The WORST Books I Read In 2023

[@-rianna]

funny how haden is the cook, yet it’s chan that’s feeding us well with these consistent uploads. and we’re all eating it UP!

[@chandlerainsley]

the cook had a hand in this one :) he edited it

[@PinkCatsy]

I also hated Lessons in Chemistry. It was like Feminism 101, but barely even that because there are barely any likable women. All the reviews about how important the book is - I'm begging people who think these fiction novels are so Important, to read nonfiction about these topics.

[@radia3637]

you should watch the series it's so so so good

[@suezebee]

I DNF’d Lessons in Chemistry so quick with all the misogyny I was like uhh no thanks

[@AngelaBruns84]

My worst book of the year was Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover… I know a lot of people live it but it was a struggle to get through for me.

[@hill7052]

I dnf'ed lessons in chemistry for the same reason. I couldnt understand how people like reading about women suffering.

[@ninjaturtles12121]

I totally agree i hate reading about women suffering in the guise of an historical esp when its fiction! You can write whatever you want in a fiction like seriously stop with the endless suffering. Thats why kristen hannah isnt for me either.

[@rubyanddelilahandnani]

But it was reality….

[@biancagorospe8706]

I agree with The Perfect Marriage! I have such a low bar and rarely rate anything lower than a 3 stars. This was book was soooo bad 😂

[@camryn9377]

My favorite of the year: Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake. Least Favorites: The Language of Love and Loss, When you Least Expect It, The Billionare's Wake-up-call Girl, and A Merry Little Meet-cute. Those all sucked. But Iris Kelly was a recent read and was FANTASTIC!

[@chandlerainsley]

i really need to pick that one up i’ve heard great things!

[@jessicar2609]

If He Had Been with Me was the worst book I read this year by far (and I read it all on January 1st). I also hated The Perfect Marriage and was so disappointed with the shit ending.

[@-rianna]

i think my most hated book this year was hold by claire kent and i read it puuurely because the main character shared my name, and i was curious because you’d think that reading smut with your name in it would be fun right?!……….well i can confirm it is NOT fun, but i was laughing the entire time and that’s why i gave it 2 stars instead of 1 ( the story was unhinged as well, so that’s that )

[@nanda483]

That's my favorite romance book 🤣

[@-rianna]

@@nanda483 hahah that’s fair, the spicy scenes weren’t bad so I probably wouldn’t have hated it as much if it weren’t for the FMC’s name😭

[@dixieAQHA]

I DNF'd Lessons in Chemistry for the reasons you said. Glad I didn't try to finish it hoping for redemption

[@reedmylife4597]

I felt the exact same about Lessons in Chemistry! I have been ranting about this book and how it still completely revolves around a man since I read it for a book club last year.

[@mariemonday125]

my least favorite books of the year are: - “king of scars”: don’t jump at me immediately, i also wish i would’ve liked this one, but this was just too long (especially if you compare how much happens here compared to “rule of wolves”), we really didn’t need this book to explain a world we’ve been following for so many books at this point for half of the book. nikolai and zoya are great, isaak had potential but duh and nina’s perspective also just way too long to make sense to me… - “the atlas six”: where was the world building? where was the actual plot? maybe i’m too stupid to get what the author tried to do here because so many people love this series, but to me, this was just a bunch of characters that are supposed to be very ambivalent but you can tell the author’s bias with some of them and also they just want to be smart so bad but their conversations never lead anywhere. i was so disappointed, i wanted to like this one so much my other two least favorites are german books called “mindset” (it’s by one of the funniest influencers in the country but that sadly didn’t translate to the book at all) and “dunbridge academy: anytime” (yes, lots of german books have english titles and this one made my blood boil: the main characters blackmail each other, the male lead sexualizes the female lead in a very weird way, the consent is icky and i just don’t see where the foundation for a healthy relationship is supposed to be) please don’t kill me for the first two :(

