YA Apocalyptic and Dystopian Fiction discussion

Isn't it the worst when you're really excited for a book, then you read it, and you hate it? What are some of the books that have really disappointed you?

Here's a couple for me:

Halo really disappointed me too! It just felt flat compared to some of the other angel books!

I know! Ever since I read it I've been super suspicious of angel books. The pretty cover pulled me in. Haha Don't judge a book by it's cover!

I felt like Clockwork Angel just didn't have the...I don't know...SOMETHING that The Mortal Instruments had. It was a real disappointment for me when I read it. I didn't feel for the characters--didn't love them like Clary and Jace and Alec and Isabel, you know? They were sort of lacking...

Misguided Angel was like that too. She is overdoing the drama and not giving it what the other books had.

Life as we knew it was bad--it didn't hold my interest and it bored me to tears through the whole book.

Hex Hall was a TOTAL cliche. There was no originality at all. Everything in that book, let me just say...WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT.

oh and one more book: Just read it and you will understand what I mean.

I can understand what you mean about Clockwork Angel. The characters did somewhat lack the familiarity of the Mortal Instruments characters. I think though that after all three of the books come out, we'll know the characters better. I'm just really not looking forward to the love triangle in the Infernal Devices. I don't know what it is, but ugh I hate love triangles!

Haha I never even got through the first book in the Blue Bloods series.

I totally loved Hex Hall though! From the reviews I've read, it's a love it/hate it book. Haha the sequel comes out today! I'm totally excited! Yay! :)

I liked Clockwork angel... i think part of the problem IS that everyone loves Jace and Clary so much, so even tho CA was good...you're still like, who are these people?? But i still liked it, not as much as mortal instruments, but it was still good.

I was incredibly disappointed with , & .it was like a battle for me to finish each book. Also & . I didn't even finish sapphique...i couldn't...it did not hold my interest.

You're so right about Clockwork Angel! That's totally how I feel about it! I thought Incarceron was so-so. I liked it enough to buy Sapphique a couple weeks ago. But now, I'll probably put it lower in my TBR pile.

was a disappointment for me. Interesting premise, but I had trouble getting into it and felt like for a 600 page book, there were a ton of unnecessary scenes, dialogue, and it just wasn't all that exciting to me. The constant fights between kids & bullies got old fast. I was less interested in their interactions, more interested in the sci-fi aspects (what happened to the adults and why, etc) which weren't really explained at all.

I hate books like that! The super long ones that draw out unnecessary info. It's so annoying!

ayanami wrote: " was a disappointment for me. Interesting premise, but I had trouble getting into it and felt like for a 600 page book, there were a ton of unnecessary scenes, dialogue, and..."

gosh, I agree completely! I am reading them because Im already 3 books in, but im just not all that interested. I just want to know if they ever get out. and supposedly there are like another 3 books or something :(

i'm a little behind everyone on the house of night series, but i recently read an excerpt from the newest book , and it sounded good, so i bought the first book in the series and read it in a day or so. really easy read, wasn't just awful, so i picked up and . i just can't get into it now. i tried to start reading betrayed two or three times last week, but i felt like i was reading the diary of a 14-year-old girl. i get that it's a ya novel, but it's also a collaborative effort by a grown woman and her daughter, so shouldn't it be twice the book that it is? i also get that it needs to speak to the audience it was primarily written for, but was it necessary to include so many pop culture references? i went into this series with low expectations to begin with, ranking it right up there with l.j. smith's the vampire diaries series (of which i could only read books 1-4 before giving up on it), and i'm really not one to start a series and not finish it, but these books are now on my 'books of last resort' list, which means i'll get to them when i have absolutely nothing else to read. sadly, i'm tempted to read the most recent book, just to see if they really ever do get any better, but i'm not one to jump around in a series, either.

very disappointed with this series, and that's saying a lot considering i wasn't expecting much out of it to begin with. guess i'll just have to accept it:

1. some ya novels are written for a younger audience with the adult readership in mind
2. some ya novels are written on an adult level with the teenage readership in mind
3. and some ya novels are written for a younger audience with only that audience in mind

i find myself putting the house of night series in category 3. :(

Man, I couldn't even get past the first chapter in Marked. Well truthfully, I stopped because a friend of mine told me how horrible they were. And I'm like you, I can't start a series and then not finish it. So I stopped this one before I was sucked in haha. Isn't there like three guys she's choosing between or something? Ugh that would bug me because I can't even stand love triangles with two guys.

You do bring up a good point though. I read and didn't like it very much, so I haven't read the rest of the series. That is so weird for me.

apparently, she hooks up with every guy she meets, according to some reviews i read when i was trying to get a feel for the books. made me like them even less. :( i agree, i'm really sick of the love triangle angle (haha) in all the books these days. can't there be angst and drama for a character without the involvement of a love triangle?? some of my favorite books don't even involve romance, so i know it can be done...

