Quite honestly I can’t stand only a few books that I’ve read, recently The Awakening by Nora Roberts.

Holy crap, do I reallllyyyyy want my money back. I was bored. So. Bored. The magic system was subpar, the characters just….ew, everything was so, so boring. The MC is an idiot.

What book is a zero star read for you?

  • hauntingvacay96@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Go Ask Alice and The Tattooist of Auschwitz

    And that’s just based on the quality of writing. They way they handle their subject matter would put them in the negative.

    • PackagedNightmare@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      I bought Tattooist of Auschwitz because of all the good reviews and regretted it SO MUCH. It’s tragedy porn, written by someone who is just not talented. It read almost like a fan fiction of the Holocaust. One of the few books I immediately gave away after reading.

    • CaptainKatsu91@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Okay. The rabbit whole on Go Ask Alice was fascinating. I’m more interested in how it came to be, than the book itself. The author is now credited as one of the potential origins of the sub medium for “found writings” writing.

      I’m honestly so interested.

    • CaptainKatsu91@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Okay. The rabbit whole on Go Ask Alice was fascinating. I’m more interested in how it came to be, than the book itself. The author is now credited as one of the potential origins of the sub medium for “found writings” writing.

      I’m honestly so interested.

    • PackagedNightmare@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      I bought Tattooist of Auschwitz because of all the good reviews and regretted it SO MUCH. It’s tragedy porn, written by someone who is just not talented. It read almost like a fan fiction of the Holocaust. One of the few books I immediately gave away after reading.

    • hasabeard743@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      It’s good to know that I absolutely should not go back and reread Go Ask Alice - read it when I was about 14 and I think I’ll keep it there now that I’m almost 50

    • hasabeard743@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      It’s good to know that I absolutely should not go back and reread Go Ask Alice - read it when I was about 14 and I think I’ll keep it there now that I’m almost 50

    • Greenestbeanss@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      The Tattooist of Auschwitz

      Thank you for validating my feelings. I worked in a book store for a while and everyone was obsessed with this book and I cannot understand how anyone thinks it’s good. The story could have been written well, but the execution was terrible and there are so many other books about the holocaust that are well written that I don’t understand why anyone chooses to read this.

    • Greenestbeanss@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      The Tattooist of Auschwitz

      Thank you for validating my feelings. I worked in a book store for a while and everyone was obsessed with this book and I cannot understand how anyone thinks it’s good. The story could have been written well, but the execution was terrible and there are so many other books about the holocaust that are well written that I don’t understand why anyone chooses to read this.

        • failedjedi_opens_jar@alien.topB
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          1 year ago

          Still waiting for any examples or evidence of your claim.

          If you actually have any, I’d actually love to hear it. But ignoring my request definitely makes it seem like you don’t know what you’re talking about.

    • chellectronic@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      I remember reading Go Ask Alice for the first time, not knowing it was fake (maybe it was before that came out?) wondering how the hell they’d found the scraps of her diary written on brown paper bags etc…

    • Dobvius@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      I used to work at a bookstore and The Tattooist of Auschwitz was one of our big sellers, so we ordered a ton. I got curious so I gave it a look myself and was like “seriously? you’re all buying this?”

    • Fast-Fox2996@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      I read and reread Go Ask Alice when I was 12 or 13 (I’m in my 60s now, what a trip🤣) and I loved it and wanted to believe in it and I did for a while, but a couple of years later (like 30 maybe😅) I got curious and reread it and I was damn near horrified. It did not ring true at all. It made me angry. It was wooden and fake as hell. Drat!

    • pinkcrush@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      The tattoo of auschwitz has been sitting on my shelf for years with the bookmark at page 25. It’s not moving

    • quietcoyoti@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Go Ask Alice is so bad it’s funny. I love how she gets addicted to acid (never heard of anyone being addicted to acid outside this book) before she even tries weed for the first time.

    • Far-Young-1378@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      I really don’t understand why people like either of these books.

      I guess for Go Ask Alice it’s a bunch of anti-drug parents and teachers who just love it because they think it will scare kids off drugs. I read it in middle school, never having done drugs, and thought it was crap and that it seemed incredibly unrealistic and heavy handed. Like a book version of Reefer Madness.

      I read the Tattooist a couple years ago and thought it was non-fiction when I picked it up. Reading it I was like, no way is this real/sincere…the narrator is so contrived sounding. I googled it and ofc found it was fake. Shouldn’t such a somber book about something so tragic not come off as so…just tawdry and weird. I honestly think it’s a little offensive. The narrator’s comments on flirting with women and how he used to flirt with his mom for practice? Just bizarre. I hated that guy.

      I think some people just feel bad critiquing anything to do with the Holocaust because they think it’s disrespectful. But it’s a fictional story and a bad one at that.

    • creativemuffin@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      go ask allice was a fake anyway…trying to scare kids straight…there are books about the alice effect

    • chellectronic@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      I remember reading Go Ask Alice for the first time, not knowing it was fake (maybe it was before that came out?) wondering how the hell they’d found the scraps of her diary written on brown paper bags etc…