It's Not You, It's Me (11)

"It's not you, it's me."  Some books just don't work for me, whereas other readers may have really enjoyed them.  This feature will be showcasing books that I never finished or reviewed; you know…...the dreaded DNF.

Guys, I have been receiving so many books for review and while that is great, I find out I encounter more and more duds. You need to be selective regarding what books you give your time to, so I have tried desperately to be a little more discerning.....a little more picky.  If I am not feeling it the first 50 pages, then I put the book down. Here are my latest DNFs:

Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford 

Goodreads says, "It's 2006 in the Manhattan of the young and glamorous. Money and class are colliding in a city that is about to go over a financial precipice and take much of the country with it. At 26, bright, funny and socially anxious Evelyn Beegan is determined to carve her own path in life and free herself from the influence of her social-climbing mother, who propelled her through prep school and onto the Upper East Side. Evelyn has long felt like an outsider to her privileged peers, but when she gets a job at a social network aimed at the elite, she's forced to embrace them. Recruiting new members for the site, Evelyn steps into a promised land of Adirondack camps, Newport cottages and Southampton clubs thick with socialites and Wall Streeters. Despite herself, Evelyn finds the lure of belonging intoxicating, and starts trying to pass as old money herself. When her father, a crusading class-action lawyer, is indicted for bribery, Evelyn must contend with her own family's downfall as she keeps up appearances in her new life, grasping with increasing desperation as the ground underneath her begins to give way. Bracing, hilarious and often poignant, Stephanie Clifford's debut offers a thoroughly modern take on classic American themes - money, ambition, family, friendship - and on the universal longing to fit in."

My Thoughts: This appears to have all the ingredients for a great beach read. There are rich people, drama, social climbing all with a Gossip Girl vibe, but I wasn't sold on it. The first 30+ pages left me sort of confused and I was wondering why I should even care about Evelyn. 

Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines 

Goodreads says, "To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: the cocky, popular, way-too-handsome-for-his-own-good football god who led Lawton High to the state championships. But while West may be Big Man on Campus on the outside, on the inside he’s battling the grief that comes with watching his father slowly die of cancer. Two years ago, Maggie Carleton’s life fell apart when her father murdered her mother. And after she told the police what happened, she stopped speaking and hasn’t spoken since. Even the move to Lawton, Alabama, couldn’t draw Maggie back out. So she stayed quiet, keeping her sorrow and her fractured heart hidden away. As West’s pain becomes too much to handle, he knows he needs to talk to someone about his father—so in the dark shadows of a post-game party, he opens up to the one girl who he knows won’t tell anyone else. West expected that talking about his dad would bring some relief, or at least a flood of emotions he couldn’t control. But he never expected the quiet new girl to reply, to reveal a pain even deeper than his own—or for them to form a connection so strong that he couldn’t ever let her go…"

My Thoughts: You might have already heard me complain about this book in my Friday Five post, but I want to explain in more detail. When it comes to pet peeves in life and in novels it's when people disrespect women repeatedly.  I found that to be the case in this novel over and over again...(from what I read).  I couldn't believe it. These football players kept focusing on how a girl LOOKS and not what she says or what she does. They would also talk about women like they weren't in the room, yet the woman was standing RIGHT THERE. Plus, the girls in this novel weren't much better, (except for the main character who is mute, so there's that.)  I think it was hard, because I wanted Maggie to stand up for herself and I figured it was coming later on in the story, but I couldn't.get.past.it.  Not all football players act like this and I just felt like it was playing into a stereotype. Sure, there are many guys who act this way, but do I want to be subjected to their crude behavior and offensive comments? No, thanks. Plus, their grammar was atrocious.  So, needless to say, it wasn't the book for me.

Newport by Jill Morrow 

Goodreads says, "Spring 1921. The Great War is over, Prohibition is in full swing, the Depression still years away, and Newport, Rhode Island's glittering "summer cottages" are inhabited by the gloriously rich families who built them. Attorney Adrian De la Noye is no stranger to Newport, having sheltered there during his misspent youth. Though he'd prefer to forget the place, he returns to revise the will of a well-heeled client. Bennett Chapman's offspring have the usual concerns about their father's much-younger fiancee. But when they learn of the old widower's firm belief that his first late wife, who "communicates" via seance, has chosen the beautiful Catherine Walsh for him, they're shocked. And for Adrian, encountering Catherine in the last place he saw her decades ago proves to be a far greater surprise. Still, De la Noye is here to handle a will, and he fully intends to do so--just as soon as he unearths every last secret, otherworldly or not, about the Chapmans, Catherine Walsh . . . and his own very fraught history. A skillful alchemy of social satire, dark humor, and finely drawn characters, Newport vividly brings to life the glitzy era of the 1920s. 

My Thoughts: I loved the time period of the Roaring Twenties, but ultimately, the characters weren't compelling enough. I found myself not really caring about them and when that happens it is time to abandon ship.   


So, what makes you not finish a novel? Have you read any of these books? Let me know what you think in the comments below.