Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is The Ten Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish. I feel like DNFing gets a bad rap, but it is not at all a bad thing! Not every book will mesh with every reader, and that’s ok! It doesn’t have to mean that the book was bad (although, it does sometimes), and I know I’m a happier person when I decide to not finish a book that just isn’t working for me. It keeps reading a hobby that I love instead of a job I have to do. I also don’t rate or review books that I DNF, so that means I don’t have to review a book that obviously wasn’t written for me. I can just move on, no hurt feelings or negative energy. This doesn’t mean that I always only finish books I love or that I only write 100% positive reviews. It just means I’ve given myself permission to read what I want, when I want. There’s freedom in doing this. So today I’m sharing my ten most recent DNFs and a little bit about what made me decide to set them aside. If you choose to do the same thing, I would encourage you to be kind to the authors and not tag them when you mention your post on social media. So let’s begin!
1. Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long (audio ARC – DNF @ 23%)
I was super excited for a fun pirate fantasy, but what started out as a very exciting tale with Pirates of the Caribbean vibes quickly simmered down to a lot of characters on a lot of different boats or in a lot of different locations, with not much happening. I couldn’t connect with the two main characters because I had no idea who they were and what made them who they were. Finally, the narrators are good individually, but their voices were not complimentary of one another. I had a hard time remembering which characters were which because the male narrator’s voice for some characters were so different than the female narrator’s voice for those same characters.
2. The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren (e-ARC – DNF @ 57%)
This one hurts me. I adore Christina Lauren. These two ladies have written some of my very favorite books ever and I always squeal with glee when I get my hands on a new title of theirs. This did not feel like a romance novel to me, and Fizzy is better suited as a side character. I just didn’t like her or care about her story.
3. Vacation Wars by Meghan Quinn (audio – DNF @ 26 minutes in)
The humor in this is not for me. Referring to her nameless crush as “the bulge” because his nether region is round and large in swim trunks? How is she 30? This is the third book by this author I have DNFed, so I think this is just a case of the books not being right for me. I will not be attempting to read more books by this author, no matter how good they sound or how pretty the covers are.
4. The Heiress at Sea by Christi Caldwell (e-ARC – DNF @ 15%)
First off, I found the writing style to be incredibly frustrating. It’s page after page of extremely long sentences with an over abundance of punctuation marks, and purple prose everywhere. But it didn’t flow at all. The language felt so unnatural that I tripped over all the words and sometimes had to read sentences over again. But regardless of that, the heroine is one of the stupidest heroines I’ve ever read about! She disguises herself as a boy and gets hired aboard a vessel as a deck swab. Her first job is to paint the hallway, and in what universe would anyone think that that means to paint an entire country scene mural on the wall? Seriously, there’s a pink sky with clouds and trees and a house. She keeps getting so confused that these men are not happy with her work and keep asking her to repaint the hall. And then she just paints a new scene with the lovely “art supplies” they gave her, instead of painting it a solid color! She then realizes she has boarded the wrong ship and thinks surely they would be happy to turn the “boat” around and deposit her back on the dock from which she came. They keep correcting her use of “boat” and want her to say “ship”, and she always responds with a “that’s what I said, please turn this boat around”. Does she really not understand the difference? She’s demanding, speaks out of turn, and gets away with way more than any deck swab should get away with. She orders the men about and demands the captain do things, and they all keep dealing with it. While also thinking she’s a young boy. I couldn’t continue.
5. Love at First Psych by Cara Bastone (Audio – DNF @ 33%)
Supremely annoying, rude heroine. Super sweet and goofy hero, but not enough to keep me listening to her.
6. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace (e-ARC – DNF @ 6%)
Bit too spicy for me!
7. When In Rome by Sarah Adams (e-ARC – DNF @ 51%)
It’s hard to believe this book is by the same author who wrote my beloved The Cheat Sheet. The book started off so promising, with a really fun meet cute and characters I thought I was going to fall in love with, but there is no chemistry between the main characters. The same things and the same conversations keep happening over and over again, and I think Noah’s eyes might be getting more obnoxiously green as the book goes on. I keep reading about how everyone in this book is so beautiful and so perfect and so pretty, and that’s it. Noah is supposed to be grumpy, but he just comes off as a jerk instead. He goes back-and-forth between wanting to kiss Amelia’s face off and saying really mean things to her. I don’t believe any kind of romance that is founded on this kind of treatment. Amelia latches on to anyone and everyone who offers her a crumb of kindness or affection. I don’t feel like it’s Noah that she’s falling for, I feel like it’s the personalized attention he’s giving her. I’m a very character-driven reader, so I can’t continue reading a book if I don’t like the characters.
8. Gilded by Marissa Meyer (e-ARC – DNF @ 10%)
I love Marissa Meyer, and I was super invested and interested in this story until I came across multiple reviews with trigger warnings for animal cruelty so I had to stop.
9. What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall (e-ARC – DNF @ 27%)
I couldn’t stand the main character at all, and I didn’t enjoy the writing style.
