My Ten Most Recent “Did Not Finish” Books

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is Books I Did Not Finish (DNFed), so I’m sharing my ten most recent DNFs because I think it would be hard for me to rank every books I’ve ever DNFed. Top Ten Books I Didn’t Finish? lol. If they were worthy of ranking, I would have finished them! I keep track of my DNFs on Goodreads, and that shelf has 424 books on it as of right now. WOW. Honestly, though, allowing myself to DNF has made me love reading more. Life’s too short for bad books! Excuse my overly-long thoughts on some of these. lol. All but one of these were review copies and I had to give more detailed reasons for DNFing for the sake of fulfilling my end of the deal.

1. A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison

DNFed @ 12%

I don’t know what happened here. The high star average rating on Goodreads had me thinking I was the problem and I wanted to hang in there, but I have already rolled my eyes at so much of this already. It’s theatrical and Darian is ridiculous. Riley is annoying. I couldn’t stand Columbia in the beginning, so I really don’t care that she’s dead now and I really don’t care to find out why she’s dead or what “very bad thing” she did before she died. Also, this is narrated by my beloved Saskia Maarleveld, but even she can’t save it. Her tone is making everyone sound more annoying.

2. But He’s My Grumpy Neighbor by Annah Conwell

DNFed @ 23%

Oh how I wanted to love this book. The cover is cute, the reviews are great, and I love a closed-door romance. But, unfortunately, this was too sugary, drippy sweet and unrealistic for me. Juliette is incredibly sweet and sunshiney and acted like she was 7 years old. The hot flushes when his finger brushes hers or the stomach flips when the arms of their coats touch had me rolling my eyes. The gasping and hiding under a blanket when he looks her way, all while saying, “please don’t notice me, please don’t see me” is the kind of thing I did as a child. And yet, Juliette owns her own cottage on a lake. She owns her own business. She’s not a silly teen, she’s a fully grown adult who is out on her own. I couldn’t handle the immaturity. And then Adrian. He’s former CIA, and was written in such a stereotypical way. And he’s certainly not grumpy, as the title suggests. When comparing him to Juliette, I suppose maybe he could be considered grumpy. The writing wasn’t the best. Juliette walked outside and the cold bit (nipped?) at her cheekbones. Dear, your cheekbones are covered in skin. If the air nipped at your bones, you’re a skeleton. I tried to continue, but this just wasn’t for me in the end.

3. A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh

DNFed @ 27%

After an absolutely horrific wedding night, this hero is irredeemable. I hate Ellie’s father, who blackmailed Randolph into marrying her and required that they consummate the marriage on the wedding night. What father would do this to his daughter? She’s his entire life and he loves her so much, and this is his final gift to her? Randolph hates her so much and is so upset that they’re married that he decides to hurt her and be as rough as possible. No foreplay, no slowness, no respect. And then when he feels bad after, he justifies his actions by thinking to himself that she brought it out in him. And then he runs to his mistress. I hate this book.

4. Baking It Merry by Samantha Chase (Audio)

DNFed @ 7%

I couldn’t listen to this narrator’s voice anymore. Too much vocal fry, over-enunciation, and a high-pitched, sharp, overly smiley tone. I felt like my preschool teacher was talking to me.

5. The Water Witch by Jessica Thorne

DNFed @ 15%

This was very poorly written and extremely boring. The characters are flat and dull, and I just did’t care. I went and looked up spoilers, and I’m so glad I didn’t spend more time reading this. I love archaeology and legends and treasure hunting, but it sounds like none of that actually matters in the end anyway.

6. The Unwedding by Ally Condie

DNFed @ 29%

Ellery acts both extremely immature and extremely old for her 40 years of age. She sounds like she’s 12 and then she sounds like she’s 70. And I know more about what these people are ate than about the supposed mystery.

7. Rebel Summer by Cindy Steel

DNFed @ 28%

I really didn’t like flashbacks to high school, and this happened every other chapter. Also, I didn’t like all of the mean things that people in the town were saying about the hero. It’s ok to have tattoos and be a loner, but they used those characteristics to typecast him. I also just didn’t like the narration style. Fake southern accents don’t do it for me.

8. A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan

DNFed @ 21%

I’m honestly surprised that this was written by Sophie Jordan. I’ve read many of her books and have always really liked them, so I have no idea what’s happened here. The writing is cumbersome and repetitive. There’s a lot of inner monologues from different characters, all recounting the same events with no additional information. Many passages are overly dramatic, with short, blunt sentences that I’m sure were written to try and add emphasis and drama, but they all came across as annoying “mic-drop” moments where the characters keep trying to illicit a gasp from the reader. Examples:

“It was a good day for a whipping. I’d had my share. Too many to count. But today was special. Today the border lords arrived.”

“Ever since we were little girls, we had done everything together. Played together. Ate together. Took lessons together. There was no distinction between us. We were sisters. No difference except one. A very important distinction. I was the only one to bear any punishment.”

“I shook my head. It was not even a request. Not even a proposition. It was a statement of fact. A forgone conclusion.”

“He had taught me to fight. He had taught me the meaning of honor. That you bled for the things that mattered. Your homeland. Your people. A worthless and feeble king. I inhaled.”

“I let my words hang in the air. Not a threat. Precisely.”

“My boyhood was gone. The time for childish things was over. I had things to do. Important things. Adult things. And yet there was something about her. Something that had me lingering over her.”

“She was going to be free. Free to be. Free to choose.” (This one made me roll my eyes the most.)

“When I was ten years old, I learned that there would be no grand state wedding for me. No multitude of guests. No weeklong festivities. No royal hunts for the wedding party. No lavish feast with all manner of entertainment. No bells tolling throughout the land. No marriage rites…”

“Especially not at ten. Not yet. I was a little girl. I didn’t worry about such things. I lived in the moment.”

“I spent my mornings learning with tutors and our governess. In music lessons. Dance. Art. Comportment.”

This is not all of them, and this is only up to 16%. Is the author’s period key broken on her keyboard? What happened to commas and flowing sentences? Reading this was like driving on a bumpy road.

9. Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen

DNFed @ 24%

The 3rd person POV prevented me from really sinking into this story and connecting with the characters. I loved the scenery and the entire idea of a matchmaking tour, but the story never grabbed me and I found my mind wandering as I read.

10. Caribbean Crush by R.S. Grey

DNFed @ 18%

I had a really hard time understanding why an adult man would harbor such feelings of anger and betrayal so many years after a middle school prank. I just really do not like arguments between children being the source of tension between adults in an enemies to lovers romance. I’m too old for this.

I always used to love this author’s books, but I’m starting to think we’re heading in different directions. This just seemed so wordy, and filled with details that weren’t necessary. Flashbacks to middle school took forever. Explanations and descriptions took forever. There was hardly any actual dialogue, it was all just telling. I appreciated the dual point of view, but they are both telling the reader the same thing. I didn’t care to read all the he said she said stuff. I also really didn’t care about all the technological workings of a cruise ship. I wanted fun and romance, not science. I loved the foundation of the friendship developing between the main girl and her neighbor, but I couldn’t hang in there long enough to see that through.

It’s not often I get to see all my negative thoughts about books smushed together like this! It’s like sitting in a room full of exes. Awkward!

Have you read any of these books?