Leta’s Shelves: DNF Reads and Opinions

Not every person is going to be into the same books. We all have different preferences. So, a term developed quickly in the reader communities for the books that don’t match the reader. We call these books DNF or Did Not Finish reads.

There aren’t very many books that I quit reading before the end. I believe that I can’t judge a book until I’ve read the entire thing and can see it as a whole. Sometimes the ending makes the rest of the book make sense. Sometimes it doesn’t, but I believe that its important for someone who reviews books to be able to have the same fully informed opinion for a 5-star read as a 1-star read or a DNF.

The one book I remember DNF-ing is To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. I read just more than one chapter before getting so fed up with how young the tone of the story was. It felt whiny to me, and I couldn’t continue it. Another was Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian. That one didn’t hook me at all in the first few chapters. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mindset when I tried to read it, but I don’t have any want to try again.

There are others that I tried to read and gave up on like Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Fortunately, this one just needed the context of the Shadow and Bone trilogy. After I read the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Six of Crows made enough sense for me to want to get through the first chapter. Now, I just finished the second book, Crooked Kingdom, and I am so sad that it ended.

Like that example, I DNF-ed Glass Sword about a year and a half ago. It’s the second book in the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. I’ve heard that other people struggled to get through it. I think I struggled because it had been over a year since I’d read the first book and some of the details are fuzzy. Either way, I’ve decided to go back into the series starting with the first book and read right through to the end of the fourth without a break. I haven’t done that yet, but hopefully soon.

However, I can’t think of many other books I’ve DNF-ed. Considering I read approximately 9-10 books a month, most of the books I read I won’t DNF. So, DNFs aren’t something I think a lot about.

It’s important to remember that you can always DNF a book. I need to remember that more, since there are books that I should have DNF-ed so that I could spent my time on a different book. DNFs aren’t horrible things, and you aren’t a bad person or a bad reader for having them. We all have different interests, and they won’t align all the time.

That’s all I have to say on DNFs for now. If I ever have more, maybe I’ll add to this post and keep a list going here. It’ll give you a better perspective on my reading preferences. And it’ll help me to keep track of them too – maybe even give them a second chance.

Thanks for reading!