January DNF

These are the books that hit my DNF pile in the month of January. My rules are that I (generally) must have given the book at least 50 pages to win me over, and I must have a reason for putting it down, in order for them to qualify here. Sometimes a book comes due back at the library, or education strikes, and I don't finish it due to other circumstances. This is specifically for books I put down because of them, not because of anything else.

January was a bad one for me- I think I DNFed more books than I finished. This may be in part because I've been kind of busy with school and such. It may also be because, recently, I've had a hard time pushing through books that don't thrill me. Once again, these are highly subjective, seeing as preference is unique to each individual.

Jan.4- Jan. 5
I read Something Strange and Deadly last year, and wasn't thrilled with it, but I thought I would give book two a go none the less. I couldn't get into it, and I think it was mostly because the world and story didn't interest me. Nor, honestly did the characters. They just didn't really thrill me, and I wasn't engaged by the storytelling. It just wasn't the book for me.

Early January.
This really wasn't the book for me. I really didn't like Tessa, the main character and narrator. She seemed incredibly self-centered, and honestly not very smart, and just over all annoyed me as a character. I also didn't care for the supporting characters or the love interest (ugh, he was annoying). The story, which was only somewhat interesting to me, could not be carried by the overall weak characters.

Jan. 26-Jan. 30
I actually was kind of looking forward to this one, but it unfortunately didn't pan out for me. It started off alright, and I think that the "Wonderland" component of the story was fine. There were just some other parts that I couldn't read at this point. I think it may have mostly been the romance, to be honest. I didn't like either of the love interests. I disliked them a lot, both as characters, and as participants in a romance. I didn't like the possessiveness (I'm no expert, but that seriously doesn't seem attractive- people are not things to be possessed). I don't like love triangles as a rule (there will be a rant, it is coming...), they're rarely done well, or even passably. I also wasn't a huge fan of Alyssa, the main character. Which is sort of unfortunate, because I think that I might have really enjoyed this one if not for my dislike of the characters.

Jan. 31
After deliberation, I decided that I probably won't be continuing this one. I got about fifty pages in, and I just found that I didn't really enjoy the writing style of the book. Once again, I wasn't mad about the love interest. It was one of those relationships that I didn't really understand why it existed- as in "Why do you like each other? I don't like either of you." The characters just felt kind of two dimensional to me. This one might improve further on, but unless someone tells me otherwise, this is where it will stay.

And I believe that is it. Happy Year of the Horse everyone! (Chinese new year).

Kelly