Here's my list of books DNf'd in 2021 continued!
The Fourth Time by Maya Hughes I was so upset! I got this recommendation from the fabulous Steph Bohrer on Youtube and looking back on it, I have to agree that our romance tastes can be slightly different because this simply did not work for me. It wasn’t a bad book, per se, it was just very anticlimactic. It was such low angst, they got together so fast, there was no no plot and the character’s were so bland and surface level that I couldn’t really get into them as individuals either. Since, I couldn’t see reasons for why they liked each other, in the end, the pay off just didn’t feel worth it. Granted, this is the fourth book in a series so maybe it would have helped to start from book one, but in my defense, if this book is supposed to be a standalone, (despite recommendations) then it should read as such and allow me to want to get into the other books. This one didn’t do that so, back to the dusting shelf it goes. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman Now, I’m gonna chalk this one up to a poor mental state because I really want to give this series another try. All the girlies rant and rave about this graphic novel/webseries and the art is so gorgeous that I think I could really get into it. They had it at my Target recently and I was so tempted…but I got into a part in the book that mentioned depression in a little more detail than I was prepared to handle at that moment so I had to put it down. I definitely also want to be able to read it physically which I think could help with putting distance between the story and myself but that’s all it was. Ya’ll can carry on loving this book until I can actually get through it for reasons that don’t involve mental instability. 😂 Party Favors by Erin McLellan. I’ve been looking for some more sapphic, w/w romance novels, especially smutty ones! (The girlies don’t get enough justice around here for in detail smut) so I was so excited to get into this novella. But gosh, for barely a hundred pages I was sooo bored. I love holiday themed romances, and I love a good novella, but I needed more angst and chemistry and frankly, the smut wasn't even all that hot (from what I read). So I’m going to try this author one more time. Maybe. But I’ve looked into her before and I couldn’t get into the writing so it could be me, but it might just be me. lol. Hero by Lauren Rowe I was kind of disappointed by this one because it started out soo good! I love a good firefighter romance but then it got cheesy and cliche, like epically bad, epically fast. One minute they’re first meeting and now he’s in love with her (like actually). There’s no room for angst or reading between the lines of “will they, won’t they”. And sure, she has some baggage but not enough that makes me feel like their journey is worth reading to see them get together, because I genuinely already know that they will. The family aspect was cute I guess but I wished there was more time developing the chemistry, even if things were insta-love on his part. Like damn, did he have to confess those feelings to her in the first 20%? Moving on. Skin of the Night by Claire D. Bennett I just recently started this and just as quickly stopped. I should know better than to listen to TikTok. I’m rarely on there anyway so why did I decide that NOW was the time I’d listen to their bullshit recommendations. No offense. Anyways, I heard it was a smutty, office romance (which I’m realizing is a trope I don’t think I like very much ~looking at you, The Hating Game~). I think I stopped on the fifth chapter. If I’m not mistaken, the story was British, but the story was also trying too hard to be “posh and sophisticated” (because they’re lawyers). In the end it came off as way too pretentious for it to be a new adult novel. Trust me, the story had a mediocre storyline at best and the writing just made it worse. So, we shall be leaving that in 2021. The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter–And How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay This was my most exciting nonfiction book this year! And yet it’s sitting on my dnf shelf 😅. I talked about this briefly in my last blog post as well as one of my most surprising books I read, but the reason why I stopped reading this one is because this book is broken up in the sections of “defining areas” in a 20 year olds life. I wanted and loved the book for its career advice, trudged through the romance section and kind of just stopped there. I’m not even sure what comes after that section and I’m now definitely curious because it wasn’t a bad book. I do know that it got a little elitist when it started talking about it’s preference to treat “middle class, white 20 year olds” because I guess, they don’t come with all this socioeconomic baggage. 😬 Which like, come on. So that was the first strike. But I don’t know, I think this book just stopped being useful to me as a self help book. So maybe that means it did its job well. It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey This was in my failed attempt to vlog. I know, for a second there I contemplated turning my book content into video form but I’ve realized there aren’t nearly enough days where I’m properly dressed and have the social battery to talk for an extended period of time to a camera (that’s not class related haha). So we’re here, writing from the comfort of my sweats and fuzzy socks. Either way, that failed video was me trying to read popular traditionally published books from last summer. I got through ¾ of the books but this one I just couldn’t. Maybe it’s because those other books had already killed the mood, but It wasn’t even the ditzy heroine that did me in, it was the not-quite-so-grumpy-just-judgmental-prick of a hero that made me put this one down. Maybe I’ll give it another try because I really do like the cover and I’ve heard great things (plus I want to see if I like Tessa Bailey’s books), but I’m not sure a better mood can change my opinion on the hero. Wrapped by Rebekah