"I want to enjoy books, not hate them. That's why I'm DNFing these!" - Jesse, 2024 I need this on a wall poster so I can hang it up next to my shelves and look at it every time I feel guilty DNFing a book.
Me too! I also personally still enjoy reading books, even when I don't like them(I enjoy learning what I wouldn't do or imagining how I might write them differently or such if I were to have written it myself or whatever), so it's rare for me to DNF mid-book. I will decline to pick up the next book in a series if I really didn't like a book, though. But I would never dream of trying to force anyone else to keep reading books that they don't enjoy if they aren't able to get as much even out of books they dislike as I am. Everybody's different; and we all need to do what's right for ourselves, not what's right for somebody else, except in certain circumstances where we're reasonably meeting each other in the middle for some reason or another! 😊 Lol
me too half the books I read last year I hated because I powered through instead of DNFing question though do you still review books you DNF? im on the fence as to whether or not I should
😊 I already dnf'd Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo because I just could not get into it and did not much like the characters or the plot therefore I didn't even need to consider reading Hell Bent. 😂
I am so behind on your videos (and everyone else’s 😅) but I just watched your goals for 2024 and I wanted to let you know that I’ve been loving your content lately! You seem so much more relaxed and like you’re just having fun chatting about books. I have been subscribed for a few years now and it’s always interesting to see the shifting phases of a BookTuber’s experience. I hope this year is going the way you hoped!
Same!!! The Grishaverse does it for me, Ninth House and I didn't get along. I've dnf'd 3 books so far this year. I'm more lenient with myself these days when there are so many awesome books out there!
I regret not DNFing Dark Matter... I heard so many people loving this book and I still don't understand why... but maybe it's just me. Good news was it was an easy fast read.
I have enjoyed your content for years. The no dust covers LOVE IT!!! Yes to DNF but I like to give to a hundred pages of it's in my favorite genres, which is literary reads and nonfiction. If it is something I am trying out, then I can usually tell early on about fifty pages in that it's not for me.
I dnf’d two books in the last week 😅 a fragile enchantment & a study in drowning. I read the majority of my books from the library, so I don’t feel bad about not finishing the book if I generally don’t care about the characters.
Thanks for the video! I soft DNF books for the most part. I read in many formats at the same time and end up ghosting books that I'm not feeling but I give myself the option to always come back later. I actually put down many books that I end up loving but it was not the right time for me to read them the first go around. That being said the last book I wish I had DNFd was Venco.
i read A Thousand Steps Into Night, and if you're referring to Geiki as the side character i absolutely agree. and also, if it weren't for him i probably wouldn't have trudged through the book bc [spoilers but also you dnf'd but also idk if it was a soft dnf or a hard dnf] halfway through the book there's a time travel aspect that i hated, but the only reason i continued on was bc right before the time travel, Geiki was left injured and i needed to know if my baby bird boy would make it out of there alive
You should keep These Violent Delights and unhaul Our Violent Ends. I’ve decided to basically only have books on my bookshelves that I would read again or recommend to others and have contemplated breaking up a series which is a trilogy, but I have to read and/or dnf the second and third book before deciding. I read this series when I was younger though and don’t remember enjoying the second and didn’t even really get into the third, but the first book holds a special place in my heart.
Ive dnf-d 2 books so far this year, not sure if im fully abandoning them yet tho. first was 'Godkiller' by hannah kaner. the pacing was just so slow I could not possibly make myself sit through it for so long(i got to around page 120 ish) and next up was 'the night hunt' by Alexandra Christo, also another book where the writing style was lacking alot. that book needed a better editor roo because there are moments when characters know something that theyre not supposed to and then they find out a few pages later. for example, Silas knows Atia's name before ever even hearing it prior. two pages later he's like 'ohhh Atia, so thats her name huh?' ._.
DNFing is self care. I've DNFd 3 books so far. 1 was an organizing book that was just saying the most basic stuff, 2 was Child Thief by Brom which sucks because I love dark but..oof. 3. Animals at Lockwood Manor...163 pages and still bored af
I thought Ninth House was a stand-alone, ......then the ending, I'm like wtf. There's no way I'm reading Hell Bent, Ninth House just wasn't good enough to continue. Sorry not sorry
I have no shame in DNFing. If it’s looking like it’ll be a 2 star or less I’ll DNF. I’ll give it typically about 1/4 of the book to decide. If it can’t hook me by 25% then into the DNF pile it goes. Too many books to read to waste my time on books I’m not enjoying. One recent book, that is a booktube darling, that I DnFd is This is How You Lose the Time War. The writing style just did NOT work for me at all. I’ve heard the audiobook is good though so I might give it another shot in that format at some point.
I also DNF'd a thousand steps into the night! I read like 30 pages and couldn't keep it up. I usually don't DNF books this soon; I usually give books around 50_100 pages chance before DNFing them, But in that time I strongly believed that if a book is good it will grab my attention in the first 20 pages! I do like a slow paced book, but for such books you need your characters to be fleshed out, be a 3 dimensional character. Unfortunately I believe a thousand steps into the night did not have this vital factor.
I think DNF videos are great! They make people feel more confident in doing it themselves. And if you’re feeling like you want to be more positive, you can always talk about who you think these books would work for.
I DNF'd a short story collection recently. And it wasn't to do with the stories. I reserved it in the library back in November because it was a wintery collection, and it didn't come in until the end of January. By which point I wasn't really feeling short stories any more. I'm hopeful I'll come back to the collection later on in the year, but for now, it's a DNF.
