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Book reviews: DNF edition
Apr. 2nd, 2023 01:29 pmMan, I've been having a really bad reading streak so far this year. I think I've finished reading 5 books and DNF'ed 6? My most anticipated books don't come out until October. :( I'm praying I'll find some good books between now and then...
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Adult, thriller
This author's previous thriller (The Wife Upstairs) was a 3/5 star read for me, plus I love the isolation thriller trope, e.g. a murder happening in an isolated location such as a mountain chalet or a remote island.
But I got 50% or so through this book and just...absolutely nothing is happening. It's just about Lux, her BF, some girls they met, and a rich couple chilling together on an island. So I had to quit.
I sort of get now why a lot of people are against flashbacks on principle—because it turns out there are plenty of books that use them poorly. The flashbacks in this book interrupt the flow of the story and also create tension where none existed before—because there is no tension in the present day timeline. I believe flashbacks work best to flesh out something that's hinted at in the main storyline, not to attempt to create drama where none exists. Otherwise, the flashbacks feel like cheating or a crutch, a way for the author to get out of organically creating tension by having a side story to try to entice the reader to keep reading further.
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Genre: Adult, mystery
Another DNF roughly halfway through. This premise sounded really cool, but the execution didn't match what I was expecting.
I thought this would be an isolation mystery in which the protagonist tried to figure out which of his family members committed a murder at a mountaintop resort. However, as of about halfway through, none of the family members are suspects (partly because the murder victim's identity isn't even known). Instead, the protagonist is attempting to investigate whether a serial killer is present at the resort, and...that's where my interest in the book sputtered and died. I don't really enjoy mysteries where a serial killer is suddenly dropped into the plot out of nowhere.
Also, this book is very tongue-in-cheek about murder mystery conventions. The narrator would say things like "normally this is when a dead body would appear, and it has, but I haven't discovered it yet" or "another dead body will appear in Chapter X." It was charming in a quirky way at first, but that style wore out its welcome by the middle of the book, and it also started to feel like a way to drop spoilers in the text.
I will still give the author's next book a try, if only because it appears to be a pretty clear homage to Murder on the Orient Express and I can't help feeling curious about it.
Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco
Genre: Adult, fantasy
Not a mystery/thriller for once, though there is a mystery subplot.
I was really enjoying this for the first third of the book. The infodumping in the first few chapters annoyed me, but once I got past those parts, I found the writing to be pretty snappy and cinematic.
Then...the second third lost me, and I ended up skimming the final third.
I found myself wishing this book was structured more like a mystery; while there is a murder mystery introduced, the main characters don't really take steps to solve it. They do have a general goal—investigating the new breed of undead—but again, they don't really actively investigate for the most part. So the second third, which should have been a fun vampire-hunting road trip, felt meandering and unfocused, which is the fastest way to get me to put a book down.
Another reason the book lost me was the much-touted polyamorous romance. Individually, I enjoyed the three main characters—I especially liked Xiaodan being the brawn and Malekh being the brain—but together, their relationship didn't capture me. It was entirely instalove, which doesn't work for me. I thought at least the Remy/Malekh relationship might have an enemies-to-lovers arc, but no, it's revealed they fell for each other the first time they met and were just really bad at communicating their feelings.
Also, Remy is supposed to be nonbinary, I think? But the book felt like it still incorporated a lot of tired gender clichés. Xiaodan is the warm, friendly one while Malekh is reserved, standoffish, and bad at discussing his feelings. Snore.
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Adult, thriller
This author's previous thriller (The Wife Upstairs) was a 3/5 star read for me, plus I love the isolation thriller trope, e.g. a murder happening in an isolated location such as a mountain chalet or a remote island.
But I got 50% or so through this book and just...absolutely nothing is happening. It's just about Lux, her BF, some girls they met, and a rich couple chilling together on an island. So I had to quit.
I sort of get now why a lot of people are against flashbacks on principle—because it turns out there are plenty of books that use them poorly. The flashbacks in this book interrupt the flow of the story and also create tension where none existed before—because there is no tension in the present day timeline. I believe flashbacks work best to flesh out something that's hinted at in the main storyline, not to attempt to create drama where none exists. Otherwise, the flashbacks feel like cheating or a crutch, a way for the author to get out of organically creating tension by having a side story to try to entice the reader to keep reading further.
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Genre: Adult, mystery
Another DNF roughly halfway through. This premise sounded really cool, but the execution didn't match what I was expecting.
I thought this would be an isolation mystery in which the protagonist tried to figure out which of his family members committed a murder at a mountaintop resort. However, as of about halfway through, none of the family members are suspects (partly because the murder victim's identity isn't even known). Instead, the protagonist is attempting to investigate whether a serial killer is present at the resort, and...that's where my interest in the book sputtered and died. I don't really enjoy mysteries where a serial killer is suddenly dropped into the plot out of nowhere.
Also, this book is very tongue-in-cheek about murder mystery conventions. The narrator would say things like "normally this is when a dead body would appear, and it has, but I haven't discovered it yet" or "another dead body will appear in Chapter X." It was charming in a quirky way at first, but that style wore out its welcome by the middle of the book, and it also started to feel like a way to drop spoilers in the text.
I will still give the author's next book a try, if only because it appears to be a pretty clear homage to Murder on the Orient Express and I can't help feeling curious about it.
Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco
Genre: Adult, fantasy
Not a mystery/thriller for once, though there is a mystery subplot.
I was really enjoying this for the first third of the book. The infodumping in the first few chapters annoyed me, but once I got past those parts, I found the writing to be pretty snappy and cinematic.
Then...the second third lost me, and I ended up skimming the final third.
I found myself wishing this book was structured more like a mystery; while there is a murder mystery introduced, the main characters don't really take steps to solve it. They do have a general goal—investigating the new breed of undead—but again, they don't really actively investigate for the most part. So the second third, which should have been a fun vampire-hunting road trip, felt meandering and unfocused, which is the fastest way to get me to put a book down.
Another reason the book lost me was the much-touted polyamorous romance. Individually, I enjoyed the three main characters—I especially liked Xiaodan being the brawn and Malekh being the brain—but together, their relationship didn't capture me. It was entirely instalove, which doesn't work for me. I thought at least the Remy/Malekh relationship might have an enemies-to-lovers arc, but no, it's revealed they fell for each other the first time they met and were just really bad at communicating their feelings.
Also, Remy is supposed to be nonbinary, I think? But the book felt like it still incorporated a lot of tired gender clichés. Xiaodan is the warm, friendly one while Malekh is reserved, standoffish, and bad at discussing his feelings. Snore.
