Bad books sometimes are... good?

Have you ever read a book you hated, but the story seemed to live rent-free in your mind after finishing? I've recently read a mystery, after a long hiatus from the genre, and it was a love-hate moment. I saw the book on a list of must-reads for the year, placed a hold and was surprised to see if become available quickly. Turned out that one of my close friends was reading the same book. Double luck!?

Very shortly into reading, I could see I was not going to enjoy this book. The writing was poor, characters annoying and badly developed, and the plot resembled too much of a C.S.I episode. I was the biggest C.S.I fan as a teenager, so I wouldn't consider this the worst thing to be said about a book, what I mean is, the author seemed to be trying to fit so much content into a story that could either develop wonderfully as a long book, or poorly if not well written... the latter being the reality of this mystery. I don't mean to shit talk the book for the entire post, so I hope you can understand the concept I am trying to portrait here. 

After realizing my friend was reading this at the same time as me, I was so excited to talk over some points with her. Because not liking a book makes me question so much more the accuracy of details (or lack of). The most amazing book discussions I've had about characters and storylines have been about stories I generally did not like. I ended up having amazing quality-time Q&A with my friend as we both had different perspectives of the book - which is not to say she liked it, but she enjoyed it more than I did. I had questions, she had opinions. What stuck to me too is the fact that we both finished this book in 2-3 days (she gave it 4 stars, I couldn't give more than 2). But I deprived myself of sleep to read. And this is almost unheard of. I am a big-time sleeper. I need my 8-9 hours a night, and for 2 nights I got a lot less than that. Because of a book I... hated?! How is this possible? 

According to Psychology Today "admit this: Hating something or someone doesn't always feel bad. Sometimes it feels shockingly good. Sometimes it feels righteous, invigorating, inspiring, or even fun." My whole point in one sentence. It was inspiring and fun to love-hate this book alongside my friend. Finding all the details I hated and talking over those points. It was a breath of fresh air, honestly. I am now a lot more excited to read other books, mysteries included. 

Sometimes bad books are VERY good.