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
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
CategoriesAll Anxiety Black Empowerment Black History Blog Books Depression Fashion Halloween LGBT Lifestyle Mental Health Movies Music Poetry PreCollege Review Self Love Thoughts Tips And Guides Writing |