Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes. If you want to join or find out more information about the weekly themes check out the Goodreads page! This week’s theme was unlike any other they’ve done before, and I’m kind of digging the controversial nature of the post. Right now, there are a ton of posts highlighting the releases people are most excited to read in 2019, but I’m here to tell you the five hyped books I won’t be picking up.

Please keep in mind that these are just my personal opinions, and I’m not aiming to drag the author or anyone who is looking forward to these books! 

EVERMORE – Everless was one of the debuts I was most looking forward to reading last January, but unfortunately was also the biggest disappointment. My biggest issue was that it felt like a story I had read before. The concept of time and blood debts was interesting, but the rest of the plot felt like every other YA Fantasy book out there and became too predictable. And so, I will not be continuing with the series. 

SONG OF THE DEAD – I enjoyed Reign of the Fallen as it was fast-paced, full of necromancy and magic, and had a really interesting premise and setting. The end-game romance bothered me in that there wasn’t a whole lot of build up and became kind of insta-lovey towards the end. I actually thought Reign of the Fallen ened on a really good note and would have worked perfectly fine as a standalone. 

QUEEN OF RUIN – There was so much positive girl power going on in Grace and Fury, but unfortunately that’s about all it had going for it. Of the two sisters POVs, Serina’s was the only one I connected with or cared about. And surprisingly I couldn’t have cared less about either of the romances. It’s an interesting premise, but I just didn’t connect well with the characters of the story. Honestly, I don’t care about any of them enough to want to read the next book. 

COURTING DARKNESS – Okay, this one’s a bit different than the others on my list in that there’s really no reason I wouldn’t enjoy this or shouldn’t read it other than I have no motivation to. I read the His Fair Assassin series years ago and really enjoyed them, but this is one of those things where unfortunately I don’t feel the burning need to step back into the world. Sybella was never my favorite of the characters and so I don’t really see myself ever picking this up. 

CRESCENT CITY – Come on guys, this is me. Did you really think this wouldn’t make the list? Honestly, I don’t even know if this truly is coming out this year, but the last I heard it was suppose to release late in the fall of 2019. And for those you that dislike SJM as much as me, you can always check out my Goodreads review in which I predict what to expect from this book 😉