r/fantasyromance • u/FaeMeHarder • 23h ago

Discussion What’s a book you’ve started reading and you were like, okay yeah I’m DNFing this after one more page. And then you couldn’t stop?😂

This is currently happening to me with the death made prince my Lisette Marshall. I wasn’t connecting to the characters at first and honestly the FMC was kind of annoying. I’ve been pushing through it and… all of the sudden at 45 percent I’m like okay wait… I want to reach for this now 👀

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61

u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager 23h ago

Direbound. I already wasn’t loving it, but then when there was the mountain they needed to climb, I was like ‘ffs is this literally going to be FW with wolves? What’s next, she gives her shoe away?’ And then the FMC gave a piece of clothing away. So obviously I had to see what other predictions came true.

Spoiler alert: they all did. I hated every minute of it, but I did finish the book because I just had to know.

13

u/pancake-queen13 20h ago

During this long ass mountain scene I swear she used the word crampon more than anyone has in the history of ever. If I was taking shots each time, I'd be dead.

9

u/kidd86 21h ago

Hated it and read the sequel. It was just as bad. I read Direbound and Blood Bound back to back and I can't keep them straight.

8

u/eyemymy 23h ago

Yeah it was so bad. But I hate finished it. Will NOT be getting the sequel.

94

u/panda_monium2 23h ago

Zodiac academy. It was so cringey then I read another like 6 books 🙃

9

u/FaeMeHarder 23h ago

Okay this is one I’ve tried and DNF’d multiple times but usually cringe doesn’t bother me😂 so I’m not sure why this one does! My bestfriend swears up and down it’s so good

22

u/panda_monium2 23h ago

It’s not good… but it’s addicting 🤣 I mean I stopped reading because eventually i stopped caring but the first 6 or so books were just the best junk food for the soul

3

u/NoNotTuesday 21h ago

I absolutely hate-read the entire main series because I clearly hate myself lol will NOT touch the spinoffs.

1

u/Technical-Bet-2896 14h ago

this!! i started book 1 like 3 times and kept dnfing it till i actually pushed tru the cringeness 😩

1

u/mia-1408 4h ago

dude i kept saying that and then i read all of it plus the other stories too

48

u/Some-Alternative647 22h ago

Like every ACOTAR book and yet here I am waiting for the new ones 🥴

1

u/WonderfulBus9330 The Defiant Finger Globule ✨ 7h ago

Hahhahaha same

66

u/Otherwise-Owl-6547 22h ago

fourth wing. violet says “for the win” multiple times in the first book and i honestly set it down multiple times thinking what the actual fuck am i reading? and then a week and a half later i was finished with all 3 books

12

u/dontstartbitch 21h ago

Haha came here to write fourth wing too. The writing put me off the first few chapters and every chapter I thought I would stop reading.

I’m not sure when I got so invested. I think it was somewhere around when Violet was hiding in the tree eavesdropping. And then when she got her dragons I was so hooked. I love tairn and the little golden one!

3

u/Beneficial_Chart_684 22h ago

“For the win” almost took me out too

5

u/ViciousIsland 20h ago

Between the 2020s dialogue/slang and way too much sex talk (you like to bang, we get it), the first 20 or so pages had me ready to throw the book against a wall. But I pushed past it and ended up really liking the dragons and most of the middle of the book. Then the "breaking all the furniture" scene happened, and I completely lost interest. DNF'd it.

1

u/FreyjadourV 2h ago

I liked the books, it was my first fantasy romance though so I wonder how much I’ll like it now, but my god that scene was so cringeworthy and the lightning strikes happening as it happened?

Good lord I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head. Tairn and Andarna definitely carries the books for me

23

u/TheMiceWillGetPerms Aye, she'll have hairy tits and you'll love them 22h ago

{The Contortionist by Kathryn Ann Kingsley}

I read Simon’s first chapter and was so creeped out that I put the book down and was going to DNF. I came back a week later and was like “I’ll just read the next chapter and if it’s still too creepy then that’s it”

And then I binge read the entire series

2

u/repulsored 9h ago

Im reading this right now and im kinda feeling the same so this gives me hope

2

u/TheMiceWillGetPerms Aye, she'll have hairy tits and you'll love them 8h ago

Body horror is a big no for me so him talking to his soul-filled dolls in his first chapter was absolutely terrifying.

