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I have come to accept that not every book I read will meet my expectations. Sometimes I open a book thinking it will be average or worse and be blown away at how good it turned out to be. However, the books on this list are where my expectations were at Mt. Everest on page 1 and fell to at least Death Valley by the time I reached the back cover… if I got that far.
Red Queen
I read this book in high school and it wasn’t my favorite, but I still liked it a lot. Personally, I enjoyed the sequel, Glass Sword,much more. This past summer I actually planned on having a month dedicated to Red Queen to celebrate the release of War Storm. I also decided to reread all the previous books before reading the final, but I didn’t get past Red Queen, and as I stated in my review, it was because I found it not to be nearly as good as I remembered.
Sign of the Qin
Myths fascinate me. This book, however, did not. However, I was wicked excited to read Sign of the Qin because I don’t think I have ever read a fantasy book set in China. Another reason my hopes for this one was high is The Kiss of Deception. I believe I finished reading it before I started Sign of the Qin and I didn’t particularly like The Kiss of Deception all that much and many of the books I read around that time weren’t my favorite. I was hoping Sign of the Qin would finally be the book I couldn’t put down. I got over halfway through before deciding there was no way I was going to finish this book the year ended and decided to return it to the library unfinished. 
Wonder Woman: Warbringer
I love Wonder Woman and I have quite a bit of respect for Leigh Bardugo so I was upset with myself for not liking this book, especially considering how excited I was to finally read it. I spent over an hour searching for this book at BAM! Before realizing it wasn’t getting released until August. I finally received Warbringeras a gift on my birthday last year. I started to read it and loved the first few chapters, but after Dianna and co. left home I began to lose interest. When I got to the scene they were preparing for the obligatory ball I went “Abort, abort, book will not fulfill expectations” and didn’t finish it. I did end up asking a friend who held out until the end and she didn’t exactly like this book either. At least the two of us could be disappointed by Warbringer together.
The Black Key
It hurts when the last book in a trilogy I love didn’t hold up to its predecessors. I remember devouring this book on vacation and my mom remarking how quickly I finished Black Keyassuming I must have liked it. Well… the beginning was good, but around the last third everything frays in seconds. The ending wasn’t tragic – just not explained very well. I mentioned it in my review that Black Key would have been better if it was slightly longer.
Smoke in the Sun
“The ending of Flame in the Mist didn't leave me satisfied at all. Instead I was left demanding answers that only Smoke in the Suncan give me. I will get to it (Smoke in the Sun) soon, and I will probably cry tears of joy once I have the book in my hands.” The following quote was a comment I made on a Top 5 Wednesday post I wrote last year. I thought it was a good way to show just how much I wanted to read Smoke in the Sun. I think if it weren’t for my classes I would’ve finished that book in one sitting. However, I didn’t like the way the book was narrated and felt there wasn’t enough of Mariko and Okami, our main couple. I also hated the villains and the ending felt kind of sloppy to me. 
