If you’re a big reader, BookTok is a wonderful side of TikTok you may enjoy, filled with recommendations and all sorts of commentaries on books. It’s even known for making books incredibly popular and trendy. The BookTok community is a great spot to find all sorts of fun literary things to discuss and read, and is particularly well-known for its recommendations. However, as of late, it’s becoming more popular to share books that are being DNF’d.
DNF
“DNF” is a popular term for book fans everywhere meaning “Did Not Finish.” There’s even GoodReads Lists! It’s become somewhat of a trend across the internet, particularly on TikTok, for people to discuss what books they read that they DNF. A lot of readers struggle with the thought of DNF-ing a book, but many others are quite eager to throw a weak read to the side. After all, life is short and there are definitely plenty of books in the sea.
Below I’ve listed some common DNFs for popular books across BookTok – I’m not the only one to set the book aside! Here’s a few books to avoid as you’re building your reading list for 2024.
“Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
In this humorous review for “Fourth Wing”, a reader describes the novel’s tropes and how the whole book just doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. Reddit is a particularly fun place to read through the reviews. Lynmoore_Books on TikTok does my favorite review of this book and calls “Fourth Wing” “the literary equivalent of Riverdale.” If you search “Fourth Wing DNF” on TikTok, there’s a seemingly endless supply of reviews about the book and reasons why people stopped reading it. Among the different reasons, a fair amount of people agree that it’s because of the tropes within the book (such as enemies to lovers) as well as the awkward modern vernacular within a high fantasy setting.
“Midnight Library” by Matthew Haig
Here is a particularly well-worded review for “The Midnight Library.” The mannerisms of the characters paired with the mentioned “torture” of living different versions of your life over and over again create an elaborate review explaining why this is a book to avoid.
“Midnight Library” wasn’t quite as trendy as “Fourth Wing,” so it’s easier to find examples of why this book is a DNF for so many people. Some of the TikTok reviews explain that we learn very little about Nora, our protagonist, from the get-go, which makes it an incredibly difficult book to sink your teeth into. TikTok User Strawbibble has a particularly eloquent review of the novel on their page.
“Icebreaker” is one of the most popular books on TikTok. This romance follows Nathan and Anastasia, a hockey player and a figure skater, and their steamy encounters. This review has the most laid out points, explaining clearly and concisely exactly why they stopped reading the book. A common complaint with this book is also one of the popular complaints for “Fourth Wing” as well: too many characters. Another complaint for “Icebreaker” was the overwhelming amount of nicknames given to the protagonists that left readers confused about who a character was referring to.
“The Invisible Life of Addie Larue” by V. E. Schwab
Many booklovers are dying to read this book, only to wind up sorely disappointed. V. E. Schwab is a good writer, but not good enough to pull off some of the things she does in “The Invisible Life of Addie Larue.” While it’s difficult to review a book I put down before finishing, I will do my best. The romances between Addie and the other male protagonists feel like they come up short. The romantic partners aren’t truly likable, and it’s incredibly difficult to figure out what drew Addie to them in the first place.
When To DNF A Book
First things first: when reading, check your vibe. What are you feeling? If you aren’t enjoying the book, set it aside. Personally, I always try to give books the first 100 pages to see if I enjoy it or not. It’s enough time to truly digest what you’re reading and piece together more plot and character elements. If you find you can’t make it to 100 pages and that it just isn’t working for you, don’t be afraid to set it down! I do advise you to take a few minutes to figure out what exactly it is that you like and don’t like about the book. The more time you take to figure these things out, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to find books that hold your attention in the future.
All of this to say, don’t be afraid or ashamed to put a book down! Life is too short to consume media that we aren’t enjoying. However, don’t feel afraid to pick up the book again at a later date. Personally, the first time I read “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott, I absolutely hated it. When I picked it up the second time for a college course I was taking, I fell in love with the story of Jo March and her sisters.
Don’t be afraid to set a book down, but also don’t be afraid to pick it back up again.
