Tuesday 10 June 2014

Books I Couldn't Finish (2)


I used to finish ever book I started, whether I was enjoying it or not. But life is short. I’ve realised that I don’t have time for books I’m not full involved in any longer so if I don’t like something or don’t connect with it as much as I want to, I’ll put it aside. It still makes me feel guilty though, especially if I received them for review so I still want to talk about them, explain why I didn’t like them. Here are the most recent books I DNF-ed.

Prince of Shadows, Rachel Caine
Now, I love Rachel Caine and Romeo and Juliet so this was a sure winner for me. I can’t even articulate my devastation that I couldn’t even get through it. Prince of Shadows is told through the point of view of Benvolio which I thought was a genius move, but it just didn’t click with me. This book had none of the addictive quality of Rachel Caine’s books that usually keeps me up way past my bed time. I was incredibly disappointed that I couldn’t get in to this. Hopefully I’ll be able to give it another go at some point soon.

Where the Rock Splits the Sky, Philip Webb
Where the Rock Splits the Sky had the feel of an old-school Western at first, then it became a post-apocalyptic Western, and then there were aliens and I stopped reading. The plot had so much promise, but I couldn’t handle that mix of genres, especially when the context of the world wasn’t even hinted at, let alone explained in the 50-or-so pages I read. I usually like a bit of mystery and I love being drip-fed world building, but this was so frustrating that I couldn’t carry on with it.

Breaking Butterflies, M Anjelais
I was extremely excited about Breaking Butterflies: a young debut author, a gritty contemp and it is published by Chicken House – what could go wrong?! And yet I felt nothing for the two main characters – I can’t even remember their names! – and the writing just wanted as sharp as it could have been. As I was reading, I was restructuring and editing the story, and I don’t like that when I read. I want to become involved in someone else’s world, not make it mine in that way.

Sophie

3 comments:

  1. I feel quite the same over Prince of Shadows, I borrowed it and couldn't get into it and gave it back, however, my Mum has got it for my Birthday so I can turn back to it whenever I'm ready to; I do think I could at some point enjoy it more, just not right now.

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  2. I almost didn't finish Where the Rock... for exactly those reasons you mentioned. I made myself though and it didn't really get any better. Such a strange book.

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  3. I made myself finish Where The Rock, it was pretty weird. Definitely an odd mix of genres and the explanation was too late in the story, I was already pretty lost. Glad I stuck with it, but still struggled.

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