DNF 34%

I am not someone who can usually DNF books. In fact, I have the worst habit of not only forcing myself to finish everything I read but also forcing myself to finish off the entire series… no matter how long it might be. Call it optimism. Call it stupidity. Blame it on my Slytherin impulse to see the challenge in it and be unable to back down. Whatever it is, it makes DNFing next to impossible. It was only when I realised that the more I forced myself to read this, the more I found myself procrastinating reading that I knew how ridiculous I was being. I have so many library books I want to read before the end of the year, I do not have the patience to fall into a slump. Hence the DNF.

What in particular made me struggle with this? The pacing, for one. God, it’s slow. It is nearly 500 pages and the first two hundred pages felt like an introduction. The world building seems clever and unique at first but it is messy and I found it hard to keep straight. The plot follows a few different strands and it was a chore to keep them straight. The writing style is just kind of vague? I feel like everyone knows what is happening except me and I just could not dredge up the will to care. The characters are also entirely unpleasant. Paris was such a dull pushover and Runajo was kind of mean? I loved that it was a Romeo and Juliet retelling but meh. The more I read, the less and less I found myself caring, so I called it a day.

I have heard amazing things about this author’s debut so I might pick that up in the future? We shall see.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.

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