DNF Reviews May, June and July 2024

I DNF’d a whole bunch of books these past three months, but I only included 3 of my reviews in this post as the others were all very short ones.

Lavender Clouds

Lavender Clouds
by Schnumn
Genre: Non-fiction Neurodivergence

Blurb:
A dazzling, humorous, and highly personal portrayal of neurodivergence from a leading voice in mental health comics.

Eisner Award nominated author Bex Ollerton—known as @Schnumn to her thousands of followers—is a talented comic artist who feels energized and courageous on some days and exhausted and emotionally depleted on others. In Lavender Clouds, she translates her experiences with Autism, ADHD, and mental health into a series of colorful, emotionally resonant comics that tell stories of neurodiversity and resilience.

With a tone that is sharp but always sensitive, this debut book collection describes the many insights and strategies the author has learned on her journey to self-acceptance. Among the many topics addressed in the book are the folly of “foolproof” organization strategies, the perils of burnout, the joy of small hopes, and the importance of growing at your own pace and on your own path

Breathtaking in its artistic range and emotional truth, Lavender Clouds offers an enlightening and uplifting read for anyone struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, burnout, or other issues related to mental health.

My Review

I DNF’d this one at around 60%

I was curious about this one when I saw it on Netgalley as I am autistic and thought it would be interesting to read this book as it’s about being neurodivergent and mental health. I had seen a few of this author’s artwork online before and thought I would enjoy more of them. Sadly this book did not work for me.

I found the tone very negative and it made me feel sad and anxious. A lot was relatable, but not in a good way, it reminded me of past troubles and struggles. I had hoped for more funny or positive themed comics. A lot of these are very anxious and overwhelmed themed and it just wasn’t fun to read. I also think these just work better if you see one comic here and there on social media, instead of reading a whole bunch right after one another. I also would’ve liked more variety about the content, there are so many ones about being overwhelmed and too much to do and not being able to cope with it all.

Love by a Landslide

Love by a Landslide (Stranded in Leavenworth #1)
by K. L. Parsons
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
She wants to forge her own path. He prefers to stay on the trail. Neither is ready for romance.

Lucy O’Malley is done being a doormat. After getting dumped and booted from her apartment on her thirtieth birthday, she finds herself on the road to reinvention—or rather, on Interstate 90 headed east toward Leavenworth, Washington, for a little beer, bratwurst, and backpacking. Who cares if the Bavarian-themed “romantic getaway” was originally planned for a couple? Unfortunately, her guide does.

Jonathan Miller owns Off the Beaten Adventures, a successful outdoor guiding company in Leavenworth. Ever since the unthinkable happened on a rafting trip four years ago, Jonathan has erred on the side of caution. He plans meticulously and avoids risk whenever possible. So, when a sexy little brunette shows up and throws a wrench in his carefully laid plans he is convinced the three-day excursion will end in disaster.

The initial attraction is mutual, but Lucy and Jonathan find themselves on rocky terrain, and the last thing either wants is to complicate matters with a fling. But after a freak landslide decimates their only serviceable trail home, sizzling chemistry is the least of their problems. Together, they must cut through the raw wilderness and return safely to civilization with their bodies—and hearts—intact.

My Review

I received a free copy from the author through Netgalley.

I DNF’d this book at 13%. I really wanted to like this one, I like stories with a focus on nature and I like grumpy sunshine romances. I wanted to give this one a fair shot, but I just got bored. It felt very trope-y and typical. It reminded me of similar books I’ve read and it had nothing that really stood out to me or wanted to make me keep reading.

The first few chapters are all about showing Lucy in her old relationship which obviously isn’t working for them and it just makes me sad to read about how she made herself smaller and adjusted to him while not getting anything in return. And I just don’t get why these two stayed together this long as I couldn’t see any glimpse of why they were together in the first place. I just wanted to get on with the new romance and it took till this far to just have Lucy arrive at the Leavenworth vacation spot and by then I realized I wasn’t invested and didn’t want to continue. So decided to DNF this one.

Marked by Magic

Marked by Magic (Tracking Trouble #1)
by Lindsay Buroker
narrated by Vivienne Leheny
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
Arwen Forester may be a socially awkward introvert, but she’s an expert tracker, archer, and forager who has a pickling recipe for every vegetable in the garden. Unfortunately, none of these skills earn her a lot of money. And when the taxes go up on her father’s farm, she’s not sure how to help him keep the property.

Then someone offers her a lucrative new gig:

Hunt down a haughty half-dragon criminal with the power to incinerate those who irritate him.

Normally, Arwen would reject such a suicidal mission, but with the farm at stake, she’s desperate. Besides, all she has to do is tag the half-dragon with a tracking device. How hard could it be?

My Review

I DNF’d this one at about 60%, kept trying and finally just decided to set it aside.

I really enjoyed both the Death Before Dragons and Legacy of Magic series set in this universe, but unfortunately I could not get into this one. I like Arwen as a main character and I could relate to her on multiple fronts, but I just don’t feel like she was the right character for this story if that makes sense? I also felt that because I related so much to her it was even harder to read some of the scenes, like the makeover one and how others kinda pushed her around.

She had none of that urge to go after things the other two main characters had and almost seemed to get forced or resigned into doing things. Also the plot just didn’t make sense. I mean I absolutely hate phone calls, but if it meant not paying a huge tax bill I would definitely do that. It just felt like there was such an easy solution and instead she takes on this job she doesn’t even want to do with too little information for money she didn’t need if she would just make a phone call. And I get it phone calls are horrible and give me massive anxiety, but really in this case I just didn’t get why she wouldn’t make a phone call.

And Amber got so on my nerves in this one, she was super annoying and pushy and Arwen just went along with it. I did not like their interactions and set the book aside every time Amber showed up. I thought she was a fun side character in previous series, but I really didn’t like her here. Then there is the dark elf plot line, whcih so far mostly consist of bad evil dakr elves doing probably bad evil things, but no one knows exactly what.

The interactions between Arwen and Starblade weren’t interesting and I didn’t feel their chemistry. I really liked both Starblade and Arwen in previous books and wanted more about them, but here they just weren’t interesting to me.

I kept trying to get further, but I just wasn’t invested and didn’t care about what was happening. I might try again later, but for now I set this one aside.