If you’re one of those that feel like they have to finish every book they start, I am here to tell you you’re wrong. But like, respectfully.
A book’s sole job is to bring the reader joy and if you find yourself struggling to finish a book, or if it crossed a line you’re not comfortable with, there is no shame slamming it shut never to be opened again.
Not every book is for every person.
I’ll post my reviews on my reads, my DNF’s included. Maybe you’ll agree, maybe disagree, and maybe feel empowered to put down that book you’ve been trying to finish since 2021.
Now I do try to give myself some guidelines before deciding to DNF. I try to finish the first 100 pages or 10% of the book. Some books just need a little time to build up momentum, set the stakes for the characters, and immerse you in the world.
But by that time I feel like something should be happening by now. Whether the book is 300 pages or 1,000.
I’ve recently had a string of DNF’s. It does happen often, this year I’ve DNF’d about 8 books in total. But I never feel bad about doing it, if anything I feel relieved.
I am a glutton for a book though so when I saw a free audiobook on Everand I thought “Why Not?”
Kissing the Boss by Linda Kage is a Cinderella retelling set in the modern day fashion industry.
Retellings are one of my favorite tropes, classic 90’s kid over here!
I love finding all the easter eggs the author lays out and connecting the dots back to the original story. And the twists they put on the story, like the stepsiblings being brothers instead, or one of those brothers also being the fairy godmother.
But this particular retelling didn’t grip me. And it’s for one reason at the end of the day.
The FMC was about 25 years old. She mentioned how she graduated college for business, and the timeline suggested that was 6 months to a year ago.
But she was written like a 16 year old girl. Head in the clouds and thinking the world was made of cotton candy. Worse yet, the narrator read her character like a 16 year old girl too.
It was damn near impossible to take anything she said seriously. She had no way of achieving her dreams, and if the author turned that around it would be a miracle. Sure, that’s the point. But I don’t want to read/listen to a young woman act like a teenager while she flirts with a grown man.
It just crossed a line I couldn’t overlook.
Overall ⭐⭐
🚫 DNF at 75%
💫 A – Adult (Ages 18+)
Tropes: Retelling, Workplace Romance, He Falls First, Slow Burn, Humor
Title: Kissing the Boss
Author: Linda Kage
Genre: Romance
Series: A Linda Kage Fairy Tale
Format: Audiobook
Length: 11 hours 10 mins
Published: March 2, 2018, Published Independently
Win some, you lose some. On to the next.
Sometimes cover art is all I need to add a book to my TBR. Whose with me?
Dear Reader by Tate James was simple, but the colors gave the impression of sex on the pages. There is something about red, gold, and black that just whispers elegant danger.
This book starts out with some strong allegations. Tate James wanted to grab the reader from page 1. I can respect it.
But I made it exactly 10%, my personal rule, before closing the book never to be opened again.
My reason is simple. The book felt like a mild version of Rina Kent’s Legacy of God’s series, but with wanna be dark themes.
Don’t get me wrong the themes probably get pretty dark, again I made it a whopping 10%. But it didn’t put my mind in the dark, gloomy, sexy, academia space to pursue it more than 10%.
Overall ⭐
🚫 DNF at 10%
🔥 MA – Mature Audiences (Ages 18+)
Tropes: Stalker, Dark Romance, Dark Academia, Crimes, Smut, Mystery, Why Choose, Enemies to Lovers, Reverse Harem
Title: Dear Reader
Author: Tate James
Genre: Romance
Series: The Devil’s Backbone
Format: E-book
Length: 368 pages
Published: May 20, 2025, by Bloom Books
But wait, not 1, not 2, but 3 DNF’s within the last month!
Is it me?
No. (hard stop)
I saved the worst for last. I really wanted to like this one! But it was TOO dark and twisted and crossed to many of my icks.
That Sik Luv by Jessica Hall was a fan favorite, or so I thought. A dark stalker romance with a church girl trope.
Now both of these tropes need to be done right on their own, but put them together and it’s a tightrope act.
Jessica Hall has the stalker part down.
And the corrupted church is peak.
But together it was too much. The stalker quoted the bible when her left the FMC gifts which I tried to overlook. Trying to draw out this ‘darkness’ only he could see in her. But everything the FMC did was what a good church girl would do. Now if she was having internal thoughts like he suggested I could see it happening.
But her internal thoughts were only about fighting her growing sexual needs. Not violence.
And everything seemed to be happening around the FMC and she was just a piece on the chess board. As if she was detached from the little world the author was painting.
But what threw me over was when the characters did get a touch sexual. Just not my kink. Hard turn off’s.
Blood as lube- Hell no!
Spit in my mouth and make me swallow it- I almost threw up.
He told her to suck on his tongue. I beg your finest pardon?
I have a list of things I like, love even. And do on a regular basis, thank you very much. Don’t go scooping me that vanilla ice cream, mmkay? But there are things that are on the ‘other’ list you will never see me ask for.
I got to the suck on his tongue part and closed my Kindle.
I shouldn’t be surprised, Jessica Hall also wrote Hawke which I DNF’d earlier this year. Cheating is also on the list. Sorry, not sorry.
Overall ⭐
🚫 DNF at 17%
⚫ R – Restricted / Adult-Only (Ages 21+)
Tropes: Stalker, Dark Romance, Church Girl, Crimes, Smut, Thriller
Title: That Sik Luv
Author: Jessica Hall
Genre: Romance
Format: E-book
Length: 561 pages
Published: March 3, 2023, Independently Published
DNF’ing a book is like setting a boundary for yourself. You do not owe that book, series, author a read.
If it crosses a boundary, gives you an ick, or bores you close it and move on.