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Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Did Not Finish


Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday.  Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's theme is Bookish Things I Want to Quit or Have Quit.  You could go a lot of ways with this one, so I'm listing books that I didn't finish (DNF'd).  These are the ten most recent books that I couldn't bring myself to finish, beginning with the most recent.


Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan - I made it through about a ninth of the audiobook before completely losing interest.  Attempted September 4, 2015.


Black City by Elizabeth Richards - I really wanted to like this one because the beginning is so promising.  It's an interesting mix of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black meets Legend by Marie Lu plus a dash of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling and it was pretty good up until page 100, but then came this horrible forbidden instalove which completely took over the story in a Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet multiplied by Twilight by Stephenie Meyer kind of way.  I kept torturing myself until page 175 and probably came out of it with eye strain from near constant eye rolling.  Attempted June 5 - 9, 2015.


Teardrop by Lauren Kate - I'm not even sure why I picked this one up in the first place since I couldn't stand Fallen.  I barely made it through the prologue and the first chapter.  Eureka is an extremely unlikable character and the writing style doesn't make it any easier to like at that.  Attempted June 17, 2015.


The Hope We Seek by Rich Shapero - I gave up around 60 pages.  I felt so confused, like I was missing something vital.  The cover reminds me of the silent film, Metropolis, or maybe hell. Attempted from May 14 - 15, 2015.


Renegade by J.A Souders - The premise of this novel is pretty interesting, but during the one hundred pages I gave it it was incredibly slow, boring, and repetitive.  Not much of anything actually happened in what I tried.  Attempted May 6 - 7, 2015.


Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James - I had high hopes for this, but unfortunately the characters I love just come across as flat and wooden and the characters didn't sound or act like themselves even when quoting their own dialog.  After page 60 I realized I didn't care anymore.  Attempted April 25 - 26, 2015.


Little Bee by Chris Cleave - Despite all of the good things I've heard about this novel, I just couldn't get into the author's writing style.  Attempted February 16, 2015.


The Sinister Urge by Frances Newton - This is the only read for review book I haven't finished, and it's only 122 pages.  The description of the book is actually quite misleading.  I thought I would be reading about romantic feelings of two members of a broken up band brought back together to judge a reality tv show. It's actually about the incestuous relationship of two siblings who happened to be in a band.  Aside from the graphic incest, the writing needs major work in everything from perspective to verb tense.  Gave up with a headache on February 6, 2015.


Greywalker by Kat Richardson - I really, really wanted to like this one because it sounds like it's right up my alley - the cover is even illustrated by one of my favorites, Christian McGrath.  Unfortunately, after the intense opening it loses its steam and really drags.  I may return to it some day.  Attempted January 14 - 23, 2015.


Undertown by Melvin Jules Bukiet - The cover of this is what drew me to it, but after one chapter I had to put it down.  I did not care for the tone of this novel at all - I mean, it's kind of disconcerting to hear a thirteen year old talk like he could become the next Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.


What do you think of my list?  Have we given up on any of the same books?  Do any of these get better and are worth going back to?  What books have you given up on?

Comments

  1. Really like the Pemberly miniseries, but I've heard the book isn't as good. Bummer about "Teardrop." I think I own that one, but may have put it on my get-rid-of pile. Because, I wasn't reading it. :)

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    1. I haven't seen the miniseries yet, but I'm still interesting in watching it since the commercials looked so good.

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  2. You listed a couple I have been wanting to read, Greywalker and Death Comes to Pemberly. That's especially disappointing about Greywalker. I kind of had already heard mixed reviews of P.D. James's book.

    I really like Little Bee, but I can understand why someone might have had trouble with the writing style.

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    1. I'll probably go back to Greywalker at some point in the future, but it just wasn't working for me at the time. I'd be interested to hear what you think of it and Death Comes to Pemberley.

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  3. Gals in my book club really liked LITTLE BEE. I didn't. I finished it but didn't like it. I finished DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY because my daughter gave it to me. Ha! My TTT

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  4. I haven't read any of these.

    You know, I really disliked Fallen and Torment by Lauren Kate. But for some reason I read on (I'm weird). And I enjoyed the last two books. Worth it to suffer through the first two? Nah. But at least I got something for my trouble haha. Maybe I'll check this other one by her out from the library (certainly won't be buying any of her books soon) out of curiosity.

