Hi guys, I hope you are all well. Since I’ve stopped reading a few books recently, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on them. Obviously I didn’t finish these books but I think it can be quite interesting to see why people DNF a book. I have three books to share with you guys today. Let’s get started.
The Bird King / G. Willow Wilson
This is a historical fantasy book set in 1491, during the last reign of the sultanate in the Iberian peninsula. While I really liked the setting and the book started out quite well, after a few chapters I began to lose interest. I wasn’t a fan of the main character, Fatima – she was quite frustrating and spent way too much time crying, fainting, and lamenting at how hard things are for her. While I liked the idea of the friendship between Fatima and Hassan, in practice I just couldn’t be bothered with it. Also don’t get me started on the character, Vikram – I just can’t with that one. What I read of this book, there didn’t appear to be a whole lot of story going on and the pacing is pretty slow. The setting is a good one but I think there needed to be more depth to the historical background. Overall this one just wasn’t for me. I think I stopped reading around a third of the way in, maybe a bit more.
Sheepfarmer’s Daughter / Elizabeth Moon
This is the first book in the The Deed of Paksenarrion series. I read about 5 chapters of this one before DNFing it. It follows Pakksenarrion, or Paks for short, as she leaves an arranged marriage to join the army. While it is an interesting look into the daily lives of soldiers, it is also rather dull, in my opinion. It may get better later on but I just couldn’t force myself to continue reading. My main issue with this one was the characters. I found them to be flat and one-dimensional, which meant that I wasn’t invested in them. Quite a few of the secondary characters were kind of interchangeable and I just didn’t care about any of them. Once again, this one really wasn’t for me.
Songs of Insurrection / JC Kang
This is the first book in the Dragon Songs saga. Once again, this one started out quite well, until the protagonist meet the love interest and turned into a simpering idiot. I just can’t. Also, the only reasons she seems to like him is that he’s described as hot and likes music. Seriously… no. I liked the elements of music woven into the story but overall I wasn’t drawn into the plot and the characters fell flat for me. I think this is the book I read the least of. I tried, because I love a East Asian style setting and musical elements, but I just couldn’t force myself to continue to read this one.
That’s it for today. I quite like finding out why people DNF a book so I hope you like this post too. Have you stopped reading any books this year? I’d also love to know if you’re thoughts on any of these books. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.
Pippa
thelittlebookowl 
You made the right decision to dnf the Elizabeth Moon novel! Not worth it 😀 it stays dull & I can’t tell you anything about plot and characters anymore. Nothing stuck.
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Haha thanks. I’m glad to hear that. 🙂
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Great idea for a post! I don’t usually have many DNFs but I think that’s because I always go for books I know I like, haha. If I do, it’s usually because the writing is too heavy or the characters just aren’t developed.
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Thank you. Yeah I don’t have a lot of DNFs either, I think this year I’ve had about 5. 🙂
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I think it is always usefl\ul to know why someone DNF’ed a book! It makes it easier for you to see if you agree with those points, and should avoid the book, or maybe you enjoy the things the reader didn’t, so you know to pick it up!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Yeah I think it’s useful too. Thanks :).
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So sad to see The Bird King at the top of your list – although I’m glad you didn’t force yourself to read something you weren’t enjoying. I enjoyed the book, but I also agree with you about Fatima; she continuously got on my nerves.
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Well I’m glad you enjoyed it. Yeah I just don’t think there’s any point in forcing yourself to read a book.
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It looks like the cover art of ‘Songs of Insurrection’ is way cooler than the actual story! Okay, so a few of the books I DNF this year were ‘Cameron and the Girls’ (a book about a mentally ill kid where none of the characters’ behavior made any damn sense whatsoever,) ‘Donorboy’ (the main character was soooo annoying she was like nails on a chalkboard,) ‘The Every Boy’ (I’ve started this one multiple times but for some reason can’t get through it- time to give up?) ‘Damned’ (OK maybe THIS is when Chuck Palahniuk lost his mojo,) ‘Anything but Typical’ (cliché Asperger’s character,) and ‘Margaux with an X’ (instantly annoying heroine.) Believe it or not, I’ve DNF’ed a lot fewer books this year. 😛
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I’ve not heard of any of these but I’m glad you’ve DNF’d fewer books. 🙂
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These all look like books I would DNF 😂
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Glad it’s not just me then 🙂
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Good decision on the Sheepfarmer’s Daughter. It was so dull and after a while it was as if I was reading a summary of what happens in the story instead of the actual story. But it was the author’s first book, I think, so it shows.
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That’s good to hear. It was just so dull, I couldn’t force myself to continue reading.
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