Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows #1)
I stopped reading Six of Crows at the 30% mark. I didn’t hate it or anything, I just felt zero attachment to it. I’m wondering if it was a mood thing on my part… maybe I just wasn’t in the right place to read it?
So many people rave about this book though, which makes me want to give it another shot.
Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi (Under the Never Sky #3)
It really sucks to not finish the last book in a series, huh? I stopped reading at 28%. Just like Six of Crows, I think I just wasn’t in the mood for it. Maybe I also couldn’t get through it since it had been ages since I’d read the previous books. Maybe I’ll do what I did with Throne of Glass and do a full series reread.
This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Starbound #2)
Blargh!! I REALLY loved These Broken Stars, but couldn’t finish This Shattered World. I didn’t even get that far into it, just a few pages… But I think I was really upset to have new characters and just couldn’t get into it.
What do you think? Should I give it another shot?
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (The Witchlands #1)
Do you ever DESPERATELY want to love a book, but you just can’t? For me that’s Truthwith. If I’m being honest, the #1 reason I want to love the book is because of THAT GORGEOUS COVER!!! Holy mother.
I didn’t get that far into Truthwitch but it wasn’t grabbing me so I put it down. I was hoping to be addicted from page one and… I just wasn’t? I was kind of bored? I had no attachment to anything. I didn’t give it much of a chance but sometimes it’s hard to keep going if you don’t have that instant book love.
The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows (The Orphan Queen #1)
This is another one I really wanted to love. However, I’m on the fence about even attempting it again because I recently read another Jodi Meadows book (Before She Ignites) and I didn’t love that either. Shucks. Maybe I just can’t click with her style?
The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye (The Crown’s Game #1)
I got The Crown’s Game as a review book and I think I may have picked it up when I wasn’t truly in the mood for it. I felt a little obligated to get it read, but didn’t actually want to read it at the time—you know? But maybe I’ll have better luck when I’m more in the mood for the genre. It sounds like such a cool concept!
Avenged by Amy Tintera (Ruined #2)
Avenged: perhaps one of my biggest disappointments. I ADORED Ruined!! I was dying to read book two. But when it finally came out a year later… I wasn’t feeling it. Maybe it was that Throne of Glass thing all over again where I just couldn’t get into it because it had been so long since I read the first book… I don’t know. Huge bummer though.
Maybe I’ll wait until the third book, Allied, comes out, then do a full series read.
Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings (The Androma Saga #1)
I actually got quite far into this book compared to most of the others on this list: page 120. I didn’t think it was a bad book, but I didn’t feel invested in what was going on. I wanted to be glued to it, but I wasn’t. Maybe I read it when I thought I was in the mood for space/sci-fi but I wasn’t? Sometimes it’s hard to tell!
Nyxia by Scott Reintgen (The Nyxia Triad #1)
Nyxia was one of my most highly anticipated books from BookExpo America 2017, so it was a huge bummer when I didn’t finish it. 🙁 I have two theories:
- When I read it, it felt kind of young on the young adult scale… like almost middle grade but not quite. I do like young adult, but I like more middle-to-old young adult, like 16+ if we’re going by age. This felt more like early Percy Jackson… 14 or 15. I don’t remember how old the main character actually was (if it was specified) but that’s the vibe I got.
- But also, I have a feeling I wanted this book when I was SUPER into sci-fi/space books. But perhaps by the time I actually got and read the book, I was just starting to lean more towards fantasy instead, so I wasn’t quite in the mood for it.
But when the sci-fi mood next strikes me, I do think I’ll give Nyxia another try!
Six of Crows is the only one on this list I’ve read, and I loved the first third and didn’t really like the rest, so…I don’t know if that’s helpful? I have given “DNF” books second chances before. If it’s something I put down inside the first chapter because I was in a horrible reading slump and hating everything, it’s not always bad. If it’s something I got well into and just didn’t like/wasn’t attached to, it usually ends badly. Good luck!