I know. Seriously! I completely despise love triangles. I mean, there's really no point to them. That's why I hated Personal Demons so much. The romance was weird.

An author I'm following posted a blog about love triangles yesterday that I totally loved. Read it if you have time!

http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...

Maggie Stiefvater reads the first few pages in this You Tube video. Ahhhh! Now I'm DYING!! I need to read Forever!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G9QKf...

@Shakira...Thanks for posting the link. Its torture having to wait till July!

This book is written so badly that it drives me crazy. The writer is apparently super lazy. Every other sentence starts with a character's name. It's so repetitive that I can't get through it. I may try again when I'm feeling more patient but it's really just lazy writing. It seems like the story would be a good one but the writing style drives me crazy.

Also Wow, I don't know if the first book is just hard to get into or what but I'm about 75% through the book and almost nothing has happened. It goes like this... walk walk walk, stop at city and stay in inn, fight random bad guys and flee from the city, walk walk walk, stop at city and stay in inn, fight random bad guys and flee the city... and that's it. I mean at the beginning it was super interesting and packed with action abut the last like 50% of the book has been the main character traveling and fighting random bad guys that want to kill him for no known reason.

I read the first book the The Mortal Instruments series and I was so pissed that they were brother and sister I didn't even read the rest of them. lol

Tish: all I can say is that you should definitely read the rest of them. They are awesome :) hmm...I've never heard of the other two you mentioned...probably a good thing from your descriptions haha.

Yeah seriously don't bother with the other two. Well Hemlock might be good if I can stop noticing that the author was so blasted lazy. lol

One of these days I might break down and read the rest of Mortal Instruments. It made me so mad they were brother and sister though that I was like okay eff this series. lol That's just so messed up.

Tish wrote: "Yeah seriously don't bother with the other two. Well Hemlock might be good if I can stop noticing that the author was so blasted lazy. lol

One of these days I might break down and read the rest..."

Don't give up on the Mortal Instruments! You will be very gratified when you get through City of Glass. And they are so beautifully written and the characters are so lovable. Ask anyone who has read the series, it is probably one of their favorite series that they have read. TRUST ME. Keep reading.

Shakira wrote: "Tish wrote: "Yeah seriously don't bother with the other two. Well Hemlock might be good if I can stop noticing that the author was so blasted lazy. lol

One of these days I might break down and re..."

couldn't agree more! city of glass is right at the top of my favorites...i can't wait for city of fallen angels!!!

Amy wrote: "I know. Seriously! I completely despise love triangles. I mean, there's really no point to them. That's why I hated Personal Demons so much. The romance was weird.

An author I'm fo..."

that was a great post...and so true. except that the girl in the middle isn't *always* dimwhitted, i.e. tessa from clockwork angel...and though she should pick jem, i still want will to redeem himself so she can end up with him. i just love a bad boy turned (sorta) good. =)

me neither! im so anxious to get reading! i wish all of the last books were already out or already written so that they could be released sooner...sigh, i hate waiting...

Yeah Tish...you need to finish the mortal instruments...

These books are so confusing. they jump around and the plot is, to be quite honest, a little drab. there is definitely something seriously lacking when it comes to these books. it utterly failed to hold my interest. i read the first one and was not all that impressed but then i started the second one and i couldn't even get through the third chapter.

Shakira wrote: gosh, I agree completely! I am reading them because Im already 3 books in, but im just not all that interested. I just want to know if they ever get out. and supposedly there are like another 3 books or something :(

I think there's six books total. I kind of want to go on & read the second one anyway because I want to know what will happen but maybe it'll just be a waste of time...

ayanami you should totally read it and make your own opinion! Then let us know what you think! :)

Shakira! I've been so curious about that series. You don't know how many times I've picked them up to almost buy them at B&N. Haha the only thing stopping me was the way the pirate love interest talked. It bugs me when characters have weird accents!

Shakira wrote: "

These books are so confusing. they jump around and the plot is, to be quite honest, a little drab. there is definitely so..."


Aww I loved those books. I've read them both like 3 times lol Though I enjoyed the second one more than the first. Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is awwwwesome lol However I do specialize in books that jump around a lot. I'm a fan of those really long epic fantasy books which frequently go from one point of view to another. I'm working on a 700 page book now after just finishing a 500 page book. lol

Amy wrote: "ayanami you should totally read it and make your own opinion! Then let us know what you think! :)

I've already put a hold on it at my library so I think I'm definitely going on with it. If I don't like it, you guys will get my rants, haha!

Jeannette wrote: "i'm a little behind everyone on the house of night series, but i recently read an excerpt from the newest book , and it sounded good, so i bought the first book in the s..."

