What's the worst book you've ever read? And why?

I used to love reading romance novels. They were a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Then life got in the way. I didn't have a lot of free time and reading wasn't something I prioritized.

Well. When I was finally able to get back into reading, one of the firsts books I read was Mila Gray's Stay With Me

Here's my review of it (I wasn't on Goodreads when I read it πŸ˜…)

I read this in 2019. I can't remember the exact details of why I hated, just that I hated it. Poorly written and extremely clichΓ©. As someone who was in the military, I was looking forward to reading a military centered novel. However I was extremely let down. I've never wanted to puke and simultaneously throw a book out of a window more. Absolutely would not recommend. And no, I didn't DNF it. I finished it in hopes that it would redeem itself but it never did. If I had it in me I would throw this book straight into the trash.

Imagine my surprise when I went on Goodreads and saw that it had a 4.2 star rating!! 😱😱😱

It wasn't until recently that I realized that this book ruined the entire romance genre for me. And, honestly, just romance of any form in any book. πŸ™ƒ

ETA:
After scrolling through the comments, the books that have gotten the most mentions so far as being "Worst Book Ever Read" are:

  • Atlas Shrugged
  • Ready Player One
  • A Little Life
  • Armada by Ernest Cline
  • Battlefield Earth
  • Catcher in the Rye
  • The Fountainhead

UPDATE: Because I'm apparently a lunatic... I went through all the comments and tallied up the number of times each title was mentioned. So I hereby present you with the books given prestigious title of "Worst Book Ever Read" (obviously there is a margin of error πŸ˜…):

  1. Books by Colleen Hoover - I kinda lumped all her books together in the count but books by her that received the most mentions were: Verity, It Ends With Us, November 9, and Ugly Love (in that order)

  2. Atlas Shrugged

  3. Fifty Shades of Grey

  4. The Divergent Series - with the 3rd book being the worst of them all

  5. The Alchemist

  6. Ready Player One

  7. Books by Dan Brown - books that received the most mentions were: Inferno, The Da Vinci Code, and Angels & Demons

  8. Battlefield Earth By L. Ron Hubbard

  9. Catcher in the Rye

And tied for 10th are:
- Haunting Adeline
- Nothing But Blackened Teeth
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- Twilight