I do a lot of beta and ARC reading. Based on my history and education, it’s one of the few things I feel like I can do to help authors out. That being said, I have no problem not finishing books, even if it is an ARC, if I am not enjoying for any reason.

 

I stumbled across a book that I genuinely read out of pure spite, hoping the heroine would get what was coming to her.

Never in my life have I read a worse heroine. I think the author was trying to have her come off as a spunky yet whimsical dreamer searching for adventure. What we got was a spoiled brat who literally could not say anything unless it was snotty, snide, or sarcastic. Not only that but she spent the entire novel hating the hero over something that happened almost a decade ago when they were children.

This heroine was such a terrible person she made the book agony to read. I have read difficult heroines before but they typically either have some redeeming qualities or redeem themselves somewhere down the line.

This heroine did not. The best way I can describe her is a selfish spoiled brat so preoccupied with herself and her dreams of adventure and a dashing hero sweeping her off of her feet that she doesn’t even realize what childish and terrible person she truly was. She had absolutely no redeeming qualities and made each page a chore to read.

 

The novel was an ARC I received. However, I loathed the heroine so much she ruined the entire novel for more. The writing was pretty solid for the most part and none of the other characters was horrible. But considering she was the focus of the story, it made it difficult to enjoy. I am still not sure why the hero still loved her after how terrible she treated him.

Ugh rant over. Sorry, but I just had to get it out.

❧ Arec