The Most Underrated Books
- 9 minutes ago
- 6 min read
This post was spurred by a recent favorite read that I almost chose not to pick up. I was browsing my favorite DC bookstore a few months ago, Lost City Books, and I came across a used copy of How to be Alone by Jonathan Franzen for $8. Like most times when I find a book I'm interested in, I opened up Goodreads and searched the title to see the average rating and some top reviews. I was floored at the low score, a 3.58 average rating based on over 12,000 reviews. I was still intrigued by the synopsis so I found it at my library and put the book on hold (a great hack, no matter if the book has positive reviews or not, is to get it from your local library, no buyer's remorse ever needed).
After reading and loving that book, I started to think about the amount of times I chose not to buy a book or check it out from the library because of the relatively low Goodreads score, and I felt a wave of disappointment. How many amazing stories, how many favorite reads have I missed just because the general readership of one singular review site didn't enjoy it? Then I began going back through books over the last few years looking to see which ones I loved but was rated poorly.
There is merit in picking up a book that seems to be loved by many, but that rating may not reflect what the book could mean to an individual reader (or if it's actually a terrible book everyone seems to love, looking at you, A Little Life). It's a funny feeling disliking a book that has such rave reviews, and maybe that's a post for a later day. But here, I wanted to explore the books that I went into expecting little because of the reviews, only to come out surprised at how much I loved it.
This exercise has been a great way for me to examine my habits and taste, and be more open to trying books even if the internet didn't like it, and I encourage you to pick up a book despite trash reviews if the blurb still entices you (preferably from the library so you don't get mad at me if you spend money on a book you hated).
There is no doubt that some people think Franzen is an arrogant asshole, and I don’t disagree. This sentiment seems to be where most of the negative reviews of this book stems from. But opposing things can be true at once, and I was shocked at how moved I was by many of his essays. His writing, to me, is the perfect blend of descriptive and sarcastic, with a touch of poignancy. My favorite essays were definitely the ones where he spoke about grief and loss (the first story of his dying dad had me sobbing), but the others were engaging and fascinating.
It felt surreal to be reading essays from the late 90s and early 2000s and seeing similar feelings of anxiety and dread about politics, culture, and the dying novel. I feel weirdly comforted that the things that keep me up at night are still the same for those who have come before me. And I have no doubt that I’ll read my own writing decades in the future and shake my head at the irony of my present worries. But isn’t that what makes books so incredible? An understanding, a shared kinship with humans no matter the decade or even century.
I’ve had Franzen’s novels on my shelf for years but it’s time to pull them off and see if his fiction writing is just as good as his nonfiction.
One of my favorite books of 2024 was Normal People, and I have since read almost every book in Rooney's repertoire. I adore her writing, but it's definitely a point of contention for many readers. She doesn't use quotation marks, and her writing feels almost stream of consciousness. However, I'm strangely captivated by her style. It feels more grounded in reality for me, like I'm actually in the characters' heads.
Beautiful World, Where Are You is about Alice and Eileen, best friends who are living fairly separate lives, writing to one another about dating, grief, the state of the world and their fears.
In a similar vein of her writing style, Rooney also makes her characters incredibly flawed and sometimes unlikable. Alice and Eileen, along with their prospective romantic partners, make decisions that are frustrating and would often act impulsively. But isn't that what being in your early 20s is about? The uncertainty, the anxiety, the self-consciousness? It's all laid out bare in this book, and I can see why some people would find it annoying or pointless to showcase these kinds of characters. But I loved their flaws, I loved hearing my own anxieties mirrored back at me. This book isn't about plot, it's more about character development and exploration, which I surprisingly enjoyed.
Despite the 3.52 Goodreads rating, this book helped cement Rooney as one of my favorite authors.
I can see why this book may not be for everyone (which is certainly a theme for this post). The story follows a 20 something year old British painter who has a whirlwind romance with a 40 something year old successful New York City man. I cannot overstate how much I despise age gap relationships --- in stories and in real life. However, the book isn't about their love story but about them as individuals and those around them, and everyone's development or lack thereof.
The vibes are vibing in this book. Drugs, money, New York City, it honestly sounds like a recipe for me to roll my eyes. But somehow, Mellors balances this indulgence with very human, grounded character responses and most of all, the book is saved by Eleanor, a seemingly unimportant woman who begins to get a lot more screen time about halfway through the book, thank god.
I love the details in this book. I want to know the color of someone's dress, the way a man smelled after a night out, the fidgeting fingers of a woman waiting for an email response back from a man she has a crush on. Mellors really delivers on the details, and it made it easy for me to melt into this book. Again, this may lack plot but it makes up for that with excellent character analyses and Eleanor, I would love a whole book just on her.
I can absolutely see why this book may not be for everyone, but somehow, that made my enjoyment of it more fun.
There was a period in 2023 where I got very into feminine rage books. I derived strange satisfaction from reading stories where women were angry, violent, even cruel. Perhaps it was my way of channeling my own anger and frustration at the world, and it felt very cathartic.
In A Certain Hunger. Dorothy, a food critic and sexually liberated woman living in New York City, details her life and what eventually leads her to killing and eating men for pleasure.
Okay, you might be shocked and disgusted and I will admit, the gruesome nature of this novel is not for the faint of heart. But this story was incredibly absorbing and fun. I did not take it as a call to action, literally or figuratively. Summers gracefully weaves a narrative whose content might be grotesque but the unfolding is delicious (pun intended). I loved seeing an intelligent, successful, charming woman become unhinged, finding power and vindication in the strangest of ways. I tend to enjoy morally gray or entirely dark characters, and there was so much to explore in Dorothy's psyche.
And now, for the book I rated the highest that Goodreads rated the lowest, I give you Bunny.
I read this in the aforementioned 2023 period of feminine rage books. This book was everywhere at the time, people screaming about it's insanity, sick and twisted plot, weird horror themes. I was intrigued if not slightly apprehensive.
I almost feel like it's best to give as little context as possible about this book but for a brief synopsis. A scholarship student at a New England MFA program gets sucked into a dark and depraved group of rich girls who call each other Bunny, experiencing their strange rituals and appetite for men.
If you enjoy dark academia, horror, women doing insane and disturbing things, this should definitely be on your list. It's campy, it's wild, it's confusing, and it's a book that has never really left me, which truly says something given how many books I read.
If you ever want personalized recs instead of blindly trusting Goodreads, feel free to send me a recommendation request. Tell me what mood you're in, what your reading goals are, or the last book you loved and I will recommend options I think you'll enjoy.
Happy reading, y'all.