Friday, May 8, 2015

The DNF Files (1) - Kayla Edition #Giveaway

Lately I've been throwing aside books left and right, and I feel guilty about it. Because of this, I've decided that I'll share with you the books that I've tried reading that just weren't working out for me. Who knows? If you loved a certain book enough, maybe you can convince me to give it another go.

DNF #1

Title: Dragons Are People, Too
Author: Sarah Nicholas
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Acquired Via:
Publisher

Never judge a dragon
by her human cover...


Sixteen-year-old Kitty Lung has everyone convinced she’s a normal teen—not a secret government operative, not the one charged with protecting the president’s son, and
certainly not a were-dragon. The only one she trusts with the truth is her best friend—and secret crush—the über-hot Bulisani Mathe.

Then a junior operative breaks Rule Number One by changing into his dragon form in public—on Kitty’s watch—and suddenly, the world knows. About dragons. About the Draconic Intelligence Command (DIC) Kitty works for. About Kitty herself.

Now the government is hunting down and incarcerating dragons to stop a public panic, and a new shape-shifting enemy has kidnapped the president’s son. Kitty and Bulisani are the last free dragons, wanted by both their allies and their enemies. If they can’t rescue the president’s son and liberate their fellow dragons before getting caught themselves, dragons might never live free again.


Why It Didn't Work

I'm not into thrillers, so to speak, so I had a hard time getting into Dragons Are People, Too. I was hoping that it would read more like fantasy, but I guess it wasn't enough for my taste. I've known Sarah on the internet for some years now, so I didn't want to force myself to read it and hate her book. I think I'll probably just give it another try when I'm more in the mood for that kind of book.

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Fishpond
Google Play | iTunes | Kobo



DNF #2

Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author:
Sabaa Tahir
Narrated By: Fiona Hardingham, Steve West
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin Random House)
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Acquired Via:
Giveaway (ARC) & Personal Collection (Audiobook)

I WILL TELL YOU THE SAME THING I TELL EVERY SLAVE.

THE RESISTANCE HAS TRIED TO PENETRATE THIS SCHOOL COUNTLESS TIMES. I HAVE DISCOVERED IT EVERY TIME.

IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE RESISTANCE, IF YOU CONTACT THEM, IF YOU THINK OF CONTACTING THEM, I WILL KNOW

AND I WILL DESTROY YOU.


Laia is a slave.
Elias is a soldier.
Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.


Why It Didn't Work

I was super excited about this book, and its release date came surprisingly fast. I thought it was my lucky day because I had preordered the audiobook because I was ridiculously excited about An Ember in the Ashes.

Now enter the Hype Monster.

I don't know if it was just the terrible narration or the impossible standards set by the Hype Monster, but I really disliked listening to the book. I would even *gasp* listen to the radio in the car instead. The accent of Fiona Hardingham was really annoying, and Steve West sounded like a zombie. I finally had to tell myself that it was okay to quit and find another book.

Buy Links
Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Fishpond
Google Play | IndieBound | iTunes | Kobo



DNF #3

Title: The Falconer (The Falconer #1)
Author:
Elizabeth May
Narrated By: Susan Duerden
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Acquired Via:
Personal Collection

Debutante by day. Murderess by night. Edinburgh’s only hope.

Edinburgh, 1844.

Beautiful Aileana Kameron only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. In fact, she’s spent the year since her mother died developing her ability to sense the presence of Sithichean, a faery race bent on slaughtering humans. She has a secret mission: to destroy the faery who murdered her mother. But when she learns she’s a Falconer, the last in a line of female warriors and the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity, her quest for revenge gets a whole lot more complicated. The first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy, this electrifying thriller blends romance and action with steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read.

Why It Didn't Work

On some level, we are all drawn to books with characters that look like us. Aileana on the cover of The Falconer has the same color hair as me, though it's slightly less curly. That right there was enough to get me excited about the book. However, it drifted to the bottom of my TBR after it came out. After trying to read An Ember in the Ashes, I decided to give a book that was already in my Audible library a chance.

And I didn't like The Falconer either.

I think my problem with it, again, is the narrator. Susan Duerden has a very breathy voice that makes a normal conversation sound like a bedroom scene. There are instances when she's speaking normally, and those are great. Her purring into my ear was a little disruptive to my enjoyment of the novel. (I thought to myself that she'd be great for reading historical romance, and sure enough, she narrated Eloisa James' novels. Go figure.) I read a bit of it on my Kindle, and I like it okay. I may give it a try on my cruise later this month.

The only other hiccup I have with The Falconer is that Aileana is a murderous psychopath, and it's pretty hard to connect with her. Kiaran is also a little skeevy. Y'all need to tell me now if there's a romance between them, because if so, I'm not even going to bother going on with the book.

