With the recent launch of Goodreads’ (very overdue) DNF shelf, I’m inspired to create my own ongoing spot for books I decide to not finish for one reason or another. I’d rather have them all in one spot for a quick glance through than a dedicated post for each one. I personally like to focus on the books I liked more than the books I didn’t, but I know some find it useful to see which books I don’t finish reading and why.
There are a variety of reasons why I decide to DNF a book, below I’ve listed the books I haven’t finished reading along with a quick disclaimer as to why. Reminder: not every book is for every reader. If you see a book on here that you absolutely love, that says nothing about your reading taste, just natural differing book preferences from one reader to the next.
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
I was very intrigued by this premise, the Japanese occupation of Malaya during WW2, and personally want to learn more about it. However, in the beginning chapters there is on page rape of a male minor and that is a non negotiable for me. I am not naive enough to think that that type of occurrence never happened, but if I’m going to read about it, I personally prefer it to be off page. I hope to find other books set during this time period to learn more of this side of WW2.
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
This was actually an attempted reread. I read it originally in high school and remember enjoying it. As I am beginning to read more scifi I wanted to read some of the classic cornerstone titles in the genre. I listened to the audio and stopped at around 65%, I just wasn’t interested at all in the plot. I think I would enjoy the reimagined radio broadcasting of this narrative by Orson Welles more than the original text. This is one I may revisit and attempt to read again in the future.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
I was loving the Native American lore and storytelling narrative of this book up until there was on page rape of a male child in the second half of the book. Additionally, right after that scene, there is an extremely gory, grotesque, morbid scene that I was not able to get through. Both of those combined made me put this book down. Additionally, the initial premise of the first chapters was very intriguing to me but the reader is never brought back into that narrative, I was hoping it would switch back and forth in intervals and I wish it had.
Our Infinite Fates by Laura Stevens
This book was very unfaithfully marketed. In a day where publishers flaunt the same sex agenda in books, there was zero hint of that with the marketing for this one, and I’ve seen very little said about it even from reviewers who love this book. So this is me letting you know that this Young Adult book has prevalent themes of same sex relationships and attraction. I DNF’d around 50% based on those themes.
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