THE RARE FEW BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH READING (BUT HAD FEELINGS ABOUT!)
It’s rare that I don’t finish a novel. But on occasion, I start a book that I just, well, I just… can’t. Some of them don’t work for me and others it’s because the R-rated language is so bad, which is one of my reader pet peeves. While I’m sure I’ve talked about all of these books before, and featured them on other prior lists, today we’re looking at a few of the books I started and had to mark as DNF. There aren’t many, or at least not many that I can find that fit, but we’ll see if we can find a few books I did not finish.
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THE RARE FEW BOOKS I DIDN’T FINISH READING (BUT HAD FEELINGS ABOUT!). Sharing a list of some books I DNF'd, but still had *feelings* about. #TopTen #BookList #TopTenTuesday Share on XI’m not sure how well this fits with the theme of what you all put together on a list, but I feel like it’s fair to say that sometimes we DNF a novel because of strong feelings. Usually of the negative variety, but still, it’s feelings and so we’re making this all work. Let’s meet the few book titles that apply to our DNF stack.
BOOKS I DID NOT FINISH
THE HUNGER GAMES, SUZANNE COLLINS
Didn’t hate this novel, but the idea of kids killing each other at the whim and fancy of people who think its sport is, well, disturbing. I did like the adaptation better in that I felt like Jennifer Lawrence helped me like or “connect” with Katniss a bit more. Goodreads
WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE, TRISH DOLLER
Didn’t finish this one, and I don’t think I’ve picked up anything else by Trish since. Her books sound cute, but having not cared for this title, I guess I just kind of mentally excluded this author as one to add more books by to my shelf. Goodreads
THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY, NATALIE JENNER
The Internet loves this novel and I think Natalie’s subsequent novels as well. I just couldn’t get into this one to love it. It is one that I did finish reading, and has its moments but overall, it’s not a me read. Goodreads
CRAZY RICH ASIANS, KEVIN KWAN
I thought the movie was so cute and fun, but I couldn’t get into the book. I think because it was kind of harried and a little “too much” with all the characters. Goodreads
THE HONEY-DON’T LIST and THE UNHONEYMOONERS, CHRISTINA LAUREN
While I did finish The Unhoneymooners, I didn’t The Honey-Don’t List. The later really annoyed me based on my quick little Goodreads recap, and the former, while cute, also wasn’t something that made me want to read all of the books by this writing duo. Goodreads
IF I NEVER MET YOU, MHAIRI MCFARLANE
Tried to read this one and just couldn’t get into it. Based on my Goodreads review, the profanity was really heavy and I didn’t care for the leading lady. Goodreads
SEVEN DAYS OF YOU, CECILIA VINESSE
Reading this one was one I was quite excited about. I didn’t end up enjoying it, sadly, and according to Goodreads, it’s one of the five novels I marked DNF, though how reliable that stat is, I don’t know since I rarely update Goodreads anymore. Goodreads
How did you spin this week’s list? Did you feature books you had happy strong emotions for? Negative ones? Or villainous opinions? Did you love any of these? What are your thoughts on our list of books I did not finish? Comment all of your thoughts below.
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Linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl June 4: Books I Had VERY Strong Emotions About (Any emotion! Did a book make you super happy or sad? Angry? Terrified? Surprised?)
I don’t often DNF a book but when I do it’s usually because I was bored or I couldn’t get on with the style of writing (a polite way of saying ‘it was badly written’). My pet peeve is too many typographical errors.
I get that pet peeve, Cathy. I think I too find it a reader pet peeve if there’s too many errors though perhaps I shouldn’t since I know I have MANY errors here. ;)
I definitely preferred the movie adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians – it helped a lot to have faces to match with the names! ☺️
That’s good to know, Lauren. I always had it on my mind to revisit the book, but I think I finally donated it because I just didn’t see myself taking the time to read it. But the story is fun and who knows, if the rumored sequel ever were to be made, maybe I’d try again. :)
The Hunger Games movies were pretty good, but I was unnerved by the premise as well.
I did like the movies… mostly because I think I “felt” more compassion and understanding of Katniss where I didn’t so much in the books. (Though I think I only read two of the books.) Thanks for visiting!
Great list! The Unhoneymooners is one of my all-time favorite books. Happy Tuesday!
I’m so glad, Stephanie! :)
Crazy Rich Asians is a fun movie, I haven’t read the book, but I have read that the movie is better.
I think it’s fun too! One I’ve been meaning to rewatch too. :)
An interesting list. I want to read The Unhoneymooners. I don’t like books with a lot of profanities in them. It puts me off.
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2024/06/04/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-had-very-strong-emotions-about/
Glad I’m not the only reader with that pet peeve. I just think too much profanity distracts from the good of a novel. :)
I also loved the movie version of Crazy Rich Asians a lot more than the book version!
Good to know, Lindsey! I did try to read the book before I went to see the film and I just couldn’t get into it. But the movie is good. :)
I tried to read Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner without realizing it was a sequel to The Jane Austen Society. It was a DNF for me; it bored me. I would rather play games on my phone than read the book? Means a DNF for me.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/warm-fuzzy-reads-12-books-to-give-you-warm-fuzzy-feelings/
I didn’t know Bloomsbury Girls was a sequel! I didn’t like The Jane Austen Society which did surprise me because everyone gushed over it when it was released. :)
Rissi, this is an amazing topic idea. I always like to do a Top Ten Tuesday post on my DNFs every so often because I’ll DNF a book faster than you, but still not too often. I have only read The Hunger Games from this list, but I have to admit that when I read it, I didn’t really give too much thought into what it was about before diving into the story. But it is a really disturbing topic!
Once I get back into the regular swing of reading (last week I did make a point to read at night for 30-40 minutes, so that’s a start!), I do want to make sure I’m DNF-ing IF the book just isn’t gripping me. Sometimes a book does drastically improve and I think that’s what we as readers hope for, but at the same time there’s too many books we will instantly love to spend time in one we don’t. :)