I’m really good at DNFing books. What I normally do is talk about them first in my monthly wrap ups then work my way up to my highest rated so I’m leaving the video in a good place
When i do unhaul videos I kick them off by starting with my DNFs and it feels less hateful and more cleansing? That’s all semantics though but it makes ME feel better about it so that’s how I roll 😅
Hey Jesse, I’m proud of myself also I dnf a book I was not enjoying and that was The Lake by Natasha Preston oh my gosh was it bad and I I spoiled myself for what happened in the end and I’m glad I didn’t read it because I would have been highly disappointed. That book is currently on my worst books of 2024 ❤ but I’m reading 2 books I currently am enjoying ❤
I typically don't permanently DNF a book because I'm not in the mood for the book so I eventually come back to it when I'm in the mood. Like you, I tend to hope a book will get better. However nowadays I feel like I'll try to just drop a book because I don't like wasting my time with all the content that's out there in terms of books, movies, games, YT, etc. The only book I've permanently DNF was The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner. I totally regret not DNFing the worst audiobook of last year for me "33 Unplayed Voicemails" which was a rare 2 star book for me. 😣
Jesse no!!!! Not DNF’ing Our Violent Ends! Ugh, I don’t how to feel about this. But glad to see you embracing DNF’ing things. Now, the trick is to actually get rid of the books.
hell bent was lackluster for me and it turned off her new book to me. I won't read until I see some reviews, but I still will follow up with the ninth house series because I'm curious about one aspect.
I don't personally dnf because I have major fomo and always think it'll turn around in the end, but Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast was so bad to me. The plot was weird and ridiculous, and I don't really mind pop culture references but the way they did it in this one felt very forced and just like they were trying to "relate to the youth". There are something like twelve books in the series and I could barely make it through the first one.
Hellbent by Leigh Bardugo to be honest I didn’t care for the first book either. Even the audiobook was quite mid for me. And I’m and audiobook Cookie Monster. I love them and love fictional podcasts. (Malevolent, welcome to night vale, dormir o morir, the Magnus archive, Sherlock and co, etc) I’m an curious about the story so I rather search up a full summary. I love the geisha verse books. I want to re-read them. But this dark academia stuff books it’s not so fun so far
My DNFs this year so far: The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, and Intruders by Ashley Saunders & Leslie Saunders Wish I had DNFed: Say Die by E. Alan Fleischauer
I've definitely gotten better at DNFing but I've also gotten better at doing research beforehand and following my gut when it comes to choosing books so I have less I DNF. Haven't DNF'd any yet this year but I had a few last year and a few I should have DNF'd. 😅 Mostly it was thrillers with unlikable characters or cliche plots. I want to be thrilled by my thrillers, not sent into a coma!
I haven't had any dnf this year (yet), but I definetly have some soft dnf's from last year i'm planning on picking up again and giving them another try!
I have with 2 books so far. Gone Girl and Night Film. I change my reading goals when that happens. Any book that I DNF, I add an additional book to counter the goal. Its sad because I really was hoping to like these books. But I was beyond bored. I was disappointed. They have good ratings too
I get the feeling bad to DNF. I'm trying to be better about it because it really can put me in a slump. I say this and didn't DNF and instead hate read The Atlas Complex (I kept justifying it was the third in the series and completed the trilogy, I had these special editions from Illumicrate, etc) and instead suffered for 24 days trying to slog through a (fully casted!) audiobook and it wasn't worth it. I get what she was going for - but it was painful to read for me. Every POV felt the same and everyone waxed poetic about the same thing with the same view with different adjectives. I read the least amount of books a month in January than I have in YEARS. Though I will say this experience made my next unhappy read an easy DNF and I toasted finishing The Scarlet Alchemist. I can understand your feelings for Hell Bent. I liked both books but I won't say I loved them. I can very much see why people wouldn't. Strangely I felt like Hell Bent had less gratuitous horror/gore/darkness than Ninth House but I know exactly what you mean when sometimes it just feels like it's there for the edge. I felt very similarly about Blood Heir where it was going so hard for "dark" that instead it just felt predictable. I really tried to love that one and with the awful things the author went through I was determined not to DNF it and part of me doesn't regret that but it wasn't for me. A lot of others did love it though and I am very excited to read her other series because her writing itself was great. It's high on my TBR.
Looking back in my teens, I should have DNF'd some books. There were at least, 2 series I did not need to finish and for one of them, I argued with the main protagonist the whole series, I did not like her! I joined a book club in my 20s and I more ok with DNFing. I have dropped books I no longer remember the names of.
This year I DNFed "The Housemaiden" by Frieda McFadden. It was a very big miss for me, but I know other people might like it and that's okay. A funny (or not so funny) thing about me is that I feel like I'm biologically incapable of NOT DNFing books haha. If I'm not in the mood for a book or if I don't find it interesting, my brain literally stops processing the information and I cannot make it focus for the life of me so I just HAVE to DNF the thing.
I tried twice to read Three Body Problem because so many people I know, and reviewers I trust, all talk about how brilliant it is. I just can't, though. Yeah, there are some interesting ideas, but it's such a slog.
