Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic was submitted by Claire @ Book Lovers Pizza (cute blog name, right?) through my TTT topic suggestion form. These could be books you recently DNFed (did not finish), decided you were no longer interested in, or abandoned for some other reason. I’ve chosen to focus on my recent DNFs and why I couldn’t finish them as well as some titles I was interested in at one point but not anymore.
5 Books I Recently DNFed
1. The Safe Place by Anna Downes
DNF @ 20%. Very boring. Too many needless details and not much dialogue. So much telling!
2. In the Dark by Loreth Anne White
I didn’t make it very far before I realized that I don’t like the author’s writing style very much. There was so much telling, so many details that I didn’t need to know. By the time I got about 15% in, there was still no cabin. I actually had to make sure I was reading the right book because nothing from the synopsis was happening at all. I’m not an Agatha Christie fan, but I do love isolation/locked room mysteries so I was excited about this one. I just couldn’t hang in there long enough, and when I went and read 1-star reviews to see if anyone agreed with me I came across some trigger warnings that sealed this book’s fate.
3. Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin
This was outside my normal reading happy zone, so I guess I’m not surprised that I DNFed this. I don’t really like the rich, socialite type of book character, and the fact that this was a book about a group of rich, socialite Instagram moms made it worse for me. lol. I have nothing against moms in books, but I hated how these ones were raising their babies to be just as spoiled and entitled as they were. The dark humor also didn’t work so well for me. It was a very uncomfortable read that I abandoned early on.
4. My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh
I DNFed at 7% because the writing style was bothering me so much. It didn’t feel like a historical romance novel except for a few times here and there… so I kept getting thrown out of the story.
5. The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai
I DNFed this at 22%. This book was too business-oriented for me. I didn’t care about the ins and outs of their internet dating platforms. I quit after the main characters had a whole debate on a talk show about whose platform was better, and I just got sooooo bored. There was no romance at this point. Nothing funny had happened. I got tired of listening to Rhi hate Samson. I never got attached to either character… It was all so meh to me.
5 Books I Recently Lost Interest In
For basically all of these, pretty much the only reason I’ve lost interest is because I’ve fallen a bit out of love with YA over the last year or so. I’m getting tired of the drama surrounding the YA book community, but also the stories are starting to feel overdone. Some of my favorite YA authors have either switched genres or slowed down. Some have quit publishing completely. It left me feeling very “left out in the cold”, for lack of a better explanation. Maybe I just don’t see myself in these books like I used to. That’s not to say I’ll never read another YA, or that there’s something wrong with the books being published now… There’s actually a few coming out in the next year that I’m excited about. Overall, though, I just find myself getting excited over different books than I used to.
6. Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo
7. Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills
8. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
9. Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda
10. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder (I loved Poison Study, but that was eons ago…)
Have you read any of my picks? Do you agree with my thoughts, or did you have different feelings?
What about my thoughts on YA? Have your reading tastes ever changed drastically like mine have?
Do you think I’ll go back to YA again? Should I read one of these books I’ve lost interest in? Tell me!
Which books have you abandoned recently?
I read Maurene’s and thought it was really sweet! Guess I don’t see the YA book drama, but I know others talk about its existence, too. Mostly I see it mentioned on Twitter. Hope you enjoy the ones you’re excited about this year! :)
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I haven’t even heard of any of the authors you mentioned, so that’s probably a good thing. ;)
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Aww, I loved The Gilded Wolves!
Fragments of the Lost! That was one I was going to read too, and never did… and I get that about YA. I still read them but the ones I read now are mixed in with other kinds of books as well. I’ve been gravitating more towards the suspenseful thriller variety lately, seems like. Although those can be hit or miss. My tastes have changed a bit though and that has definitely affected what I pick!
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I’m sad to see Magic Study on this list! I adored this series! It’s definitely one I would recommend binge reading just because the books follow one another so closely.
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Great list! I enjoyed Poison Study, but never had any interest in continuing with the series either. Sorry to hear My Fake Rake didn’t work for you – it sounded like such a fun historical romance.
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I enjoyed The Gilded Wolves, but I agree with you that stories in YA are starting to feel overdone. I love YA fantasy, but it’s not fun when you can guess the plot twists because you’ve read a similar story before…
Your reasons for DNFing Happy and You Know It are perfectly reasonable. I would have done the same thing!
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Because I hardly ever abandon a book, I listed the books I would not have finished, if they hadn’t been a book club read. Still, a great subject.
I wouldn’t even pick up your DNF’s, judging by the title. I read The Gilded Wolves, but rated it 2 stars so you’re safe by abanodning it :)
My list included books in both of your categories. Hope you have a great week.
I read at least the first two books in the Poison Study series (I think I finished it). It’s been a while, but I remember thinking that when I eventually re-read it, I’ll be stopping after book one. So I agree with your lack of interest in Magic Study now.
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I also lost interest in the Gilded Wolves but prevailed and finished it. I don’t think I’ll read on in the series.
Too many details are a killer for me, too, especially in a mystery/thriller. I’m more patient with details in historical novels because I expect them there, but in what’s supposed to be an adrenaline-fueled, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride? Yeah, no.
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Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I DNF’d Gilded Wolves. On paper it sounded so good, but I just couldn’t get into it.
I agree with you about reading less YA lately. I just don’t relate to it as much anymore. I have The Right Swipe on hold at the library right now, so that’s kind of a bummer to hear!
I can see what you mean about certain storylines feeling recycled over and over in YA fiction because it’s what ‘sells’…which is a double-edged sword because it then puts some readers off! I struggle to DNF because I have severe FOMO, but I definitely agree that too much ‘tell’ as opposed to ‘show’ gets old very fast.
I never got around to reading Magic Study either, even though I really liked Poison Study
Oh My Gosh… with a title like My Fake Rake…Not sure if I would even have picked it up…
Sad to hear about The Safe Place and In The Dark as those are both on my TBR :-/
Where are the other Mystery and Thriller reviewers at?? I would love to click on some of these and have heard of some of the books, haha. Let me know and I’ll visit your link :)
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I’m kind of done with YA too. There are a few exceptions, especially for writers I love, but so much of it sounds like the same old, same old.
I had a lot of difficulty getting engaged in gilded wolves- luckily it was an audio book, and I had nothing else lined up so I stuck with it, and it ended up being pretty good at the end.
You were smart to DNF In The Dark. I finished it, but only because of a book challenge I was participating in. It had such a strong premise, but way too many characters and holes in the plot. I’ve never considered Megan Miranda a YA author, but that could be because the two books I’ve read by her were for an adult audience.
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