Over-Hyped and/or Overrated Books (In My Honest Opinion)

We all know those books. You know, the ones that have a 4+ average star rating on Goodreads, are hyped up on Bookstagram, Booktube, Goodreads, blogs, and pretty much everywhere where people talk about books.
Everyone raves about them.
Everyone seems to love them.
And they just aren't that good, or at least, they aren't as good as everyone's making them out to be.

So that's the topic of this post. Books that I believe are over-hyped and/or overrated.
Just as a quick disclaimer: I am not trying to be offensive when I say that a book is over-hyped. If a book I mention is one of your favorites, and you 100% disagree, that's okay! Differing opinions are absolutely fine. These are just my own personal opinions. 

Alrighty. Let's get started!

1. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

This book was super disappointing for me. I wanted to read a cool story about faeries and magic, and what I got was an achingly slow plot, combined with horrible and unlikeable characters. When I learned that many of the fans ship Jude and Cardan, I threw up my hands and walked away.

I only learned after I read the book that it's really popular (shows how out of the loop I was back when I first started this blog!) but it's definitely over-hyped. There are much better books out there. This wasn't one I would recommend.

2. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I read this book for the hype. I'd seen all three movies before I even tried to pick up the book. I thought the movies were pretty "meh", and the last one was weird, but many people were telling me that the book was much better and put the movies to shame.
So I read the book... and ended up liking it less than the movie. I didn't like the characters. They felt very two dimensional and unrealistic. The writing felt juvenile and the humor was immature and annoying. The "plot twist" at the end left a lot to be desired (as well as a few plot holes!) So overall, I didn't end up enjoying the book, and won't be continuing the series. (I ended up looking up the spoilers for how it ended. I know. I'm sorry. But I know I couldn't force myself to read another two books written like this one.)

3. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

I was so excited to read this book! I'd read a lot of reviews, and heard only good things about it, and the idea of a dystopian superhero book was really interesting.
This wasn't what I signed up for. Instead of being a super-cool dystopian with a solid plot, it ended up being one long road trip with a bunch of superpowered kids being pursued by no less than four different villains throughout the course of the book. It actually got ridiculous at times, because it seemed like half the villains were only there to add conflict to keep the characters from reaching their goal.
I don't understand the hype for this book. It definitely wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it definitely wasn't nearly as good as it was hyped up to be.

4. Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

I bought Keeper of the Lost Cities almost solely for the hype. Everyone was talking about how good it was, and it sounded interesting to me, so I picked it up. I read about a quarter of the book before I started to wonder what the big deal was. And by the time I got to the end, I was majorly disappointed. That's not to say I hated the book. I rated Keeper of the Lost Cities three stars on Goodreads, and it was a fun, engaging story. It just wasn't amazing, like it kept getting hyped up to be.
(On a funny sidenote, my little sister read and loved the first book, and then continued the series. I came home from work after she finished the second book, and the first thing she said to me was "This was the worst fantasy book I've ever read." - 9-year-olds can be very melodramatic. She then proceeded to let me know about one of the plot twists that apparently went in a cliche direction, and all I could think was "I have taught you well." End sidenote.)

5. Divergent by Veronica Roth

I'm preparing to run from hordes of angry fans, but please hear me out first. Divergent is a super hyped up series, and... I don't really understand why? I read them years ago, back before I really followed along with the new hyped releases, and way back before I had a Goodreads account or this blog. At the time I read them, I found them to be just... meh. The plot for book one was excellent, the plot for Insurgent lagged (I honestly don't even remember what happened in the book apart from two random scenes... one where the characters take truth serum, and one that made me decidedly uncomfortable.) And I had a lot of problems with Allegiant, partly because I was crazily obsessed with learning about genetics a few years ago, and the science in Allegiant didn't really add up.
All in all, I'm glad I read them, if only to have on opinion on them, but I don't think they deserve all the hype they've gotten and are getting.

6. The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan

The Ranger's Apprentice series is not one I have very strong opinions about, but it is definitely overhyped. These books are fun middle grade stories (at least the ones I read, I didn't continue the series after book 6) but I don't feel that they deserve quite the amount of praise and hype that they have gotten.
All in all, the characters are fairly generic and the plots, while engaging, are nothing special.
I apologize if you like these books, they just weren't for me.

7. Renegades by Marissa Meyer

I liked Renegades, okay? I genuinely enjoyed reading it. But at the same time, I'm not sure that it deserves the heaps of hype that it received, especially when the first book released in 2017.
It's a fun, somewhat cheesy superhero story, with more focus on the romance than the main plot. But I was fine with it. I just don't think it deserves so much hype.
This is not the next The Lunar Chronicles. 
And it definitely won't appeal to Batman fans.


And as a bonus, #8! Quick disclaimer: This book is not overrated. It's definitely an awesome book, but I wanted to include it here, because I do feel like it's been overhyped quite a bit. 

And that book is...

Wait for it...

This is me building up the suspense...

And likely being annoying...

Okay, here it is...

8. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

If I didn't make every last one of you guys mad reading my opinions about Divergent, I'm pretty sure I just made the rest of you mad as well. And for that, I'm sorry. Genuinely sorry.
Don't get me wrong, I love Six of Crows. It's one of my favorite books. I love the characters. The heist element is incredibly well executed. The storyworld is interesting and unique (like, come on, Victorian inspired fantasy? What's not to love?)
But this book also gets hype. Like, an insane amount of hype, people! And honestly, I do feel like it's been overhyped. It's been hyped to the point where it's become, in a lot of circles, the biggest, best, and brightest YA fantasy (or actually YA book in general) ever published. And... it's... not? I feel so bad saying that, especially since I do genuinely love the book, but while it is incredibly good, I don't think it deserves quite the amount of hype that it's gotten and still getting.
But let me stress again that I genuinely loved this book. I'm not hating on Six of Crows. I'm just making an observation.

Alright, that about wraps things up! If any of you guys are left after my unpopular opinions about these popular books, please let me know in the comments what you think! Do you disagree with any of the points I've made? Are there any books you've read that you think are overhyped? 
Let me know in the comments! (But please, keep your comments polite.)