DNF @ Chapter 4

Thanks to Algonquin for this copy. I wish I couldn’t completed it.

If I’m being honest, I feel duped into reading this. People I trusted said this was dark academia but no one mentioned that it centered around one guy that eventually joined the army and one that became a Republican senator. 

Nothing was drawing me into keep going with the story. Maybe it got better, but reading about a kid joining a boarding school as a freshman holds zero interest to me. 

Too much internal thought for me to want to stick with it for 400 pages 

I was so excited for this one, but I’m going to have to file it under “misleading synopsis”.

I thought that this would be an in-depth analysis of mythological women/monsters to women today or historical women. What it was, was using mythology to bring up issues in her own life, namely fatphobia and sexism to name a few. 

Anyways, I’m tired of misleading blurbs and synopses - it’s 2021, get it together 

DNFing because literally nothing has happened besides cleaning out a storage room and a kid jumping on a woman in a pool 

If only I could go back to the time when I was so excited that my copy of Leave the World Behind showed up without the Read with Jenna sticker on it and then go back further and stop myself from buying my copy.

If anything, I went into this knowing it would probably be a hate read. Most, if not all of my friends said they would be suprised if I didn't hate it. They were right, I hated it. 

I DNFd after 30 minutes, 4 chapters, and 19 pages. My mom tried to read it before I did and it took her SIX months to finally decide to DNF this 241 page book. 

Beautiful prose (albeit a little too much detail) was overshadowed in over explanation in just the 19 pages I read. 

I drew the line at reading about a penis doing sun salutations. 

My main take away from the 19 pages I read - vacation makes you horny.

However, I think this would make a great book club book since the ratings seem to be either 1-2 star or 4-5 stars. Those make for the best kinds of book club discussions. 

Too repetitive and not what I thought it was

My first Sally Rooney quickly became a DNF.

*Ducks to avoid rotten apples from Sally Rooney stans*

I want my time back and my battery life back in my AirPods. I didn’t survive a pandemic to read this.

It’s my first SR so I went in with zero expectations and was met with floor level plot and character development.

It became a hate read at 9% into the audiobook.

Kept listening a little bit to see if I could get into it - I couldn’t. Officially DNF at 17%. 

This will be a book for someone, but it’s clearly not up my alley. Maybe it is a book that’s much better as a physical read?

A purely character driven novel that left me zoning out and losing my spot. Let’s add in that I found myself not caring about any of the characters. The emails (the epistolary portion) gave nothing to the plot (is there actually a plot?) and I found myself zoning out even more.

A soap opera-esque novel with too much dependence on underdeveloped characters and too many emails that contributed nothing moving the book forward. 

Will I still pick up Normal People? Ehhhhh someone convince me 

Thank you Avid Reader Press and Libro.FM for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I had to DNF this one. I made it to 19%, but for my sanity, I refuse to go any further. I *may* try again later with a physical copy.

This one just isn't working for me. I LOVE Emma Roberts as the narrator, but she cannot make up for how annoying the main character is nor how unlikeable/unreliable she is. Also, she's so emotionless that it caused me to raise red flags immediately.

Also....holy disjointed plot. I am still in a realm of confusion. It looks to me that a lot of the story will be based on the main character dehumanizing the traumas people's lives.

How many times does the c u next Tuesday need to be included in one phone call between a mistress and the wife? Honestly? Not as much as it was.

I didn't read her nonfiction, Three Women, and I probably won't now.

This book will obviously work for some people, but it just isn't working for me.

Please be aware of the trigger warnings that people have finished are sharing.

I haven't come across those points in the story yet, but from what I've seen in reviews and on social media - the they are very triggering.

DNF at 17%.

Thanks Minotaur and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this one. 

This is my first Sandie Jones book, and after seeing many of my trusted reviewers love her previous books, I was excited to have the opportunity to pick this one up. So thank you Minotaur for the opportunity

However, I found myself having difficulty wanting to pick it back up and after reading three chapters - I put it down. After hearing from another trusted friend that it took her 100-150 pages to get into the plot, I knew that I just had to set it down. I usually wait to DNF until around page 50 and I made it to page 54. 

Maybe it will get better, but for me I just didn't find my attention grabbed enough to carry on reading. There was too much drunk, middle aged adult pettiness and not enough introduction into mystery to hold my attention. I'm not one to enjoy plots that center around confessions and a lot of drinking. 

Can we please stop using drinking as a plot device in thrillers/mystery/suspense?? Especially so early on in a plot?

I'm sure this book will be great for others, but I don't think this was the right time for me to pick it up. I just wanted to share this review so that others have something to go off. 

I think this book would be perfect for anyone to pick up on vacation or as a summer read. 

I'm still interested in reading Sandie's other books in the future after seeing other friends enjoy the other works.

In the similar words of Cody Rigsby and at the encouragement of my friend Shannon, and I'm sorry if this insults anyone who loved it - 

We didn't survive a pandemic to read shitty books.

First of all, thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a copy of Black Buck.

Secondly, I’m sadly DNFing at 118 pages. I’m positive this book will be loved by many, as is obvious by the high ratings at the Read with Jenna book Club sticker, but it’s not for me. I tried both audiobook and reading the physical copy and I just can’t keep going. 


I understand this is supposed to be satire on racism and white supremacy in the workplace, actually I think Black Buck excels in that. That satire is well done. Have I outright laughed at all? No, but I’m chuckled at little bit. 

However, I’ve seen no one discuss the use of the ‘R’ word as bullying as well as phrases such as ‘take the short bus’. So I’m going to throw that out there, this was one of the things that ruined the book for me. I can’t read books that use terms and phrases such as these that others use to demean people with learning and physical disabilities.

Also, I’m about to start a new job and the last thing I need for my mental health is to intake a ton of workplace bullying and hazing in a book.

Putting my mental health first and putting this one down. I hope it works for you if you’ve picked it up!

TW/CW: Racism, white supremacy, bullying, workplace hazing...there are probably more but I haven’t gotten to them yet in the book.