It was me, not you. Okay, maybe a little you. Really, we’re both a little to blame.
Following my theme from last year, I gave myself permission to DNF any book that just wasn’t working for me, but I try to give them at least 15% to turn around. That seems like a fair shake to me. And you know what? It’s so freeing.
Feeling like I can DNF things has allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone as far as reading goes, and I’ve fallen in love with books this year that I thought I would for sure hate.
Trying new things sometimes works out. Imagine that. Who would’ve thought? I do feel like, though, it’s no coincidence that the majority of these are book club books, as I’m finding that more often than not, the books we’re reading just aren’t my type of thing.
Last year, I posted my 2018 breakups, and I thought it’d be nice to continue the tradition of airing my dirty laundry publicly.
Just a little reminder that these books weren’t necessarily bad. They just weren’t for me. Not everything is, and thank goodness for that, because where would I put everything? That’d just be inconvenient, and I’d probably end up crushed to death under stuff. It’d make for an awful epitaph. So it’s probably for the best.
The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
DNF’d at:
pg 78
What I enjoyed:
The book has an older protagonist! We for sure need more books like this. I find I really enjoy older protagonists, because surprise, but most lives don’t end after your 20s, and there’s still stories to be told and adventures to be had.
Fatal flaw:
The humor just didn’t appeal to me. I like big personalities, sarcasm, and dry humor. I can’t do absurdity. Shortly into the book and this older man takes out a bad guy and accidentally kills him, and I’m more concerned about whether I’m an accomplice to something now by extension than whether or not I should laugh. It’s Monty Python without the wordplay and easy laughs.
Some Small Magic
DNF’d at:
pg 74
What I enjoyed:
I liked the promise of an adventure and the idea of a little boy trying to find healing and answers. The premise was interesting enough.
Fatal flaw:
I don’t like Christian fiction, in general. It’s just not my thing. Early on, this book included both a sermon and an angelic messenger, and that’s just a hard nope for me. I don’t mind reading books about Christians or from a Christian point of view, but I don’t like reading something feeling like I’m being preached to, and that’s where this one felt like it was heading.
The Malice of Fortune
DNF’d at:
I don’t know … not very far in?
What I enjoyed:
Umm … the premise? I was pretty stoked at the idea of reading a book about Machiavelli and his (fictional) influence for writing The Prince. But Machiavelli and da Vinci working together to find a serial killer? Sounds too good to be true. I mean, apparently, it was, but …
Fatal flaw:
I’m not even going to lie, only one person in my book club actually finished this, and it was under duress. I think I got maybe 50 – 70 pages in, hoping it would turn around, and that was more than most people. The writing was just really dense and hard to get through, and sort of … nothing happened? It was so painfully slow. This was just way off the mark for me.
The Old Man in the Corner: The Teahouse Detective
DNF’d at:
11%
What I enjoyed:
I really enjoyed The Scarlet Pimpernel, and this was by the same author with an interesting premise. As I said, I’m fond of older protagonists, and yes, I want to read about all the tricky puzzles and how they were solved.
Fatal flaw:
This was written, essentially, as an old man in a teahouse in the corner, recounting the crimes he investigated. That’s it. I have an old man in my life. He’s not investigated any crimes, but I can put him in a corner and have him talk all day, and not only would it make him happy, but it’d also probably be more interesting than this story because at least it’s face-to-face. Nothing actually happens. It’s literally just an old man telling stories.
Split Second
DNF’d at:
pg 75
What I enjoyed:
The characters seemed interesting enough. You know me, I’m always a fan of murder and mayhem, so it had that going for it.
Fatal flaw:
There was almost too much going on with this one, so I couldn’t get into any one story. There were three separate cases, plus personal issues, plus romances. There was also a really awkward and weird paranormal aspect that came out of left field and blindsided me. The story just didn’t feel particularly cohesive.
The Deaths and Afterlife of Aleister Crowley
DNF’d at:
6%
What I enjoyed:
The premise sounded really cool. I love antiheroes and the idea of a villain secretly working to save the world.