    Christina @ Books & Prejudice

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    1. I have heard that the series gets better as it goes on, but I'm not going to make myself suffer like I did through Hush, Hush and part of its sequel.

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  5. I know what you mean about Teardrop... I was let down by that book!

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    1. Like I said before, I'm not even sure why I picked it up...

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  6. I loved Teardrop. I felt it built and got better as the book went and I can't wait to see where she takes the journey in Waterfall.

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    1. It wasn't for me, but I'm glad you liked it. Good to know it does get better. Hope you like Waterfall.

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  7. I completely agree about Death Comes to Pemberley. I did actually finish it because I wanted to watch the tv adaptation but I just thought it didn't do justice to the characters at all, everyone acted so out of character and it bugged me a lot!
    http://dualreads.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/top-ten-bookish-things-i-want-to.html

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    1. Was the miniseries any good? I still think I'll try it. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Aghhhh, you are NOT missing anything by not finishing Teardrop. >_< I still cringe when I look at that book because it was so bad. hehe. I don't even think I'll try another Lauren Kate book, tbh.
    Here's my TTT!

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    1. I do the same...well, you're not missing anything either! Thanks for stopping by!

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  9. You couldn't bring yourself to finish these, but I can't bring myself to DNF lol. But, even though you DNFed these, some of them look interesting. I may have to give them a try for myself! Though I feel like, if a book is about incest, that'd *probably* be a good thing to make clear in the blurb...

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    1. Some of this did have a lot of potential or sounded interesting, like Black City, but then they fell apart.

      Yeah, I would like to know right from the beginning that I'm about to be reading about graphic incest...Not my kind of thing.

      Thanks for commenting!

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  10. I've been weeding my Goodreads TBR list over the last few days and I looked at both 'Black City' and 'Renegade' and didn't think I'd get along with them, but the majority of the reviews don't fault them - I'm glad to get a second opinion! :)

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    1. I'm glad I could be of service. :)

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  11. When Black City and Teardrop first released, they were on my wishlist. But, then I heard not so great things and I decided not to even try them.

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    1. I hadn't even heard of Black City until I picked it up a few months ago at a bargain outlet store. It sounded good in the store...

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  12. I checked Teardrop out from the library once and then decided not to even open the cover. I found that I just didn't care at that point.
    I have Sea Hearts on audio but I have heard mixed things so I have been putting it off.
    Thanks for sharing!
    Amanda

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    1. I got Teardrop at the library too. Actually I read that little bit in the library and decided I just couldn't go on before I checked anything out.

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  13. I've heard of Little Bee before, but never had any interest in reading it. I'm the same as you about Undertown, I really like the cover, but after checking it out on Goodreads I probably wouldn't read it either. Great list, happy reading some books you will actually enjoy!

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  14. I have this bad habit where I feel the need to finish a book once I've started it, even if I'm not really enjoying the experience. I've gotten better about this with time, but there's still plenty of books that I struggled through just so that I could finally mark the book as "Completed" on Goodreads instead of adding it to the dreaded DNF pile. Now I'm realizing that there are far too many other books that I could be reading, so I'm becoming more okay with leaving a book unfinished. As you said about "Death Comes to Pemberley," sometimes you reach a point in a story where you just don't care anymore and lose the inertia to go on...

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    1. That's exactly how I used to be until I realized there were far to many other books out there I could be reading instead. Thanks for visiting!

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  15. I have a copy of Teardrop but I never got a chance to read it, and looks like I haven't been missing out anything by that! But then, Lauren Kate's books are all ridiculous! Did you hear that she's writing a 5th book in the Fallen series?

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  16. Little Bee is on my radar to read at some point! It's interesting hearing what other people don't get on with! I'm a keen DNFer - if it's not grabbing you there's no point in trudging through it!

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    1. I was really hoping to like it, but I just couldn't get into the style. I'd be interested to hear what you think of it though.

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  17. Black City, Teardrop, and Renegade all went on my TBR when they first came out, but I saw far too many negative reviews of them, so didn't end up picking any of them up. No I feel better about my decisions.

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  18. I struggle immensely with Lauren Kate as an author, too. Maybe I'm just too old. Hahaha :-D Great post!

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  19. Oh the dialogue in Death Comes to Pemberley "Darcy said..." "Wickham said..." said said too many saids!

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  20. I bought Teardrop too, even though I could not stand Fallen at all! Pretty covers are always doing me in :p I am sad to hear that The Black City had such an awful instalove :( I just bought it the other day and had high hopes for it!

