Books I’ve DNFed

I used to never officially DNF books, I’d just put them down and say I’d pick them up later. As such, they haven’t really been included in my wrap-ups. But I’ve been DNFing books more of late (though I still struggle to do it). So I’m just going to talk about the books that I have DNFed and my reasons for doing so.

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The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but not so much this second one. This was quite a few years ago, it’s one of the few books that I DNFed back then. I’ve been thinking of re-reading the series and giving them another chance, but I’m not sure, we’ll see.

Nicolae by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

This is a series that I thought had an interesting premise, but I just found the writing really annoying and the characters dis-likeable. I read the first two books in the series, but gave up halfway through the third one. This is another one that I DNFed quite some years ago.

The Inca’s Legacy by Karl May

I really loved Karl May’s Winnetou books. I read them multiple times and it was one of my favourite series growing up. So I really wanted to like this. But I could not get into it. I tried at least 3 times and never got further than maybe 30 pages in.

Closer by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams

Another series I really loved as a kid. For some reason though I just didn’t finish this. It got to a point in the story that dragged a bit and I didn’t own the book, I was lending it from my cousin, so I ended up giving it back cause I was taking too long to read it and I just never picked this series up again. I probably would have finished at least this book if I had owned it, but alas, that ship has sailed because there’s no way I’m re-reading this series just so I can finish this book.

Inferno by Dante Aligheri

I tried. I really wanted to enjoy this. But I just don’t really like stories told in verse. Maybe if I can find a version in prose, I’ll consider reading it, but who knows.

The Game by Terry Schott

I don’t remember much about this other than that it was terrible. I managed to get through maybe 80% of it, but man was this a mess of a book. I know it’s about a VR game, like so many other books. But it’s just so bad.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Really liked The Raven Boys, but this one was just bad and boring and… basically twilight but with werewolves rather than vampires.

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

I wanted to like this. The premise was really cool and I still think it’s a great concept, but the story itself and the characters were just not great. The MC (I forget her name… was it Gewn?) was so annoying. There was insta-love. It just wasn’t for me.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

I have huge respect for Terry Pratchett and I have enjoyed some of this other books, but this one wasn’t for me. It’s not by any means a bad book, but it’s just one I don’t have the patience for.

The Bat by Jo Nesbo

This was recommended to me by one of my friends and I wanted to like it, but I found it boring and not at all thrilling. Cop thrillers have to be really good for me to enjoy them. I can watch 10 seasons of Criminal Minds, no problem, but usually police procedural books have some tropes I just despise.

State of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury

I even unhauled this. I didn’t like Melinda Salisbury’s other book either, The Sin Eater’s Daughter. She always has these really cool premises, but the books themselves are so bland and the characters I just find insufferable. It’s a really pretty book, but I couldn’t get past the 50 page mark.

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

I wish I’d liked this more than I did. I got about halfway through it, but it just failed to keep me interested. I could have finished it, it wasn’t bad, I didn’t hate it. but I also just didn’t really care, so I decided to just DNF it. This is also one that I will be unhauling soon.

The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chackraborty

I read the first book and it was a pleasant surprise for me. I really enjoyed it. This one, I just lost interest. Kind of like with Prosper Redding, It couldn’t hold my attention and I just stopped caring. It was too slow to get to the point, I think. There were a lot of things going on that I didn’t care about. And I didn’t really care about the characters. And since I’ve resolved to DNF books I’m not enjoying, I’m DNFing it.

Viper by Bex Hogan

I did a read a chapter challenge a while back and this was part of it. I had decided to keep this and give it a chance, but when I tried and read a few more chapters, I just wasn’t feeling it, so this will be unhauled soon as well.