The Terror of Knowing

Welcome one, welcome all, to ‘Emma Remembers Top 5 Wednesdays Exists And Decides To Join In’… again. Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme/challenge which was created by the wonderful Lainey from gingereadslainey and is now overseen by the equally lovely Sam from Thoughts of Tomes. Every Wednesday, participants devise their Top 5 based on a given topic.

This Wednesday’s theme is Books You Will Never Read. I know, I know, ‘never say never’, right? But there are some books that I just know I will probably never get round to, mainly because they’re just not my thing. You’ll sense a theme.

5. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (x)

Confession: I’ve read snippets of this book which were quoted extensively in a guide to why this book sucked from pretty much every point of view (but mainly a feminist one). Now, I can safely say that, biased though the guide might have been, thanks to that experience, I will not be reading a page of the actual book. Besides, with people telling me about it, I don’t even need to bother reading it for myself. I feel like I don’t even need to explain further really, just no thanks.

4. Slammed by Colleen Hoover (x)

Colleen Hoover’s books have never really interested me, despite her immense popularity on Booktube. To be fair, I’m not really a fan of New Adult or Contemporary so it was always going to be a hard sell. But I do quite like a good, predictable rom com – so I’m not wholly against the general genre. I just don’t think Hoover’s particular brand of book is for me. Actually, insert any of her books in this place, Ugly Love or Maybe Someday in particular.

3. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (x)

Everything about this book’s plot screams ‘problematic’ and I’m guessing probably a controlling and abusive relationship. Perhaps in execution it’s more nuanced that its blurb suggestions but, I mean, from this blurb alone, really? “The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. […] Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time.”  No, thanks.

2. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (x)

This might be a slightly controversial one – I think the others have had a steady theme of ‘New Adult and Erotica isn’t my thing’, but this one is just straight up divisive. I’ve always had a little bit of a problem with whether the subject matter is actually dealt with properly or not, so I’m tentative about ever reading it, to be honest. Also the hype has pretty much killed any sense of novelty with this story, since I feel like I know every plot bit by this point. I have heard also that Will helps Louisa by pushing her to do things outside her comfort zone but it’s only at his behest that she tries things so, once he’s gone, she probably wouldn’t. And that leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth, for some reason. Maybe this isn’t the case, maybe I’ve just seen unfair reviews, but nevertheless it has affected by desire to (not) read Me Before You.

1. The Merciless by Danielle Vega (x)

I’ve heard this described as basically descending into torture porn – I’m not sure if that’s accurate but it comes from the mouth of a Booktuber whose opinions I trust (Kristina Horner, for what it’s worth). It’s allegedly sensationalised ridiculousness and gratuitously violent, as well as just poorly written in general. So I’m not going to bother, unless I need a really trashy read at some point which, hey, never say never! *

* Or maybe do for the sake of a Top 5 Wednesday post, haha.

So there we have it – those were the top 5 books I will never read. Do you have a Top 5 Wednesday list or post of your own? Be sure to link it below if so; I’d love to take a look!

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