Amen to that -- I copied what you said and put it on a sticky note to remember when I write. You said --
1. some ya novels are written for a younger audience with the adult readership in mind
2. some ya novels are written on an adult level with the teenage readership in mind
3. and some ya novels are written for a younger audience with only that audience in mind

That's probably why I hated and when I got midway, I skimmed to the end because of the obnoxious culture language. Guess I'm just beyond all that now, although her series is always on the NYBS list. I tend to write numbers 1 or 2. Thanks for giving me permission to absolutely hate some of YA that seems to be successful.

Feel same way about but not to the same extent. I bought the second book but I feel like it will be difficult to start it seeing how I had a hard time finishing the first book.

I was really looking forward to it has an aweome story line but unfortunately quite poor execution. Another HUGE dissapointment was it felt extremely juvinille and lacked any emotion. A few authors I like gave it really good reviews so I had high hopes for this book. It did not deliver on any level for me.

I'm looking for a good book about evil angels! Anybody know of one?

Emma wrote: "I was really looking forward to it has an aweome story line but unfortunately quite poor execution. Another HUGE dissapointment was) :( the narration was poor and the characters lacked depth. it was also poorly written.

Yeah it was pretty bad lol.

Emma wrote: "I'm looking for a good book about evil angels! Anybody know of one?"

Emma! I loved this one:

It was really good! I don't think it's out in the US yet though. If you can't wait for it, you can buy the UK edition (which is what I did):

There are some slow parts, but overall, it was really good - and it has very evil angels!

Aww, I'm bummed you guys didn't like Life As We Knew It. I've been meaning to read it!

I would suggest NOT reading Life As We Knew It. You will be so bored you will hate it by the time you are finished (which is what happened to me when I read it). It looked so good, but it was such a disappointment! Oh and I'm about to read Angel Burn so I'm glad you liked it :) Now I know it's not bad so I can look forward to it.

Emma wrote: "I'm looking for a good book about evil angels! Anybody know of one?"

You might try
It has both good and bad angels in it.

Thanks I will check it out :)

Thanks for all the suggestions! Shakira you are too funny I completely agree with everything you said about Life As We Knew It. And it got some bad ass reviews from very good authors so when I was reading it I was like "wtf this is so boring."

Amy wrote: "Man, I couldn't even get past the first chapter in Marked. Well truthfully, I stopped because a friend of mine told me how horrible they were. And I'm like you, I can't start a series and then not ..."

I totally agree I hated evermore. It was way to cliche for me. It was like she tooko things from books she liked

Oh, I kind of want to read Evermore. I will have to take all this with a grain of salt and see...

Julie wrote: "Oh, I kind of want to read Evermore. I will have to take all this with a grain of salt and see..."

Ditto on Evermore -- I struggled getting to the mid-way point and pushed on to the end. I got the 2nd at a discount and still have no desire to pick it up while it collects dust on my shelf. MAYBE if I get REAL bored, I'll see if #2 is any better. Any thoughts on #2?

I definitely didn't read the second lol! The first one didn't interest me enough!

Julie! I hope you still read it and let us know what you think! Don't let us form your opinions! :)

The Evermore series is a "filler" series for me while I wait for other books. I've only read the first two in the series, and they are okay, but not the best. If you look at that series as just entertainment while you wait for the really good reads, you'll be okay.

The Evermore series. I liked the first book and then it just went way downhill. I keep trying to like it but it just lacks something.

I've read the entire House of Night series. It took me awhile to get into it, but it does evolve into a pretty cool story. If you can get past the first book (and some of the relationship stuff), it isn't bad. The concept is pretty good. I will agree that there are a lot of guys (4 in total) and some of that was hard to get through. It detracted from the series more than helped it I thought.

Jeannette wrote: "i'm a little behind everyone on the house of night series, but i recently read an excerpt from the newest book , and it sounded good, so i bought the first book in the s..."

They do get better! I thought the same thing as you when I was reading the first three, but I had already bought them and I was like, 'ugh, okay. Guess I'll read them'. Untamed or possibly Hunted may have been the turning point for me. The story evolves and there's a bigger picture going on - not just Zoey and her harem of gentlemen friends! Also, later on, the 'twins' take a back seat, which is so fantastic I can not even tell you - those girls really annoy me!

The house of night books get better and then they get really really bad I think on the fourth or fifth book..

I too dislike a lot of the really thick books. I couldn't get into the Beautiful Creatures series.

Ok, don't get me started on the Beautiful Creatures series! I liked it, but...I didn't haha. The first one was ok, but it took me like a month and a half to read the second (which is totally nothing like me)! They had such a good concept with that series, but totally butchered it. Oh wait...Beautiful Chaos has a pretty cover.

**distracted by pretty cover and adds to TBR list because of said pretty cover**

What?!?! you crazies...I Love the Beautiful Creatures series. I will say that i think there is a lot of filler writing in those books. They are kinda big and i think they could have been condensed a bit and still have been really good, but I still really liked them.