Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Addicts discussion

We've talked a lot about what books/series we love, but what about the books/series you hate? I'm sure we've all had moments where you wanted to throw a book against the wall in frustration and anger, so rant about them here!

I can think of 2 off the top of my head: The Sons of Destiny by Jean Johnson, and the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer.

Sons of Destiny: The idea was pretty good, but the execution was horrible. The main female lead, Kelly, suffers from an extreme case of Mary-Sue-itis. The writing itself is pretty bad, although you can see an improvement in the series as it progresses. Just too bad that Kelly character ruins every page she opens her mouth.

Twilight: The only good thing I can think of when it comes to Twilight is that it got people to read more. The writing is bad, the characterization is bad, the plot is bad, and the message is bad. I know most HEA PNR books deal with obsessive love, but as an adult, its easier to suspend reality while reading. For the scores of 11-16 years olds reading Twilight, they truly believe thats how a relationship should be, aka giving up everything for your boyfriend. I asked my mom if she would have let me read Twilight when I was 12 and she said "no" because of the message the books have.

BlueBloods...AWFUL!

It was the first Sunny book I had read and it didn't do anything for me. It was lacking in character and story line. I finished the book because I cannot stop in the middle of a book/story no matter how bad it is. I felt no connection with the characters and nothing about the story held my interest.

angel star

I began reading the Nobel Dead saga by Barb and J.C. Hendee. I read the first book (Dhampir) and I WILL NOT read further. What a waste of time. Empty plot with predictable themes and bad dialogue.

Oooooh. Wait! Just thought of another- Minion and The Awakening- part of the Vampire Huntress Legend by L.A. Banks. Worst UF books I've ever read. And don't start reading them because the first book ends in the middle and then you have to read the second to actually get to the end of the story. Hey! I just realized that both bad books are about female Vampire Hunters. Theme?

Looney wrote: "I began reading the Nobel Dead saga by Barb and J.C. Hendee. I read the first book (Dhampir) and I WILL NOT read further. What a waste of time. Empty plot with predictable themes and bad dialogue.
..."

Ack. I had considered reading this. Was this just a rehash of other stories you read or was the story just boring or hollow?

HON by PC Cast. urgh!

Vampire Diaries books....boring as hell. But I guess after you've read BDB, they would be. lol

Thirst
soooo bad

Stacia wrote: "Looney wrote: "I began reading the Nobel Dead saga by Barb and J.C. Hendee. I read the first book (Dhampir) and I WILL NOT read further. What a waste of time. Empty plot with predictable themes and..."

I would say, yes, the story is lacking depth and they always revealed what was going on- no intrigue, no mystery. A snooze.

Angela wrote: "Vampire Diaries books....boring as hell. But I guess after you've read BDB, they would be. lol"

I didn't think they were BORING...but I guess after watching the TV series, I was HIGHLY disappointed. I prefer the TV series by a long-shot.

Angela wrote: "Vampire Diaries books....boring as hell. But I guess after you've read BDB, they would be. lol"

ive read like vampire diaries like before i had all the stuff on my list b/c i just started reading after i read twilight saga and OMG. TVD worst books ever, soooo boring compared to all those wonderful adult PNR and UF that r out there.

Krysta wrote: "Angela wrote: "Vampire Diaries books....boring as hell. But I guess after you've read BDB, they would be. lol"

I didn't think they were BORING...but I guess after watching the TV series, I was H..."

i pracically forced myself to read TVD before the tv series came out. so boring to me.

There is a series that I LOVED LOVE LOVED the first 5-6 books, but the rest that I read (up to book 14) is the Dark Hunter/Dream Hunter series. I couldn't bring myself to go any further. I really enjoyed the first few though.

I really didn't enjoy Anita Blake. I have only read the first and couldn't bear to go on. I am pretty easily entertained but I had no clue what was going on in this book. It seemed like lots of haphazard events shoved together. I kept expecting the significance of certain events to be revealed at the end, didn't happen.
Am I missing something?

fallen end evermore, a really wasted my time! :s

the first evermore book was good, one of the first series i started reading but 2 and 3 were not that good. book 2 was a borefest. and although book 3 was a little bit better it didnt top the first book, evermore which i thought was good. this is probally like hon for me where im just gonna finish reading the series to see what happens.

for fallen the first half of the book was kinda boring and hard to get into at first but the second half of the book was amazing. i think most first books suffer from first book syndrome and and this first book was trying to set the pace for the second book, where more will happen in the second book. but i hear if most people will only read if it catches them, and it was quite a long book i think 400-500 pages and half of it was boring and the other half got better.

After reading Evermore I didn't have a desire to go on. It wasn't the worst that I've read, but there are so many other series that are better. HoN is shallow, but I like it for some reason.

