Welcome back to another Top 5 Wednesday post, everyone! I skipped last week’s prompt because I struggled so much to answer it. And since the reason I love doing these prompts is how fun I usually find them, I decided to just take a break for the week. But on to today’s prompt: incorrect ratings for overrated and underrated books. According to my opinions, of course.
Have you ever rated a book five stars, but when you went to check it on Goodreads it was rated really low? What about a book that you really didn’t like that has a high rating? This week, compare your ratings and the Goodreads average to find ratings that should be much higher or lower!
(This month’s prompts were provided by Alex (The Scribe Owl). Top 5 Wednesday was originally created by GingerReadsLainey.)
Now, before I begin, I do want to say something. I took the average ratings I’m comparing my own ratings to from Goodreads. And tanking a review on Goodreads is very, very hard. (Or on any site, for that matter.) So, you might see a book I claim has a high average rating, but that you only ever hear bad things about. Just a little heads up, I guess!
But now that that’s out of the way, on to the comparisons!
Hush Hush Series by Becca Fitzpatrick
Overrated
So, books like Hush Hush are exactly what I go for when I want a fun read; basically, when I don’t want to devote too much attention to reading and really just want to quickly skim through a book or two. It’s great for long car drives and beach reading!
I enjoyed the first installment in this series in that way; it wasn’t a terrible book by any means. So, my disagreement with how highly rated this series is has more to do with the later books.
Because after I got past the first book? I really, really didn’t like the rest of them. Although Nora was hardly ever my favorite main character, I kind of liked her in the first book. I didn’t agree with everything she did, but she also had some decent traits. But the more I read about her, the more annoying I found her. The same was true for Patch; I downright wanted to reach through the pages and strangle him at times in the later books.
Anyway, by the time I made it to the final book (And yes, I did finish the entire series, which makes my suffering partially my own fault, but I wasn’t about to back out halfway through; what if I ended up missing some brilliant plot twist?) I was down to one-star ratings.
So, I definitely disagree with the average 4.16-star rating for that final book. I won’t give the specific numbers for each of the books, but I also disagree with the high ratings for the series in general.
Buy on Amazon
Guinevere’s Gift and Guinevere’s Gamble by Nancy McKenzie
Underrated
So, I think these books are underrated because they don’t have many ratings. Though, I also think they deserve about half a star more, each. Anyway, I reviewed the first book, Guinevere’s Gift, a few months back; so, if you read that, you know how much I loved these books when I was younger!
Anyway, I loved so much about these books. And I actually liked the second book more than the first. Probably because more familiar faces, especially Morgan le Fay, played a role in the story.
I actually read these a few years after their publication, and I felt so sad to find out McKenzie never finished the quartet. I still want to know how Guinevere’s story ends so badly! But I can’t wait to get around to reading McKenzie’s other Arthurian-inspired works.
Buy on Amazon
The Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard
Overrated
To be honest, I don’t think people personally rate this series too high. A lot of people I talk to agree with my complicated feelings about this series.
And honestly, this entire series is so frustrating! I hate Mare with a passion; yet, so many of the other characters are excellent. Maven might be an evil little twat, but he’s also incredibly intriguing as a character. And Evangeline is one of the most badass, amazing characters ever, to be honest. So is Farley. (Though, to be fair, I also dislike Cal a lot. It’s just that my dislike for him definitely gets overshadowed by my hatred for Mare.)
Plus, the world and the premise of these books have a lot of interesting and exciting facets. Honestly, I wish certain areas of this fictional land and society had been explored in more detail. Basically, while I didn’t like reading these books because seeing this world and these events through Mare’s perspective, this series does still have a lot of good.
Still, because Mare is the main character and most of the story follows her, I have to say these books are overrated. They don’t quite deserve as many stars as they have on some reviews sites.
Buy on Amazon
The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare
Overrated
Look, don’t get me wrong; I actually really like Cassandra Clare’s work! I’m just…not a massive fan of the original series. Especially when you compare these books to later books in the Shadowhunter universe.
Anyway, I actually stopped reading this series at first, around the third book. Then, I started The Dark Artifices; I liked Lady Midnight so much, so I decided to pick up The Mortal Instruments again. But although I did enjoy reading them to a certain degree, I don’t think they’re that great.
Though, that doesn’t I don’t recommend reading this series! It was fun and enjoyable, overall, and there are so many people who absolutely love these books. So, there’s a decent chance that you’ll really love them, too. I just personally felt a little underwhelmed, especially when it came to the second and third books.
Buy on Amazon
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
Overrated
I honestly think I might cry.
Look, I read this series when I was ten, and I loved it. But years later, I have to acknowledge that it is, in fact overrated. (Which, to be honest with myself, I probably should have done after I watched Star Wars. But nostalgia is a powerful thing, people.)
The writing isn’t that great; there are a lot of overused tropes; the plot is kind of predictable and lackluster when you think about it. I don’t think I’ll give relinquish my love for Murtagh or for Nasuada, but I can let go of the series as a whole.
Though, at least these books are better than their movie counterpart. Which really says something about that truly horrendous movie, doesn’t it?
Buy on Amazon
So, do you agree with any of my choices for underrated and overrated books? What books and titles would you pick to answer this prompt? I’m sure you have some different ones! So, drop a comment down below and let me know!
Also, I know this list mainly consisted of overrated books; I promise there’s a reason for that! I have a post planned for a couple of weeks from now that’ll deal with books that should be more popular than they are, so a lot of my underrated book choices will be there!