I haven't read the Alex Stern series but I dislike Six Of Crows series. Also, if you wanna try middle grade fantasy, I still recommend Aru Shah series/Pandava series by Roshani Chokshi. 😁
I read the free preview of ninth house like four times and still had no idea what was going on, hated the MC, and was bored 😅 I LOVE the six of crows duology, they’re currently my favorite books, but everything else I’ve read from Leigh (including the other five Grisha books) have been a miss…
Also, Jesse as someone who read Ninth House a second time to make sure I knew what was going on, He’ll Bent still was not worth it. I think I skipped over half the scenes because they didn’t end up being needed/relevant to the story as a whole
I wish the Gilded Wolves series was more consistent because as you said it's very messy. I couldn't explain the plot to save my life. The characters were great and I did finish the trilogy ( I usually don't DNF) but sadly I found it quite forgettable. The aesthetics of the first book were excellent but it dwindled imo.
I used to hate DNFing books, that whole mentality of "But I bought the book, and someone put their soul into this book I should read it!!" was always what stoped me. But lately I've just been very blunt with books. If a book doesn't grab me, or I walk away feeling like "I don't really care if I pick this book up again..." I DNF it. I might give it another go later but if it sparks no joy, it's gotta go. The fastest I've DNF'd a book was literally 1 paragraph. The First Binding by R. R. Virdi. I read the first paragraph, jumped to a random page in the middle and saw that the purple prose was still just as awful and walked away. EDIT: First Binding is probably tied with The Atlas Complex, or whatever the first book was called. I think that was either 1 or 2 paragraphs as well.
Within the past couple months, I started Cemetery Boys & got a couple of hours into the audiobook. Then I realised that it seemed like NOTHING had happened in a couple of HOURS in the story, so I DNFed. A lot of people really like that book, so I was hopeful, but I don't see what people like about it.
I should have DNFd Earthlings. I kept waiting because it was so off kilter, I thought it would be better and it got worse every time I pushed through to the next section. 😢
When I’m tired or ticked off reading a book. I DNF and I look in google a full summary of what happens for the rest of the story. I did that for Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow.
i have a hard time being objective about "the gilded wolves" trilogy bc it's one of the few books/series I've found with an autistic female character and that meant and still means so much to me 🙈 I've gotten better at DNFing books but I'm still in need of improvement in that department. i really wish i had DNFed "our share of night" bc i massively wasted my time reading the whole thing last week for bookclub
I know that’s your opinion but I loved the duology of these violent delights. It was so good in my opinion. Not everyone likes the same things so it’s ok if you don’t like it.
I know that I'm probably gonna be crucified for this....but I feel like dnfing Assistant To The Villain?? I can't even get passed the prologue for some reason? And I'm frustrated because I saw it all over the place and it sounded so good, but I'm just not connecting to it. Anyone have thoughts or suggestions? Should I keep pushing through?
If I’m too disappointed with a sequel in a duo or trilogy, I unhaul the whole series. I can’t do it immediately, but after letting it sit on my mind for a few days/weeks, I can. Letting go feels better than always remembering that disappointment when I see the first book. The only time I don’t do this is when the first book does in fact work as a standalone (usually only happens with a series of companion novels). Then I can keep the first and get rid of the rest, pretending they don’t exist 😂
I had to recently unhaul my whole series of red queen. I enjoyed the first book, but was really disappointed in rest of the series that it literally upset me whenever i saw it on my shelves
@@adrie2408That brings me back. I enjoyed Red Queen as well but never did get around to reading the rest. I had to do this type of unhaul with two series -> Prison Healer: Loved most of the first book but literally, the LAST line of it did something that made a mess of the next two books for me. Renegades: I enjoyed the first two books, but HATED the last book of the trilogy 😢
I'm doing pretty well with my goal to DNF books I'm not enjoying. Most recently I dnf'd "A Song of Wraiths and Ruin" (great world, interesting politics, but I really didn't like the FMC), and also "The Hurricane Wars" (all I could think was "StarWarsStarWarsStarwars"). I don't blame you for dnf'ing "The Bronzed Beasts." I did finish the trilogy, but like you, only for the characters, and in particular for me, Zofia, Enrique, and Hypnos. The main romance between Laila and Severin didn't interest me at all.
I feel like … Leigh Bardugo as a whole *isn’t* for me. Six of Crows made me think she was. But it was a one-time wonder on her part. HUGE wonder, but one-time nontheless (Language of Thorns was beautiful but it’s short stories so …) Shadow and Bone continually annoyed me. Then the King of Scars duo turned out to be pure fanservice that abandoned my memory within three days. And then Ninth House gave me the ick. Officially done checking her out 😰
_ Our Violent Ends_ DIN'T lack intrigue! Ok, sorry. I appreciate your honesty.) Well, I'm trying to. I just love that book.❤ So sad you didn't vibe with it.
