Top Ten Tuesday

#TopTenTuesday: Books I DNFed

Dini @ dinipandareads29 Comments

We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic is: Books I Did Not Finish (DNFed) (feel free to tell us why, but please no spoilers!)

I make a goal each year to try and DNF more books than the year before. It’s a very vague goal in terms of numbers because I often don’t DNF books as FOMO gets the better of me each time. 😂 I never used to really keep track of these books but a few years ago I made a special shelf on Goodreads for that and surprisingly (as I just checked for this post!) I’ve got 12 books on there. Let’s refresh my memory and see which ones they are and why (starting with the most recent)! 😂

The Farm by Joanne Ramos

DNF @ 40%
I went into this expecting something completely different. I was so bored and skimmed a lot of this before deciding that I was done with it less than halfway through.

The Alchemy of Moonlight by Dave Ferraro

DNF @ 20%
Sadly, this one wasn’t what I expected in terms of writing and story. I didn’t glom to the characters, I alternated between bored and annoyed with them, and the insta-lust just wasn’t for me!

How My Neighbour Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn

DNF @ 10%
MQ’s books and I usually get along very well. I know they’re often over-the-top and rely heavily on crass humour but this was the first time I felt like maybe I’ve outgrown her books. 10% is quick but I just couldn’t with the FMC—she was very not fun!

Frozen Hearts and Death Magic by Day Leitao

DNF @ 40%
In almost every aspect, this was not for me. The writing, the characters, the world-building all felt very thin and while I knew it would be very telenovela-esque, I just couldn’t stop cringing and couldn’t properly get into it!

The Revelation of Light and Dark by Sawyer Bennett

DNF @ 30%
This was my first book by this very popular romance author and it wasn’t great. I was bored to TEARS. I guess the good thing is that this sent me to sleep every time I tried reading it? I couldn’t fathom sitting through a whole series of this!

Love at the Icicle Café by Denise N. Wheatley

DNF @ 43%
This has such a cute premise and it started out promising but so much didn’t work for me. I found the chemistry lacking and many aspects incredibly unrealistic!

Hag of the Hills by J.T.T. Ryder

DNF @ 11%
I knew this would already be outside of my comfort zone but I found the writing too dry for me. Every time I tried picking it up, I would quickly lose interest!

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton

DNF @ 50%
This was one of my biggest disappointments of 2024. I was gutted that I didn’t enjoy this because it was one of my most anticipated MG fantasies. I just didn’t connect to or care about any of the characters or what was happening to them! I’m still so bummed about it!

Symphony for A Deadly Throne by E.J. Mellow

DNF @ 35%
Considering I gave the previous book in this series 4.5 stars I was incredibly sad I didn’t love this. It was so poorly written compared to the first two books when I feel it had the most potential (especially the romance)!

Taming Teddy by Lucy Lennox

DNF @ 32%
Loved the premise, but hated the execution. The chemistry and emotion were lacking and yet this was instalove to the core. So much telling and not enough showing!

Do you often DNF books? How far do you read before you decide to DNF a book? Have you read any of these and were they also DNFs for you?

29 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday: Books I DNFed”

    • It was probably one of my biggest 2024 disappointments because I was so sure that I would enjoy it and the reality was so far from it! I’m so bummed about it still. It did sound so good! There are still plenty of readers who loved it though so maybe you will too? I hope you do if you plan to give it a try 🙂

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    • Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that! I’ve been curious about Sara Cate’s books because I keep hearing amazing things about them from those who particularly love the tropes and kinks she writes. I don’t particularly gravitate towards them but my curiosity has kept the books on my radar, lol.

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    • I don’t know—maybe it was just me 😂 It has decent reviews but something about it just didn’t click with me and after being severely disappointed by an MG SFF that I read before it, I was already super sad, so I decided to DNF it. 😅 Still so bummed about it. I hope you enjoy it whenever you check it out though!

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  4. And yet despite your comment, the death magic one is really getting me with the cover xD it’s great to allow yourself to dnf books because how you trying things you might not otherwise! Like The hags over the hills, so you feel like you’re you’re allowed to put some time to it to see if you do like it, but not feel like you have to then see it through if it doesn’t match 🥰

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    • Haha, I’m ngl, I was fully sucked in because of that cover too. All the covers in this series so far have been stunning! But sadly, the book and I were not a match! 🫣 I didn’t really see whether others felt the same as me but I could be in the minority with my thoughts, lol.

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    • Haha, I’m kinda shocked by how quickly I wanted to DNF it once I started reading. The FMC was just not it and I just couldn’t fathom rooting for her and the MMC to get together. Nope! Just… Nope! 🙂‍↔️ BUT it is a well-loved romance book so maybe it’s just me, haha. I don’t know.

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  9. It depends? Usually around 30%, id say. Though I dont often, I had dnf two last year. One audio I had thought was gonna be like- gaining more confidence in ourselves but there was mention of god every 2sec 🫣 my bad, I didnt finished reading the synopsis it was written there but darn. That was too much god for me.

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    • Ah no, that’s too bad! Yeah, I try to DNF a bit more every year because why waste time on a book I don’t love when I could be reading something I’ll potentially love? 🤷🏻‍♀️ I know a lot of people that do and don’t DNF though!

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  11. As a HUGE fan of Sawyer Bennett, I have to say that she is not great at fantasy. If you ever feel you’ll try her again I’d recommend her hockey romances to get the feel for how most of her books are usually written. The Chronicles of the Stone Veil series is the LAST thing I’d recommend to anyone new to her books.

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    • Yeah, I mean I’ve heard so many good things about her romances so I was kind of shocked by that one. I think I started it because it was on KU and I was in a fantasy mood. It was so dry! I’m definitely keen to still check out her books one day though, so I’ll remember to start with the hockey stuff then! Thanks for letting me know 😃

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  12. I haven’t read any of these, and after reading your DNF reviews I might give them a pass lol. I’ve found that I enjoy reading so much more since I’ve started DNF’ing, and as for % wise, it depends on the book… some take me a little longer to realise it’s not for me.

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  15. I still hope to read and enjoy The Marvellers, and I’m sorry you ended up not liking it! I really hate when a super-anticipated book doesn’t end up working for me, so I know the feeling.

    Happy TTT (a bit late)!

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