Fatal flaw:
This is probably the earliest I’ve ever DNF’d a book. The narration was so dry, lacked a personality, and it was pretty much a retelling of Aleister Crowley’s very religious childhood, complete with a ton of biblical verses, etc. It was one giant info dump without any hook or draw to keep me going.
A Hero Born
DNF’d at:
17%
What I enjoyed:
The translation was actually really freaking good. I’ve read a number of translated works, especially Chinese and Japanese translations, and phew, some of them are rough and hard to piece together in English. This flowed really nicely, though, and that was a surprise. I generally enjoy wuxia, and this is a great example of that. The fight scenes were easy to follow and picture.
Fatal flaw:
This one’s a bit twofold. One, it was being marketed as being a Chinese Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, and it’s just not. That set it up to fail, every time, because if someone’s going in expecting either of those books, they’re going to be sorely disappointed. The other part is just me: I need more out of the prose and plot, personally. The writing is what one would expect from what this is: an older Chinese story being translated into English. There wasn’t much in the way of descriptions, a bunch of characters to keep track of, and it just didn’t allow me to connect with the characters or the setting.
Shadow Frost
DNF’d at:
30%
What I enjoyed:
The prologue was soooo good, and oh how I wish the rest of the book was written like that. I think there’ll be great things from this author in the future, but she was 15 when this was written (19 when it was published), which is amazing, but also maybe not always the best time to publish a book. The banter did make me laugh in several places, even if it was unrealistic.
Fatal flaw:
There were just a lot of YA quest cliches that killed it for me. Pretty much what you would expect from a 15-year-old author. Which is why my manuscripts from when I was that age are hidden away under lock and key, guarded by a dragon, across a drawbridge and a boat, and written in invisible ink. The characters feel so unrealistic, the love triangle is so cringey and awkward, the characters make too many decisions that make absolutely no sense whatsoever but conveniently move the plot along where it needs to go, and it takes too long for something to happen (at which point, a quest just full-on smacks the reader in the face).
Salvage the Bones
DNF’d at:
10%
What I enjoyed:
Ummm … yeah … about that …
Fatal flaw:
Just a hard pass for me all around. Graphic description of a dog giving birth (which somehow is compared to everything that’s going on in the beginning of the book), graphic enough descriptions of teenagers having sex, which is … squicky. I’m just not a fan of the writing style, either. It’s so flowery and full of figurative language, which also trying to emulate the accent and vernacular of the area, which was such a weird combination that just didn’t work for me.
At the Water’s Edge
DNF’d at:
pg 50
What I enjoyed:
It was easy enough to read. Nothing I particularly objected about it, and I whipped through the part I did read. I enjoy books set in Scotland, usually, and the idea of hunting the Loch Ness monster grabbed my attention.
Fatal flaw:
I just was not feeling this one, and I’ve been on a bit of a reading high, so I didn’t want to end my year with a blah read. The characters are rich, entitled, spoiled brats, and ain’t nobody got time for that. At the point I stopped, nothing of consequence had really happened, except that the characters had just decided to go to Scotland (during WWII might I add), and I was sort of hoping they’d all drown on the way, because that would’ve really livened up the book immeasurably.
I haven’t read any of these, but I didn’t know the author of Shadow Frost was 15 when she write the book, that’s crazy! No one knows anything at 15, how can you convey the human experience at that age? Your DNF makes total sense😁
To be fair, there were quite a number of people that really liked the book, so it definitely depends on personal preference. I think it’s well suited to the early YA crowd, because it’s more their mentality, so that’s something good.
But yeeeah, 15 is just … I mean, some people can do it? Most people can’t. I definitely couldn’t, even though I was so sure at that age that I was good enough haha.
I felt the same way about A Hero Born and I ended up DNFing it too.
