You wanted to read the book, you were excited to crack it open, you came into it with good faith and anticipation… but you ended up dnf-ing it. Which book and why?
Mine was The Maid by Nita Prose. It was for my book club and looked like a fun murder mystery. Instead I got instant manic-pixie-dream-neurodivergent-girl vibes, and I noped out before the crime scene was even found.
I can only think of one time I DNFd a book and it was Ready Player Two. I was and am in love with the first book, it is my favorite thing I’ve ever read and I reread it at least once a year because it just never gets old to me. I love Cline’s writing and his passion. The first book had the perfect balance of the 80’s pop culture references to plot and character development. The second just feels so wrong. I am genuinely convinced that Cline didn’t write it and they just slapped his name on the book. It’s such a cash grab and has none of the soul of the original. The whole thing is so insufferable to read and >!god they just make Wade such an unreadable character. He just becomes this lifeless sad sack that has such easily fixable problems and instead of the book addressing it they just make him so insufferable!<. And the worst part is that there’s barely any plot. It’s all just “oOoO fUnNy 80s MoViE/mUsIc.” It is only references and the balance is ruined. >!THEY SPENT TWO ENTIRE GODDAMN CHAPTERS IN A BATTLE WITH PRINCE AND THE ENTIRE THING WAS SO DRAWN OUT UGHHHHHHH!<. That is when I stopped reading it, chapter 9. I just couldn’t bring myself to finish that god awful piece of work. I fully intend on hate-finishing it at some point, but I’m just not ready yet. Yes, I bought the book on release date and I’m still not ready.