The Oh-So-Sad DNF Collection: Take 3

I have had a good run of books lately but there have been a few that didn't quite work out for me. I don't like to DNF but I also don't like the idea of struggling through a book that doesn't get along with me. Here is a little collection of books I had to give up on/skim-finish because I am a quitter and I have entirely too many books in my tbr pile.

Family Business by Brett Williams

I had to DNF this audiobook at 20% because of the animal abuse.

I suppose I need to be better about researching books before I agree to review them. I prefer going in blind and reading reviews after I've read the book so as not to get my opinion tainted, or accidentally snatching a phrase. It usually works out for me but sometimes avoiding blurbs and reviews bites me in the butt. This is one of those times. I can stomach almost anything but too much animal abuse is something that haunts me and this book is filled to the brim with it and it is explicit.

TW: Rape, Animal Cruelty & I don't know what else because I called it quits at 20%.

The book moves at a good pace and is decently written and it is expertly narrated by Joe Hempel but the content was simply too much for me. Call me a wuss, if you will, I can take it. I've read Ketchum's THE GIRL NEXT DOOR & Brite's EXQUISITE CORPSE & even J.F. Gonzalez's SURVIVOR (which I instantly regretted) but those books, as bleak and terrible as the acts were, weren't squishing the heads of puppies nor were they explicitly detailing a dog fighting ring. That is a level of bleak blackheartedness that I choose to avoid in my reading life at this point in time. Squish all the people you want but don't mess with the doggies.

So what is it about? A daft young woman decides to purchase a yorkie so she can dress it up and stick it in her purse and love it to pieces. She doesn't want to wait months to get a pup from a legit breeder and instead heads out to a remote address to purchase a pup from a backyard breeder. Things do not go well and a family of backwoods weirdos throw her in a cage. Horrible things begin to happen and I will let you use your imagination here because I made it to about 20% before I had to shut it off.

Your mileage may vary. As I said, I can't abide dog abuse very well having lived with so many sweet innocent souls in my lifetime and it's something I choose to avoid in my reading time.

The Other Book by Roe Horvat

I picked this up months ago to give my brain a little break from all of the darkness I read. It was getting some amazing reviews but alas this isn't going to be another of them.

I am afraid I may be broken. This book was 90% sexy times and 10% everything else and it bored me to tears. *cries inconsolably* What has happened to me?

This didn’t work for me at all. Not as a romance, nor as an erotic piece, nor as a distraction. It became just another chore. I tried and I tried but every time I came back to it I found myself wanted to read anything but this boring romance. Not helping matters any was the sickly sweet repetitious dialogue of “my baby”. Ugh. The "romance" started before the book began (and I never like that because I am nosy) and when sex turns into love declarations it felt very insta-love. The unbelievable romance  made the super explicit love scenes a snooze. Bummer but there’s no pleasing everyone. This gets great reviews so maybe it’s me? Who knows. At any rate, I skim-finished to get it over with because I enjoy torturing myself.

The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda

I'm called this quits at 30%.

I had a major struggle focusing on this one. I've read a lot of these mystery/thriller/juicy-secret books this year and I typically love them but I wasn't digging the writing style here. I felt like I was the only stranger at a party and no one could be bothered to introduced me to the other guests. The characters weren't drawn very well and weren’t interesting to me whatsoever. There was a lot of "telling" instead of showing. I listened to 30% and it continued in this vein, jumping all over the place with two timelines and confusing the hell out of me on audio. Perhaps it is better read in paper but I will never know because I am a quitter and life is too short to struggle with books that aren't working.

This isn't my idea of a fun time. Nope. Ba-byee. I hope the rest of you enjoy it more than I did.

I'll say it before someone else does. I am a terrible person. I know this, haha.