Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Petty Reasons You’ve DNF’d a Book.
I don’t know if I’d call all my reasons “petty”, but some of them are definitely mean! Some of these dnfs happened recently, and some of them are really old dnfs that I don’t even remember – I copy/pasted my thoughts from reviews/notes I wrote.
Top Ten Petty Reasons I’ve DNF’d a Book
- Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi – I loved the first book in this series and I really wanted to like this one too, but one of the love interest in this story gave me the ick, and I just couldn’t continue the journey with them. I think I dnf’d around the halfway point.
- A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal – I dnf’d this very early, within the first few chapters. The writing was difficult to read and it didn’t keep my interest.
- Caraval by Stephanie Garber – I read all the way to 95% of the book, I believe, but I was annoyed with it the whole way and just got angrier and angrier as I read because I expected it to get better and it never did. I can’t say what the final straw was because it’s so close to the end and may be a spoiler, but at that point, I was just done.
- Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck – I’ve mentioned this book before in Books I Love to Reread; it’s the one book I love that I’ve reread many times but never finished. It counts as a petty dnf for this list, because my reason is that the last few pages just didn’t seem necessary.
- Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien – I dnf’d this once a long time ago, forgot completely about it, came across the series again and thought it sounded fun, tried reading it again, and dnf’d again. I really wanted to love it and get into the whole series, but I don’t think it’s for me. Both times dnf’d early in the book – I went a bit further the second time because I wanted to make more of an effort to like it.
- Taking Chances by Molly McAdams – My exact notes were; “Nope, sorry. So bad within the first 50 pages that I don’t even want to waste my time reading the rest of it.”
- The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake – The characters were messy and unlikeable and inconsistent.
- Splintered by A.G. Howard – I love going through my old notes and seeing how mean and petty I was; “I decided not to finish the book. It got really annoying and I really didn’t like the characters much at all.”
- Innocent Mage by Karen Miller – “I had high hopes for this book, but the deeper I got into the book, I just started getting bored. Nothing was going on, everything was just telling, not showing. The characters started getting on my nerves, with all the waiting, waiting….”
- Alienated by Melissa Landers – “In one word: shallow.”
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
I used to have Splintered and Caraval on my shelf, but I think I’ve unhauled the former and maybe Stephanie’s too. I never tried to read either one, but at this point, I’ve probably “outgrown” my interest. 🙂
I often give up on series, even if I loved the first book.
I like the quotes from your notes 😂
I had to tweak mine a bit as I drew a blank. I have DNF 1 book. I have drifted from books but not officially DNF d them 🤣
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2024/04/30/top-ten-tuesday-books-series-i-didnt-want-to-end/
I finished the Atlas Paradox but barely.
My TTT
https://seriesbooklover.wordpress.com/2024/04/30/top-ten-tuesday-petty-reasons-ive-dnfd-a-book/
These are all good reasons to DNF!
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday.
Love that you made a list of actual books!
One of the reasons I rarely read romance is because too many of the love interests make me cringe. I guess I’m not alone in that!
I really liked the first several Noodle Shop mysteries, but if you’re not connecting with the characters it’s definitely not a book or series that will work for you.
Here’s my TTT this week: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2024/04/30/top-ten-tuesday-dnf-because/
You DNF’ing the Atlas Paradox makes me feel better that I hated The Atlas Six haha 😆
These are all legitimate reasons to DNF a book. If my mind starts to wander while I’m reading the book, then it’s a DNF. I may give the book a second try, but not always.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/reasons-why-ive-stopped-reading-a-book/
You DNF’d at 95%? Wow. By that point, I would just finish it so I could at least count it as read!
The Chien series is actually one of my favorite cozies. It doesn’t have the greatest writing, but I still enjoy it. As long as I don’t take them too seriously, the books keep me entertained when I just want a light, fluffy read.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I hate when a book seems to go nowhere!
I love that you have your notes about the books. I am terrible about DNFing – I usually at least skim-read the rest of a book, and I could NEVER quit at 95%!! But I don’t review books I don’t enjoy anymore, and I don’t write notes about them either, so I usually just end up with a weird feeling of distaste for them years later with no specific remembrance of why. LOL!