Weatherspoon This was another failed reading challenge event where I was trying to read only smutty santa novellas for the rest of December. Wrapped was the third book I got into and I finally just had to claim defeat after the first books I had read before this were either really bad or barely above mind dulling. I wanted to try and push through because I knew I had so many books on my dnf list so far but I was hating reading and didn’t want to end the year like that so unfortunately, I had to also let this one go. (Rebekah Westherspoon is still such a queen though). The Doctor by Nikki Sloan I read The Pool Boy first in this series and thought it was okay. It was good enough for 4 stars, but I don’t think it was anything too ground breaking. I know some people either love this book more or The Pool Boy but it depends. I didn’t think either of them were that great to be honest, and I love a good taboo romance but this one was just boring. It felt very similar to Penelope Douglas’ “Birthday Girl” with the ex-boyfriend’s dad, age gap, taboo romance sort of vibe. So it didn’t really stand out much to me. I don’t think I got past chapter five with this one either and probably won’t be coming back. Nikki Sloan is typically a 3 star and below for me anyway. Anarchy Found: Alpha Lincoln by JA Huss I completely forgot I read (or rather, didn’t read) this book until I checked my Kindle Unlimited. Alas, it was left forgotten but had such promise. I think this book is about a girl falling in love with a supervillain and it’s a series. I also could be completely wrong about this summary because the description doesn’t give much to go off of (I got the book from a BookTube recommendation) but I remember that the writing was really cheesy, so I stopped. But it’s okay because a few months later I'm now reading Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots and it’s 10xs better. Stay tuned and it might make one of my favorite books of 2022 😏. ~End~ Moral of the story, life’s too short to read boring books and most of these books were simply that: boring. I think I can suffer through a book that makes me angry if it’s intriguing and the writing is good enough but the way I had to force myself to get through some of these truly killed my soul. But I did try! But in pushing through, some of these books took me out of reading for at least a week or so so I was just feeling very slumpy most of the time. I just hated seeing my DNF list grow and grow and to be honest, I have detachment issues. Taking the book OFF of my “currently reading” list means that I can never come back to them again. But I know better, dnf’s are just like leftovers. You put them in the fridge to never eat or see them again, telling yourself that you will. But you never do. You won’t come back, no matter how many times you convince yourself, “it doesn’t taste that bad reheated in the microwave”. Anyways, cheers to a year of dnf’s, they taught me well. That’s all for today. Thanks for reading! Until Next Time. With love, Arianna
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1/8/2022 0 Comments let's talk...dnf'sOh, the dreaded acronym: Did Not Finish. Honestly, It’s not as daunting as it seems once you truly get into it. And boyyy did I get into it this year.
I briefly talked about how hard of a reading year this was for me. I fully got back into reading 2020, during the pandemic, like most people and I missed it. I was an avid reader as a kid, but then school and life got in the way and I had to find my way back. 2020 was a great reading year. 2021…was a year of dnf’s. Don’t get me wrong, I had some great books this year. And a few five stars I'll definitely take with me for a while. But I had So. Many. Dnf’s. So many that I thought I'd write about them. But first, I want to mention that so often that we think that when we “give up on something” it makes us quitters. There’s a stigma surrounding not being able to finish or complete a project but I say, to hell with that. The pressure to simply finish something just to say we did is overrated and reading is supposed to be fun! And it’s not if we make it a chore just to check a mark off a list. (Plus, I’m a mood reader, this semester was jam packed, and I had a short attention span so it could just be me). 😜 Each dnf is so different so I’m going to go through all of them and why each one didn’t work for me. And let’s hope I can remember some of these plots cuz it’s been awhile. Haha. 😅 BOOKS Theirs Ever After by Katee Roberts This was the third book in a trilogy and it started out so strong! It was about a polyamorous romance with Meg who worked as a waitress (if I remember correctly) and best friends Theo and Galan who seduce her while on the dance floor on her birthday. Little does she know that Theo is the long lost royal Prince and Galan is his bodyguard. They enter a whirlwind of a relationship that follows them first meeting and falling in love in America, then they go back to the boy's home country and Theo regains power of his kingdom. This third book has Theo as king and Galan and Meg as his consorts; the change is hard for them to adapt to in their relationship. My reasons for not finishing? Boring. It was a happily ever after with minor strife, bad communication and the lack of angst didn’t add much to the plot line. (Plus the sex scenes were just mediocre) so evidently, what was I really staying for? It wasn’t the first book I DNF'd but it’s here when I took notice that my list had grown sort of long. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry I know, I know, the dreaded Emily Henry debate. You’re either a Beach Read girlie or you ate this book up. I wanted to read this physically with a friend but couldn’t get a physical copy so I started reading online and stopped at chapter 5. It was boring. But then I started it again on ebook! And that was much more promising, I got up to chapter 16 and just realized that it wasn't the format that I was consuming that was the problem, it was just that the story wasn’t compelling enough for me to complete. I think there were too many flashbacks that didn’t allow me to connect with who the characters were in the present (Which was the whole point) and just generally, the characters just seemed…boring. I wish I had more to offer than that. Maybe Beach Read could be more my vibe, I’m down to try it. Backstage Pass by Olivia Cunning I definitely saw this book on smutty Bookok and Tik Tok led me astray. 