I soft DNF'ed A Little Life (ETA: at 60% in, so I gave it a fair chance 👍). I'm kind of thinking of maybe finishing it at some point, but right now, it's a no from me. [A Little Life rant incoming] And my real unpopular opinion on the topic is that A Little Life just isn't very well written. I can sort of see how it might appeal to a younger audience, but as an adult, it did very little for me. It all felt very contrived and unrealistic. And not because of what some describe as 'trauma porn', but because the way it was written made it feel like the author just read a bunch of case files, compiled symptoms and experiences they came across in those files, and turned that into a character. All of it together just didn't really add up, imo, didn't fit together to make a believable person. And I know some people really do go through it all, but the book really read like someone just went 'name some types of abuse' and then wrote a story. It became so predictable at some point; think of anything bad that can happen to someone, and it'll probably happen at some point in A Little Life 🤷 I also didn't like Jude much, which is fine, but the whole story was written in a way that I felt like I should be liking him more, and the continuous adoration of him by everyone around him just didn't click with me because of that, so I got very bored with the story quite quickly. I wish it had focused more on all the other characters as well; it starts out lime a multiple pov story, but that sort of fizzles out at some point, and the only switch in pov we get later on are still about Jude, just from the pov of other people. However, I made a little bet with myself, and I predicted a bunch of stuff which I think will happen in the story + how it will end, and I want to finish the book at some point to see if I'm right, and prove or disprove my point of how predictable it is. But not now. Probably closer to the end of the year.
Jesse, THANK YOU for starting this video with Our Violent Ends! I did not enjoy These Violent Delights, but you loved it so much that I decided to force myself through Our Violent Ends because "I must just be missing what makes it so great." (We generally have pretty similar taste so I trust your reviews, except Ninth House which is 11/5 stars and you're wrong 🤣) You've inspired me to also DNF Our Violent Ends after over a year of trying and trying to get into it. Thank you!! Edit: JK you DNF'd Hell Bent we can't be friends 🤣💜
I only got halfway through these violent delights…. I hated Juliet and I liked Romeo until he grabbed her wrists and tried to tell her what to do. RED. FLAG. I couldn’t read passed that because the subtle abuse pissed me off so much
So glad that DNF culture is becoming more of a thing. My boyfriend had to talk me down from the ledge of completing a book I wasn’t enjoying for like,,, 20 minutes so I’m glad that closing books you don’t like its becoming more normalized
You're not trashing them, just honestly critiquing them. You're too hard on yourself. I, myself, just DNFed Ruthless Vows. The first 35% of the story was like I was rereading the first book, I was bored, the main characters felt like side characters. In Vows, the fantasy element was brought to the forefront when it was more in the background in the first book, which didn't work for me because I couldn't connect with the God characters who were barely even in the first book. I was just all around irritated with it, had to DNF. The series should've just been a historical romance, I might've finished it if that had been the case.
Random idea- maybe, if you're considering DNF-ing a book, just skip ahead and read the ending? 👀🤔 (Then, if the end makes you wanna finish seeing how you get there, keep reading-but if it doesn't, officially DNF after that ?) 🤷🤷♀️🤷🏻♂️ idekk😂
I do that sometimes, and one time I mentioned this in a book group and someone acted like I told them their kid was ugly or something 😂 they took it very personally for some reason.
@@meikusje People are weird about the strangest things, sometimes. Lol I mean, I get it, sorta; most people want the journey to get there as much or more than they want the final destination-but if someone is already considering disengaging from the journey, at least knowing the ending might give them a little more of an idea if they're being hasty or something or if it's just not the right story for them? idkk 🤷🤷♀️😅🤣
"I want to enjoy books, not hate them. That's why I'm DNFing these!" - Jesse, 2024
I need this on a wall poster so I can hang it up next to my shelves and look at it every time I feel guilty DNFing a book.
it's just the perfect quote😭🤌🏼💕
I’m a completionist and have forced my way through so many books I hated. It’s my goal this year to DNF without guilt so this is very inspiring.
Me too! I also personally still enjoy reading books, even when I don't like them(I enjoy learning what I wouldn't do or imagining how I might write them differently or such if I were to have written it myself or whatever), so it's rare for me to DNF mid-book. I will decline to pick up the next book in a series if I really didn't like a book, though.
But I would never dream of trying to force anyone else to keep reading books that they don't enjoy if they aren't able to get as much even out of books they dislike as I am. Everybody's different; and we all need to do what's right for ourselves, not what's right for somebody else, except in certain circumstances where we're reasonably meeting each other in the middle for some reason or another! 😊 Lol
me too half the books I read last year I hated because I powered through instead of DNFing question though do you still review books you DNF? im on the fence as to whether or not I should
Sameee!! I’ve been working on it lol
🙋♀️ Always pleased to see the kindness and maturity from the comments community. So grateful to be a member.
YES TO THE DNF! Proud of you, Jesse! I have never regretted DNFing a book, but I almost always regret not DNFing.
I stand by that These Violent Delights should have been a standalone.
I dnf at least 3 books each month and it’s so good for my mental health. I have no patience for books I don’t like
You should feel great Jesse because now you have that much more space on your book shelves for books you enjoy.
😊 I already dnf'd Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo because I just could not get into it and did not much like the characters or the plot therefore I didn't even need to consider reading Hell Bent. 😂
I'd say unhaul book 2 now and see how you feel about seeing book 1 all alone when you put the book covers back on.
that sounds like a solid plan. 🖤
0:03 Even if you don’t have natural lighting, your videos are lovely.
The way my jaw literally dropped when you said Our Violent Ends 😮 It’s one of my favourite books ever. It’s alright though. It’s alright.
I am so behind on your videos (and everyone else’s 😅) but I just watched your goals for 2024 and I wanted to let you know that I’ve been loving your content lately! You seem so much more relaxed and like you’re just having fun chatting about books. I have been subscribed for a few years now and it’s always interesting to see the shifting phases of a BookTuber’s experience. I hope this year is going the way you hoped!
