Sky in the Deep By: Adrienne Young ARC DNF Mini Review

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy of Sky in the Deep By: Adrienne Young in exchange for an honest review. 

Awe, man. I was so ecstatic for Sky in the Deep. The summary sounded right up my alley and I do love YA fantasy. The very beginning of the book started off wonderfully and I was highly intrigued. However, as I read a little further I started to lose interest. Here's a list of the reasons why:

1. Everything was extremely cliche. 

2. I could not connect to any of the characters.

3. I could not connect to the story.

4. I could not imagine the world or picture anything in it. 

With all of these reasons combined I got bored rather quickly. I had to DNF at 20%. I have a feeling that I will be in the minority on this book. For me though, a lack of connection and a lack of imagery makes it impossible for me to finish a book. 

#NoConnectionAndCliche

The Dark Lake By: Sarah Bailey Mini DNF Review

So if you follow me on Goodreads you may have seen this that I posted about The Dark Lake:

Well this is my first DNF of 2018. I just can't finish it. I'm bored out of my mind with it and I literally don't care who killed her. DNF at about 20-25%. 

I wanted to expand on that review just a tad. The Dark Lake should have been a book that I enjoyed. I mean it sounds right up my alley, just read that summary! The biggest issue (and why I was so bored) that I have with it is that NOTHING HAPPENED. The MC (Gemma) is quite frankly, weird. I don't mean in a good way either and I couldn't figure her out at all. Gemma had things going on in her life that should be intriguing, but not enough was really said to keep me interested. No plot development happening there. Also, as far as the investigation into the murder of Rosalind there was no plot development happening there either. I made it about 20-25% of the book and I barely learned anything about the MC or in the investigation of the murder!! The pacing for this novel is so frustratingly slow. I feel like there could be a good story in there somewhere, but there wasn't any suspense or tension building up either. Who wants to stick it out through such sluggish pacing?? 

#SuperSlowPacingEqualsDNF

I'm ALIIIIIVEEE!!! I Missed My 2nd Blogoversary. Plus Two DNF Mini Reviews :/

I'm alive people!! Sorry I haven't posted anything in what, almost 3 months?!?! Things in my life have been pretty crazy and busy. If anyone is interested about all of that let me know in the comments and I can write a separate blog post soon. For now let me get to some mini reviews!!

Thank you to the author for providing a free ebook copy of Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault in exchange for an honest review. 

I really, really wanted to like Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault. The summary is 100% up my alley and that cover is GORGEOUS.  Unfortunately, I had to DNF the book at about 26%. To be fair that's really not far in and I don't feel like I got to any of the good stuff in the plot. The book just couldn't keep my interest though. The story was a little slow, but really my major issue with the book is that there is too much telling instead of showing. I had the hardest time getting into the story because of this. 

#ThatCoverIsStunningTho

I can't personally recommend this one, however I didn't make it that far so if it sounds good to you then give it a go! 

#IWantedToLikeItSoBad

Thank you to the author for providing a free ebook copy of Meat in exchange for an honest review.

Meat is the second book in the Teeth series. I really enjoyed the first book and you can find my review for that here Teeth Review. Sadly, I couldn't get into Meat at all. I DNF'd this one at a sad 12%.  I'm not sure why, but I could not get into the story AT ALL. I tried for ages to keep reading, but the story didn't grab me. Personally, I think this one is a case of "It's not you, it's me." I have been so picky with genres lately and I never really felt in the mood for this one. I don't even have anything bad to say about it, I just couldn't get into it. 

#MaybeIt'sJustMe?

I can't personally recommend this one since I didn't finish it, however I did enjoy the first book in the series. If you enjoyed that one then I say try this one for sure and see. 

#LovedTheFirstBook!

Sorry to be a bummer and come back with two DNF reviews. :/ This year has not been a great reading year for me. I'm super behind on my reading challenge and I've also had so many reads this year that I didn't enjoy. Between that and everything else in my life, I've been fighting a slump for months.  

Most importantly though I want to know... HOW IS EVERYONE??!!! I miss all my blogger friends!!! What all did I miss on the blogosphere? Well besides my 2nd Blogoversary which was yesterday. LOL! 

Blood Rose Rebellion By: Rosalyn Eves DNF Mini Review

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a free ebook copy of Blood Rose Rebellion By: Rosalyn Eves in exchange for an honest review. 

Guys, I can't believe I didn't like this one. Blood Rose Rebellion is a book that I was looking forward to so much, but I only made it to 20% and I had to DNF it. The summary sounded so promising, but to be honest I was bored silly! I couldn't connect to any of the characters or anything in the story. 

#DNFAlert

Overall there just wasn't anything that captivated me. The cover is extremely gorgeous, but for me that is the only thing I liked about it. It wasn't for me at all and I couldn't finish reading it. 