I'm sure that a lot of people will disagree, but after reading book 1 of the Sookie/Southern Vampires, I didn't feel compelled to read on either. At some point I will revisit the series just to give it another chance, but again...really long TBR list of books that I'm dying to try first.

I agree with Mariya about Fallen, but I'd even say that the first 2/3 of the book was boring. I've posted on a few forums that this has to be one of the most overhyped books that has come out recently. However, the last 1/3 redeemed it enough for me that I will read book 2 when it comes out.

Stacia - I started reading book 1 of Sookie/Southern Vampires and never made it past the first chapter. I think it's because I started watching True Blood before I started reading the books. I know the TV show (which I Love) is different in a lot of ways from the books, and for some reason my brain just wouldn't allow me to switch...I hope to some day read the series, but for now I'm sticking to the TV show.

I've tried to read the "House of Night" series by P.C. Cast several times, but I can never make it past chapter one. I've read Evermore and the first Anita Blake book, but have no desire to read any more. I also read all three of the Mortal Instruments, but only because I had already purchased them all.

Angela wrote: "There is a series that I LOVED LOVE LOVED the first 5-6 books, but the rest that I read (up to book 14) is the Dark Hunter/Dream Hunter series. I couldn't bring myself to go any further. I really e..."

You should really read Acheron's book. Its number 15 and by far the best in the series. I Couldn't stand the first Dream Hunter book though.

HON, and evermore were one of the first books i read since starting to read since twilight and before i didnt have a problems wit them and i was always reading young adult books, and now since reading adult ones ive been having trouble going back to the young adult books, hopefully ill read one soon that strikes my interest, i knoe she new ones wit beautiful covers r comming out soon, so hopefully ones of those will be good.

That's interesting because that's sort of why I still read HoN. It was one of the first PNR's that I read, so there wasn't much to compare it to, which made it easier to get hooked on.

If I started the series now after reading so many good series, I'd probably quit after the first book.

It's almost a shame that HoN has gotten so much publicity when a lesser known YA series like Morganville Vampires is quite a bit better (for writing).

Vampire Beach. I really did not enjoy the series. I guess the first book was ok...but I hated how everything was concluded at the end of each book and then there was another ridiculous storyline for the next. I also hated how the build up was for like 7/8 of each book and only left like 2 chapters for the climax.

House of Night, Vampire Diaries, and Thirst. I might give HoN another chance because I read it right after reading Twilight. It might be different now. But the other two series had no real plot and the characters were so shallow. I love Vampire Diaries the TV show and the books just don't compare.

Stacia wrote: "That's interesting because that's sort of why I still read HoN. It was one of the first PNR's that I read, so there wasn't much to compare it to, which made it easier to get hooked on.

If I sta..."

i still love vampire diaries, but that is very true about if i started adult series first but so glad i started some of the young adults first i still like HON, but the last one was just okaiexz for me.

Mine have to be

Twilight Series (liked her werewolves and Alice, but just sucked)
Anita Blake Series (first few were ok, but its awful)
Merry Gentry Series (ditto to above)
Dante Valentine Series (this was a love/hate series for me)
J R Ward's BDB series (I liked Rhage's dragon, but thats it)
The Vampire Diaries - Never liked this series when I read it in high school, I preferred her Forbidden Games and Night World Series far better.

I read the first House Of Night book and blech. The writing was bad and the characters where just so-so. I have never picked up another HON book.
And P.C. Cast also edited an anthology called Immortal: Love Stories with Bite. Dreck, just sheer and utter dreck. That woman shouldn't be let within spitting distance of an editor's pen. And apperently there's going to be a sequel called Eternal: More Love Stories With Bite, gack. I have since given up on anything written by P.C. Cast. And Storm of Visions by Christina Dodd. This was my first Christina Dodd and may very well have been my last. The characters where flat and boring and the romance was lukewarm at best, and it was also a reunion romance and i don't really like reunion romances. The plot was about the only thing that saved this book and even that was so-so. The later books in the series look more promising though, so i might pick up one of those. I got about 250 some pages into it and then i just stopped and then i had to take it back to the library. And i read the first Anita Blake book and it was just okay for me, i've taken the second Anita Blake book out of the library several times, but have never gotten to it and i've concluded that i never will either. So i've more or less given up on Laurell K. Hamilton.

I've had Unholy Ghosts on the half-read pile for over a month - it just annoys the crap out of me.

Generally I fly through books, even so so ones but I'm really struggling with this one.

The other one that I kind of like but not enough to read in a sitting is Vampire Academy - this has truly shown me that I don't like YA. Luckily the books are my sis's so I've not outlaid $ for them. I don't hate them just not drawn into them and can easily put the book down and not pick it up again for a week. I'll be happy for my sister to just tell me what happens so I don't actually have to read any more.

