i wrote about a book I DNFd. jennifers-newsletter-9cb7e2.beehiiv.com/p/i-dnfd-at-...
I DNFd at a Wardrobe Malfunction
Or, the first present tightrope
jennifers-newsletter-9cb7e2.beehiiv.com
May 17, 2026 at 1:26 AM
i wrote about a book I DNFd. jennifers-newsletter-9cb7e2.beehiiv.com/p/i-dnfd-at-...
Not well,taking a duvet day with my TBR, and have now DNFd three romances in a row for shitty writing/editing.
August 7, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Not well,taking a duvet day with my TBR, and have now DNFd three romances in a row for shitty writing/editing.
(I am not struggling at all, I DNFd at 5% because seriously.)
January 18, 2026 at 6:30 PM
(I am not struggling at all, I DNFd at 5% because seriously.)
Just DNFd a tradpub book from a literary imprint for painfully clunky and apparently totally unedited writing, and in the acknowledgements the author takes a paragraph to thank... herself.
February 19, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Just DNFd a tradpub book from a literary imprint for painfully clunky and apparently totally unedited writing, and in the acknowledgements the author takes a paragraph to thank... herself.
I have just DNFd yet another debut novel that read like a first draft--often incoherently overwritten, inconsistent characters, agonising pacing. Great idea and obvious talent but in need of a brutal three-page dev letter they didn't get, so now the book will tank & the author will probably give up.
and no, none of what is going on right now leads to “better” shows - why? BECAUSE WRITERS/DIRECTORS/CREATIVES DON’T GET ENOUGH OPPORTUNITIES TO GET BETTER AT THEIR CRAFT AND CAN’T EARN ENOUGH TO STAY IN IT FOR LONG ENOUGH TO GAIN MASTERY. (10/14)
June 4, 2026 at 2:17 PM
I have just DNFd yet another debut novel that read like a first draft--often incoherently overwritten, inconsistent characters, agonising pacing. Great idea and obvious talent but in need of a brutal three-page dev letter they didn't get, so now the book will tank & the author will probably give up.
Sometimes these things give the reader a terminal jolt out of immersion. I will accept a lot of absolute tosh, but I DNFd a historical novel because its mid-Victorian hero had a map of Pakistan on his wall.
And don't tell yourself: "It's a story. The small details don't really matter." They do. I once read a historical novel set in Victorian London (written, I think, by an American author), in which the detective protagonist presses a 50-pence piece into a grimy urchin's hand. I think about this a lot.
August 14, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Sometimes these things give the reader a terminal jolt out of immersion. I will accept a lot of absolute tosh, but I DNFd a historical novel because its mid-Victorian hero had a map of Pakistan on his wall.
I've DNFd my last three historical romances for just... not bothering with the history part and I'm depressed. :/
IDK. I read historical romance because I *like* historical settings with people behaving and speaking differently to now. Feels like many people consider that a bug, not a feature.
IDK. I read historical romance because I *like* historical settings with people behaving and speaking differently to now. Feels like many people consider that a bug, not a feature.
May 7, 2025 at 7:58 PM
I've DNFd my last three historical romances for just... not bothering with the history part and I'm depressed. :/
IDK. I read historical romance because I *like* historical settings with people behaving and speaking differently to now. Feels like many people consider that a bug, not a feature.
IDK. I read historical romance because I *like* historical settings with people behaving and speaking differently to now. Feels like many people consider that a bug, not a feature.
You absolutely do not need to read a whole book or finish a book to review it. If your experience was that the book didn't work for you and you DNFd, that's a perfectly fair thing to review.
December 29, 2024 at 10:35 PM
You absolutely do not need to read a whole book or finish a book to review it. If your experience was that the book didn't work for you and you DNFd, that's a perfectly fair thing to review.
"I DNFd this book because the author used 'learnt'."
You can DNF for any reason you like, but I am BEGGING American readers to remember that other variants of English exist 😭
You can DNF for any reason you like, but I am BEGGING American readers to remember that other variants of English exist 😭
December 13, 2024 at 8:50 AM
"I DNFd this book because the author used 'learnt'."
You can DNF for any reason you like, but I am BEGGING American readers to remember that other variants of English exist 😭
You can DNF for any reason you like, but I am BEGGING American readers to remember that other variants of English exist 😭
I want to make a “logical fallacy referee” meme for “secret keeping in first person present.”
Anyways. I just DNFd a book.
Anyways. I just DNFd a book.
August 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
I want to make a “logical fallacy referee” meme for “secret keeping in first person present.”
Anyways. I just DNFd a book.
Anyways. I just DNFd a book.
I have DNFd like 6 books this week. Might be time to break out some old favorites because I need something happy in my brain.
January 24, 2025 at 8:20 PM
I have DNFd like 6 books this week. Might be time to break out some old favorites because I need something happy in my brain.
A free planks and books you DNFd, you've got yourself some new book shelves.
Now there's room for more books.
Now there's room for more books.
November 23, 2025 at 9:48 PM
A free planks and books you DNFd, you've got yourself some new book shelves.
