hi Ellis, I'm Shelly here. Here's my Worse books of 2023: Acacia Dragonmark The Dream Thief The Cricket at Times Square TMNT: Bebop and Rocksteady Wrecked Time. King of Sharanna Malus Darkblade Gifteds Lost Lore Everlost

[@katieschroeder7022]

Totally understand not liking about Piranesi. It’s so bizarre, I think I got sucked into the dark academia vibes, but also the ending was so abstract I had a hard time knowing how I felt about it at the end.😂

[@michaelsommers2356]

You don't like R&J, but what about Pyramus and Thisbe?

[@maeve3007]

Don't be afraid to make these video's i do indeed pick up books from video's like this. I also didn't lik piranesi it was so stupid normally i see what people like on a book. But that book.... no i don't understand...

[@operajiao4297]

i feel the same thing with piranesi😢

[@susancanales8801]

I love Too Hot to Handle! It is so stupid!😂,😂

[@Journal_Jonesy]

Fourth Wing and Yellowface were voted my worst books of 2023 lol

[@Artbyhurricanyounot]

It’s not mean to criticize books you didn’t like. They’re just ink on paper, and much of these authors already found their success, so they’ll be fine! If the author was gonna be worried about criticisms, they shouldn’t have published to the public. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@dbeep2822]

Not counting DNFs, I’d say my worst was Painted Devils. Which is ridiculous because Little Thieves was one of my favorite reads of 2023. Such a letdown. I’m pretending Little Thieves is a standalone and definitely won’t get the third book in the trilogy when it comes out.

[@lisas.2902]

My worst book was harrow the ninth. After loving gideon the ninth, this was especially disappointing 😢. And everybody seems to love it, so I don’t know what went wrong.

[@alexelkins1138]

I think you are honestly the first woman that I know who has read this book and I know shockingly a lot lol that didn’t love but actually hated the fourth wing. When it comes to books literally all they can talk about.

[@missallisnow]

My book club (mostly women) read 4W and we found it hilariously dreadful.

[@VincentTornude]

Piranesi to me felt like that icarly meme with the ostrich and smoothie. I'm seeing this really beautiful fantasy world and asking Susanna Clarke what she's got there and she's like "oo this boring crime story?". I was so pissed.

[@CluelessWonder]

Thank you. Piranesi was my worst reading experience in 2023. Every bone in my body was screaming to dnf it, but it was a buddy read so I finished it. Never again. I am now ready and willing to dnf buddy reads or book club reads.

[@wallacejames221]

I'm gonna be really glad when the Fourth Wing/Iron Flame hype dies down and I can stop randomly hearing rants about it in every video I watch.

[@dixieAQHA]

That show sounds both ridiculously awful and hilariously bad