I'm having a hard time with the same book. It's taken me a couple of weeks to get to page 140.

Vampire Diaries was a mega struggle and am not going to bother withe the "return" books. Also although i have H of N on my series to finish, i am also struggling with them, they just don't capture me at all and i have to force myself to pick up the next book. It is only cause u i am nosey that i will finish the next couple. Evermore is a bit of bore too, whats with the red juice thats just weird LOL

i have read the first return book and it is worse than the orginal ones, i dont plan on reading the rest.

This is hilarious b/c some of my favorite series are on this list! I guess it's true, different strokes for different folks! I loved Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts (originally hard to get into but by book 3...um, wow!) Loved Karen Chance's Cassie Palmer books. There was so much action and sexual tension in those books I could hardly sleep at night for wanting to keep reading! I also enjoyed Kim Harrison.

Anyway back to the topic at hand. My least favorite books would have to be Midnight Breeds by Lara Adrian, Christine Feehan's Ghostwalkers, Lora Leigh's Breed series, Some of Anita Blakes Merry Gentry series, and some of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dream/Dark Hunter series.

I believe my problem is that I enjoy a series that is told in 1st person POV and continues with that same main character throughout the series. I don't want a different lead character in every book.

I may be alone in this but Pritkin all the way! I dunno, the whole "Mircea was like an uncle to me but now he's my lover" is weird to me. He may be hot and know a thing or two in the bedroom, but Pritkin and Cassie have that love-hate thing going on and I'm a total sucker for that!

What about you?? Who's your pick??

black daggar brotherhood series, i really didnt like this that much, i honetly do not knoe why it is so popular and cant say b/c of the hot guys.

Schelle, that's too bad about Unholy Ghosts. It's on my TBR shelf because it looked really interesting.

Mariya, I'm a BDB fangirl and sometimes I don't know why the books are popular either. It's like literary crack. Just when you think you've beat the addiction there's an excerpt from the new book and you're sucked back in again.

A GR favorite I don't care for is Frost's Nighthuntress. I liked the first book well enough but ended up throwing the second against the wall.

why didnt u like the second, including me and tons of frostfans its a favorite in the series?

I really didn't like Gone by Michael Grant, felt the need to chuck it at a wall when I was done with it

It's been a long time since reading it but I remember going WTF with Cat as the leader of a super secret government paranormal team. I remember her downing gin like water and her being very nasty to the team she works with. Didn't like that at all. This was all in the first few chapters. I guess it got better?

it got really better, especially when she reunites wit bones again.

Oh, the other thing I don't particularly care for is how Bones is a ripoff of Spike. It's really obvious and I think Frost even goes around admitting it. Booo..no cookie for you Frost!

i honestly do not think of bones as anything like spike but we are all titled to out own opnions of course.

Unholy Ghosts started out a little WTF for me but by book 2, I was totally in. And um, book 3...yum! Sooo didn't care at that point that she was a pill-popin ho who dated hitmen with a 3rd grade thug vocab. After a few of those scenes, I would have totally dated them too! Pretty sure if I would have had access to that kind of insight on a man before I dated them, my standards would have been signifantly lower! I'd keep reading if I were you!

Crissa wrote: "Unholy Ghosts started out a little WTF for me but by book 2, I was totally in. And um, book 3...yum! Sooo didn't care at that point that she was a pill-popin ho who dated hitmen with a 3rd grade th..."

Thanks Crissa - I'll keep plugging away at it - simply because I hate not finishing books and it's not the pill popping ho stuff - I actually like her character - it's the pre 3rd grade vocab that I have trouble with (I try to read it like it's an accent - but it still sounds dumb :( ) - I will try though.

Braced to Bite by Serena Robar....the most boring book ever!

Mine would be these:
The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine
Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost
The Vampire Diaries( The Awakening) by L.J. Smith
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
Evermore(The Immortals) by Alyson Noel
Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Mine would be:
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
House of Night by PC Cast
and I'll get blasted for this I just cannot get into Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill. It is nowhere near as bad as the other two, but yeah I just can't get into them. I used to like Sookie Stackhouse but it is suffering from series-itis now and the same with Anita Blake. I keep reading them every time a new one comes out and not liking them.

Only one comes to mind that I hated it was Dante Valentine by Lilith St.Crow...a only sorta didn't like was Carpathians by Christine Feehan ..but it could be that the series is sooooooooo long that I lost interest

Okay, I have to say the weather warden series by Rachel Caine. Everyone loves it, I found it empty and boring. I didn't like the leading lady I could not connect to her at all.
Has anyone else hated this series?
Personally some of the ones that are being hated on in this thread are my favs. The hollows series especially, I just love Rachel. So i guess it really is just different strokes for different folks.