Book reviews: 2021 DNF edition
Feb. 12th, 2022 01:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainwatersparkDecided to catch up on some book reviews for books I DNF'ed last year...
Wings of Ebony by J. Elle
Genre: YA, fantasy
I feel bad for DNF'ing this. I think part of it was that I was blown away by Tracy Deonn's Legendborn, and while of course books by BIPOC (especially Black) authors shouldn't be in competition with each other, I just found myself not really enjoying Wings of Ebony as a fantasy book.
I did enjoy the twist about Ghizon that happened 60% or so through the book, but the whole conceit of an island with magical people didn't really grab me.
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Genre: YA, mystery/thriller
Content warnings: Sexual assault of a Native woman, violence, drug use
DNF'ed because of the sexual assault. I get that sexual assault of Native women is a huge problem and the author wanted to bring attention to it, but I'm someone who can't really take sexual assault of main characters in books I want to enjoy.
I also felt weird about the romance (even though the characters don't get together in the end). I forget how old Jamie was, but I was a little weirded out that he was a twenty-something guy pretending to be a high school student.
(But I heard about the author's pitch for her next book and it sounds dope!!)
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Genre: Adult, thriller, historical, paranormal
Content warnings: Racism, gaslighting, graphic descriptions of violence
DNF'ed when I got to the part where the female main characters' husbands were all gaslighting them about James (or whatever the vampire's name was) being a danger to their neighborhood. I can't take gaslighting as a plot device in books.
I didn't really enjoy a lot of this, though. The description of death due to a rat invasion was (a) gross, and (b) bizarre in the sense that no one seemed to think it was a strange enough event to warrant investigation. Rats don't generally kill people, y'all...
Also, I'm generally uncomfortable with male authors trying to write feminist books. [I acknowledge the argument that some such authors may be gender-questioning or closeted trans women, but don't want to get into that right now.] Like some of the lines in this book where the female characters talk about being a stay-at-home mom/wife as a noble job felt weird to me, knowing the author is a man. *Shrug*
Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
Genre: YA, contemporary romance
I really loved the way this showed how Hani and Ishu navigated their identities as Bengali diaspora. There's nothing bad that made me DNF; I just often have a hard time connecting to YA contemporary romance and grew a little bored around the halfway mark.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Genre: Adult, historical fantasy
Maybe I'll return to this book eventually...? I just got turned off after I read a part that made it seem like the main character lost a hand, but I can't find that content warning in anyone's reviews, so maybe I misunderstood.
Hard Sell by Hudson Lin
Genre: Adult, contemporary romance
I really wanted to love this book. I mean, how many Asian authors are out there writing queer romance? Except (1) the beginning was quite slow, and (2) there were some gross jokes that really turned me off the story.
*Deep, heavy sigh*
Wings of Ebony by J. Elle
Genre: YA, fantasy
I feel bad for DNF'ing this. I think part of it was that I was blown away by Tracy Deonn's Legendborn, and while of course books by BIPOC (especially Black) authors shouldn't be in competition with each other, I just found myself not really enjoying Wings of Ebony as a fantasy book.
I did enjoy the twist about Ghizon that happened 60% or so through the book, but the whole conceit of an island with magical people didn't really grab me.
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Genre: YA, mystery/thriller
Content warnings: Sexual assault of a Native woman, violence, drug use
DNF'ed because of the sexual assault. I get that sexual assault of Native women is a huge problem and the author wanted to bring attention to it, but I'm someone who can't really take sexual assault of main characters in books I want to enjoy.
I also felt weird about the romance (even though the characters don't get together in the end). I forget how old Jamie was, but I was a little weirded out that he was a twenty-something guy pretending to be a high school student.
(But I heard about the author's pitch for her next book and it sounds dope!!)
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Genre: Adult, thriller, historical, paranormal
Content warnings: Racism, gaslighting, graphic descriptions of violence
DNF'ed when I got to the part where the female main characters' husbands were all gaslighting them about James (or whatever the vampire's name was) being a danger to their neighborhood. I can't take gaslighting as a plot device in books.
I didn't really enjoy a lot of this, though. The description of death due to a rat invasion was (a) gross, and (b) bizarre in the sense that no one seemed to think it was a strange enough event to warrant investigation. Rats don't generally kill people, y'all...
Also, I'm generally uncomfortable with male authors trying to write feminist books. [I acknowledge the argument that some such authors may be gender-questioning or closeted trans women, but don't want to get into that right now.] Like some of the lines in this book where the female characters talk about being a stay-at-home mom/wife as a noble job felt weird to me, knowing the author is a man. *Shrug*
Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
Genre: YA, contemporary romance
I really loved the way this showed how Hani and Ishu navigated their identities as Bengali diaspora. There's nothing bad that made me DNF; I just often have a hard time connecting to YA contemporary romance and grew a little bored around the halfway mark.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Genre: Adult, historical fantasy
Maybe I'll return to this book eventually...? I just got turned off after I read a part that made it seem like the main character lost a hand, but I can't find that content warning in anyone's reviews, so maybe I misunderstood.
Hard Sell by Hudson Lin
Genre: Adult, contemporary romance
I really wanted to love this book. I mean, how many Asian authors are out there writing queer romance? Except (1) the beginning was quite slow, and (2) there were some gross jokes that really turned me off the story.
*Deep, heavy sigh*