[@elizabethhawtin]

So thankful someone also didn't like Lessons in Chemistry... I thought was the only one. From what I remember it felt like modern-day feminism dropped into a 1950s setting, so none of it really worked for me. Plus the incredibly precocious daughter was unbelievable... Loved Six-Thirty though lol

[@emilyteigland4887]

I was SO glad Lessons in Chemistry was on this list- I couldn't stand it for all the same reasons and I feel like those issues aren't talked about enough. I will say though, as someone who hated the book, the TV adaptation was FANTASTIC (one of my favorite shows of the YEAR). It was SO different from the book and every episode was prefaced with content warnings. If you hated the book, you might really love the tv show for the same reasons!

[@headphonebooks7319]

The worst book I read this year is easily Let’s Be Just Friends by Camila Isley. For a book very obviously pitched at being friends to lovers, it completely failed at just that. First of all, the best friend the main character wants to get with, keeps sleeping with the main character while still dating another girl but somehow this girlfriend is the villain. Then he comes back into the main characters life to make a big love confession to be with her but he’s still dating his girlfriend. Also the book has the audacity to call this man loyal because he has stayed with this woman he’s cheated on multiple times. He also is constantly complaining about her which makes me confused by why he doesn’t just break up with her cause he’s clearly not happy. This book is just absolutely not what it’s marketed as.

[@laurlovesliterature]

the house across the lake made me so angry this year riley sager is on my shit list

[@Katiedora122]

My least favorite books this year were Remember Love by Mary Balogh, Steal My Magnolia by Karla Sorensen (at most, it should have been a short story companion to book #2 of the series), and Out of the Blue by Jason June. But my favorites were Georgie All Along by Kate Clayborn, The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett, and The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer. Also, I have had zero interest in Lessons in Chemistry, but it did lead me to The Secret History of Home Economics by Danielle Dreilinger, which was an unexpectedly rousing nonfiction book that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.

[@PistachioGold]

Ahw I really love your mindset about not wanting to see women suffer ❤❤❤ love the zoom in edits in this one 😂

[@melissabereading]

Some of my worst books this year are twisted love, lovelight farms, rouge, a twisted love story. Absolutely terrible!

[@MarcelleLeiturasPreguicosas]

the worst book I've read is dead romantics, I don't get all the 4-5 stars, I think I've read a different book, that's the only explanation

[@edwardsjarje]

The Wrong Bride was a hard one for me. It just kept piling shit upon more shit and the main character just kept taking it, beyond any reasonable limits. No, not even good sec can make up for the bad relationships between all of them. Her other books were better. This was was just a dumpster fire.

[@angelaholmes8888]

Here's my worst books of 2023 Normal people by sally Rooney Camp zero by Michelle min sterling The path of daggers by Robert Jordan The reunion by kayla Olsen End of watch by Stephen king A chain of iron and gold Poster girl by veronica roth The flatshare by beth o'Leary Misrule by heather walter sequel to malice

[@alexsandriabastow]

High agree on Normal People, I don’t understand why it’s so hyped.

[@Jazzy_Rose403]

I‘ve never been this early to a video and im so glad it’s yours

[@cherrrymilk]

Thank youuu! I did not enjoy the perfect marriage. Lowkey started skimming through to get to the end

[@Nance1964]

Coincidentally one of my worst books of the year was another book by S. Massery, Devious Obsession. So cringy with no real plot while the MMC is a jealous a$$hat, and the FMC being a doormat. One that took me forever to get through while rolling my eyes. And I totally agree with your take on Lessons in Chemistry. Just NO, not for me…especially with the death of someone in the first quarter of the book. I almost stopped right there!

[@Mysterioso46]

Omg. Yess. I was not a fan of this book and I didn’t understand why he was soo upset. It was stupid and I didn’t care for the main characters. Smh. Glad Secret obsession was soo much better.

