Books I Didn’t Finish: July + August 2013

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on August 29, 2013 | 22 Comments


Tumble & FallTumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts 
Published by Farrar Straus and Giroux (9.17.2013) 
eARC, 384 pages 
Source: NetGalley 
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The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that’s left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand. 

 

 

I made it about halfway before I had to give up.

My main problem was that it was boring. The prose was dry and I found it impossible to connect with. I didn’t give a crap about anything that was happening or any of the characters.

Speaking of the characters, they were all the same to me. There were too many names to remember, and that’s all they were to me: Names. I didn’t feel like they had their own personalities and I had trouble telling any of them apart. I kept having to go back through the story to figure out who was who. Plus, there were not one, not two, but THREE different points of view. Sometimes multiple POVs works, but this time it just didn’t. It was cumbersome and confusing, and I could hardly tell the difference between the three speakers. 

Plus, the happenings were just….meh. I don’t know how else to describe them. Caden was kidnapped by his long lost father, and said father drags him to throw a baseball, even though they both hate sports. Huh? 
Zan was fresh out of some place called the House (or something?) – a mental hospital, I’m assuming? – meets this kid Owen that she may or may not have had childhood memories with but can’t remember, then immediately after meeting him gets naked with him to skinny dip and make out (and ‘wrap her legs around him.’ While they’re NAKED). He seemed to know her but SHE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHO HE WAS. I was like, what the eff…? Did I miss something??
Wait wait wait. No, I lied. That was Sienna. Zan was the one that lost her love interest and found a receipt with some chick’s phone number in his book, then teams up with some dude Nick (not sure what he is to her?) to find out what really happened when he died.

Like I said, it was confusing. I had trouble keeping the stories separate, and because they all had the same names in them (I’m guessing all the stories tie together in the end or something), I struggled even more. I didn’t see a point to what I was reading and like I said, I was bored to tears.
I don’t see the point in continuing, either.

I skipped to the end out of morbid curiosity…they all find happiness and forgiveness in the end. Blah, blah, blah.

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16065498Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell

Published by HarperTeen (7.23.2013)
eARC, 320 pages
Source: Edelweiss
Goodreads

In this suspenseful teen thriller with a touch of the otherworldly, a boy goes over a waterfall and wakes up to find himself in a twisted version of the life he knew. Why did his best friend try to kill him? Why are his parents acting like he’s a sports star all of a sudden? Worst of all, what happened to his older brother? Filled with mind-bending suspense and unsettling thrills, Undercurrent is a grippingly paced teen debut that will pull you under and never let go.

 

 

 

I made it through 57% of this book before I gave up.

First of all, it was boring. Excruciatingly so. 

Second of all, there’s something about the writing style that grates on my nerves. I usually back up my claims with examples, but I seriously have nothing. It wasn’t anything specific, the prose just annoyed me. And I didn’t care for the main character, Callum. He annoyed me, too.

I thought this would be a great book because of the parallel universe thing, but there was little to nothing about actual parallel universes. There was basically nothing happening plot-wise besides pointless dialogue and everyday life kind of stuff. Yawn.

After forcing myself through that 57%, I decided it was time to move on to something better. I read the last 10% out of curiosity, and still wasn’t impressed. I found out how it ended, so I don’t feel as if I’m missing out on anything.

Jessi (Geo)

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22 responses to “Books I Didn’t Finish: July + August 2013

  1. I have not been hearing good things about Tumble & Fall…at all! Which is really unfortunate because it sounded amazing. I still have an ARC of it that I need to get through…eventually…maybe…later…

  2. Well DNF’s always suck. Sorry these too didn’t work. I still have yet to read either. Haha. Even though I have both. Well it seems like you’ve ready plenty of epic books in their place though so that’s good. And only TWO DNF’s in two months? that’s pretty good!! :D

    <333 Inky

  3. Such a bummer about Tumble & Fall, huh? I made it through it, but it wasn’t great, and I had such high hopes for that book. I kind of felt like the ending made the whole thing seem pointless.

    And another bummer about Undercurrent! I thought that book sounded AMAZING. But I keep reading negative reviews for it so I haven’t read it. :(

  4. It sucks you couldn’t get through these two; they both sounds like they had such potential. Although I don’t think I’ve read a single positive review about Tumble & Fall, which is really sad because it’s so pretty! I’m glad I skipped requesting a copy of either of these!

  5. Ugh I read like three pages of Tumble & Fall before I stopped to read a different book. I haven’t heard any positive reviews at all for this book so I probably won’t be reading it soon, but I’m sorry that the characters were really dry and hard to connect to D: The writing style doesn’t sound any better either.

    Fantastic reviews, Jessi! <33

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