10. To Marry a Scottish Laird by Lynsay Sands (Audio – DNF @ 30%)
Walking and having sex. That’s all that happens. Cam and Joan are traveling together, and their conversations are all how they shouldn’t be having sex. Joan’s thoughts are all how she can’t believe he wants to have sex with her when her face is so bruised and swollen from being attacked a few days earlier. Cam’s thoughts are all about how much he wants to have sex with her. And when they are not walking or sitting on a horse together or eating, they are either having sex, or hoping to, or trying to talk themselves out of it. I was so bored!
How do you feel about DNFing books?
Will you abandon a book you don’t like, or will you push through it?
Bummer about Sarah’s novel. I have that one on my shelf and think it sounds fun. We’ll see what I discover if I give it a chance. :) Thanks for sharing your list, Jana! I enjoyed reading what you thought about Sarah’s and Christina’s.
Sorry to hear you didn’t like “The True Love Experiment”. I adored it, and found it even better than “The Soulmate Equation”.
I totally get you DNF’ing “Icebreaker” – it’s _very_ spicy, and it isn’t even believable spice… which is odd to me, seeing as it was written by a woman. I enjoyed the plot in itself, but definitely skimmed the spicier parts.
“Love at First Psych” is on my to-read list — I’m curious to see what I’ll think of it now.
Hah I don’t remember any “animal cruelty” in Gilded, it was extremely low content wise. Maybe the hunting of fictitious animals? I also had Dark Water Daughter as my top book of the year so far, at least the characters have other goals in life than to start a proximity romance with each other 🤣
Great list. I haven’t read any of these, but I have a hard time getting through a book with a horrible main character so I understand completely.
These are mainly new to me ones! A little sad to see Gilded here but I can understand why you would need to stop. What Lies in the Woods is another I want to read but also sad to see it here. Hopefully the heroine won’t grate on my nerves as much!
Here’s my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
I’m sorry these didn’t work out for you. I love the fact that I posted my favorite books of the year so far and we have a matching book!
Icebreaker is on my list too. I wasn’t a fan of the characters or the initial set-up. I have What Lies in the Woods on the backburner for a rainy day. I read the first chapter and think it has potential, but I also go a whiff of unlikable characters. I have to be in a certain kind of mood to read those books.
I will totally abandon a book if I’m not enjoying it. There are so many books on my TBR list, I just can’t imagine forcing myself through something I’m hating!
Those are the same complaints that make me DNF a book as well: boring plot, annoying characters, too graphic, etc. If only every book were a perfect fit!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
You have a great memory. I had only the vaguest of recollections why I didn’t finish this book or that one. I, too, have decided that blatant sex is a no-go for me. Nuanced is okay, though. I also hate it when there are hugely long paragraphs or sentences…especially in books written today. I forgive classics because that is the way it was done in those days.
You’re absolutely right that there are many reasons for DNFing a book! I’ve been mood reading more lately than before, so a lot of my DNFs have just been cases of picking up a book expecting one tone, and getting a different tone entirely. Though I’m with you on the animal cruelty trigger. I haven’t read that book, but it’s one of the triggers that I’ll avoid a book because of.
I love Meghan Quinn, but I can see how her humor wouldn’t be for some people. If you wanted to try one more time, I would tell you to try her Blue Line Duet. It’s contemporary romance and not romantic comedy, so humor might not be as aparent. I also DNF’d Icebreaker, but not for the same reason. I just couldn’t handle it from the beginning almost.
I love your description of To Marry a Scottish Laird. Too bad so many of the author’s you enjoyed put out a book that you didn’t, but I know it happens.
Ah thanks for the info Jana as some of these books were quite popular! I’m sad to hear about the animal cruelty as I really wanted to read Gilded but that also gives me pause.
I’ve only read Gilded from your list and the animal cruelty is indeed part of the curse of the castle. I listened to the audio actually and Rebecca Soler did a great job in narrating this duology.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2023/07/25/top-ten-tuesday-ten-most-recent-books-i-did-not-finish/
Yeah, some authors just don’t work for me either. It’s hard because you WANT to like their books, but something about them prevents it. Have a great week!
Good thing none of these were on my TBR! (Or at least, I don’t think so.) I’ve liked some of the Christi Caldwell books I have read, but that one does not sound like a good fit for me.
The books I didn’t finish are mostly books I will go back and finish eventually, with one or two exceptions. I’m a mood reader, especially when I’m anxious or stressed or under time pressure, and if a book isn’t right for that particular moment, I’ll put it aside for a while, and go back to it later.
Oh! I love that you put a time stamp on it!
Wow, the cover of Icebreakers looks even more YA than the usual cartoon covered romance novels. I made the most D: face finding out why you DNF’ed it!
I can see why you quit When in Rome, too. I can’t stand those kind of romances either.
You’re right, it looks very YA! But it’s way spicier than anything I read, and it gets there pretty quickly. I was so surprised!