Weekly Wrap Up – What I DNFed from NetGalley

Here are all the books I read and DNFed last week!

While starting this post I realised that I had picked some really weird dates for the last one! 31st October (Monday) to 5th November (Saturday). So just to sort of make things more normal for this one, and going forward), this post will cover 6th November (Sunday) to 13 November (also Sunday) so that the next one can be a Monday to Monday thing!

All of these are NetGalley

The bulk of my reads last week were NetGalley ones, which means the bulk of my DNF books were also NetGalley books!

As a whole, I’ve not managed to improve my review percentage in the slightest, because I have no self control and keep requesting new book. But it hasn’t gotten worse. Each book I read can now improve my review percentage by 0.18%, which means I still need to read 131.4 books to hit 80%. I’ve got a slightly more manageable goal of 60% for year end, which means 20.8 books to go!

I read 6 NetGalley books last week, and DNFed 4 others!

I’ll be honest, I have gotten a lot harder with my reviews. My partner has really encouraged me to value my time; if I don’t like a book I’ll leave it because we have a seemingly infinite number of books on this earth but my time and energy is limited.

What I Did Not Finish

1. Unfold by Ari B. Cofer
2. Walking the Serpentine by Craig Dinsell
3. B is for Bonnie by Des Sweet
4. Celestial Academy: Essence by Olivia Pharos

I don’t want to bias you too much against these books, but I do want to talk honestly about why they didn’t work for me even if they do or will work for you.

Unfold by Ari B. Cofer

While I was a fan of Paper Girls and The Knives That Made Her, I didn’t like this book as much. I admire how she is able to talk about sexual assault in this book and there are some really good passages.

However, I realised that I was forcing myself to read the book, which meant that in my head, the review was already capped at 3 stars. In addition, I find that more and more modern poets sound exactly the same and it’s boring.

Blurb for Walking the Serpentine by Craig Dinsell

From the mirage of London to the streets of Bangkok, penned on the run and written largely in the frontline trenches of financial services in New York, these poems offer an intimation of one person’s journey through the house of mirrors that is life.

They record an adolescent search for answers to the big spiritual questions: Is God there? And if so, does he care? The anger and doubt when answers seem so inadequate, when tested against the razor of experience. 

They also observe life, family, and the humour and joy that is to be found in the most unexpected places. And, surprisingly, the emergence of the conviction that, above all, we are loved. The best is yet to be.

B is for Bonnie by Des Sweet

Like Walking the Serpentine, I read the book on Kindle Unlimited. I didn’t really like the book. Bee squealed too much and seemed really clingy and needy for someone who seems to be part good at heists. The writing came off as a bit immature as well. All in all, I ended up giving up early.

Blurb for B is for Bonnie by Des Sweet

It is a Bonnie and Clyde Retell. Mafia ish troupe/reverse harem/enemies to lovers/stand alone.

Blurb- (still a work in progress) Buckle up for a modern Bonnie and Clyde Retell. This reverse harem take on the classic robbers will have you rooting for the bad guys and wanting more. Join Bonnie, aka Bee, and the Boys for the biggest heist yet. Jealousy and emotions run rampant before heading off to the Vegas Diamond Show. Will the boys learn how to share or will this tale end in disaster for some?

Celestial Academy: Essence by Olivia Pharos

While the plot is good, the writing could be better. It feels immature and unedited. The book also dragged. While the world building was important, I feel like spending (what I can only estimate) 120 pages building up the world and not even getting her to the academy was a bit much. I also felt like rolling my eyes at the Sarah vs Wen thing, with Sarah being perfectly angelic and lovely while Wen being a drug dealer.

Celestial Academy: Essence by Olivia Pharos

For fans of Crescent City, Guild Hunter and Zodiac Academy—Celestial Academy is your new book obsession!

Orphan. Slave. Drug dealer.

As a Demon-Owned human, in an Afterworld that has Hell and Heaven on Earth, Wen White is the lowest a being can be. Her life is one of drudgery, degradation—and mortal danger. And that’s before she started dealing Angelescence. Unlike anything in existence, it’s a drug only she can produce, and everyone would kill, or die for.

With decommission and execution closing in, she’s desperate to buy out her and her best friend’s Indentures. But upping her operations only gets her arrested, and her terrifying captor drags her to the Celestial Court to stand trial. Her sentence?

Conscription to Celestial Academy.

As the most powerful nephilim in history, Godric is Heaven’s most ruthless soldier and assassin. And he’s been assigned with discovering the root of her unprecedented ability to capture Angel Essence.

Both hate their enforced proximity—and each other. Especially when the other provokes explosive emotions and cravings they never thought they can experience.

But being embroiled in their private war becomes the least of their worries as he unearths even more disturbing mysteries within her. Meanwhile, a devastating internal war as well as another Apocalypse are brewing—and Wen is at the center of it all.

And the semester isn’t over yet…

Are you ready for your next book addiction?

Dive into this binge-worthy, new-adult contemporary fantasy world, brimming with unforgettable characters, soul-searing enemies-to-lovers passion, edge-of-your-seat mystery and suspense—and apocalyptic stakes.

You will never want to leave.

Wen’s epic trials in the world of celestials and supernaturals continue in NEXUS, book 2 of Celestial Academy.