Be it a book, a coffee shop, or even a good doctor that you’re looking for, getting recommendations from people you trust can really make the search easier. Then there’s the online world, too, brimming with descriptions of first-hand experiences and reviews ranging from “the worst thing that has ever happened to me” to “highly recommend it”.
There’s no doubt that the internet can be a great place to look for certain recommendations, but that does not seem to ring true when it comes to books and TikTok trends. A content creator and an avid reader, going by the moniker ‘lonesomeliv’, has started a discussion about books people have read because they were hyped online but ended up being rather disappointing.
“I’ve read a lot of great books because of TikTok but as a general rule of thumb if it’s revered by a majority of people on here it’s going to be one of the worst books you’ll ever read,” lonesomeliv wrote in the description of her video that went viral and was viewed over 3 million times.
In the comments under said video, fellow readers shared what books that were revered by many on TikTok they found underwhelming at best. So if you want to see what might not be worth your while, scroll down to find them on the list below, where you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with a Professor of Cinema in the Division of Media Arts + Practice, Dr. Virginia Kuhn, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
This post may include affiliate links.
Dare I say Icebreaker... no plot, no character development, nothing interesting at all 0/10 book
I've never read this, but from the cover alone I already know that it's pretty fkn boring.
Don't besmirch the perfection of The Cutting Edge!
Load More Replies...
It Ends With Us. I want my money back.
I get the feeling that it won't be the last time I see Colleen Hoover's name on this list
I too started getting a sense of déjà vu when I saw her name.
Load More Replies...This book is AWFUL but if you really want to read something that brings you the feeling of having your groin dipped in acid, try November 9 by the same author.
Verity was awful too. She just seems to write the most obvious plots. Not sure why she is popular.
I mentioned this elsewhere but I fell into the Verity trap last year. The ending made me want to punch the air.
Load More Replies...#LoveLibraries #Free - for as long as we still have them, anyway. 🤞
I'm a victim of Haunting Adeline. I couldn't help but cringe every time I tried to read it.
I was jokingly going to say “no, that is *hunting* Adeline, hur hur” and then I found out that that’s really the title of the sequel. >.<
Load More Replies...
Reminders of Him made me realize there can indeed be an unbearable book.
For those wondering, this author romanticizes abusive relationships, so I've been told.
I fell into the Verity trap last year. The writing wasn't terrible but the twist at the end was just awful.
Load More Replies...Seeking to learn more about how people’s reading habits have changed over time and what role, if any, social media has played in it, Bored Panda got in touch with a Professor of Cinema in the Division of Media Arts + Practice, expert in writing composition and writing theory, Dr. Virginia Kuhn, who pointed out that people nowadays rarely opt for something lengthy.
“They've generally read fewer novels, though perhaps they are reading more short spurts,” she said, adding that this has a lot to do with social media scrolling and our reduced attention spans.
I’ll say it… I'LL SAY IT… A Court of Thorns and Roses.
YES. IT SUCKS! FINALLY SOMEONE AGREES!! All the romance is creepy and animalistic and non-consensual, it's awful. If you have the hots for any of the creepy d*ckheads in this book, go see a therapist pronto.
honestly because those old fae men are grooming a mere young mortal like wtf
Load More Replies...I've started this one at least 3 times and can never get past the first few pages. At this point I've given up.
Totally agree! I enjoyed the throne of glass series at the start but by the end I was so done with the whole farie fantasy genre. The 'romance' was just creepy and toxic. Made the mistake of picking up this book and it's just more of the same. If I have to read the word 'mate' one more time 🤮
I love this series! All SJM books are top tier reading my favorite worlds to re read about!
The series has gotten better. I am on the third book. I agree the first book gave her little agency and was too Beauty and the Beast with some Forty Shades of Gray thrown in - some of the characters wear masks.
Twisted Love… I couldn’t even get halfway.
Read one chapter and cringed so hard I strained a muscle. Just say no.
I cringed super hard at just the "heart of ice...." thing.
Load More Replies...Did the title not, i dont know, sort of give it away that it is rubbish?
Fourth Wing. There, I said it. Could not stand violet mentioning how short she was every 2 seconds
I liked the first book but stopped halfway through the second. The dragons are cool. The parts with Violet and the guy are basically bad porn.
Bro oh my god this book sucked so bad. Literally every other paragraph was her being like yeah I’m just so short and petite and fragile and small. Also the fact that they got horny when their dragons f****d… nah mate. Def not for me.
The Silent Patient. So predictable
I hated this book. It sounded like I could be good. It was not. It sŭcƙed so much! Unbelievably boring and dull. I finished it, hoping as I got further into it, things would start to improve. I was not impressed. I suppose it could be used as a sleep aid. I actually fell asleep reading thy, and I don't sleep much or well.
I was depressed after reading this book . I love how the author plot this book it's unrealistic
I read it and, based on the reviews, expected it to be spectacular. Meh.
According to the expert, the books that tend to trend online the most seem to be the ones that celebrities tout, “whether Reese Witherspoon or Oprah”.
