Monday, January 15, 2024

The Fragile Threads of Power

 Fiction by V.E. Schwab


I recently read a book by this author that I really liked (see below) and so when this book was featured on the "BRAND NEW" area in the library I snapped it up.

This book, however, I didn't enjoy. In the prologue, the author introduced FOUR (count them!) separate character storylines and dropped them after a couple of pages. Then, the main body of the story began with ANOTHER character storyline and seemed to stick with it. (I had liked a couple of the other ones better, but oh well.)

I told myself to forget all that other stuff. This part would be the real story and it would make sense. But I kept getting confused; the author repeatedly referenced unexplained things in the past. Sometimes the story would flash back to another time but only very briefly. I couldn't get interested because I was still unclear about what was actually happening. I DEFINITELY felt that "This here is a sequel and you are missing some major backstory" kind of feeling. When I still felt lost after a hundred pages I gave up. I'm labeling this book DNF (did not finish) and returning it to the library.

Out of curiosity I checked the information online about the book. Although it is not listed as a sequel, it IS one. There was a series of THREE other books before this, in which I assume things were explained? Maybe I will go back and read those, because it seems like they are necessary in understanding this one.

In the past I have never posted anything about books I did not finish, but I've decided to start now, logging them in their own category. I will not give the DNF's a thumb rating because that seems unfair, but really I guess a DNF is the ultimate thumbs-down...

I also read by this author: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

No comments:

Post a Comment