😔 It sounded like vibes because I love a good rockstar romance but when they said smut, they meant smut. I’m talking sexy times every other page to chapter and with the lack of plot and character development just made it boring for me. So, I stopped. I gave it a fairly good chance I think though. I might have gotten to the teens? I don’t remember but I do remember there was a bathtub scene and that’s when I had to roll my eyes and put this one aside. I’m glad the tik tok girlieis enjoyed it though. Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay I was lowkey so disappointed by this book because I was so excited to read it. I take so African American studies classes and I’m literally a Gender Sex and Women’s studies minor so I thought it was about time to tap into my literary resources regarding sociopolitical thoughts. Unfortunately, it didn’t provide any new or profound information I hadn’t already heard about from my classes or personal life. Not to say that there isn’t much to learn from this book as a whole, but for me I didn’t get that much out of it. I think if someone is just stepping into this journey it could be nice to read something from someone with a more personable perspective (especially if they’re not taking classes) but I stopped because…I was bored. Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America by Ibi Zoboi This is a YA anthology that’s full of fictional stories by Black authors that depict the lives of Black teens all across the country and I love it. This is a rare book that I didn’t stop reading due to conflicting opinions or boredom, but simply because it’s not a linear storyline and I’m easily distracted. 😅 I would love to return to his book and finish it because the stories are truly amazing, but it’s also YA and that’s not typically my genre (and after this year, I’m worried it’s a me thing and not something I push through). But it’s a book that’s confidently on my shelf and I can’t wait to eventually, one day, hopefully soon, finish it. Hopefully. 😅 Monster in His Eyes by J.M. Darhower This book was following a series of mafia romance binging that I was happily eating up. I don’t typically read dark romances and mafia seems to always teeter that line (at least, from what I’ve seen) but ya’ll already know how much I love a good bad boy/good girl trope. I fell in love with J.M. Darhower’s mafia character in the duology “Scarlet Scars” because as much as there were dark elements, I knew I could expect humor and sexy times with her books. But this book unfortunately did not work for me. For a mafia it was dull; there was no angst and no stakes that made the environment threatening or exciting so…it was a dnf from me. Unfortunately, I think this caps I have in this author’s books for the future. The Takeover by T.L. Swan Ooh this one was a time. I’ve got to say, I got pretty far in this book, about halfway before I just couldn’t anymore. I heard this book was oh so sexy and oh so much fun. What did I actually feel? It was condescending. Listen, in my fiction/romances I’m all for a domineering man. I love when he takes control, maybe a little possessive (IN MY FICTION) but this main character was just plain condescending and really tipped over that line of consent. Not by much but enough that it lost all attraction and appeal for me. The characters didn’t have any chemistry because she was blatantly telling him no and he said “you want me, what you mean is yes”. Ummmm. I know this kind of behavior works for some people in their books and I’m not judging those who like this book or other books like it but this trope was not it for me. So, it was a dnf. (I’m honestly scared to try other books by this author now which is disappointing because a few of them still sound interesting). The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout Listen, (shoutout to Miracle for reading so far in this series with me) but we really tried ya’ll. We started buddy reading this series, also in 2020 and I wasn’t really into them. The first book was okay. The second book was slightly less than okay. The third book…well, I’m talking about it here so we know how well that went. We got up to page 78 out of maybe 600? Girl, I was just so bored. The couple had been together by now, she just keeps upgrading in powers to give the plot something new, the conflict hasn’t been resolved since the first book so by this time I don’t even care anymore. So I’m sad I couldn’t finish out the series but honestly, not really. Me and Miracle can read way better books than this in the future. Still (Grip #2) by Kennedy Ryan Ya’ll already heard my rants and rave about the first book in this series so I was hesitant to jump straight into the third one because I really wasn’t feeling this main character, Bristol. And then I got into it and stopped at 16%. Again, at this point, the main characters are already happy and in love, and in my defense, I didn’t really let my feelings simmer down after reading the first book and from hating the heroine so that might have been my mistake when starting this one. I didn’t want to finish this book but I’m doing research on Black romance novels so for the sake of academia I might have to. (When did my life come to this? haha). ~To Be Continued... This list has grown pretty extensive so I'm going to break it up into two parts, so stay tuned for the rest of my Dnf's! Until Next Time! With Love, Arianna |
AuthorI'm an 21 year old girl who lives in NY. I love to read and write and fashion is my life. Follow me to find out more! Archives
January 2023
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