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    1. It starts off great but it went way downhill, for me at least.

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  21. I haven't read any of these books. But, kudos to you for DNF-ing. I'm really bad at DNF-ing. I force myself to read books that I don't love, thinking "maybe in these last 10 pages, everything will change and the story will get better". And, that's just unrealistic. I should stop torturing myself.

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    1. Sometimes I still do that actually. Every now and then it works though.

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  22. I have to agree with Teisha's comment; kudos to you for DNF-ing, I just can't! I have been wanting to read 'Death Comes to Pemberley' for so long and am quite surprised to hear you didn't enjoy it. Really need to check it out!

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    1. I had my eyes on it for quite a while before too and I was super disappointed. I hope you will like it though.

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  23. I've had Teardrop on my TBR list for a while now. Maybe I should take it off...Thanks for visiting Bookworm Book Reviews!

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  24. The cover of Black City is SO pretty!!! But it just doesn't sound like a "me" book. Sorry these ones didn't work out for you :( Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  25. After seeing your comments on Pemberley, I think I'll just stick with the mini-series on that one :) My TTT

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    1. I still really want to see the miniseries! Thanks for sharing!

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  26. I haven't heard of any of these books so I'll make sure to keep them off my TBR! The cover for Little Bee looks beautiful though! I probably would've bought it if I had seen it in the store just because of the cover... I'm a notorious cover-buyer.

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  27. Oh no!! Is Teardrop as bad as Fallen?? I wanted to read that one because of the Atlantis story :(

    Here are my Top Ten!

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    1. Not quite that bad, but still bad enough to make me not want to keep going.

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  28. I've thought of reading Death Comes to Pemberley, but have yet to pick it up. I appreciate your thoughts on it!

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  29. I actually haven't read any of these series, but I might stay away from some of them now. Thanks for visiting my TTT!

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  30. As you saw, one of my habits I need to quit is not DNFing because I feel guilty. I've only DNFed one book so far this year, and it was Those Girls by Lauren Saft. I hated the characters and I really struggle with books when the characters are so unlikeable. I need to DNF more so I can move on to reading books I actually like! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

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    1. So many books, so little time. Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  31. Neat list! I've enjoyed reading it and your thoughts about these books. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Happy Reading!

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  32. I haven't read any of these books but I wanted to read Teardrop and Black City badly because of those gorgeous covers. Anyhow, after what you said about that, I'm glad I never bought them.

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    1. Better test them out at the library first. Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  33. Great list! I really like what you did with the topic. :) I really need to get better at DNF books, I waste so much time with books I'm not interested in.

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    1. Thanks! I think I still need to get better at it, too, actually.

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  34. Aww I'm sad to hear you didn't like Black City as much as I did. The beginning premise was such a good idea! I really need to work on DNFing books... to this day I've only ever DNFed 2 books and I feel terrible about it! I have this mentality that I really want to know the ending of EVERY book so I'm thinking of going back and finishing them... I know it's terrible!

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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    1. I used to be the same way, but I realized I have too many other books that I want to read.

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  35. Was Sea Hearts the alternate title for The Brides of Rollrock Island? I remember loving that, but it suited my mood at the time, too...

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  36. Thankfully I haven't read any of the books you mentioned - I'll stay away from these. Thanks for sharing!

    Thank you for stopping by my post earlier :)

    Obsessive Compulsive Reader

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  37. You listed a couple books that I've always been on the fence about reading; I'm glad to stay away! I put a spin on my TTT and focused on series I won't be finishing instead. Great list!!

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  38. Shame you didn't enjoy Black City. I admit it took me a while to get into but the twists at the end were amazing!

    I'm hesitant to try Teardrop. I'm still trying to motivate myself to finish the Fallen Series...one day

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    1. I was really hoping I would when it came to Black City...but unfortunately it just didn't work out for me.

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  39. I am almost relieved that none of these are on my TBR, but there's a few I had considered adding in the past. I'm sorry none of these worked for you, it's so disappointing to end with a DNF :(

    - Wattle @ Whimsical Nature

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    1. I am too, but I'll breath a sigh of relief for you. :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  40. I have not read any of these (which from the sounds of it is a good thing hahha) but the cover for Undertown is AMAZING. And the cover from The Hope We Seek will give me nightmares for the rest of my life ;)
    Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight

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