Bad is a pejorative term best reserved for college lit courses, or conversations with friends. If used in public, the ramifications can be hurtful or counterproductive. New Yorker curmudgeon, John Updike, wrote an unflattering review of Toni Morrison's novel, A Mercy. Her supporters probably fired back that she has a Nobel prize and he doesn't. Both writers tend to get stuck in a limited universe, which causes readers to shy away from their works. Neither has sold as many books as Stephenie Meyer, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.
The politically correct phrase for a book that does not succeed in the eye of the beholder is less than brilliant. And, this could either mean that the author failed in developing/presenting a story, or the subject he/she chose failed to attract enough interest on the part of the reader.
Too many lumps of coal masquerade as brilliant writing. That is the ugly truth, no doubt about it. To succeed as a reader, you have to sharpen your diamond finding skills.
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