Buy Links
Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Fishpond
Google Play | IndieBound | iTunes | Kobo



Giveaway

Since I'm not a complete asshole when it comes to books, I am going to give one (1) winner a copy of their choice of one (1) of these books.



Choice of Physical Copy or eBook
Open INTERNATIONALLY
Ends at 12:01am EST on May 30th

a Rafflecopter giveaway
To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received may have received copies of the novel from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. It has in no way affected the outcome. All expressed opinions are awesome, honest, and courtesy of me.

29 comments:

  1. I have had a couple of books that I couldn't finish this year. Ember of Ashes is still calling to me though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll probably end up giving it another chance down the road. The premise is just too good not to. I just couldn't get past that narration.

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  2. Ember is already in my TBR pile. Fingers crossed. I can't do audiobooks. I listened to an excerpt of Darkfever by Karen Moning and if I'd heard that first I never would have read that book. The southern accent made me ragey. Awful. But the book is amazing. The Falconer sounds like something I'd like. I'd definitely take it off your hands.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The only think I hate more than a bad British accent is a fake or forced Southern one. *makes point to stay away from Darkfever audiobook*

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  3. I had the exact same problem with you on the falconer audiobook. Her cadence was just all off and all the men had the weird "creep" voice. I tried to read it after but it was ruined. If I hear the phrase "crimson suits you best" I might put a whole in the wall. Sadly I have lost complete interest in this series. girl was a murderous psyco one minute then the next she was worried about some guy being in her room. Sorry not buying what your selling lady. It's ashamed since it had so many awesome elements. I thought there was no way I couldn't love a steampunkesq book about Fae but oh well. Glad I'm not the only one.
    ❤️Britt @ please feed the bookworm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG!!! You are so there with me! My eyes would roll so hard every time she said "crimson suits you best"! I was less than 20% of the way in, but I was already so tired of hearing that. And I'm glad I'm not the only one that though Aileana was a nutjob. I was actually rooting for the Fae a little bit.

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  4. The most recent book I didn't finish was The Collector's Society by Heather Lyons. Maybe some other time...

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    Replies
    1. I don't think I've heard of that one. I'm going to have to check it out.

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  5. I've actually had a very good luck so far this year. No DNF so far :) thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're really lucky! This is the first time that I've had so many, or else I'm just not forcing myself to finish something I'm not jiving with.

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  6. I couldn't finish Ask The Passengers by A.S.King...I really tried but the MC was so whiny and there was too much philosophy, so I had to give up!

    Carolina M on rafflecopter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't read that one yet, but I'm going to look it up. Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. I've done well this year, no DNFs at all. It's probably because I'm so selective, or maybe just really lucky. Thanks

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    Replies
    1. You are lucky! What was your favorite book so far this year?

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  8. Actually I always force myself to finish a book. So no DNFs for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're a better person than I am! I used to do the same until I got older. There are just too many books out in the world, waiting for me to read them. :-)

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  9. Yes- Never Fade by Bracken. Idk if it's that I am sick of dystopian's or what. :/
    Mary Loki

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm getting a little burned out on the genre, too, but I can appreciate a well-written one if it comes into my hands. I've heard a lot of mixed review of Never Face, so I've never gotten around to reading it.

      Delete
  10. I almost never DNF because...ahh! It just bothers me to have half-read books around. However, I couldn't finish Wicked. :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I finished Wicked and the second one, but I had to give up on the one about the Cowardly Lion. It just seems like Gregory Maguire is trying to hard to make his stories "literary".

      Delete
  11. I DNF Red Rising two weeks ago. I was beginning to dislike the main character.

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    Replies
    1. Oh no! We are great lovers of Red Rising around here. If you ever want to try it again, I cannot recommend the audio version highly enough. :-)

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  12. so far i always finished what i startede even if it took me a long time hen i did not like it ( few titles fortunately)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are getting to be less and less books that I'll force myself to finish. I do go back and give second chances sometimes.

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  13. yes- poor writing, annoying characters

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely! I can handle annoying characters sometimes if the book is well-written, but there's just no way around poor writing for me.

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  14. I started Pride and Prejudice, but I couldn't get past forty pages. It sucks when a book you didn't like is loved by scores others.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am so glad that I'm not the only person in this world that didn't love Jane Austen! I haven't even bothered trying to read any more of her books because Pride and Prejudice was just so... boring. Ugh.

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  15. There have definitely been a few I've had to skim through...

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You are going to put words in my box?! *squeezes you* Now I shall stalk YOUR blog!