The purpose of this post is not to say bad things about your favourite books because I understand the possibility of your liking some of the books mentioned here. The purpose of this post is also not to dissuade you from reading these books if you have them on your wish list. Then what is the purpose of this not-so-positive post? I have been a reader all my life- from school textbooks, comic books, newspapers, and even the descriptions on the back of products, I have read them all. And in my novel reading journey, I have met some very beautiful and unforgettable books. And also, ones that I never wish to meet again. This post is solely to vent out my feelings about my reading regrets and disappointments.
Abandoned Books
Ram Chandra Series by Amish
I am a big fan of The Immortals of Meluha series. I have read that book at least 3 times and plan to re-read it in the future. This love made me excited about the next series by the author but surprisingly and sadly I didn’t like it. I read the first book and wanted to stop when the violence got too much and the author’s signature style of legend meets modern world tale felt too overwhelming. But I didn’t give up as I hoped something good will come later in the story. But I was disappointed. I was still hopeful and picked the second book in the series- Sita, but after reading a few pages, I finally gave up on the series completely. I didn’t want my love for The Immortals of Meluha to be impacted negatively by this.
Krishna Prophecy by Dinesh Veera
I have already published a half book review of this and so I’ll leave it by just mentioning its name here.
You by Caroline Kepnes
I left this book just after reading the starting chapters. I knew something was not right with it and that it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I continued. So, I stopped. And my instincts were right. Some days later I saw a few episodes of the web series based on the book- such a disturbing, gory and explicit story is not for me, thank you.
The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
This is one of the greatest books and serves as a guide for anyone seeking life-changing thoughts and wants insight into Gandhiji’s life. But I could not finish it. There are so many versions of this book available and I think I picked the wrong one. The problem for me was the language- I found it to be badly translated. For some reason, I never looked up the original book in Hindi. Sometimes in the future, maybe.
Saraswati’s Intelligence: Book 1 of the Kishkindha Chronicles by Vamsee Juluri
This is a good book, a very good book with some minor flaws in its characterisations. It is the first book in a two part series that came out in 2016. I read it in 2017 and waited for the sequel for more than a year but it never came and no information about it was available anywhere. So, I gave up on it. While writing this post I remembered this book and my search showed me that the sequel came out in 2020- 4 years after the prequel. I intended on reading the second book but then I would have to re-read the first one because I have forgotten the story. I also don’t have the first book with me now, which means I will have to purchase it again. So I decided to abandon it. BUT it is a good book.
Song of Vrindavan: Part One- Putana by Sharath Komarraju
This is a strange book. I picked this because its name, synopsis, and reviews pointed towards a soothing love story between Radha and Krishna. Instead, it is a fiction tale that gets more and more bizarre as it progresses. The disturbing thing was the portrayal of Radha, which I found to be in an unacceptably bad light. I read it till I could no longer go on so I just shut the book and never laid eyes on it again.
Read and Regretted
The Stranger Trilogy by Novoneel Chakraborty
I knew this series was not for me. Yet I couldn’t stop reading it- one, two, and then all three of them. The curiosity built around the stranger was too much to ignore. I had to find out about the stranger. I hoped the revelation would cover up for the cringy and bad story. But it didn’t. At the end of the 3rd book, I cursed myself for wasting my precious time and energy. Thanks to my common sense that after the first book, I didn’t buy paperbacks of the two sequels but read them as free e-books, otherwise, I would not have been able to forgive myself for wasting my money too.
The Girl in Room 105 by Chetan Bhagat
When your favourite authors write books that are downright disappointments, it can feel like being cheated. This book is the first detective novel by Chetan Bhagat and is followed by One Arranged Murder and 400 Days. I read the two latter ones before this one and liked them a lot. And then I thought why did I leave out the first one? Good that I didn’t read The Girl in Room 105 first, because if I had, I wouldn’t have touched the other detective novels by the author- it’s that bad.
The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi
The hype built around this book made one believe it to be a racy thriller with jaw-dropping twists. But instead, it was a predictable story that felt cheaply inspired by Dan Brown’s novels. Nothing in the story was exciting or edge-of-the-seat kind and the climax was no shocker. This made me learn one lesson – not all talked-about books are worth your time. This didn’t stop me from making bad choices later, but still – one lesson learned.
Origin by Dan Brown
Another disappointment by an author whose work I admire. It is hard to believe that someone who can write masterful novels like the Da Vinci Code, Deception Point, Digital Fortress, etc. can come up with something so lame, uninteresting, and redundant like Origin. This book had no spark, no genius plot, and no nail-biting thrill that has become synonymous with the writer.
Sita’s Sister by Kavita Kane
This was my first book by this author and I was excited because I had heard such good things about it. This tale of Ramayan shifts the focus from Sita to Urmila- Sita’s Sister and tells us her story. Though it’s a genuine attempt to tell the epic story from the perspective of an often-neglected character, it shouldn’t have played down the divinity of the central characters of Sita and Ram. That is where this book feels put downable.
The list could go on if only I could remember more.
What are the regrets you have as a reader? Which books have you left halfway and which ones you read and hated? Care to share? Then leave a comment.