I read 4 of these and they were all 5-star reads for me. I was so caught up in Bardugo’s storytelling with SoC, and the I wanted to know more about the characters. I know what you are talking about with the Starbound books, I thought it was odd to have a new couple given that we sill had no resolution, but all the characters come together during the book and I liked where Spooner and Kaufmann took the story. Truthwitch was such a wonderful story of female friendship. My issue with the second book ,was that Iseult and Safi spent too much time apart. I am a Ruined fan. I think the second book took a little bit to get going, but then I was all in. Sometimes books don’t work for you, and that’s ok too. I was almost in a reading slump a little bit ago, and I was DNFing left and right. I might pick one of those up again, because I feel like it may have been me, not the book.
I also DNF’d Truthwitch but I would like to read it some day. I was listening to the audiobook and the narration was boring so I stopped listening to it. I haven’t given a second chance to any books I’ve DNF’d, but I have a feeling if they were audiobooks I might enjoy reading it instead. By reading the book I could focus on the story and not be distracted by a poor narration (at least I hope so lol).
I *just* started Six of Crows so I’ll let you know in a day or two how that’s going haha
I read the Starbound series earlier this year and it IS weird how there’s a different couple in each book BUT it all comes together throughout the story. If you do pick it up again, I’d recommend re-reading the first one though because there’s a lot of hints and little things in book 2 + 3 that you might miss if you don’t remember it.
I’ve only read Nyxia and I didn’t love it, it was underwhelming at best and I agree about the age thing. I’m so curious about Six of Crows but I’ve yet to read it even though everyone loves it.
I frequently give DNF books a second chance. I am aware of the fact I am a mood reader and so a lot of the time a book I just can’t get through one day ends up being a book I love another day. It’s all about me trying to figure out what wasn’t working in a book and then deciding if that’s just me not liking it right then rather than it being something I wouldn’t like regardless of mood. I enjoyed Six of Crows but I did find it took me until about 50% of the way in to get invested and I still haven’t read the second book because I wasn’t in the mood for it once I got a copy.
I was in the same boat as you for Truthwitch… except, despite me being super bored with the story and not be able to get attached to the characters, I couldn’t just stop reading it because it was a book club book ? Even after finishing it (and trying SUPER HARD to love it) I just couldn’t. It really doesn’t live up to the gorgeous cover, doesn’t it?
As for Six of Crows, it’s one of my absolute favorites, but I do think (as for any book) you have to be in the right mood to read it and love it. There are so many lovely themes in the novel, and the duology really takes patience to read. The characters only get better as the story goes on, and once you start understanding more of the past, the relationships between the characters start to get really complex and intricate. I think it’s worth your time to try and reread again, but only when you’re in the right mood. The ending of the second book is honestly so sweet and heartbreaking at the same time ??
Oh no! What a bummer – I’m sorry Zoie. 🙁 I think one of the reasons I wanted to love Truthwitch so much is because of the gorgeous cover. *sigh*
You are right about needing to be in the right mood. Perhaps that was my problem with Six of Crows the first time!
I had the same issue with the Crown’s Game! I got like 80ish pages in and it wasn’t bad at all, I just had no desire to pick it up again. I have two copies now (an ARC and a finished copy) so I feel like I definitely NEED to read it at some point- I’ve just been having a hard time with fantasy lately in general.
I hope the second time around goes better for you! Fingers crossed!
Oh yes! I did this for Cinder! And the second time round I adored it and went on to be a huge fan of the whole series.? But now I like rarely DNF so if I do…it’s totally gone. I want nothing to do with it again ahahah. Ahem. But anyway I hope maybe one day you get back to Six of Crows?! I swear it’s SO SO GOOD. Truthwitch on the other hand…you’re missing out on nothing.?It manages to use a lot of words and get no real solid world building done at all. *shakes head sadly*