#GorgeousCoverThough

I can't personally recommend this one, but if it sounds good to you and you want to give it a try then go for it! 

#NotForMe

Updates, DNF Mini Review, Discussion About Authors Branching Out, & Recs. (Yup, I Rolled A Lot Into One Post.)

Hey guys! I haven't been around on the blogosphere lately as much as I would like, but I'm sure you understand. I know we've all been there and life happens. To be honest, ever since the summer I've been struggling. I want to get back to blogging and blog hopping more, but it just may not be as much as I want right now. I don't want to stress myself so I'm okay with that. 

I wanted to write a quick update to let everyone know what's been going on in my life. Since it's been SO LONG since I have! Feel free to skip to the bookish stuff though! So my husband is going back to school (He just started last week.) to get his degree. YEY! I'm super proud of him and he's not even going to get a degree he really wants, but one that will hopefully help with his job/financial stuff in the future. While that means more stress on me at home, I'm very proud of him and I love that he's trying to better things for our family. Another thing that's been going on is I've been having MAJOR sleep problems. Insomnia and anxiety has been kicking my butt. With everything going on in life I feel like I'm having a hard time functioning. On a good note though since I started the Keto diet last September I have lost 50 lbs!! My husband has also been losing weight and my daughter has also lost a little. She is 12, she has autism, and she has a hard time when it comes to food. She's struggling a little bit, but we're working on it. As for my twinnies both of them are doing pretty well, despite the fact that within a few days from each other they accidentally gave each other corneal abrasions. They are okay of course, but they weren't even being hyper or anything. They just need to be more careful! These boys are a mess and how come twins have to always do the same thing? HAHA! :P 

I originally wasn't going to post my review for Two By Two on my blog (Which is why I just copied and pasted it hehe laziness for the win!), but I kept thinking about it. I want to commend Nicholas Sparks for going outside of his usual formula even though this book didn't work for me. In my opinion, most of his books are pretty much the same recycled formula with just a few things changed. That's always worked for him though. I mean his books and movies have been majorly successful and I have enjoyed all of the other Sparks books I've read so far. I have to give him props for trying something different than his usual style. And hey, I'm sure there are some people out there that do like this new Sparks book and that's fantastic! 

My point is this got me thinking about other authors that have gone out of their comfort zone. Of course everyone doesn't like the same things and I'm not trying to bash any authors here. I'm just curious in general, what do you think about authors branching out and trying new things? Whether it worked for you, or not, and why. My sleepy brain can't think of any other authors though right now. So I'm curious what authors have you read that tried something new? A new genre, a new writing style, whatever? Did it work for you? Why/why not? 

I'm looking for some recommendations!! Once my reading schedule clears a bit, I want to read more mental health books later this year. I need recs though to add to my list I've started. I have a few options so far, but I would like more to add. What I'm looking for is fictional books that portray mental illness realistically and without glamorizing issues. 

Okay guys, sorry for the SUPER LONG post! Thanks for hanging in there. :P 

Psycho Analysis By: V.R. Stone and The Shadow Land By: Elizabeth Kostova DNF Mini Reviews

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ebook copy of Psycho Analysis By: V.R. Stone in exchange for an honest review. 

I was really looking forward to reading Psycho Analysis. The blurb sounds 100% right up my alley, but sadly it just wasn't for me like I thought it would be. As far as the writing goes it was good, but I just could NOT get into the story. There wasn't anything going on that really grabbed me and I got very bored. A part of me wanted to give it longer (I DNF'd at 15%), but I couldn't do it. 

#DullPlot

Overall I didn't care for Psycho Analysis and I think this is a case of it's just not my cup of tea. It sounded like it would be, but it just didn't intrigue me. Granted I didn't get too far so take my review with a grain of salt if the summary sounds interesting to you. 

#FirstDNFOf2017

I can't personally recommend this one, but if it sounds good to you then give it a shot. 

#NotForMe

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ebook copy of The Shadow Land By: Elizabeth Kostova in exchange for an honest review. 

I was very excited to read The Shadow Land since I loved The Historian by this author so much. The Historian is one of my favorite novels, but this one did not do it for me. The writing in this one killed me from about page two. I feel like unimportant things are described in too much detail. The writing droned on and on. I felt like I had been reading forever and I wasn't very far in. To be honest, I only made it to 5% and I had to quit. Wow.

#INeverDNFThisEarly

Overall The Shadow Land is a pretty disappointing read for me and I'm sad I had to DNF so early on. This book to me did not feel like the same writing that I loved in The Historian. Not everyone can be Tolkien and not every book needs that level of description. I couldn't get into this one at all so I figure why keep going if I already really dislike it?  

#SecondDNFOf2017

I can't personally recommend this one, but if the blurb sounds good and you can handle long winded descriptions then maybe you'll like this one more than I did. 

#HighlyRecommendTheHistorianThough