“I have seen spoofs of people—typically young blonde, white women—who recommend books they have never read so I imagine if an 'influencer' is attempting to be high brow, they likely do this frequently. And then it spreads in a similarly uninformed way,” Dr. Kuhn suggested.
For everyone on here who told me to read Girl in Pieces, we have a personal problem.
it was far too 'boo boo poor me nothing good ever happens to me and everything is horrible all the time' I understand how it could be relatable for teenagers going through stuff, but it just rubbed me the wrong way
I loved that book, as well as her other books. I've actually read all 3 of them multiple times. :/
Shatter Me was not for me. I read better 'bad books' in Wattpad.
This book is a complete shithouse circus. Shame, too, because the idea could have been done well.
VERITY
I KEEP finding chances to say how much I hated the ending of this book.
“For me, a good fictional book has a complicated plot structure and in-depth character development,” the expert said, discussing what makes a good book. “In a similar way, limited series and other televisual serials are akin to novels. While I used to stay up all night finishing a good novel, now I'll stay up to finish a good miniseries. Especially with shows such as Presumed Innocent, originally a book by Scott Turow that I devoured when it came out in the late 1980s; now I equally enjoy the David E. Kelly adapted series.”
The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo.
I got halfway through that one and returned it to the library.
Read it anyway. If it’s not your cuppa, return it to the library. Make your reading decisions based on your taste, no one else’s.
Load More Replies...I did enjoyed this book. Maybe it isn't the best book out there, but it is interesting.
This is a wonderful book, don't believe OP. Pretty sure she stopped reading before the plot twist, and maybe she (or he?) is not into good books.
It's definitely worth borrowing a book from a library instead of buying it, and finding it a major disappointment.
Throne of Glass. Don’t come for me! I know how you girls like to tussle. But it legitimately read like Wattpad. I barely got through it and can’t make myself read another one.
Unpopular opinion: All Sarah J. Maas books are terrible. Can anyone prove me wrong?
How can anybody prove you wrong? You are entitled to your opinion, as am I. I loved her books. Any book that can make me forget about reality and entertain me at the same time is a win in my book! :)
Load More Replies...This whole series reads like a first draft with no refining or revision at all
Powerless is one of the worst books I’ve read. I had to hate-finish it.
The title at least implies another badly written 50 shades/twilight SM fantasy - not the first on this list. I have yet to see one with the concept of a female predator (and not a leather clad "fun" dominatrix) force-convince a male sub to "yield and love/save them, no matter what". (I wouldn't want to read that rubbish either, but the narrative is definitely biased.)
The Fine Print! I was honestly so disappointed.
Some of these covers I'd really like to frame for wall art (without the letters). This one would look quite nice in A3, I think.
Load More Replies...Expanding on the link between good books and TV series, Dr. Kuhn pointed out that some of the great nonfiction books have already been adapted for television and, in her opinion, this will continue. “Since television has moved to iPads and phones, people view [it] privately in the same way they used to read books.”
The Inheritance Games was actually just a Wattpad book.
The She Came From Nothing Inheritance They Have Everything Games Let The Games Begin is a real mouthful. Always hire a good editor.
They made me buy Birthday Girl and I'm mad I wasted $19 on that.
Pretty sure that if someone physically compelled you to hand over money, a crime was committed. Otherwise, you chose to take someone else's advice and it turned out to be a dud. This is why I choose my entertainment according to my own tastes, not lists of "trendy" or "viral" titles.
Den Of Vipers. Absolutely terribly-written.
OH GOD NO... DON'T EVER READ THIS!! I won't give you all the details, but there's a chapter where some mafia dude shoves a knife up the lady's... you get the idea.
Yikes! From your comments you seem to have collected an enormous lot of bad apples 😆My condolences for the time invested, but thanks for catching these bullets for us!
Load More Replies...
Manacled for me. A fanfic that is been super hyped up all over tiktok. I read it and it was very very hard to get through
I sobbed through the whole thing, I don't think I will ever look at the Harry Potter Series the same again
Atlas Six. There, I said it. Hated it.
Spanish Love Deception. It was so bad!!! Like the enemies phase lasted 2 pages and so did I
Prince of song and sea. The plot was everywhere and the plot twist mermaid was the worst person
Diary of an Oxygen Thief literally put me to sleep.
Some examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_anonymously_published_works
Load More Replies...
the worst is Crave. I managed to read this book for 15 minutes.
It's a ripoff of Twilight, I'd say even worse than the original.
Load More Replies...it's bad but entertaining if that means anything to y'all
Caraval!! (Or any of Stephanie Garber’s books)
This one is on my reading list. Can you tell me what did you enjoyed about it??
Load More Replies...
Cruel prince. I didn’t enjoy the style of writing, the pacing or the plot, the description was the icing on the cake for why i didn’t like it
i like holly black, but i haven't read this one. heard mixed things about it.
