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Book reviews: DNF edition
Jun. 1st, 2024 03:25 pmMan, my reading list this year has been an absolute DNF wasteland. :(
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
Genre: Adult, thriller
I'll admit, I have a very rocky relationship with Ruth Ware's books (as in, I DNF most of them). But I was suckered into this one by its And Then There Were None comparison.
I got about 60% or so of the way through it, and then skipped to the end, and calling it an And Then There Were None thriller is completely misleading. This is more like Lord of the Flies with adults and a feminist theme. It's not even twisty; it's just a straight survival thriller. Which is not really my thing when it comes to thrillers. I would have preferred this to be either a true And Then There Were None serial-killer-stalking-people-on-an-island thriller, or an actual reality TV show thriller (instead of the show stopping after one day due to the storm).
Evocation by ST Gibson
Adult, contemporary fantasy
DNF about 27%, at least for now. Maybe I'll keep trying, I'm not sure.
I liked the contemporary fantasy elements, and I love a good, old-fashioned, enemies-to-lovers second-chance romance. But I find the interactions among the three main characters to be honestly pretty toxic. They're just mad at each other all the time, and it's exhausting to read. Rhys just absolutely cannot make up his mind regarding David and goes back and forth regarding him, and then blames David for his indecision. It's really irritating.
I read some Goodreads reviews before starting this book that mentioned that the main characters felt very immature for their age (late twenties). I thought those reviews might have been exaggerating; I feel like sometimes messy adults are called "immature," even though I've seen plenty of messy adults in real life. Also, I know of people in their late twenties who still come off as young. However, now that I've read part of the book, I'm inclined to agree with those reviews. It's hard to explain, but the characters carry themselves as though they're in their thirties, and yet their dialogue feels 10 years younger. It's pretty jarring and makes me constantly forget how old they're supposed to be.
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
Adult, fantasy
This started off hilarious, but I didn't realize until I was several chapters in that apparently this is considered cozy fantasy? Which explains why the plot feels episodic and meandering. I love satirical fantasy, and I'm very curious as to whether Gav eventually gets his memories back, but a meandering plot is the easiest way for me to lose attention in a book. :(
Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew
Young Adult, fantasy
Okay, so this is cheating because I just got this audiobook and am planning to give it a bit more of my time to see if it will hook me. But man, I am so not a prose person when it comes to novels. By which I mean, prose does not hook me into a story—the characters and plot do. And this book seems so heavy on prose as opposed to commercial pacing.
*
I keep reading the beginnings of upcoming books as soon as they become available on Amazon or Apple Books, and most of the time I end up feeling unenthusiastic about them. Either the writing style doesn't hook me, or the beginning is just bland in terms of plot.
Next week, I'm curious about Ballad of Sword and Wine, since danmei novels seem to be the only books that have been maintaining my attention. :( Though I hear it's very heavy on politics, so we'll see if I enjoy it or not.
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
Genre: Adult, thriller
I'll admit, I have a very rocky relationship with Ruth Ware's books (as in, I DNF most of them). But I was suckered into this one by its And Then There Were None comparison.
I got about 60% or so of the way through it, and then skipped to the end, and calling it an And Then There Were None thriller is completely misleading. This is more like Lord of the Flies with adults and a feminist theme. It's not even twisty; it's just a straight survival thriller. Which is not really my thing when it comes to thrillers. I would have preferred this to be either a true And Then There Were None serial-killer-stalking-people-on-an-island thriller, or an actual reality TV show thriller (instead of the show stopping after one day due to the storm).
Evocation by ST Gibson
Adult, contemporary fantasy
DNF about 27%, at least for now. Maybe I'll keep trying, I'm not sure.
I liked the contemporary fantasy elements, and I love a good, old-fashioned, enemies-to-lovers second-chance romance. But I find the interactions among the three main characters to be honestly pretty toxic. They're just mad at each other all the time, and it's exhausting to read. Rhys just absolutely cannot make up his mind regarding David and goes back and forth regarding him, and then blames David for his indecision. It's really irritating.
I read some Goodreads reviews before starting this book that mentioned that the main characters felt very immature for their age (late twenties). I thought those reviews might have been exaggerating; I feel like sometimes messy adults are called "immature," even though I've seen plenty of messy adults in real life. Also, I know of people in their late twenties who still come off as young. However, now that I've read part of the book, I'm inclined to agree with those reviews. It's hard to explain, but the characters carry themselves as though they're in their thirties, and yet their dialogue feels 10 years younger. It's pretty jarring and makes me constantly forget how old they're supposed to be.
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
Adult, fantasy
This started off hilarious, but I didn't realize until I was several chapters in that apparently this is considered cozy fantasy? Which explains why the plot feels episodic and meandering. I love satirical fantasy, and I'm very curious as to whether Gav eventually gets his memories back, but a meandering plot is the easiest way for me to lose attention in a book. :(
Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew
Young Adult, fantasy
Okay, so this is cheating because I just got this audiobook and am planning to give it a bit more of my time to see if it will hook me. But man, I am so not a prose person when it comes to novels. By which I mean, prose does not hook me into a story—the characters and plot do. And this book seems so heavy on prose as opposed to commercial pacing.
*
I keep reading the beginnings of upcoming books as soon as they become available on Amazon or Apple Books, and most of the time I end up feeling unenthusiastic about them. Either the writing style doesn't hook me, or the beginning is just bland in terms of plot.
Next week, I'm curious about Ballad of Sword and Wine, since danmei novels seem to be the only books that have been maintaining my attention. :( Though I hear it's very heavy on politics, so we'll see if I enjoy it or not.
