DNF? Absolutely.

In the past, I used to power through a book even if I wasn’t enjoying it, thinking I had to finish what I started. However, that’s no longer the case. My time is valuable, and there’s simply not enough of it to waste on books that don’t bring me joy or satisfaction. Now, if I’m not engaged with a book, I have no problem putting it down and moving on to something else.

This shift in mindset doesn’t necessarily reflect poorly on the author. Sometimes a book just isn’t meant for me; I’m not the target audience, and that’s completely fine. When I decide not to finish a book, I won’t leave a star rating. After all, how can I fairly rate something I haven’t completed? For me, the key to sticking with a book is a sense of enjoyment. I don’t need a masterpiece of literary prose, but I do need the story to flow well and keep me interested.

Occasionally, I’ll mention books I didn’t finish on social media, not to criticize them, but to share my experience with like-minded readers who might relate. It’s interesting how some of the books I don’t finish are quite popular, which makes me wonder if it’s just me who didn’t connect with them.

As a result, there are a few books on my GoodReads list marked as “completed” but without a star rating, flagged as DNF (did not finish). This is more for my own organization, so I don’t mistakenly add them to my to-read list again. Ultimately, it’s important to remember that it’s perfectly okay to stop reading a book if it’s not bringing you enjoyment. Life’s too short to spend on something that isn’t worth your time!

2/5 Stars: The Woman in Me

Note: The star rating is not for the story itself, or a reflection on her as a person. I did not enjoy the act of reading the book because of the layout / grammar / disjointed thoughts. Her situation is of course horrific, the author obviously went through some traumatic stuff that no one should have gone through. But it was a bad read. It was all over the place, and didn’t flow. I felt like I was reading a high school student’s diary – which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it was awkward.

She came off as a spoiled immature spiteful entitled person. That was the view I got going in, and going out. She repeats over and over on all the monetary things she does for other people, and at one point even says she dreamed of her family to bowing to her because of what she had provided for them.

Yes, parts of her life have been unfair. Her family were not the best people. She never ever takes responsibility for any of her actions or reactions to these things, and constantly places the blame on what everyone else has done to her.

I’m of course, glad, that her life is finally her own – the conservator should have never ever been a thing. She is perfectly right in the fact that she shouldn’t have been forced to perform for others while at the same time being told she was too sick to pick out her own food. That’s pretty messed up.

The formatting (or lack there of) and grammar of the book were hard to digest, but I’m sure fans will appreciate its simplicity. It was insightful to hear things from her own perspective, and I hope it brought her a little bit of closure to get it out in the world.

2/5 stars

2/5 Stars: The House in the Cerulean Sea

I keep wavering over what to rate this, and there’s one reason for it, really.

I loved the writing. I even loved the story.
What I didn’t love, was afterwards, when I learned the true inspiration for the story, from the author himself. That, I really didn’t love.

Others have already said it more clearly than I ever could, so I’m going to link to this reddit post that goes over the specifics of why I’m uncomfortable, and why despite having finished this book, and enjoying it, and the author’s writing, I just can’t give it the rating I thought it deserved, now that I have a better idea and a bit more education on the subject.

Reddit post explaining the 60’s scoop in Canada, and branching into why it’s bad that a non magical dude ‘rescued’ these children.

2/5 stars

4/5 Stars: The Wicked King

This is my first full read of 2024 – there were a bunch of DNF books on my list, which I’ll write about a bit later, but this is the first one I just couldn’t put down.

This is the second book in the Folk of the Air series by Holly Black, and I was absolutely ready to continue the story of Jude, and her family. The book moved away from some of the teenage drama that we saw in the first (I was personally glad to see this) and into more politics – which I personally found refreshing.

This is one of those rare books where I couldn’t actually tell you what I thought the twists and turns of the plot would be or where they would end up – which is probably why I found it so fascinating, it has been a long time since a book enticed me in quite that way. Jude has done some growing up – she’s stronger, but she maintains her sense of loyalty at the same time.

Make sure you read the first book to the series before this one, they don’t work as stand alone books and brace your heart.

4/5 stars

2/5 Stars: The Inheritance Games

Another one of those books that I actually heard about on BookTok first, and decided to try out. I’m not sure why I thought the book would appeal to me but I decided to give it a go.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was easy to read and beautiful – however. I absolutely did NOT enjoy the story, or the characters, at all.

“Traps upon traps… and riddles upon riddles”

There were no traps, no riddles. The book spent so much time focusing on drama between Avery and the other teenagers that sometimes I forgot what it was about. None of it made sense, and I didn’t enjoy the characters.

The dialogue didn’t hit any of the right notes with me, and the conclusion was underwhelming. I’m sure many others out there enjoy this read – but it was just not for me.