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
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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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