The 100 Year Old Man was okay for me, but I really liked the movie adaptation. 🙂
Oooh, there’s a movie adaptation?! I might just have to check that out. I tend to be more lenient with silly movies (I don’t know why. It’s such a weird thing.) I might enjoy that a bit more.
Sometimes we just don;t match with a book.. I also DNF’ed A hero born, just couldn;t get into the writing of that one!
(www.evelynreads.com)
So glad I’m not alone in that! It’s always sad to have to DNF a book to me, but at least someone out there will love it. :3
Love the title! I think I only DNFed one book this year, Caroline: Little House Revisted about Ma Ingalls. It’s the January Book Club pick at work, by boss chose it after listening to the audio. I tried, but this one wasn’t for me, despite the fact that I love historical fiction. I was reminded why I never finished the Little House books to begin with, too religious for me. And this one was dry and Pa started to remind me of my dad, which isn’t good, so I stopped.
That sounds like a hard one to get into, honestly. I feel like book club books are always so hit or miss, since you don’t get a say in them. Most people know what they like and what they don’t like, so it makes sense that DNFs would happen when you take your choice out of it. I mean … not that you can’t choose not to read it … you know what I mean. xD
I get a say, since I help run the book club, but this one just was a miss for me. It shouldn’t have been since we’ve done historical biographical fiction before and I enjoyed it, but this was a person I really wasn’t interested in.
Unfortunately, that does happen sometimes!
I’m with you about not wanting to be preached to in books. And while I’m not as opposed to a book being one character telling stories, it’s really tricky to get that narrative right (and when it’s not exactly right it’s usually not a fun read).
I DNFed only 8 books this year (I haven’t checked against prior years, but that seems low for me). Among them are The Name of the Rose (too obtuse), Letters From an Astrophysicist (was due at the library, not its fault), and Aru Shah and the End of Time (too YA).
I think of something like an omniscient narrator, and I love those stories. That’s fine with me. Or some version of a narrator. But it definitely has to be engaging.
Eight’s a good number. I actually didn’t even count how many books I DNF’d here. xD I was sure it’d be a lot more. I *feel* like I DNF’d a ton of books this year, but I was surprised to find it really wasn’t too many compared to how many I finished lol.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who couldn’t do Aru Shah. xD I feel so left out, because it seems like so many other people enjoyed it lol.
I feel like I should have loved Aru Shah. It sounded right up my alley, but it turned out to just be *too* middle grade for me. Oh well! Can’t love ’em all.
I have not read any of these, but I can understand all your reasons for DNFing. That’s great you let yourself DNF now. I do too, and it makes things easier!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done for myself book-wise. XD I used to try to force myself to read them, and then I’d end up in a slump and wonder why it took me forever to finish reading something lol.
[…] @The Writerly Way posted All the Books I DNF’d (2019 Edition) || Because being negative is fun sometimes and Sammie did a great job of explaining the flaws of […]
Yay for DNFing! I’m trying to be better about that. I only DNF’d 2 books this year, but I felt like that was an accomplishment for me. 😉
Hey, I started small, too. I’ve gradually been giving myself more permission to admit when books just aren’t working for me. 🙂
Interesting how I linked to this post in my wrap up but haven’t had the time to actually comment on it. I think It’s so cool how you mentioned both why you picked it up and why you weren’t enjoying it, very comprehensive. All of the flaw sound like things I’d be bothered/annoyed by too. Reading about spoiled bratty people is the worst! It’s a shame Salvage the Boys was so… bad/weird because that cover is Amazing!
Ah, I’ve totally done that before, when I get behind in comments but I’ve actually read posts. xD It happens.
I like to try to show the positives and negatives! Because sometimes my negatives are someone else’s positives. It’s happened more times than I can count lol. Yeah, I’ve heard great things about her work, and I want to read Sing, Unburied, Sing, but I just … don’t know. I’ll still probably try it, but lower my expectations a bit.
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[…] @The Writerly Way posted All the Books I DNF’d (2019 Edition) || Because being negative is fun sometimes and Sammie did a great job of explaining the flaws of […]
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