Books I DNF: A Mid-Year Review

Tackling my reading goal this year has been easy. I love to read fantasy so reading 17 popular fantasy books did not seem like a huge challenge. Check out my full reading list here.

BUT, as all readers know, some books do not jive with our reading taste. It turns out I do not enjoy every fantasy book out there. Below are a few books I did not finish.

1. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Simply put, it was the weapon lore. I got about half way through the book and still wasn’t sure what exactly was happening. I googled a summary on wiki and had an “ah-ha” moment. Thus, I knew it was too much of an epic high fantasy for me.

I was listening to the audiobook, I think I might have better luck holding the book in my hands. But for now, I am taking a break from Sanderson.

2. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

I knew from the first chapter I was not going to enjoy Red Rising. It was a bittersweet realization because I wanted to love it so much. From the main character to the storytelling as a whole, Red Rising is not for me. There are elements of the story that did interest me, but my dislike of the main character was the main deal breaker for me. Like Sanderson’s The Way of Kings, I held strong for half of the book because the series had high praise. Fans of the books promise the rest of the Red Rising series are better, but for now, Red Rising is back on my shelf.

3. American Gods by Neil Gailman

American Gods is another book I wanted to like. Why did I stop reading this one? American Gods moved too slow for me and I sadly stopped reading a few chapters in. I will give this one another try later in life.

4. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

I don’t know where to begin with this one. A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian satirical black comedy—according to google. What does that even mean? You might know black comedy has dark humor. It has many titles that all lead the viewer to think “hm that isn’t quite right.”

I read a few pages and then remembered I saw the movie on Netflix. I decided to watch the the movie and then read the book. I needed the motivation at the time. I quickly discovered I had no interested in the movie, book, or anything to do with A Clockwork Orange. It is a strange movie that was shocking to watch. So I had no interest in finishing the book.

If you want to read more about black comedy check out Studiobinder’s article.

If you don’t like a book, don’t finish.

I know these books are very popular, some have a huge fan base. I am disappointed I did not enjoy the books as much as I thought I would. BUT they did help me fine tune exactly what I enjoy in a fantasy story.