The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
Goodreads Rating: 3.21 Stars
I had no idea that this book was rated so low! It has been on my TBR for years and I should probably remove it but I am still intrigued by it. I have read and loved Shine by Lauren Myracle, and I would like to read something else by her and The Infinite Moment of Us is the only other book of hers that appeals to me. There are a lot of one star reviews but also quite a few 4 and 5 star reviews so I am curious to see what I think!
The Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston
Goodreads Rating: 3.22 Stars
Let’s be honest, I knew absolutely nothing about this book when I added it to my TBR! I saw that gorgeous cover and instantly wanted to read it. Despite the low ratings, the synopsis still really catches my attention and the fact that it is set in Toronto makes me want to give it a chance. Something in my gut is telling me I am going to enjoy this book in spite of the mixed reviews.
The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton
Goodreads Rating: 3.38 Stars
The reviews for The Price Guide to the Occult among my Goodread’s friends alone are so mixed! My friends have rated it anywhere from one to five stars! I know that magical realism is not for everyone so I suspect that is part of why the reviews are all over the place. If done well, I absolutely adore magical realism! There are also witches! I hope to get to this one soon.
The Cresswell Plot by Eliza Wass
Goodreads Rating: 3.42 Stars
Okay, okay this is another book I added to my TBR without looking at the review simply because of the cover, but it also sounds really good. It seems to hit so many of my buzzwords including sibling relationships, no romance, cult, complex characters, etc. I read a few of the negative reviews and nothing that was talked about turned me off from reading it.
Wicked by Gregory McGuire
Goodreads Rating: 3.52 Stars
I have been wanting to read Wicked for many years and have tried so many times! I can not get through it but I am not quite ready to give up on it. I just want to love it! Someone I know in real life absolutely loves this book so I am trying to see why she raves about it so much. Maybe if I just push passed 30 pages it will pick up? We will see!
Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
Goodreads Rating: 3.51 Stars
The synopsis for Idaho is what makes me think I will enjoy it so I figured I would just share it with you.
One hot August day a family drives to a mountain clearing to collect birch wood. Jenny, the mother, is in charge of lopping any small limbs off the logs with a hatchet. Wade, the father, does the stacking. The two daughters, June and May, aged nine and six, drink lemonade, swat away horseflies, bicker, and sing snatches of songs as they while away the time.
But then something unimaginably shocking happens, an act so extreme it will scatter the family in every different direction.
In a story told from multiple perspectives and in razor-sharp prose, we gradually learn more about this act, and the way its violence, love and memory reverberate through the life of every character in Idaho.
Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky
Goodreads Rating: 2.53 Stars
Kill the Boy Band just sounds fun and entertaining! I can definitely relate to being a boy band fangirl because I was completely obsessed with The Backstreet Boys in the 90’s (and I still love them.) I get the feeling that this is a book that you can not take too seriously, and is one I hope to pick up when I am looking for something that is just plain fun!
I would love to know what are the lowest rated books on your TBR and why you still want to read them!
Good luck with The Infinite moment of us….I did not like that one at all. The lowest rating ones for me are actually ones I already read. To Kill a Kingdom and The Wicked Deep had mixed reviews but I still read them and I actually liked them! I might do this post later or another day though. I always keep an eye out for ratings.
That is good to know! Thanks! I would like to read those two books as well, especially The Wicked Deep!
*Cough* You should read The Wicked Deep first. 😀 It’s going to be a Netflix tv show.
Thanks for giving me a new idea for a post sometime!
I have Idaho here because of the positive reviews I read amid the negative ones. Like you, I think I’ll enjoy it! 😊
I love love love this post! Such a great idea! Whenever I decide to read a book I always look at the rating on Goodreads first, and if it’s a 3.7 or below I won’t read it. But then again, I might like what other people don’t so I need to get out of that habit haha!
Thank you! I find myself falling in to that as well! I have noticed that there are books that I absolutely loved that have pretty low ratings on Goodreads so I am trying not to rely on that too much these days!
The lowest rated book on my TBR is Plagued Thoughts and I still want to read it because only two people rated it on goodreads ahahha
Hahaha I kind of love reading books that few people have reviewed!
WICKED IS GOOD. People are tripping. I thought it was well-written, complex, and different. It
s not as whimsical and charming as the musical. It’s definitely more of a character-driven story (considering it’s basically an villain origin story). There were some parts I had trouble grasping at first, so I’m due for a re-read. I felt like Wicked was “literary” in tone. It’s definitely not a light read. I hope you like it!