[@GraceStellaBeauty]

No one else I’ve met has also not liked lessons in chemistry. I feel so validated

[@edwardleecaliforniausa]

Good morning Chandler happy Sunday morning and I loved your vlogs and you are amazing Supporter and I'm proud of you and I enjoy your channel

[@koruscott6514]

As a woman who has a science degree, reads lots of feminist lit, and does not want children, Lessons in Chemistry succeeded at pissing me off on so many different fronts (no fucking scientist calls common ingredients by their scientific names PLEASE stop). I'm glad to hear other people didn't like it because I was completely confounded by its popularity.

[@taylorlmoore]

I was also named after a Soap Opera character 😂 I can't believe that happened to another person haha

[@jasmin9001]

I really disliked lessons in chemistry as well.

[@Harley24986]

Court of the Vampire Queen. Worst book of 2023...worst book of ever. I've never DNF'd so fast lol

[@shaylaatiles]

I also disliked Lessons In Chemistry. I can’t believe people recklessly recommended it without mentioning the trigger warnings in that book. Suddenly I was reading about a s3xual assault scene in the 3rd chapter. Wild.

[@s.a.6701]

Least favorite romance definitely This Man Confessed and Wicked Ties. They seem to have the issue that a lot of early 2000s/2010s have - the line between consent and no consent is too blurry, to the point it feels like u are reading about assult. 😐

[@k9qtea]

My top 3 worst reads this year were "Several People Are Typing" By Calvin Kasulke (I can't get past the questionably dubious consent thing at the end, it made me feel icky), "Night of the Mannequins"by Stephen Graham Jones (I was promised one night of killer mannequins, what I got was several nights of a delusional serial killer), and "Witcha Gonna Do" by Avery Flynn (It literally starts with " Hi *waves* " ...enough said). Top 3 best reads were "Go Hex Yourself" by Jessica Clare, "Twisted Love" by Ana Huang and "The Ballad of Black Tom" by Victor LaValle. The first two arent objectively the best books ever, but I had a fun time reading them and that's what matters. Although I'm not done with it yet, the short story collection "Never Whistle at Night" edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr is quickly becoming a contender for fave as well.

[@susanhatcliff5349]

The Wrong Bride was my first Catharina Maura book, and I was disappointed in the unsophistocated writing, and many more aspects of the story (dialogue, characters). I too was excited by the premise, but so put off by the execution. I read King of Wrath after this, and that was like a breath of fresh air in the storytelling and writing, comparatively. I DNF'd The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard, speaking of unsophisticated writing (and unlikeable characters, horrible dialogue, etc).

[@melorpio]

Favorite book of the year: For The Fans by Nyla K Least favorite book of the year: Rise by Cassandra Robbins

[@doraokeke3228]

My least favorite books of the year 1. Corrupt by Penelope-my only question is why the threesome(and horseman property really🤠🐎😭) 2. Grace love by Audrey love - I didn’t mind the fact that he was a serial killer but he’s a serial killer who does the disco with his dead mother’s corpse if you catch my drift😃 traumatized🥲 3. Tempted by deception by Rina Kent - so we’re just gonna act like he doesn’t actually abuse her😭 he can meet the barrel of my gun 4. Bound by honor by Cora Reilly.- well all I have to say is fuck you Luca😂 i’ve never fallen out of love so fast 5. when the ashes fall by Marni Mann - why the bomb literally why😂😭 My favorite book of the year is the devil of Dublin by BB. Easton and Chan. I really hope you read this. It was amazing and I feel like you would enjoy it.

[@Mysterioso46]

I loved Secret Obsession lol. It was crazy but I loved it. 😂

[@kaylanisimplyme]

I agree I also really didn’t like The Wrong Bride!! It was not good at all!!!

[@FloatingInSpace5702]

I did like the spicy moments tho 👀

[@rochellemarkham7007]

9:35 I’m CACKLING

[@catratesbooks]

My worst book was The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross. I should have known because it was for people that liked Red Queen and I hated the romance in those books and no surprise I hated it in this one.