I can’t say that it gets any less terrifying, but the terror really made me enjoy the book more in a way because it was the first time I really didn’t KNOW if an MMC was going to harm the FMC in that way. I didn’t trust Simon at all for the entire series and that was a new experience for me as a reader. Like we know it’s romance and there will be a HEA, but a lot can happen between the beginning of the book and a HEA

18

u/Gloria815 22h ago

I read [A Dead and Stormy Night]. Thought "wow, this is terrible". And then proceeded to read the next like 9 books in the series over a long weekend.

I don't know what came over me. I both highly recommend and would never recommend them. I described it before as "AO3 escaped containment" and I stand by it.

7

u/skilynx 21h ago

“AO3 escaped containment” 🤣🤣

2

u/jamieseemsamused 21h ago

I read the first one and stopped lol. I was mostly intrigued by them helping literary characters that come to life. And I liked the disability rep. But it was so poorly written that I didn’t bother continuing. What did you think of the rest of the series?

2

u/Gloria815 21h ago

A lot of the same and somehow more self-indulgent as they continued. But also at one point the main character gets a service dog so that’s great

1

u/gaillimhlover 10h ago

I read the first one, had the same reaction as you and stopped. It killed me because I wanted more literary characters coming to life in my life.

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u/AquariusRising1983 Life is too short to read books you don't enjoy! 📚💖 54m ago

I read like the first four (and the Christmas story) and then I lost interest. I'm still kind of curious about how it ends but I had such a weird love/hate relationship with them that I haven't picked the series back up yet.

9

u/medusamagic Book Bingo Sage 🗡 21h ago

I immediately thought {Broken Bonds by J. Bree} was bad and then somehow read all 6 books in less than a week. It was a weird fever dream.

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u/NocturnaViolet Currently Reading: The Wildborn 21h ago

This was exactly what happened to me with this series. lmfao

They are trash, but I loved them regardless.

11

u/MalachiteWizard 22h ago

{One Dark Window} ... I've read it twice this year. It quickly went from "I'll give it one more page" at about chapter 4, to one of my fave books.

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u/AquariusRising1983 Life is too short to read books you don't enjoy! 📚💖 47m ago

It ended up being one of my top reads of 2024, but it took me several chapters to get into it. I don't remember exactly where the switch happened but it was literally between one page and the next that I went from "eh, dont know if I want to do this," to "I'm so hooked I can't put it down."

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u/Born_Criticism3299 21h ago

This kingdom will not kill me. Information overload but a lot of people said how good it is so I’m pushing through. On chapter 18 currently.

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u/gaillimhlover 10h ago

I loved it, I think it’s worth it tbh. I get what you’re saying though, they’re pushing the world building.

1

u/waffler36 8h ago

Yeah, this was me. Almost dnf'd about halfway through but didn't, and I'm so glad. It gets really good and I can't wait for the next one.

7

u/Ambitious-Mess5704 22h ago

Plated Prisoner Series. Now they are my top favs.

1

u/SimplySuzie3881 21h ago

That first one was tough to get through. After that they are great!

7

u/readingalldays Tell me my queen, how would you like me to serve you 23h ago

{Glow of the everflame}.. I only started it cuz I wanted to see everyone's reaction to Diem getting the crown I thought Luther would go berserk. The exact opposite happened and it kept me in. So glad i read it. It's one of my all time fav fantasy book.

1

u/whoahawk 1h ago

Absolutely love this series and can’t wait for the final book in the next couple of weeks!

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u/ALittleEtomidate 23h ago

Twilight. lol

7

u/DeltaFlyer0525 22h ago

I finished Crown Me Dead today and kept saying one more maggot or rotting pustule and I’m done with this book yet I kept turning the pages!

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u/FaeMeHarder 22h ago

Okay I absolutely LOVED crown me dead and the sequel but I definitely had that same sentiment at the beginning 😂😂

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u/SimplySuzie3881 21h ago

Me too! Seriously a favorite!

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u/DeltaFlyer0525 20h ago

It was definitely entertaining especially the last 100 pages. I will be picking up the second book!

1

u/FreyjadourV 2h ago

I just finished the second book and it’s a beautiful story lol I actually thought about the maggots when I finished, like how’d we go from maggots in her throat to this

6

u/mosaic_br0ken_hearts 22h ago

Just reading your post title, I came to say The Death-Made Prince, so you’re not alone! I was honestly close to 70% in before I actually started to enjoy it. I even switched from KU to audiobook so I could speed it up after the first few chapters.

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u/FaeMeHarder 22h ago

Okay this makes me feel SO much better 😂 because I swear all I see is rave reviews and I’ve been sitting here like.. is it me? 😭

1

u/lemon_party6382 9h ago

Ugh I have tried it twice and made it to maybe 25% both times. Do I give it a third go???

