We've realized that we've DNF-ed quite a bit of books or gave them really low ratings but didn't have enough to say about them except that they were bad. This is basically a compilation of all those books. There will be a part 2 and maybe a part 3 of the DNF and below 2-star reviews.

1. Some Kind of Magic by Adrian Fogelin

Expected Publication: April 1, 2015

Publisher: Peachtree Publishers

Format: ARC

Summary (via Goodreads):

It's the summer before high school starts for Cass, Jemmie, Ben, and Justin, the neighborhood kids readers met in Crossing Jordan. Ben worries the break will be routine, until his little brother Cody finds a hat left by their missing uncle. The hat leads them to a lost house in the woods. They don't suspect the house with a tragic past might nudge them toward the future.

I really didn't want to DNF any book this year, but I thought it'd be better to DNF this rather than finishing the book and hating it. That's just not fair. 

Although the cover, title and even the plot of this book caught my attention, I had to DNF it around 25%. The reasons are:

1. I wasn't motivated while reading it like usually when you read a book you continue reading it because you're entertained or you want to know what happens next. In this case, I didn't seem to care.

2. The characters don't have any unique characteristics within them. At least that's what I feel 1/4 through.

3. The writing style wasn't even bad, it's just that it would not keep you reading it.

4. Lastly, there was nothing happening. The hardest part of reading is starting the book and I was expecting that the beginning would also catch my attention, but it just didn't. 

2. You Own Me by Mary Catherine Gebhard

Publisher: Trendlettrs

Publication Date: February 14th, 2015

Format: ARC

Summary (via Goodreads):

“I’ll love you until you break my heart. I’ll give you the broken pieces of my heart as an offering to you, because you own it. Whole, shattered, alive, or dead; you own my heart no matter what condition it’s in. I’ll stay with you until you figure out how to feel. I’ll stay with you even if you never do.”

This is a story about happiness, and how it doesn't simply happen because you fall in love.

Lennox is on the run from her ex-boyfriend. She had to drop everything, tell no one, and move to a new town, alone. She expected to be lonely, she expected to be afraid, but she never expected to meet a man named Vic who drove her crazy with lust and anger and called her “Lenny.” If it’s at all possible, Vic is more twisted than the man she ran away from. 

She should ignore him, but they’re drawn to each other like magnets. Lennox ran from from Seattle to Santa Barbara to get away from violence, to create a new life, and to be something simple. Instead she’s found herself wrapped up in great friends and an epic love. This new life is the opposite of everything she wants, but it might just be everything she needs.

This book. I don't have much to say except that I didn't like this. The book, though not boring, failed to catch my attention. I had no affinity for the characters. The abusive ex-boyfriend did not feel like it actually had an impact on her apart from her statements of being more paranoid because of him. I think that Vic is a douchebag. I hate the description 'Asian Greek God' because, well, seriously? What is that? I couldn't relate. I wasn't interested. I don't really have anything else to say.

3. Beau, Lee, The Bomb and Me by Mary McKinley

Publisher: K-Teen

Publication Date: October 28th, 2014

Format: ARC

Pages: 256

Summary (via Goodreads):

When Beau transferred to our school. I thought: "Good; fresh meat." Because I knew he would be tormented the entire time he was at Baboon High. Like I am. All day. . .every day. Growing up is a trip. . .

In high school, there are few worse crimes than being smart or fat. Lucky me, I'm both. But when Beau Gales blows in to town, it takes about two minutes for the jackasses at our Seattle school to figure out he's gay, and that makes him an even bigger target. Have you ever heard the saying: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'? There's something to that.

When the bullying gets violent and Beau decides to run away to San Francisco to ask his Uncle Frankie for advice, we all go. Beau, me, Leonie (designated class slut), and a scruffy rescue dog called The Bomb--a tribe of misfits crammed into my mom's minivan. Throw in a detour to the Twilight town of Forks, armed robbery, cool record shops, confessions, breakups and makeups, and you have the kind of journey that can change the way you look at the whole world--and yourself.

This book is just not for me. It actually seemed quite promising at first since the main character is fat and geeky, Beau is gay. Basically, the characters have variety. I commend the author for taking the risk of writing about characters that aren't beautiful and perfect. Even so, the dialogue and the writing ruined this book for me. I think that this book could be much, much better with improved writing.