Same!!! The Grishaverse does it for me, Ninth House and I didn't get along. I've dnf'd 3 books so far this year. I'm more lenient with myself these days when there are so many awesome books out there!
I regret not DNFing Dark Matter... I heard so many people loving this book and I still don't understand why... but maybe it's just me. Good news was it was an easy fast read.
Frl I try to read that book for 5 month now💀 yet I just can’t finish it😭
Daniel Greene recently made a video ranting about this book, so you're not alone lol
I have enjoyed your content for years. The no dust covers LOVE IT!!!
Yes to DNF but I like to give to a hundred pages of it's in my favorite genres, which is literary reads and nonfiction. If it is something I am trying out, then I can usually tell early on about fifty pages in that it's not for me.
"i've only dnf-ed 6 so far"
*me, who hasnt even picked up 6 books so far:*
I have such a hard time DNFing books - I’ve only done it twice! I admire you for doing this and I hope you decide to do occasional updates.❤
I dnf’d two books in the last week 😅 a fragile enchantment & a study in drowning. I read the majority of my books from the library, so I don’t feel bad about not finishing the book if I generally don’t care about the characters.
I haven't DNF'd anything yet, amazingly. I'm usually pretty ruthless if I'm not enjoying a book. I'm sure it will happen before long!
Thanks for the video! I soft DNF books for the most part. I read in many formats at the same time and end up ghosting books that I'm not feeling but I give myself the option to always come back later. I actually put down many books that I end up loving but it was not the right time for me to read them the first go around. That being said the last book I wish I had DNFd was Venco.
i read A Thousand Steps Into Night, and if you're referring to Geiki as the side character i absolutely agree. and also, if it weren't for him i probably wouldn't have trudged through the book bc [spoilers but also you dnf'd but also idk if it was a soft dnf or a hard dnf]
halfway through the book there's a time travel aspect that i hated, but the only reason i continued on was bc right before the time travel, Geiki was left injured and i needed to know if my baby bird boy would make it out of there alive
yes!! geiki was the best!!
You should keep These Violent Delights and unhaul Our Violent Ends. I’ve decided to basically only have books on my bookshelves that I would read again or recommend to others and have contemplated breaking up a series which is a trilogy, but I have to read and/or dnf the second and third book before deciding. I read this series when I was younger though and don’t remember enjoying the second and didn’t even really get into the third, but the first book holds a special place in my heart.
Ive dnf-d 2 books so far this year, not sure if im fully abandoning them yet tho. first was 'Godkiller' by hannah kaner. the pacing was just so slow I could not possibly make myself sit through it for so long(i got to around page 120 ish) and next up was 'the night hunt' by Alexandra Christo, also another book where the writing style was lacking alot. that book needed a better editor roo because there are moments when characters know something that theyre not supposed to and then they find out a few pages later. for example, Silas knows Atia's name before ever even hearing it prior. two pages later he's like 'ohhh Atia, so thats her name huh?' ._.
DNFing is self care. I've DNFd 3 books so far. 1 was an organizing book that was just saying the most basic stuff, 2 was Child Thief by Brom which sucks because I love dark but..oof. 3. Animals at Lockwood Manor...163 pages and still bored af
I thought Ninth House was a stand-alone, ......then the ending, I'm like wtf. There's no way I'm reading Hell Bent, Ninth House just wasn't good enough to continue. Sorry not sorry
I have no shame in DNFing. If it’s looking like it’ll be a 2 star or less I’ll DNF. I’ll give it typically about 1/4 of the book to decide. If it can’t hook me by 25% then into the DNF pile it goes. Too many books to read to waste my time on books I’m not enjoying.
One recent book, that is a booktube darling, that I DnFd is This is How You Lose the Time War. The writing style just did NOT work for me at all. I’ve heard the audiobook is good though so I might give it another shot in that format at some point.
I also DNF'd a thousand steps into the night!
I read like 30 pages and couldn't keep it up.
I usually don't DNF books this soon; I usually give books around 50_100 pages chance before DNFing them,
But in that time I strongly believed that if a book is good it will grab my attention in the first 20 pages!
I do like a slow paced book, but for such books you need your characters to be fleshed out, be a 3 dimensional character.
Unfortunately I believe a thousand steps into the night did not have this vital factor.
I think DNF videos are great! They make people feel more confident in doing it themselves. And if you’re feeling like you want to be more positive, you can always talk about who you think these books would work for.
I DNF'd a short story collection recently. And it wasn't to do with the stories. I reserved it in the library back in November because it was a wintery collection, and it didn't come in until the end of January. By which point I wasn't really feeling short stories any more. I'm hopeful I'll come back to the collection later on in the year, but for now, it's a DNF.