[@haileyhughes]

you’re so valid 😭

[@user-bg4ig7rl3d]

I’m so glad someone feels same as me!! Can’t believe they are making a movie of this OMG

[@sarahc9731]

So glad that I have found someone who also hated Lessons in Chemistry. It was sooooo horrible.

[@user-bg4ig7rl3d]

So glad to see someone who feels same that this was a waste of trees- and my time

[@shek1029]

I dnfed The Wrong Bride. I made it 60 pages and couldn't do it. To each their own, but I really don't get the hype.

[@lilisey]

Oh my gosh, YES. I hated Lessons in Chemistry and still can't understand the hype. You articulated why it didn't make sense so well! I still do not understand, the MC uses such modern feminism language that wouldn't exist during the time period of the book so I kept thinking we'd get a flash forward to now? Or something. Nope. Also, yes I didn't think the MC wanted a baby at any point either, and kind of treats her kid like crap? And that's supposed to be...empowering or something?

[@sydneysbooks]

I personally didn’t like She Was Made for Me by Jen Morris but I do wonder what your take would be. 👀 it’s on KU. Also didn’t vibe with Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith at all. Big nope.

[@capecodcottagegarden]

Yup hated Lessons in Chemistry but also disliked The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo so there's that...two hyped books that fell flat for me.

[@carolineblueskies]

Do DNFs count? Because if so, How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days is mine. I could have MAYBE been ok with it if the main characters had been like in college, but we were supposed to believe these people were full-ass working professionals in their 40s?! That woman needed an intervention, not a boyfriend.

[@Sandra-cv7wm]

My worst book of the year was One Day in December by Jessie Silver. That book was not a romance it was a travesty.

[@chandlerainsley]

period

[@toffeecrisp6917]

I feel as a reader for the past 10 years in this romance genre the past few years has definitely been the worst in terms of stories.can’t remember the last book I loved .

[@saviessi]

I hated Lessons in Chemistry with a passion too. Not only for the reasons you mentioned but the I also found it to be excruciatingly dull. I definitely should have DNF'd...

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

Luckily I’ve never read any of these 🥰

[@amandazee3706]

The worst book I DNFed was Father of the Bride by Chloe Maine. My first and only book by this author. It was the worst smutty drivel. 🤢

[@elizivans]

My least favorite books: In Bed With A Stranger by Mary Wine - very flat plus misogynistic subtext regarding Evil side characters consisting of women during historical times being villainized for understandably refusing to have children because they fear for their lives wasn't it, the father of fmc was the Real piece of shit but ofcourse he got no accountability; The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne - also felt flat to me, over hyped imo, writing style also gave me bad vibes idk, i was very disappointed and don't feel like reading anything from this author again tho she's very popular but i don't like lisa kleypas (her writing style is ok but plots are not my thing) either so; Her Bridegroom Bought and Paid For by Alice Coldbreath - i love this author but romance here just wasn't good, unpleasant surprise since i really liked the premise.

[@YW2324]

Hatchet Island is good 😊

[@Chloeeeeev]

2 really awful ones for me this year were Mile High and Cleopatra & Frankenstein. Trash

[@Name-tv2bw]

A bitchin video in more than one sense of the word 😂❤

[@calliemacleod1886]

Of the immortals after dark series, which i love. Sadly dreams d of a dark warrior is not the worst. Munro and both novellas were trash.

[@heirofbooks3625]

I agree with the perfect marriage, i didnt like it at all!. Also you mentioned neurodivergence and i was wondering if you had a video or ever talk about it in your channel (if you were comfortable to do it ofc)

[@ainsreading]

#freepalestine 🇵🇸

[@livulllmann8527]

Why even waste time on Romance books. Romance is a male-centered genre and usually poorly written and cheesy

[@chandlerainsley]

lmao ur in the wrong place