10 of the Most Polarizing Books to Ponder

Starting this list out with a crash-bang is Nabokov’s notorious 1955 novel. Humbert Humbert, the narrator, sees himself as the hero, the loving rescuer of poor, sweet Dolores, aka Lolita. Tenderness and self-pity mask Humbert’s truly disturbing nature. Controversial in subject matter and in interpretation, Lolita remains one of the best uses of the unreliable narrator.

First in a trilogy, this novel deals with first contact, technology, and discovery set during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. While some reviewers loved the philosophical prose and thought-provoking concepts mixed with hard science, others found the pace unbearably slow and the translation dry.

Perhaps this Faustian fantasy novel isn’t so much polarizing as it was overhyped. Girl makes deal with the devil, girl is granted immortality in exchange for being remembered, 300 years pass, boy remembers girl. This book is fine, but it wasn’t the big magic, big plot that many readers were expecting. Instead, readers were granted a meandering plot with flowery language and bland characters. After some of the initial hype died down, the much more critical reviews from passionate readers began appearing online. Perhaps some of the vehemence for this book comes from the fact that it was published in October of 2020, and readers were looking for a grander escape.

The main disagreement about this book is whether or not it should be considered a thriller. Set in a changing neighborhood in Brooklyn, When No One Is Watching is a social thriller heavy with themes of racism and gentrification. Sydney, a longtime resident, becomes suspicious of her surroundings. Her fear and anger build as she and her neighbor, Theo, uncover more of the neighborhood’s history. The sickening churn of Sydney’s paranoia builds over the course of the novel but without the heart-pounding action that many thriller readers expect.

Dark Academia, as a rule, tends to be a bit polarizing. It’s pretentious, say some. It’s boring, say others. Dark academia is a twisty little fantasy world of obsession and may or may not reflect IRL academia. Ninth House attempts to combine magic and mystery with the cultish world of Ivy League secret societies. Slow-paced with a nonlinear narrative, Ninth House isn’t exactly a lightweight read. The reception was very jumbled, with Bardugo’s most loyal fans eager for the next book and a mixed bag of readers ready to toss Ninth House aside.

The mixed reviews on this intense novel from South Korea sit firmly in two camps. Camp A: The Vegetarian is a dark, disturbing, well-written novel about social pressure, mental illness, and sexual violence.

Camp B: The Vegetarian is a pointless gore fest. Avoid at all costs.

Open up the pages of this stunner, and you’ll find a book within a book within a book within a book within a book… The Starless Sea is a looping, swirling fairy tale that combines multiple perspectives and storylines that don’t fully intersect. It’s confusing and beautiful, and for some readers, it’s too much.

Historical retellings are not for everyone. The Grace of Kings reimagines the rise of China’s Han dynasty as a fantastical techno world run by gods and armies. Packed with battle sequences and characters, many readers felt disconnected from the story. Positive reviews praised Liu’s inventiveness, clamoring for the sequel. Liu actually defined the sub-genre Silkpunk by the world he created for The Grace of Kings.

With over 2 million ratings on Goodreads, The Alchemist is one of the most popular divisive books on the site. Part fable, part unanswered pseudo-intellectual philosophical wonderings, The Alchemist can best be described as a dish of mixed nuts. Some people will be allergic. Some people don’t like walnuts and will pick out the cashews. Some people will eat the entire bowl and ask for more.

Since the Netflix series premiered in 2018, You has been all over the ratings chart. Like other thriller romances, You is grim and deeply disturbing. The novel is written in second-person point of view, forcing the reader into Joe’s world. It’s unsettling, but that’s the point. You is an example of when a genre isn’t for everyone, but gets popular, so everyone reads it. The reviews and ratings are saturated by readers who were never going to enjoy it anyway. These critical reviews are important for such books because they make it easier to find better books among the stinkers.