I’m really good at DNFing books. What I normally do is talk about them first in my monthly wrap ups then work my way up to my highest rated so I’m leaving the video in a good place
When i do unhaul videos I kick them off by starting with my DNFs and it feels less hateful and more cleansing? That’s all semantics though but it makes ME feel better about it so that’s how I roll 😅
Hey Jesse, I’m proud of myself also I dnf a book I was not enjoying and that was The Lake by Natasha Preston oh my gosh was it bad and I I spoiled myself for what happened in the end and I’m glad I didn’t read it because I would have been highly disappointed. That book is currently on my worst books of 2024 ❤ but I’m reading 2 books I currently am enjoying ❤
So proud of you for DNFing! I had a terrible end of January/beginning of February so I DNFed 10 books in that time
I typically don't permanently DNF a book because I'm not in the mood for the book so I eventually come back to it when I'm in the mood. Like you, I tend to hope a book will get better. However nowadays I feel like I'll try to just drop a book because I don't like wasting my time with all the content that's out there in terms of books, movies, games, YT, etc. The only book I've permanently DNF was The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner. I totally regret not DNFing the worst audiobook of last year for me "33 Unplayed Voicemails" which was a rare 2 star book for me. 😣
Jesse no!!!! Not DNF’ing Our Violent Ends! Ugh, I don’t how to feel about this. But glad to see you embracing DNF’ing things. Now, the trick is to actually get rid of the books.
hell bent was lackluster for me and it turned off her new book to me. I won't read until I see some reviews, but I still will follow up with the ninth house series because I'm curious about one aspect.
I don't personally dnf because I have major fomo and always think it'll turn around in the end, but Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast was so bad to me. The plot was weird and ridiculous, and I don't really mind pop culture references but the way they did it in this one felt very forced and just like they were trying to "relate to the youth". There are something like twelve books in the series and I could barely make it through the first one.
Hellbent by Leigh Bardugo to be honest I didn’t care for the first book either. Even the audiobook was quite mid for me. And I’m and audiobook Cookie Monster. I love them and love fictional podcasts. (Malevolent, welcome to night vale, dormir o morir, the Magnus archive, Sherlock and co, etc)
I’m an curious about the story so I rather search up a full summary. I love the geisha verse books. I want to re-read them. But this dark academia stuff books it’s not so fun so far
My DNFs this year so far: The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, and Intruders by Ashley Saunders & Leslie Saunders
Wish I had DNFed: Say Die by E. Alan Fleischauer
I've definitely gotten better at DNFing but I've also gotten better at doing research beforehand and following my gut when it comes to choosing books so I have less I DNF. Haven't DNF'd any yet this year but I had a few last year and a few I should have DNF'd. 😅 Mostly it was thrillers with unlikable characters or cliche plots. I want to be thrilled by my thrillers, not sent into a coma!
I wish I'd DNF'd These Violent Delights to be honest
I didn’t DNF that one either, but I didn’t understand the hype when I read that!
same 😭
I did 😂
Me too. I despised it but forced myself to finish it because I was buddy reading it
I did 😂 book 1 was not for me and it really put me off of her as an author
I haven't had any dnf this year (yet), but I definetly have some soft dnf's from last year i'm planning on picking up again and giving them another try!
Do you rate your DNF books on goodreads??
I have with 2 books so far.
Gone Girl and Night Film.
I change my reading goals when that happens. Any book that I DNF, I add an additional book to counter the goal. Its sad because I really was hoping to like these books. But I was beyond bored. I was disappointed. They have good ratings too
@@mibarra122 I rate them with 1 star but they don’t count as read in my Goodreads. I created a special shelf for it
I personally don’t, but I get why some people do!
That would be cheating. 😢
You could also keep the jackets behind the books to keep the naked look but still have the jackets easy to find
I get the feeling bad to DNF. I'm trying to be better about it because it really can put me in a slump. I say this and didn't DNF and instead hate read The Atlas Complex (I kept justifying it was the third in the series and completed the trilogy, I had these special editions from Illumicrate, etc) and instead suffered for 24 days trying to slog through a (fully casted!) audiobook and it wasn't worth it. I get what she was going for - but it was painful to read for me. Every POV felt the same and everyone waxed poetic about the same thing with the same view with different adjectives. I read the least amount of books a month in January than I have in YEARS. Though I will say this experience made my next unhappy read an easy DNF and I toasted finishing The Scarlet Alchemist.
I can understand your feelings for Hell Bent. I liked both books but I won't say I loved them. I can very much see why people wouldn't. Strangely I felt like Hell Bent had less gratuitous horror/gore/darkness than Ninth House but I know exactly what you mean when sometimes it just feels like it's there for the edge. I felt very similarly about Blood Heir where it was going so hard for "dark" that instead it just felt predictable. I really tried to love that one and with the awful things the author went through I was determined not to DNF it and part of me doesn't regret that but it wasn't for me. A lot of others did love it though and I am very excited to read her other series because her writing itself was great. It's high on my TBR.
Looking back in my teens, I should have DNF'd some books. There were at least, 2 series I did not need to finish and for one of them, I argued with the main protagonist the whole series, I did not like her!
I joined a book club in my 20s and I more ok with DNFing. I have dropped books I no longer remember the names of.
I LOVED NINTH HOUSE and Hell Bent didn't even work for me... I reached the end but woah. It was all over the place...
I adored Ninth House but I absolutely hated Hell Bent and wish I had DNFed it so like. Good for you for actually doing that!
Really, the only way I actually finished Our Violent Ends was by listending to it on audiobook, but it still took me forever to even finish it.
This year I DNFed "The Housemaiden" by Frieda McFadden. It was a very big miss for me, but I know other people might like it and that's okay. A funny (or not so funny) thing about me is that I feel like I'm biologically incapable of NOT DNFing books haha. If I'm not in the mood for a book or if I don't find it interesting, my brain literally stops processing the information and I cannot make it focus for the life of me so I just HAVE to DNF the thing.
I tried twice to read Three Body Problem because so many people I know, and reviewers I trust, all talk about how brilliant it is.