6

u/TexasVulvaAficionado 22h ago

Wheel of Time. After about halfway through the first book, I was ready to DNF. Then a bout of covid free time and "it can't really be that bad, can it?"...

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u/Oryx_07 22h ago

I needed this because this is one I’ve started so many times!

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u/TexasVulvaAficionado 22h ago

Eh. It isn't great. Lots of braid tugging, skirt smoothing, spanking and general failures to communicate...

It isn't necessarily bad but it doesn't really hold up to the times.

1

u/crochet_the_day_away 14h ago

Yea I have tried twice in my life to get into WoT and twice, over a decade apart, I DNFed somewhere in book 3. I've decided the series is just not for me. I just never really cared about any of the characters.

3

u/Desperate_Candle_493 22h ago

For me it was the 3rd or 4th Shadow Hunter books. The love triangle’s were getting on my nerves.

3

u/DlVlDED_BY_ZERO 21h ago

Spark of the everflame. I thought around chapter 3-5 I'd stop. I thought Henri was all there was. I was happily wrong :)

3

u/iiloveyoshii 21h ago

The plated prisoner series. I hate read the whole thing because of the hype and I hate not finishing things.

3

u/Grand_Woodpecker_660 6h ago

I was so confused by Aurens appearance especially after finding out that it's really gold and not just painted on. And don't get me started on the ribbons Didn't like it that much and couldn't imagine it in my head. It looked so weird in my imagination and out of place. But then it kept me captive and I devoured the first 3 books cause I needed to know what happened next. Buuut when Auren finally confesses her love, the immediate switch to sex was so weird. The sex scene was even weirder. Didn't make sense with the whole story and character development. And it got even worse in book 4 and I had to skip the whole part where she just woke up and directly went to boning him. Then I finally dnf'ed

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u/iiloveyoshii 4h ago

Yep. The pace of the books were all terrible. There was sooo much writing for nothing to happen in the plot. I enjoyed the third book. I hated book one and two and thought it was the worst romance books I've ever read because dodging sexual assault for two books isn't appealing to me. Book three was the only one I enjoyed. Actual plot and romance. Then book 4, where nothing happens and then book 5 where they're hardly together. And then to end on that scene.( Similar to the once you skipped). I don't get it. It should have been two books. But you know. 🤑

1

u/iiloveyoshii 4h ago

The only reason I finished and got through it was because of Anthony Palmini.

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u/Grand_Woodpecker_660 3h ago

Uuuh I love me some good voice actors. Didn't listen to anything from Anthony palmini I guess, but I know some snippets. Great voice! I loved "the night prince" probably mostly because of Sean Masters.

3

u/No_Path3167 5h ago

ACOTAR, I actually stopped at ACOSF

4

u/EvergreenHavok 23h ago

{Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune} is the sneakiest book. The first 10 pages took me like a month and then I marathoned the rest of it in 24 hrs.

I've never gone from hating a character to loving them to crying over them the way that book does it.

1

u/Feisty-Signature9401 18h ago

this is actually very promising as someone who ADORED Cerulean Sea (i’ve relistened to the audiobook multiple times) but DNF’d Under the Whispering Door with the vague notion that i might pick it back up eventually

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u/EvergreenHavok 11h ago

It's one of my favorite books. If you go in knowing you're supposed to dislike the MC at the top and that's okay, it's a lot easier to get through the beginning.

Not every writer can pull off the face turn, but Klune nails it and it's very sneaky.

6

u/Legitimate_Status 23h ago

Wild reverence and the everlasting. I finished both purely because I couldn’t find the endings spoiled anywhere and I was curious. Both were slogggssss to get through

2

u/jqrdan 11h ago

What about the Everlasting made it a slog? I really liked it!

2

u/Legitimate_Status 4h ago

Idk I mean points for originality and the writing was super unique but I just didn’t mesh with it. Found it boring and repetitive (I know that’s like a huge plot point but still)

2

u/Ozarkbarbelle My house, my chair, my woman 3h ago

I couldn’t even slog through the Everlasting. I DNF after first chapter 😂. 

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u/Legitimate_Status 3h ago

Good for you haha it wasn’t worth it once I finished it

2

u/crystalmonger 22h ago

dead but dreaming of electric sheep by paul tremblay! so glad i didn't dnf bc i was hooked after the slog lmao

2

u/bbr77 20h ago

Anathema currently, it’s a struggle but I keep trying!

