I normally do not DNF books, especially books I own copies of. I do my best to push through and finish them. This year was the years of the DNFs (did not finish). This doesn’t necessarily mean that I felt they were badly written. I generally pick well for myself, but this year, BookTok has influenced a lot of my decisions. I would like to give these books another try; maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace to be into those particular books.
Divine Rivals-Rebecca Ross
4.27 rating on good reads
DNF after 65%
When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross’s Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.
This book was extremely popular on BookTok. It is an enemies-to-lovers story. I did some research in the form of watching TikTok video reviews, and Goodreads convinced me to skip Kindle and go straight to the book store and buy a copy of the book. What sold me was that it was compared to ACOTAR. Now, ACOTAR is not one of my top favorite series, but it held my attention long enough to finish it. Additionally, this was the book that was suggested to read after Fourth Wing, and I LOVED FOURTH WING! This was a wartime classical romance. I did not fall in love with the characters or the setting. I was extremely bored because it lacked action for me, although the mention of God and a war did keep me slightly entertained.
Will I give it another chance? -Yes (Before the end of the year)
Wayward Son-Rainbow Rowell
3.92 rating on Good Reads
DNF after 33%
The story is supposed to be over.
Simon Snow did everything he was supposed to do. He beat the villain. He won the war. He even fell in love. Now comes the good part, right? Now comes the happily ever after…
So why can’t Simon Snow get off the couch?
What he needs, according to his best friend, is a change of scenery. He just needs to see himself in a new light…
That’s how Simon and Penny and Baz end up in a vintage convertible, tearing across the American West.
They find trouble, of course. (Dragons, vampires, skunk-headed things with shotguns.) And they get lost. They get so lost, they start to wonder whether they ever knew where they were headed in the first place…
With Wayward Son, Rainbow Rowell has written a book for everyone who ever wondered what happened to the Chosen One after he saved the day. And a book for everyone who was ever more curious about the second kiss than the first. It’s another helping of sour cherry scones with an absolutely decadent amount of butter.
This is the second book in the Simon Snow series. I loved book one. It gave me Harry Potter and love all in one. This book is so different than the first. It starts off with a trip to a different country. I thought the trip would be the start of the excitement. It fell flat for me! The light fluffy tone from the first book was gone, and it got too serious. There was nothing in the story that kept me entertained and attached to the book. I do own a copy of this book and the 3rd book.
Will I give it another chance? -Maybe (Not in 2023)
The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King-Carissa Broadbent
4.21 on Good Reads
DNF 25%
Love is a sacrifice at the altar of power.
In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. A prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and reeling from a gutting betrayal, she no longer even knows the truth of her own blood. She’s left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn.
The House of Night, too, is surrounded by enemies. Raihn’s own nobles are none too eager to accept a Turned king, especially one who was once a slave. And the House of Blood digs their claws into the kingdom, threatening to tear it apart from the inside.
When Raihn offers Oraya a secret alliance, taking the deal is her only chance at reclaiming her kingdom–and gaining her vengeance against the lover who betrayed her. But to do so, she’ll need to harness a devastating ancient power, intertwined with her father’s greatest secrets.
But with enemies closing in on all sides, nothing is as it seems. As she unravels her past and faces her future, Oraya finds herself forced to choose between the bloody reality of seizing power – and the devastating love that could be her downfall.
Now, I will say, I did not give this one a fair chance. I loved the first book, and the novella was AMAZING. The first book started off quickly, and the action was there from the start. This one started off a bit slower. I went into it thinking the speed would be as fast as the first one. There were something in the first few chapters that seemed repetitive. I inhaled the first two books in 3 days, and this one just wouldn’t hold me. This is one of the books that I understand my lack of fairness to.
Will I give it another chance? -Yes (November 2023)
Plot Twist Dairies 
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