Other People

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This makes 12 DNF books in a row. I've gotten to the point where I think it's a me-issue...

DNF #43: Fever by Deon Meyer. A post-apocalyptic set in South Africa (and translated from Afrikaans). The story is told from long after the pandemic that killed off 90% of humans, after a new peaceful town was settled. The narrator was 13 at the time the town was being founded, and this book is sort of a history of the town's founding and growth. Which is all well and good, but knowing the town succeeded takes all the tension out of the story -- we know the characters succeed, so the story is just all the mundane details like how they pick who gets which house.

Not the worst story I ever read (I loved all the Afrikaans words peppered in), but I was bored with it. DNFed at about 18%.

DNF #44: The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe. I knew going in that this was a sci-fi/romance book and I never ever ever ever read romance, but the sci-fi part sounded interesting so I thought it might work for me. The story follows a crew stuck on an alien planet, with the lead scientist and his security guard falling in love.

To give the author credit, the romance was really slow to form and seemed realistic, I just really do not like romance books. DNFed about 21% in, just as the two were getting the hots for each other.

DNF #45: The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee. Lowachee's first book was one of my favorite books ever, but I've read a half-dozen of her books since then and none worked for me at all. This one really, really did not work for me. (Native oppressed woman has to return to her homeland to talk to a dragon.) I hated the writing. DNFed early on.

DNF #46: Centaur Rising by Jane Yolen. Set on a farm in the real world, a meteor shower happens one night, and the next morning the farm's pony is pregnant. There are no stallions around, so it's a mystery to the characters how it happened. A few months later, the pony gives birth to a centaur.

I really thought I'd stick this book out, but by the halfway point I realized I had no feelings for any of the characters and didn't care about how the story would be resolved. DNFed at 50% point.

DNF #47: Grounded by Aisha Saeed, S. K. Ali, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and Huda Al-Marashi. While I don't usually read books about real people in the real world, this one was such a fun sounding idea I gave it a chance. Four kids stuck in an airport during a storm, each kid's POV chapter written by one of the four authors. The big upside to this was each of the kids had a unique voice from the others, that was wonderful.

Before the halfway point though, my interest was gone. Reading about real kids in a real world setting just doesn't hold my attention. Even interesting kids like these.

DNF #48: Dark Run by Mike Brooks. An old west story set in space. The writing/characters/voices bugged me so much that I DNFed it really early on.

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Beasts of Tabat by Cat Rambo.

Quick synopsis: Set in a world where all sorts of mythical creatures are enslaved by humans, a "shifter" (were-animal) who can't shift and THE BEST FIGHTER TO EVER STEP FOOT ON THE PLANET live their lives and don't really do much.

Brief opinion: I rated this five stars in 2017, but eight years later I could barely finish it. One of the two main characters was the worst, but clearly the author loved her. [Reread from 2017, original review here.]

Plot: In a world where most gladiators hold the top position for two to three years max, Bella has been the champ for 20+ years. This may or may not be because even the gods love her.

Teo is a shifter who cannot shift, so his family sends him off to serve the church for life instead. Teo has issues with that plan, so runs off to the city to find his (and everyone's) hero Bella.

For the first 90% of the story there is really not much happening, just the two living their lives. By the time the plot started picking up in the last 10%, my interest was completely gone. Something something revolution in the city building.

Writing/editing: There were some editing issues.

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: Bella was the worst character ever. Too good, too perfect, most of her chapters (half the book) were just her having sex and being loved.

Teo's chapters were somewhat more interesting, but the book lost my attention pretty early on.

The only thing I really liked was the world: The "Beasts" (all sorts of mythical creatures of varying intelligence, from animal to smarter than humans) were all owned slaves, and they were the most interesting part of the story. I wish the book had been about them.

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: ⭐️ ½ - Hated

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Flight Plan by Eric Walters.

Quick synopsis: In an instant, anything with a computer chip in it stops working. This includes planes in the sky. This story follows the next couple months after a flight crew has to make an emergency landing.

Brief opinion: Entertaining if you don't think too much about anything in the story.

Plot: 13 year old Jamie is on a plane when every piece of technology in the world stops working. Luckily that plane had only just barely started taking off, otherwise this would have been a very short book.

Once they crash/land, the flight crew bands together to take care of their passengers for the rest of time, because that is their Duty™.

The story followed them as they crossed country on foot to get Jamie and the others home.

Writing/editing: Both were fine. The author used a lot of exclamation points, which was odd, but since the main character was a 13 year old boy I tried not to think too much about it.

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: If I didn't think much about anything, it was a fun story. But the moment you started thinking about any element of the plot, everything fell apart.

Basically this was an episode of The Walking Dead, just without the zombies. Gangs of bad people, communities of people trying to survive. Nothing really new in the post-apocalyptic genre.

The main character, Jamie, was (supposedly) a 13 year old boy, but the teenager never acted like one -- from the first page he came off as more of a mature adult.

The other characters around Jamie tended to annoy me; they were unrealistically Good and Noble and always did what they thought was Right and Ethical. You could almost read the capital letters on those in the story.

Very oddly, in chapter one it was established that the boy's favorite genre to read was post-apocalyptic/dystopian stories... but never once did he use that knowledge once he found himself in that exact situation. Strange.

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Sometimes I got grumpy when I thought about this or that, but as long as you keep your brain turned off, this is an entertaining read.

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DNF #37: The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney. The author wanted to write YA for boys, which might be why the characters didn't hook me? Story/setting was okay, but I guess the book just wasn't meant for me. DNFed at 47%.

DNF #38: Semiosis by Sue Burke. The characters in this story were an afterthought, which just didn't work for me. I liked the characters in the first chapter, but each chapter followed a new generation of people. I need to be able to connect with the characters, so this book just wasn't for me. DNFed 13% in.

DNF #39: The Cats of Silver Crescent by Kaela Noel. How could cat characters be so awful! The story and setting didn't work for me either. DNFed at 24%.

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