I just can't, though. Yeah, there are some interesting ideas, but it's such a slog.
I haven't read the Alex Stern series but I dislike Six Of Crows series.
Also, if you wanna try middle grade fantasy, I still recommend Aru Shah series/Pandava series by Roshani Chokshi. 😁
I read the free preview of ninth house like four times and still had no idea what was going on, hated the MC, and was bored 😅 I LOVE the six of crows duology, they’re currently my favorite books, but everything else I’ve read from Leigh (including the other five Grisha books) have been a miss…
Also, Jesse as someone who read Ninth House a second time to make sure I knew what was going on, He’ll Bent still was not worth it. I think I skipped over half the scenes because they didn’t end up being needed/relevant to the story as a whole
I wish the Gilded Wolves series was more consistent because as you said it's very messy. I couldn't explain the plot to save my life. The characters were great and I did finish the trilogy ( I usually don't DNF) but sadly I found it quite forgettable. The aesthetics of the first book were excellent but it dwindled imo.
I used to hate DNFing books, that whole mentality of "But I bought the book, and someone put their soul into this book I should read it!!" was always what stoped me.
But lately I've just been very blunt with books. If a book doesn't grab me, or I walk away feeling like "I don't really care if I pick this book up again..." I DNF it. I might give it another go later but if it sparks no joy, it's gotta go.
The fastest I've DNF'd a book was literally 1 paragraph. The First Binding by R. R. Virdi. I read the first paragraph, jumped to a random page in the middle and saw that the purple prose was still just as awful and walked away.
EDIT: First Binding is probably tied with The Atlas Complex, or whatever the first book was called. I think that was either 1 or 2 paragraphs as well.
I feel you on hell bent. I couldn't even pick it up after how bad ninth house was 😢
Within the past couple months, I started Cemetery Boys & got a couple of hours into the audiobook. Then I realised that it seemed like NOTHING had happened in a couple of HOURS in the story, so I DNFed. A lot of people really like that book, so I was hopeful, but I don't see what people like about it.
I should have DNFd Earthlings. I kept waiting because it was so off kilter, I thought it would be better and it got worse every time I pushed through to the next section. 😢
When I’m tired or ticked off reading a book. I DNF and I look in google a full summary of what happens for the rest of the story. I did that for Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow.
i have a hard time being objective about "the gilded wolves" trilogy bc it's one of the few books/series I've found with an autistic female character and that meant and still means so much to me 🙈
I've gotten better at DNFing books but I'm still in need of improvement in that department. i really wish i had DNFed "our share of night" bc i massively wasted my time reading the whole thing last week for bookclub
I did end up finishing Hell Bent but it was a SLOGGGGG ughh hated every moment of it and I will not be continuing 😅😅😅
I know that’s your opinion but I loved the duology of these violent delights. It was so good in my opinion. Not everyone likes the same things so it’s ok if you don’t like it.
I know that I'm probably gonna be crucified for this....but I feel like dnfing Assistant To The Villain?? I can't even get passed the prologue for some reason? And I'm frustrated because I saw it all over the place and it sounded so good, but I'm just not connecting to it. Anyone have thoughts or suggestions? Should I keep pushing through?
If I’m too disappointed with a sequel in a duo or trilogy, I unhaul the whole series.
I can’t do it immediately, but after letting it sit on my mind for a few days/weeks, I can. Letting go feels better than always remembering that disappointment when I see the first book.
The only time I don’t do this is when the first book does in fact work as a standalone (usually only happens with a series of companion novels). Then I can keep the first and get rid of the rest, pretending they don’t exist 😂
I had to recently unhaul my whole series of red queen. I enjoyed the first book, but was really disappointed in rest of the series that it literally upset me whenever i saw it on my shelves
@@adrie2408That brings me back. I enjoyed Red Queen as well but never did get around to reading the rest.
I had to do this type of unhaul with two series ->
Prison Healer: Loved most of the first book but literally, the LAST line of it did something that made a mess of the next two books for me.
Renegades: I enjoyed the first two books, but HATED the last book of the trilogy 😢
I didn't like the Roshani Chokshi books either. I managed to finish the third book, but I wasn't happy that I did.
Honestly I regret not dnfing Acotar.. it's my second book of the year and I STRUGGLED my way through it
Don't feel bad, I dnf'd Ninth House. I could not get in to the book at all.
I dnf'd 10 books already but some of them I'll try again another time :)
ive never dnfca book i usually just push through the most recent was Death, Loot and Vampires: A LitRPG Adventure
I'm doing pretty well with my goal to DNF books I'm not enjoying. Most recently I dnf'd "A Song of Wraiths and Ruin" (great world, interesting politics, but I really didn't like the FMC), and also "The Hurricane Wars" (all I could think was "StarWarsStarWarsStarwars"). I don't blame you for dnf'ing "The Bronzed Beasts." I did finish the trilogy, but like you, only for the characters, and in particular for me, Zofia, Enrique, and Hypnos. The main romance between Laila and Severin didn't interest me at all.
I feel like … Leigh Bardugo as a whole *isn’t* for me.
Six of Crows made me think she was. But it was a one-time wonder on her part. HUGE wonder, but one-time nontheless (Language of Thorns was beautiful but it’s short stories so …)
Shadow and Bone continually annoyed me. Then the King of Scars duo turned out to be pure fanservice that abandoned my memory within three days. And then Ninth House gave me the ick.
