The Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly challenge post previously hosted by The Broke and Bookish and now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. You can follow along for each weekly post here. This week’s topic is about books you’d gladly throw in the ocean. I think that tends to be a pretty open ended topic and I took that as books that I either did NOT finish or that I just plain disliked. Here’s the thing – as a blogger of nearly 9 years (omg) and an author myself, I try not to show any negativity too much because I know how hard that authors work on their books and that just because I don’t like it, doesn’t mean its necessarily BAD. However, the books listed below are books that I personally did NOT like, or just couldn’t even finish. Because, you know what? It’s okay to just not like books sometimes…

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

I tried TWICE to read this book. The first time, I didn’t make it very far in. The second time, I got real close to finishing it, maybe 75 to 80% into the book and I just couldn’t make myself finish it. I just found the characters irritating and completely irredeemable. Honestly, I haven’t really enjoyed a Veronica book since Insurgent…

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adayemi

I wanted to like this book. I really did. It was getting so much hype and had been on the NYT for SO long and the cover was so gorgeous. Frankly, I found it way overhyped and it honestly felt like a reiteration of every YA fantasy novel that I’ve ever read. The “romance” in the novel is what got me the most – it felt forced and out of nowhere and I just did NOT enjoy this book.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

The reason I included this one in here is because when I read it all the way back in 2013 when it was released, I literally threw it across the room. I just felt like this series had SUCH a great start and then started climbing the high dive in the second book and just totally jumped the deep end in the third book. I treat the first book as a total standalone.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

I could possibly be a little biased on this one because I literally finished it about 12 hours ago. One, I got so irritated with the main character for two reasons – what kind of name is January?! AND the author KEPT pointing out how tiny she was and she’s 5’4, which is literally average height for women! I’m 4’11 – that’s tiny! Plus I don’t know…a book called Beach Read…I was expecting something fun and cheesy and romantic and would make me feel good because my head was in a DARK place but honestly it felt like a romance novel that was trying too hard?

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Warning – this will have spoilers. I love Cassandra Clare but…sometimes she just doesn’t do endings well and this is the PRIME example. Personally I think the Mortal Instruments series should’ve ended at City of Glass because City of Fallen Angels is another book I’d gladly toss into the ocean, though I did kind of like City of Lost Souls. I just…NO ONE DIED! All this action and danger and no one died and the one sacrifice that WAS made was just completely erased at the end and even more so erased in Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy. I loathe this book.

To Sir Phillip, With Love by Julia Quinn

When Bridgerton came out, I binged the entire show in one day and then did again a few weeks later. Right after the first binge, I proceeded to read all 9 books in less than a week because I was HOOKED. They’re fun, a little cheesy, kind of predictable and repetitive but I fully enjoyed them. Except one. Eloise is my FAVORITE in the show and I was so so so disappointed in her book. Spoilers again – but ugh! How does Eloise wait all this time, turn down all these proposals just to end up with a horrible, horrible man who just kind of USES her to make HIS life easier and she apologizes to HIM in the end?! UUUUUGGGGGGH. I’m so mad at this novel still.

The Cellar by Natasha Preston

I am really into true crime and that kind of thing and I was in the mood for stories about that kind of thing, like school shootings, kidnappings, etc – don’t ask, I’m weird – and this one came on my radar. I did NOT get much into this book because I was so frustrated from the beginning. The character’s reaction to the situation from the beginning just felt so…fake, unrealistic, weird? I’m all for strong female characters, fighters, etc but even the best of us, when in that kind of situation, would be afraid, would do things we might not normally do because we’re being threatened and such. The MC irritated me right off the bat by being almost whiny about being kidnapped, like it was SUCH an inconvenience and it was just so unbelievable.

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What are some books that you would gladly throw into the ocean? Share in the comments!