I agree!! It’s a very slow start though and can be hard to get into originally. But once it picks up it’s absolutely amazing!!! One of my favorite books. I still haven’t read A Lion Among Men tho
That’s awesome to hear. I have to give it a fair chance next time I pick it up!
That is great to hear!! I prefer character driven stories and love literary fiction so I am determined to read it and enjoy it!
I didn’t realize Kill the Boy Band had such low ratings but I want to read it too. It seems like it’s going to be a fun and creepy look at being a boy band fan 😂
I think it sounds fun too!
I’ll be honest, I HATED Wicked. The musical is 10,000% better.
There are so many mixed opinions on Wicked!
Kristin, when I look at Goodreads it says Kill the Boy Band has a 3.53 rating….
I read it and I rather enjoyed it! I was obsessed with a certain boy band in the early 90s *cough* New Kids *cough* so I identified for sure! It’s dark. But I also found it funny and ridiculous and a great ride! You’re right; you just can’t take it too seriously.
Hope that helps and if you read it, I’d love to know what you think!
I am so glad that you enjoyed it and it seems to be exactly what I am expecting it to be! I hope to get to it sometime soon and I will let you know what I think!
That Inevitable Victorian Thing is on my TBR as well! It’s the cover and the synopsis that got me lol.
Personally, I loved Wicked. I’ve read the series and I’ve seen the musical. The book is so much deeper than you would expect. It’s really good 😉
I still have high hopes for That Inevitable Thing!! That’s interesting to hear about Wicked! I am going to bring it on vacation with me this summer. Better chance I will really dive in to it!
Love this post idea! I have lots of books on my TBR that don’t have real great ratings, but I still want to try them. Sometimes I really disagree with what the GoodReads masses say.
Thank you! I used to trust Goodreads a lot more but a lot of books I absolutely loved have low ratings so I try not to let them sway what I read!
Ugh…Wicked. I tried soooo many times to get through that book. I gave up. I wish you all the luck with that one. Maybe you might be able to push through.
I am going to give it one more try! There are so many mixed opinions on it, even in this comment section!
Let me know if you manage to finish it.
Ooh Kill The Boy Band is also on my TBR, but I had no idea the goodreads rating was so low! That kind of makes me want to read it more.
Hahaha that is how I feel too!
I love Wicked! I’m really surprised that it’s rated so low. I pay a lot of attention to ratings on Goodreads. If something is below 3.6ish, I start to lose interest. I’m now wondering if I’m being a little too picky.
There are so many mixed opinions on Wicked that it makes me want to read it more! This has made me question Goodreads ratings as well! A lot of books that I rated 5 stars have ratings of 3.7 or lower!
People can be overly harsh with their ratings, which is probably dragging the numbers down. I’ve read reviews where people are like “I loved this book, except for [one minor thing]” and then they rate it 3 stars. Why is it only 3 stars if they loved it?!
I don’t get that either!! Everyone’s rating system is so different so there is no way for Goodreads ratings to be accurate!
I love this idea for a blog post! I would also love to hear an update after reading some of these to see if you actually liked them or not. 😀
Thank you! I am planning to do that! Hopefully I actually get around to reading them soon!
Wicked has that low an average rating?? I really enjoyed that book! It’s definitely not for everyone, and it gets pretty depressing and a little dragging at some points, but, all in all well worth the read in my opinion! Just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its rating. This is a great Tag! I’m going to have to do this one sometime!
That is really great to hear! I am determined to give Wicked a fair chance! I can’t wait to see what is on your TBR!
I think it’s good you didn’t let the ratings stop you. We don’t all rate the same. 5 stars are rare from me (which translates to run, don’t walk, to get this book – if I give every book I like 5 stars, what stars are left for the books I love). So I’m not inclined to write off a book with a 3 rating (I don’t think of 3 as low at all really – but good, with 4 being very good). And I actually read at least a couple of the low reviews (by which I mean 1-2 star reviews) and one of the top reviews to see what they have to say (sometimes it has nothing at all to do with the quality of the book but rather the preference of the reader which is not a reason to rate a book below par in my view, so I like to read what they actually have to say – if I weight it at all).
I do the same thing with reviews. I like to read both 5 star and 1 star reviews because that will give me a better understanding if it is the kind of book that I will enjoy.