Officially done checking her out 😰
For these books were you like the first one, I would just keep it and pass along the second one
_ Our Violent Ends_ DIN'T lack intrigue!
Ok, sorry. I appreciate your honesty.) Well, I'm trying to. I just love that book.❤
So sad you didn't vibe with it.
I soft DNF'ed A Little Life (ETA: at 60% in, so I gave it a fair chance 👍). I'm kind of thinking of maybe finishing it at some point, but right now, it's a no from me.
[A Little Life rant incoming]
And my real unpopular opinion on the topic is that A Little Life just isn't very well written. I can sort of see how it might appeal to a younger audience, but as an adult, it did very little for me. It all felt very contrived and unrealistic. And not because of what some describe as 'trauma porn', but because the way it was written made it feel like the author just read a bunch of case files, compiled symptoms and experiences they came across in those files, and turned that into a character. All of it together just didn't really add up, imo, didn't fit together to make a believable person. And I know some people really do go through it all, but the book really read like someone just went 'name some types of abuse' and then wrote a story. It became so predictable at some point; think of anything bad that can happen to someone, and it'll probably happen at some point in A Little Life 🤷 I also didn't like Jude much, which is fine, but the whole story was written in a way that I felt like I should be liking him more, and the continuous adoration of him by everyone around him just didn't click with me because of that, so I got very bored with the story quite quickly. I wish it had focused more on all the other characters as well; it starts out lime a multiple pov story, but that sort of fizzles out at some point, and the only switch in pov we get later on are still about Jude, just from the pov of other people. However, I made a little bet with myself, and I predicted a bunch of stuff which I think will happen in the story + how it will end, and I want to finish the book at some point to see if I'm right, and prove or disprove my point of how predictable it is. But not now. Probably closer to the end of the year.
Jesse, THANK YOU for starting this video with Our Violent Ends! I did not enjoy These Violent Delights, but you loved it so much that I decided to force myself through Our Violent Ends because "I must just be missing what makes it so great." (We generally have pretty similar taste so I trust your reviews, except Ninth House which is 11/5 stars and you're wrong 🤣)
You've inspired me to also DNF Our Violent Ends after over a year of trying and trying to get into it. Thank you!!
Edit: JK you DNF'd Hell Bent we can't be friends 🤣💜
I wish I was better at actually dnfing books, but I rarely do. I love writing rant reviews!
I only got halfway through these violent delights…. I hated Juliet and I liked Romeo until he grabbed her wrists and tried to tell her what to do. RED. FLAG. I couldn’t read passed that because the subtle abuse pissed me off so much
One book stop reading not pick back up even know I like it idk why
I DNF'd Fourth Wing last year and am so PROUD of me I did!
I dnfed 4 books so far this year. 2 each month.
I'm crying over Hell Bent 😭 but thank you for sharing your honest opinions...although they're wrong on this one 😉😁
I feel like a rarity. I have no problem dnf'ing books I don't like, even if they're popular. 😂
So glad that DNF culture is becoming more of a thing. My boyfriend had to talk me down from the ledge of completing a book I wasn’t enjoying for like,,, 20 minutes so I’m glad that closing books you don’t like its becoming more normalized
I wish I could’ve dnf’d Iron Widow
The way I just dnfed Iron Flame today then saw this video 🙃
If you think you will reread it keep if. Otherwise let it go
I wish I would have DNF’d “Broken Monsters”. Ugh! 😫
Putting covers on books? We don’t know her
I didn’t enjoy Ninth House and seeing how you DNF Hell Bent seals the deal for me 😂 thank you!
Hours of your life are the most valuable currency you have, spending it on a bad time is an awful waste - dnfing means making time for good books
You're not trashing them, just honestly critiquing them. You're too hard on yourself.
I, myself, just DNFed Ruthless Vows. The first 35% of the story was like I was rereading the first book, I was bored, the main characters felt like side characters. In Vows, the fantasy element was brought to the forefront when it was more in the background in the first book, which didn't work for me because I couldn't connect with the God characters who were barely even in the first book. I was just all around irritated with it, had to DNF. The series should've just been a historical romance, I might've finished it if that had been the case.
Have you read Amari?? I DNF’d Book Lovers 😮😮
nooooo Jesse, not Hell Bent 😭😭😭
👏🏻Great job DNFing! Life is too short to read books that aren't working for you!
me currently reading hellbent 🤪
i would keep the book you liked and sell the one you didn’t. unless you don’t really care about keeping the book you liked
I just don't pick up books I'm going to hate :)
Random idea- maybe, if you're considering DNF-ing a book, just skip ahead and read the ending? 👀🤔 (Then, if the end makes you wanna finish seeing how you get there, keep reading-but if it doesn't, officially DNF after that ?) 🤷🤷♀️🤷🏻♂️ idekk😂
I do that sometimes, and one time I mentioned this in a book group and someone acted like I told them their kid was ugly or something 😂 they took it very personally for some reason.
@@meikusje People are weird about the strangest things, sometimes. Lol
I mean, I get it, sorta; most people want the journey to get there as much or more than they want the final destination-but if someone is already considering disengaging from the journey, at least knowing the ending might give them a little more of an idea if they're being hasty or something or if it's just not the right story for them? idkk 🤷🤷♀️😅🤣
I also didn’t like The Bronzed Beasts!! But I DNF like it’s my job 😂