Underrated and Overrated Books!

Hey bookbugs!

Today I would like to share with you two lists, one of Underrated Books (in my opinion) and one of Overrated Books (also in my opinion). If any of the books I list as "Overrated" are your favourite books and I offend you, I'm terribly sorry, this is of course only my opinions. If you have any thoughts on these books, feel free to leave me a comment down below and we can discuss them!

Without further ado, the lists!

First off, let's start with Underrated Books:

• The White Rabbit Chronicles by Gena Showalter.
  How is it that I never hear anybody talking about these books? I don't think I know more than one other person who has even read them, which is crazy to me. It's inspired by Alice in Wonderland, it's fast-paced action-packed YA, it has great love stories and wicked-cool, funny characters; and ZOMBIES. Zombies, for goodness' sake! Seriously, everybody needs to go out and buy these books right now. You'll thank me later.
  
• The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.
  I know this series has an underground cult following, but I can't for the life of me figure out how it has stayed underground for so long. These books hooked me back in 2006-2007 and refused to let go of me until I had finished them all. I have literally been talking about these books for nine years but nobody I know has read them. What the eff.
  
• The Syrena Legacy by Anna Banks.
  Again, this series should literally have a fandom as big as the fandom for Supernatural, but for some reason unbeknownst to me, it doesn't. I don't get it. Nothing is cooler than mermaids (I repeat: NOTHING) and this one has sexy mer-princes, a badass lead female character, witty banter, snappy comebacks, literal LOL moments and a beautiful romance. I really don't understand why more people aren't fan-flailing over this series.
  
• Lonesome Traveler by Jack Kerouac.
  Most people in this world only know Kerouac for one book- On the Road. And while On the Road is undoubtedly an American classic, it baffles me that more attention is not paid to his other, equally amazing, books. I could have named any of his other works for this list, but I think this is his best work and not enough people have read it. I could write a million words about my love for Jack Kerouac and his writing, but I will leave it at this: Read this goddamn book. Please.
  
• The Wicca/Sweep series by Cate Tiernan.
  Now, depending on where you live in the world, you might have heard of the series Wicca, or Sweep. Here in Australia, it was published as Wicca, but in the US and UK and much of the northern hemisphere, it was published as Sweep. I don't know why. I also don't know why I'm seemingly the only person on the Internet who has ever read or heard of these books. I started reading these books in 2002, when I was twelve and since then I have read and re-read the series at least fifty times. They are addictive. I wish I had somebody with whom I could discuss this series, so if you have read them, even just one of them, please write me so we can talk about them together!

Now, for the Overrated Books:

• To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han.
  I had really high expectations for this book, after hearing glowing reviews from all my favourite BookTubers, but I should have known that I would have this sort of reaction to it. I wish I had listened to my gut and saved myself the money, honestly, because while I could appreciate some aspects of the story were 'cute' (the main adjective most reviews used to describe the book), it really wasn't my thing. I found the voice juvenile, the story preposterous and the romance quite forced. I wanted to like this book, I really did, but I just didn't.
  
• Adorkable by Sarra Manning.
  This is another case of "BookTube Made Me Do It." A few years ago, I saw SnugglyOranges post a review of this book and she could not stop raving about it. I read a number of great reviews and the story sounded good so I ordered it from the Book Depository and read it and, well... Here we are. It's not that I didn't like the book, it's just that I expected it to be better than it was. This is one of those books that I have since donated to charity and really not missed. Sorry.
  
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
  Right, now I have a bit of a bone to pick with English Literature teachers around the globe. This book is, pardon my language, fucking garbage. It is complete trash and yet it is taught to high school kids around the globe as some kind of revolutionary feminist text. It couldn't be anything further from a feminist text. I really could have put ANYTHING written by Jane Austen down on this list, because frankly I find her to be terrible. Why people praise this book is beyond me. I'm actually getting angry just thinking about it; and it's been an entire decade since I was forced to suffer through it. Nope, not for me, thank you kindly.
  
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
  My greatest criticism of this novel is that it is boring. It should be an exciting read but in fact I couldn't even finish it. Again, this was assigned reading for English Lit when I was in high school; and I once described it quite eloquently as "drivel." I could not stand it. Page after page of angsty whining that I would expect from a young teenager going through their first broken heart, not a "literary classic." This book had the potential to be so much, but it fell so far short. 10/10 do not recommend.

So there you have it, a compilation of Underrated and Overrated Books. Let me know your thoughts down in the comments, and until next time, happy reading!


Rhi xo