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The Guest by Emma Cline
Emma Cline’s “The Guest” follows a young woman named Alex and her unmoored journey of social climbing throughout the East End of Long Island after being kicked out of her older and wealthy boyfriend’s summer home. For a week. Alex is in and out of strangers’ homes and goes from party-to-party all while being in denial of her downward spiraling life. Diving into themes of social class dynamics, power, and privilege, Esquire said the book confirmed Cline is the “literary prophet of women on the brink.” But, readers couldn’t disagree more.
With a 3.3-star average on both Goodreads and Amazon, many found the novel beyond frustrating. A Goodreads reviewer, who gave the book a 2-star rating, described it as a “pointless book about useless women,” with a one star review that said, “Dear me, if I’m ever found dead and they can’t find the cause, please tell them I probably died of boredom while reading what passes these days for contemporary literature.” Yikes. It seems many readers found it a struggle to even try and relate to Alex, often criticizing her for being unlikable and felt the story was just slow with no turn of events whatsoever.
“Letdown” and “disappointing” might have been the most commonly used terms to describe this pick by readers. With many referencing Cline’s book, “The Girl” as their reason for having high hopes for the book, but even then, “The Girl” also has a 3.5-star average rating on Goodreads and only a slightly higher 3.8-star rating on Amazon.
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
A number one New York Times bestseller and winner of the Man Booker Prize, “Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders, is a darkly humorous work of historical fiction that takes on the aftermath of loss. Told in multiple perspectives, the story is centered around Abraham Lincoln’s young son, Willie, who has died and now wanders in a ghostly limbo after death, also known as the “bardo.” As Lincoln visits his son’s grave, the ghostly spirits share their take on the lives they once lived and try to teach Willie how to move on.
While the synopsis is beyond interesting and the book was critically acclaimed, readers were very much split down the middle with this book. Many readers, who weren’t fans, found the structure difficult to follow and the plot lacking serious direction. While a reader who loved the book said that in order to love this book, “…you need to be interested in history (particularly Lincoln’s life and times) and have a warm feeling for old cemeteries and love reading (and then researching) footnotes and annotations.”
Given the mixed reviews, several readers suggested experiencing the novel as an audiobook rather than reading it. People found the audiobook to be more immersive and less confusing to follow. One Amazon reviewer said, “I experienced this book as an audiobook and experience is…one that will stay with me for a long time! I HIGHLY recommend you do the same. The audio of this great work is a production of epic proportion. There are 166 narrators!!!”
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
“The Bee Sting” follows the Barnes family, an Irish family, struggling in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Through this family, Murray takes readers on a journey between the past and present and unpacks a web of regrets and secrets that have been pulling the family apart from one another for years. On this journey, readers will constantly ask themselves: was this family’s slow unraveling inevitable from the start, or could one different decision in the past have changed their fate?
Selected as one of New York Times top 10 books of the year, “The Bee Sting” was praised for its craftsmanship and the author’s powerful way with words. But, many readers still ended up feeling like the book just wasn’t for them. A reviewer on Amazon wrote, “I couldn’t connect emotionally with the characters, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to take from the book.” Others simply felt the book was too long and there was too much build-up all to have such a mediocre ending. A Goodreads reviewer said, “Ooft. Such a disappointment! This absolute brick of a book just went on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.” They added that they only finished it because they wanted to know what the fate of the father’s car business was.
Despite being shortlisted for so many literary accolades, the general consensus was that the story, at 645 pages, was simply too long and felt dragged out to be enjoyable.
How we came up with this list
As with any “aren’t worth your time” list, we proceed with a lot of caution and care. Our goal is never to dissuade readers from exploring a book they might be interested in based solely on the opinion of others. We do, however, feel it’s our duty to share the general consensus around a certain title so you can avoid the most common mistakes made when picking a new book. This way, you have the information and power to make smarter decisions about which book is the right fit for you.
As Service95 is one of the newer book clubs, we simply went through Dua’s list and reviewed each and every pick. We searched all of the titles on Goodreads, #BookTok, Reddit, and Amazon to see their average ratings. We eliminated all of the titles that had a 4.0-star rating or higher on both Goodreads and Amazon from consideration.
Ratings weren’t the only major factor, we also paid attention to issues mentioned numerous times throughout reader reviews—such as confusing structures and plot lines, slow and weak pacing, and characters that were difficult to relate to. In the end, reading is a very personal activity. One person may think a book is a total flop, and another may find it to be the best book they’ve ever read. Just take into consideration and keep in mind the things we’ve pinpointed in this article about these titles. We simply created this list to guide you away from potential letdowns on Dua Lipa’s book club list.
