It's Not You, It's Me (22)

It's not you, it's me." This feature will be showcasing books that I never finished or reviewed; you know…...the dreaded DNF.

One of my goals for 2018 is to put aside books that don't interest me initially. If I am not feeling a book by page 50, I have vowed to put them in my DNF pile, because there are WAY too many other novels that I want to read. Here are the latest books that have joined this pile.

Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner 

Goodreads says,"When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying's advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered. For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study... as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don't loot everything first. Mia and Jules' different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance. In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race's secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race..."

My Thoughts: Guys, I loved These Broken Stars, so I thought this was going to be sure-fire hit for me. However, that wasn't the case. The story didn't pull me in, at least in the first 50 pages, and the characters felt flat to me. I didn't care about them enough to continue with the story, which is a real bummer.  Perhaps I am just done with sci-fi? 

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand

Goodreads says,"On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she'd become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways. She didn't. And then she died. Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past. Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable. But this year, everything is about to change."

My Thoughts: I absolutely love Cynthia Hand and I love A Christmas Carol, so why didn't this book work for me? For starters, the writing didn't feel as compelling as Hand's previous novels. Something just felt off. I was hoping for a heartwarming tale to read at Christmas, but I just wasn't feeling it. The reviews for the book have been pretty decent though, so maybe I'll pick it up again next Christmas.

Have you guys read these books? Should I reconsider them? What books have you recently set aside? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.