Top Ten Tuesday: books that were a chore to get through

Hey everyone! I’ve decided to do Top Ten Tuesday this week, even though I’ve spoken about a few of these books recently.

I’m worried that this topic is a bit of a repeat on some of my other blog posts, so sorry about that!

Synopsis: Have you met them yet, the new couple?

When Gav and Lou move into the house next door, Sara spends days plucking up courage to say hello. The neighbours are glamorous, chaotic and just a little eccentric. They make the rest of Sara’s street seem dull by comparison.

When the hand of friendship is extended, Sara is delighted and flattered. Incredibly, Gav and Lou seem to see something in Sara and Neil that they admire too. In no time at all, the two couples are soulmates, sharing suppers, bottles of red wine and childcare, laughing and trading stories and secrets late into the night in one another’s houses.

And the more time Sara spends with Gav and Lou, the more she longs to make changes in her own life. But those changes will come at a price. Soon Gav and Lou will be asking things they’ve no right to ask of their neighbours, with shattering consequences for all of them…

Holy cow, I can’t even get over how DULL this book was. I kept reading, waiting and waiting for something to happen, but NOTHING DID. What a waste of my time.

I’m glad to see lots of other people agree with me on this book, as it has pretty terrible reviews.

Synopsis: Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.

Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.

Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls . . . unless she wants to be next. . . .

I wasn’t really aware that this one was a YA novel when I bought it, and when I read it, I did get it finished within a day, but wow, what a mess. I really don’t connect with YA literature at all, and for me this novel was really immature and over the top.

Synopsis:  A weekend art course at an upmarket B&B near Winchester’s historic cathedral is bound to be relaxing and fun…

But not when man-crazy Linzi Bray, Chairman of the local art group, is in charge and the house is full of people who loathe her.

Accidents start to happen – in a ruined castle, in a fast-flowing river, in a peaceful garden.

There’s a stalker – or is there?

And there are far too many dead insects, as well as a vandalised Porsche and a pond full of blood.

It’s not the first time former headmistress, Harriet Quigley, and her cousin, the Reverend Sam Hathaway, have been embroiled in a mystery, but this time they’re baffled at the “spiteful game” that seems to be being played.

And then somebody else dies and the games all stop.

When I requested this one on Netgalley, I was expecting a fast-paced thriller. One that was maybe a little macabre and sombre… wouldn’t you get that from the cover and the synopsis?

This one turned out to be a cosy thriller and it was the most tedious read of my time. I hate cosy books, ugh.

Synopsis: In a dark, dark wood

Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.

There was a dark, dark house

Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?

And in the dark, dark house there was a dark, dark room

But something goes wrong. Very wrong.

And in the dark, dark room….

Some things can’t stay secret for ever.

Reading the synopsis back for this one, it’s laughable. This one is such a cheap thriller with nothing new to bring to the table and is completely 100% predictable. I yawned the entire way through.

Synopsis: Londoners Jack and Syd moved into the house a year ago. It seemed like their dream home: tons of space, the perfect location, and a friendly owner who wanted a young couple to have it.

So when they made a grisly discovery in the attic, Jack and Syd chose to ignore it. That was a mistake.

Because someone has just been murdered. Right outside their back door.

This is a very recent read, but it was really, really poor. I actually began the book enjoying it but then the entire plot went in a different direction to what the synopsis talks about, the characters got irritating and the plot got predictable. Miss this one out!

Synopsis: Pushed to breaking point, Cara Burrows abandons her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can’t afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied – by a man and a teenage girl.

A simple mistake on the part of the hotel receptionist – but Cara’s fear intensifies when she works out that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can’t possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving life sentences for her murder.

Cara doesn’t know what to trust: everything she’s read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?

Another super current read. This book was truly bad. Not only was the first 30% of the book a looong description of a hotel, the story was so ridiculous and the characters we awful! I can’t believe I managed to get through this one.

Synopsis: Held captive for eight years, Lily has grown from a teenager to an adult in a small basement prison. Her daughter Sky has been a captive her whole life. But one day their captor leaves the deadbolt unlocked.

This is what happens next…

…to her twin sister, to her mother, to her daughter…and to her captor.

UGH THIS BOOK IS JUST SO UNBELIEVABLE AND SLOW AND BORING. I’m not sure why I even carried on with this one after about 25% because I knew it was going to be terrible from that moment…

So there you have it! Some ranty talk about crappy books I pushed myself through.

What books did you feel were a chore to read? I’d love to know below, so I can avoid them!

Pssst… I’m currently on holiday, probably sat round the pool, getting myself a nice tan and sippin’ on a cocktail… so I probably won’t be on my blog an awful lot. I’m not being rude, I’m just enjoying my time off, I will respond to comments when I can!