Love Hypothesis
DAISY JONES AND THE SIX TOO
I started it but got side-tracked with other books. I enjoy it so far. And as someone else said, the writing style takes some getting used to.
This is me with Cleopatra and Frankenstein.
From Blood and Ash. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish it, but it had me rolling my eyes and skimming though pages for sure
I liked this (are you starting to get an idea of the type of books I read!)
This wasn't terrible. The next few of this series are though. Pure smutty, badly written fanfiction with just a little bit of story
Addie La Rue
If they are meaning The invisiblelife of Addie La Rue by V. E. Schwab then I disagree. That book was really enjoyable for me.
Song of Achilles
What? Madeline Miller is a wonderful writer. Circe is one of my favorite books. I've read it about 8 times now. I've only read Achilles 3 times though, as I don't think it's as good as Circe. :)
I'm gonna keep calling you out on this, BP. Every new article that gets posted automatically has 30 upvotes. That's some shady sh**, BP.
Most of these don't even give a reason why. It's just "I didn't like it." Like, okay.... sucks I guess
Oh yes! I read the entire trilogy of 50 shades as I had no other reading material around. It got harder and harder to continue reading. I am bona fide into kinky stuff but thiese books almost made me feel ashamed.
Load More Replies...It could be this exact list. Just because these people liked it doesn't mean they're not good and underrated to other people.
Load More Replies...While many of these books have problematic relationships, that doesn't mean that the audiences are unaware of the fact. Keep in mind that a lot of people just like an easy - to - read, escapist story. Maybe some of them like to explore their fantasies through this medium of fiction as it's a safe space. The industry has realized this is a market for young (predominantly women) readers, and have satisfied it.
It did seem to me that this was an entire list of mostly that stuff. So first of all, "viral" where? And secondly, bad according to whom? Like, if you asked me, I hate all that stuff, but I dont read or give opinions on stuff thats not for me.
Load More Replies...I've read some of these. I didn't find them especially profound, and they didn't make me think. But are they supposed to? Many (most?) of them are modern romances. C'mon. They're trite and predictable by definition. It's like renting a romcom and expecting it to behave like a hard-hitting documentary. That's just not what it is, or what it's supposed to be.
For me the biggest book disappointment was "Da Vinci code". It was predictable. I mean, the super clever secret codeword "Sophia" (I think it was Sophia) is something I guessed about 50 pages before the main characters. And it was full of things like that. And overall, the book was not that great, I don't know why such a big hype was there about this one.
I came here to say pretty much the same thing. I struggled through it, but I don't need to read anything else by the same author. I'm convinced that if it wasn't for the controversial subject matter the book never would have seen the light of day.
Load More Replies...I've been holding this in for a while; Twilight, whe was way to sad and woe is me, also she was delusional and in the second (or third can't remember) book she through herself of a bridge so she could hallucinate her ex bfs voice and don't even get me started on Edward he's all like, 'I'm too dangerous'. It's giving 2000s emo. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk
I'm gonna keep calling you out on this, BP. Every new article that gets posted automatically has 30 upvotes. That's some shady sh**, BP.
Most of these don't even give a reason why. It's just "I didn't like it." Like, okay.... sucks I guess
Oh yes! I read the entire trilogy of 50 shades as I had no other reading material around. It got harder and harder to continue reading. I am bona fide into kinky stuff but thiese books almost made me feel ashamed.
Load More Replies...It could be this exact list. Just because these people liked it doesn't mean they're not good and underrated to other people.
Load More Replies...While many of these books have problematic relationships, that doesn't mean that the audiences are unaware of the fact. Keep in mind that a lot of people just like an easy - to - read, escapist story. Maybe some of them like to explore their fantasies through this medium of fiction as it's a safe space. The industry has realized this is a market for young (predominantly women) readers, and have satisfied it.
It did seem to me that this was an entire list of mostly that stuff. So first of all, "viral" where? And secondly, bad according to whom? Like, if you asked me, I hate all that stuff, but I dont read or give opinions on stuff thats not for me.
Load More Replies...I've read some of these. I didn't find them especially profound, and they didn't make me think. But are they supposed to? Many (most?) of them are modern romances. C'mon. They're trite and predictable by definition. It's like renting a romcom and expecting it to behave like a hard-hitting documentary. That's just not what it is, or what it's supposed to be.
For me the biggest book disappointment was "Da Vinci code". It was predictable. I mean, the super clever secret codeword "Sophia" (I think it was Sophia) is something I guessed about 50 pages before the main characters. And it was full of things like that. And overall, the book was not that great, I don't know why such a big hype was there about this one.
I came here to say pretty much the same thing. I struggled through it, but I don't need to read anything else by the same author. I'm convinced that if it wasn't for the controversial subject matter the book never would have seen the light of day.
Load More Replies...I've been holding this in for a while; Twilight, whe was way to sad and woe is me, also she was delusional and in the second (or third can't remember) book she through herself of a bridge so she could hallucinate her ex bfs voice and don't even get me started on Edward he's all like, 'I'm too dangerous'. It's giving 2000s emo. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk
