The DNF (Did Not Finish) Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I try really hard to finish everything (although I am starting to reconsider, with an ever expanding to be read list and no time).

The Sympathizer. I just hated it. I never saw Apocalypse Now, so maybe that was part of it. Just could not get through it. (I stopped less than half way through, then read the end, then read the last 100 pages, then read a summary someplace, so I really tried).

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. HATED it. I got stuck during the endless trying to get past the Spanish flu and can't bear the thought of all the other reboots, too.

I also started the Maid by Nita Prose this year and just could'nt get into it and it was way overdue at the library with a hefty wait list so decided to return it. I just feel like I've read so many books with neurodivergent characters figuring out the world and this felt tedious.

That book is so unrealistic. I loathed it. It made me mad to see it on Good Read's Best of 2022 ballot.

I finished it but really didn’t like it. I was glad when it was over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I try really hard to finish everything (although I am starting to reconsider, with an ever expanding to be read list and no time).

The Sympathizer. I just hated it. I never saw Apocalypse Now, so maybe that was part of it. Just could not get through it. (I stopped less than half way through, then read the end, then read the last 100 pages, then read a summary someplace, so I really tried).

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. HATED it. I got stuck during the endless trying to get past the Spanish flu and can't bear the thought of all the other reboots, too.

I also started the Maid by Nita Prose this year and just could'nt get into it and it was way overdue at the library with a hefty wait list so decided to return it. I just feel like I've read so many books with neurodivergent characters figuring out the world and this felt tedious.

That book is so unrealistic. I loathed it. It made me mad to see it on Good Read's Best of 2022 ballot.

Yeah it was a weird book. I would put The Last Thing He Told me in the same category. Like, well written, some good stuff, lots of "wait this makes no sense" parts. I put both in the "how in the heck did these books get so popular?!" category. I did finish both of them though - both audiobooks. I could not get through Apples Never Fall - stopped listening about halfway through and just read a bunch of spoilers. It felt interminable.

What books do you like? I feel like we have the same taste in books we don’t like!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Last Mrs Parrish. I had some friends who loved it, I just couldn't get into it.

Oh this one has a great plot twist!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (was charmed by another book but this one wasn't it for me)

Gentleman in Moscow (read after Rules of Civility which I loved)

Mary Jane (a book rec'd to me after I said I loved Daisy and the Six)

However, I do find that I have more patience listening to books than reading them. Especially non-fiction.

I’ve tried The Paris Apartment twice, but DNF. I tried Mary Jane, also DNF.

Don’t go back! I forced myself to finish The Paris Apartment…and I was furious how it ended.

Original poster of the list and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you two tuning in. It totally validates my DNF gut instincts!

I’ve read The Guest List and The Hunting Party and disliked them both. I will definitely avoid The Paris Apartment and all Lucy Foley going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It ends with us - Colleen Hoover. No thanks.

+1

+1000

I did finish it but wish I hadn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BearTown
A Man called Ov
House on Cerulean Sea

I hated all of these. Way too many pages to get even remotely interesting. Beartown is also a story that has been told a million times. Just because you say Hockey hockey hockey - doesn't make it new.

I liked a A Man called Ove. I couldn't get into beartown or anxious people.

Totally agree. I adored A Man Called Ove but couldn’t get into Beartown and I gave up.

I thought A man called Ove was great. I haven't read Beartown yet.

Beartown is amazing!

+1

I loved the whole trilogy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (was charmed by another book but this one wasn't it for me)

Gentleman in Moscow (read after Rules of Civility which I loved)

Mary Jane (a book rec'd to me after I said I loved Daisy and the Six)

However, I do find that I have more patience listening to books than reading them. Especially non-fiction.

I’ve tried The Paris Apartment twice, but DNF. I tried Mary Jane, also DNF.

Don’t go back! I forced myself to finish The Paris Apartment…and I was furious how it ended.

Agreed! I've read three of her books and been disappointed by all of them. Should have just DNFed them.

[Anonymous]

Demon Copperhead. I tried, I really did. I got very close. But I just couldn’t read another word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had Isabel Wilkerson's Caste on my book shelf for a while now and was really looking forward to reading it.

I started it today, and am really not enjoying her sentence structure. I keep reading parts and immediately wanting to fix them for better flow. Same thing with some of the paragraphs. I enjoy reading for the subject but mostly I really enjoy well constructed writing. This is pushing towards a DNF for me and I'm disappointed!

Same experience

[Anonymous]

First book I ever DNF, I was in high school on summer vacation. Picked up Labyrinth by Kate Moses, got one or two chapters in and then gave up. There was nothing compelling about it.

Most recently, I DNF:
When Breath Becomes Air - may go back to it, but wasn't in the mood for it when I started it

The Last Thing He Told Me - Plot was interesting right away, but I just couldn't. I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Demon Copperhead. I tried, I really did. I got very close. But I just couldn’t read another word.

Good to know. I was going to try it based on other DCUMers raving about it, but just based on the summary of it I doubt I would enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

Well, I am about to call it quits on The Lincoln Highway. I’m about halfway through but I just don’t care about any of the characters. I can’t figure out why some of them are even in the book, and it just feels like I’m slogging through the minutiae of these people’s lives and they’re not interesting enough. I wish I loved it or even liked it but I just don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Last Mrs Parrish. I had some friends who loved it, I just couldn't get into it.

Oh this one has a great plot twist!

I started The Last Mrs Parrish this week, and I found it easy to read and get into the story but knowing right up front that Amber is bad, I'm not sure I want to read from her perspective - an unlikable narrator?

[Anonymous]

I'm giving up on Anxious People. I tried the audio book and the book book and can't get into it.

[Anonymous]

Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry- I just called quits.

Too many words, to tell an awful story.
Detailed description of numerous child sex assaults.