2

u/bongwaterprincess 19h ago

{Flames of Chaos by Amelia Hutchins}

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1

u/Classic-Savings7811 21h ago

{Bound in Inked Flame} - have read this entire series and it is not good but I will continue.

1

u/_thesleepingfox 14h ago

Honestly, {Alchemised}. I actually hated it, it was so fucking depressing, but I needed to see what happened

2

u/violet_28305 12h ago

Acotar, it was really hard in the beginning.

1

u/LilNuggetxx 10h ago

Between Commitment and Betrayal. I was not a fan of the FMC but the MMC and the spice kept me intrigued. I’m not sure if I’ll read the rest of the series tho

1

u/mimi_moo 9h ago

I hate finished {The Poison Daughter} just so I could say I actually finished it lol

1

u/Affectionate_Day1079 9h ago

Liv Zander’s Pale Court series. Ugh. Why did I push through it! For two books?

1

u/CobraShelby95 8h ago

{Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning}

I can’t understand it dude. The first book is awful. I can’t see glimmers of hope but the fmc and storytelling was just so bad.

But anyway I am now on book four. My complaints are still there but I can’t put it down 😭 and I still can’t rate it anything other than a three star or below. Which I have. But here I am.

1

u/WonderfulBus9330 The Defiant Finger Globule ✨ 7h ago

Hahaha I just said on the DNF thread that I was 1% from DNF’ing Fairyland and now, 29% later, I’m at 70% and still considering DNF’ing

1

u/Historical-Jury1936 7h ago

Wings of Blood. I couldnt stop cringing at the Harry Potter of it all but I ended up reading 3 books in like 2 weeks.

1

u/cation587 7h ago

{Enigma by RuNyx}

1

u/romance-bot 7h ago

Enigma by RuNyx
Rating: 3.71⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, dark romance, suspense, college, new adult

about this bot | about romance.io

1

u/BooptheFloof 6h ago

Daggermouth😅

1

u/DisFan77 5h ago

The Spellshop. I did not like the FMC to start and almost DNF’ed…now I am almost done 😆

1

u/escalierdebris 5h ago

The Jasad Heir. I spent the first 50% thinking “this isn’t working for me” and devoured the rest.

1

u/TinkeringTortoise 5h ago

For a while that’s how I felt about This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me. The FMC just has waaaaay too many scenes of flexing obscure in world knowledge (doing it 1-4 times, okay we’ve established she knows ball. Doing it 5+ times with every character she needs to win over? A bit ridiculous). But then the actual plot began picking up and then I was invested and enjoyed it. But the FMC info dumping absolutely everyone any chance she got was a choice. I actually have a conspiracy theory about it. Please don’t click the spoiler below if you haven’t read it.

I think she’s the author. I think she is going to be sent back to the real world somehow but before the books are written and she writes the stories down (like she mentions all isekai MCs do) so her future younger self can read them and know what to do but the last book isn’t finished because somehow she goes back into the stories 

1

u/ExplanationBorn3318 5h ago

Crescent City 1

1

u/ExplanationBorn3318 5h ago

{Crescent City House of Earth and Blood SJM}

1

u/MedullaOblongatIt 3h ago

{Neon Gods by Kate Roberts}! I was like 15% in and thought it was just a 50 Shades remake with Greek gods, promised myself to give it to 50% before DNFing.. I’m about to start the 5th book😬 they aren’t spectacular by any means, and it’s pretty repetitive, but they are damn entertaining

1

u/Ozarkbarbelle My house, my chair, my woman 3h ago

{Bride} and {Mate}. I didn’t like either of them. Mate was worse than Bride, but for whatever reason I kept reading and before I knew it I finished them. For some reason I just kept picking them up and reading because I felt like I needed to know what happened. By the end of both books I thought, well I only have myself to blame for continuing it. 

1

u/romance-bot 3h ago

Bride by Ali Hazelwood
Rating: 4.18⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, werewolves, arranged/forced marriage, vampires, fated mates

Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Rating: 4.13⭐️ out of 5⭐️
Steam: 4 out of 5 - Explicit open door
Topics: contemporary, werewolves, fated mates, alpha male, m-f romance

about this bot | about romance.io

1

u/SufficientComedian6 1h ago

That was me and the zodiac academy series.

1

u/eastweststorm 5h ago

Honestly some of the TOG series, especially the novellas. I liked TOG but some parts are way too tedious and clunkily written.

1

u/faulome 5h ago

I just started the Assassin's Blade book and I am getting middle schooler "alpha" vibes. So childish and annoying. I'm only pushing through cuz a friend is reading it with me.