Top Ten Tuesday: DNF Books

Welcome back to another Top Ten Tuesday post! We are often tempted to just talk about the books we thoroughly enjoyed or even loved. But it can’t always be sunshine and rainbows, that’s not how life works. Unfortunately, this works the same way in books, not all books we pick up work out well for us. So, this week it’s time to explain why certain books didn’t work and why we put them on the DNF (did not finish) shelf. Remember, what didn’t work for me, might work for you. So, this post is no judgement to the authors and books, just why these didn’t work for me.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

  1. Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao – One of my most recent DNF books and I didn’t see this one coming. I really enjoyed the previous book in this series, mainly for its action-packed plot. I therefore was eagerly awaiting this sequel, but I was beyond bored. This was so political heavy, I wasn’t even mildly interested. It was way too dull for my taste. DNF @ 31%
  2. The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem – Another book that didn’t suit my reading taste. I actually expected to enjoy it because of the premise, but at 57% nothing really happened so far. DNF @ 57%
  3. Weyward by Emilia Hart – I know many people love this book, but I’m not one of them. It was too dull for me. I just couldn’t get into it. DNF @ 13%
  4. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo – You either love or hate this book, there’s no in-between. For me, it’s the latter one, because I was so incredibly bored. DNF @ 49%
  5. The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi – Another book that didn’t live up to my expectations. I was just so bored. DNF @ 29%
  6. Glow by Raven Kennedy – The pacing in this entire series is off and at book 4 I just couldn’t be bothered anymore. DNF @ 40%
  7. A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen – I have no knowledge of the Norse mythology and that particular knowledge is coming in handy when reading this book. I was lost. DNF @ 37%
  8. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo – I just couldn’t get into this book due to the writing style. The author barely uses punctuation for reasons, but this made me confused. DNF @ 10%
  9. The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna – I just couldn’t remember anything from the first book and just couldn’t be bothered to reread it. DNF @ 15%
  10. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn – This is a case of “I hope it will get a translation because I don’t understand the magic system”. Unfortunately, it didn’t get a translation yet. I have a decent fluency in English, but some books are just too hard to understand when you’re not a native speaker. DNF @ 51%

Are there any of these books You tried to read? What did you think of them?


Comments

20 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday: DNF Books”

  1. I DNF books all the time! If I didn’t, reading would be miserable. I even do a DNF&Y post for the same reason you mentioned… what didn’t work for me might be a reason someone else loves it.

  2. I wanted to try a Fate Inked In Blood at some point so that is handy to know. I know a bit about Norse Mythology but not a lot!

    Have a great week!

    Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
    My post:
    https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2025/03/25/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-i-would-like-to-re-read/

  3. I have Weyward on my shelf, and I’ve never felt interested in it enough to get going with it.

  4. Ah, sorry these didn’t work for you, but that’s absolutely fine too. We can’t like each and every book! I have Legendborn and The Familial on my TBR it will be interesting to see how I feel about them. Especially Legendborn since I’m not native English speaker either.

  5. I’ve heard other people say the same thing about The Familiar!

  6. I feel like I NEVER see anyone else dislike Legendborn! I’m so glad I’m not the only one to DNF it!

  7. I struggled with Iron Widow and DNFed it around 50%. Nothing is wrong with the book; it just didn’t work for me, and I’m okay with that. I enjoyed Legendborn, and I am excited for the third book in the series. But I understand your reasons for not enjoying it.
    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/books-i-dnfed-in-2024/

  8. Though I finished it, I do wish I could have DNF’d A Fate Inked In Blood as I didn’t really enjoy it either.

  9. I liked The Jasad Heir but I am WITH you on The Familiar….I wish I’d DNF’d that. I struggled through it all the way to the end and it’s one of the most disappointing books I’ve ever read.

    1. I actually saw it on one of your TTT posts, so that made me really disappointed that it didn’t work out for me.

  10. I’m on the Libby audiobook wait-list for The Familiar and I’m hoping I have good looking with it when it’s my turn.

  11. Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books Avatar
    Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books

    A lot of these books I liked but I did the same thing with The Merciless Ones.

  12. I was so disappointed by Girl, Woman, Other. The writing style made it hard for me too.

  13. I’ve read, and loved quite a few of the above, but we all know not every book is for everyone. I do agree with The Final Strife though, I really wanted to love that one, but it just didn’t work for me.

  14. I hope Legendborn ends up getting translated in your native language. I can see how that would be frustrating.

    1. I highly doubt it.

  15. We have such different taste in books, and I can understand why these didn’t work for you, even if there were a few on this list that I really loved. The Familiar was one of my favorite recent reads.

  16. I enjoyed Legendborn, but I can see where it would not be an ideal book to read in a non-native language. (English is my native language, and some parts still confused me.)

    Thanks for visiting my TTT last week! I’m slowly catching up… 😉

  17. I used to REALLY want to read something by Leigh Bardugo, but at this point, I suspect her books wouldn’t really suit me. Who knows! Maybe someday I’ll give one a chance. (I used to own Six of Crows but am not sure if I still do.) Thanks so much for sharing your list and the reasons why – and for visiting my DNF list from last week. 🙂

  18. Legendborn is on my TBR. I’m sorry that you couldn’t get into it.

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