Now there's room for more books.
Now there's room for more books.
I DNFd this book 5 times - BUT I listened to it in Audiobook and I was FLOOOOOREDDDDD 100 ⭐️ hahaha 😂
October 5, 2026 at 7:59 PM
I DNFd this book 5 times - BUT I listened to it in Audiobook and I was FLOOOOOREDDDDD 100 ⭐️ hahaha 😂
Have y’all ever un-DNFd a book? … cuz I might do that with the book I DNFd lass night… i just needed to get over my initial shock and horror but I actually really want to know how this mystery unfolds 😭💀#BlackBookSky
November 25, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Have y’all ever un-DNFd a book? … cuz I might do that with the book I DNFd lass night… i just needed to get over my initial shock and horror but I actually really want to know how this mystery unfolds 😭💀#BlackBookSky
DNFd a book for saying that an entire part of a city “smells like poverty”. Lol absolutely not, I will not be using my one wild and precious life on this 😂
February 12, 2026 at 1:17 AM
DNFd a book for saying that an entire part of a city “smells like poverty”. Lol absolutely not, I will not be using my one wild and precious life on this 😂
when you guys come up with your "READ" totals for the year do you include books you DNF'd? im planning my 2025 tbr and i realized in previous years i did include the books in DNFd.
December 31, 2024 at 12:18 AM
when you guys come up with your "READ" totals for the year do you include books you DNF'd? im planning my 2025 tbr and i realized in previous years i did include the books in DNFd.
That's me caught up on reviews, except for the five (FIVE) books I DNFd in the past two weeks. (One romance where the Edwardian British heroine was an intolerably modern American, one very stupid thriller, one tonally bizarre fantasy, and two pointless non-fictions clearly bought on premise alone.)
November 10, 2025 at 8:34 AM
That's me caught up on reviews, except for the five (FIVE) books I DNFd in the past two weeks. (One romance where the Edwardian British heroine was an intolerably modern American, one very stupid thriller, one tonally bizarre fantasy, and two pointless non-fictions clearly bought on premise alone.)
sometimes people say "We've lost the plot" about real life, but i have yet to understand why i've started and DNFd so many books that *literally* have no plot.
November 27, 2024 at 2:09 PM
sometimes people say "We've lost the plot" about real life, but i have yet to understand why i've started and DNFd so many books that *literally* have no plot.
I once DNFd a book where they had the protagonist living on the Oregon coast and taking a refreshing swim in the ocean. In February. Bitch what
will never forget the book set in India by an American author who painstakingly researched everything but then had people across the country flipping light switches up to switch them on when in India you flip down for on and up for off, it's the stuff you don't think needs research that gets you
And don't tell yourself: "It's a story. The small details don't really matter." They do. I once read a historical novel set in Victorian London (written, I think, by an American author), in which the detective protagonist presses a 50-pence piece into a grimy urchin's hand. I think about this a lot.
August 14, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I once DNFd a book where they had the protagonist living on the Oregon coast and taking a refreshing swim in the ocean. In February. Bitch what
Anna Karenina.
Almost DNFd it about 200 pages in. Put it down for weeks then came back to it and got really into it.
Problem now is I read for hours and it seems like the pages are flying by but then still only halfway through. Tolstoy must not have had any shortage of paper….
Almost DNFd it about 200 pages in. Put it down for weeks then came back to it and got really into it.
Problem now is I read for hours and it seems like the pages are flying by but then still only halfway through. Tolstoy must not have had any shortage of paper….
February 4, 2026 at 3:55 AM
Anna Karenina.
Almost DNFd it about 200 pages in. Put it down for weeks then came back to it and got really into it.
Problem now is I read for hours and it seems like the pages are flying by but then still only halfway through. Tolstoy must not have had any shortage of paper….
Almost DNFd it about 200 pages in. Put it down for weeks then came back to it and got really into it.
Problem now is I read for hours and it seems like the pages are flying by but then still only halfway through. Tolstoy must not have had any shortage of paper….
I've DNFd two books recently for this. You *cannot* expect the reader to buy "I have been plunged into a terrifying unfamiliar world of threat and violence, with death on the line" if the completely experienced MC then exchanges quips over the corpses. It defuses all the impact.
June 14, 2024 at 7:09 AM
I've DNFd two books recently for this. You *cannot* expect the reader to buy "I have been plunged into a terrifying unfamiliar world of threat and violence, with death on the line" if the completely experienced MC then exchanges quips over the corpses. It defuses all the impact.
August 19, 2025 at 10:02 AM
One reason I'm less invested in writing a book filled with one after another "exciting" skirmish/fight/violence is that I just DNFd a new UK thriller because the plot works on the "another act of brutal violence" plot point principle (rather than characterization) and it both offended and bored me.
January 6, 2026 at 3:56 AM
One reason I'm less invested in writing a book filled with one after another "exciting" skirmish/fight/violence is that I just DNFd a new UK thriller because the plot works on the "another act of brutal violence" plot point principle (rather than characterization) and it both offended and bored me.