Books I Did Not Finish: Mini Reviews & Giveaways

I do my best to finish every book I start. I do. I even finished Blue Moon by Alyson Noel and I hated it going in.

I hardly ever write negative reviews or don’t finish a book because I usually have great success at picking books I know I’ll enjoy.

I failed three times so far this year. But my loss is your gain. So, after reading these brief mini reviews of why I didn’t finish these books and you feel like it’s a book you may enjoy, fill out the embedded form letting me know which books you are or are not interested in receiving my used copies. :)

Adult

Ghostland by Jory Strong (author signed, not personalized) (book is in used condition, the corners are curled a bit)

Adult, Erotic/Fantasy/Romance 

Summary (Amazon.com)

Welcome to a postapocalyptic world, where the afterlife holds beings that only the bravest can summon-or dare to desire.
Taken from her home and family, shamaness Aisling McConaughey must enter the "ghostlands" to save a wealthy man's mistress. But there's a price to pay for her power: She must summon the Djinn prince Zurael en Caym-and yield to his savage, sensual rage.
Zurael intends to kill Aisling after she's served as bait to find an enemy in possession of an ancient tablet. But the more he tastes her innocent spirit, the more he'll use his fiery touch to keep her hungry for his mercy-even as they weave an erotic spell that he cannot escape...

I think I made it a little over half way through this book. I love the cover!

I didn’t finish it because the romantic relationship in this book was not realistic to me. They began having sexual relations (very erotic) without knowing each other. That just gets under my skin. I ended up hating the book so I stopped reading it. :( There’s a follow up book to this as well. Spider-Touched but I don’t know anything about it. It too has a great cover.

Young Adult

The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones (ARC edition, practically brand new)

Summary (tearcollector.com)

Fans of urban fantasy should prepare for a new kind of vampire - one that feeds off of tears instead of blood. Descended from an ancient line of creatures that gain their energy from human tears, Cassandra Gray depends on human sorrow to live. Her job as a grief counselor at the hospital provides the perfect cover to keep this secret safe, and any time a friend needs a shoulder to cry on, she is there. Only Cass has grown tired of living a lie and wants to live like a human, especially now that she has found someone worth fighting for.

I picked this up at BEA because the cover drew me in. A guy crying?! Cool! Then I read the back: “a new kind of vampire—one who feeds off tears instead of blood”! Awesome! Original!

I got to page 22. I could not like the main character Cassandra Grey. She was totally bitchy. Unlikeable and not relatable. I could not subject myself to her for one more page let alone 241 more pages. I also have read some not so great reviews from other bloggers, therefore, I don’t feel so bad not finishing it. I thought the premise was a truly unique idea. Too bad.

 

Another Faust by Dina & Daniel Nayeri (ARC edition, gently used)

Summary (Amazon.com)

One night, in cities all across Europe, five children vanish — only to appear, years later, at an exclusive New York party with a strange and elegant governess. Rumor and mystery follow the Faust teenagers to the city’s most prestigious high school, where they soar to suspicious heights with the help of their benefactor’s extraordinary "gifts." But as the students claw their way up — reading minds, erasing scenes, stopping time, stealing power, seducing with artificial beauty — they start to suffer the sideeffects of their own addictions. And as they make further deals with the devil, they uncover secrets more shocking than their most unforgivable sins. At once chilling and wickedly satirical, this contemporary reimagining of the Faustian bargain is a compelling tale of ambition, consequences, and ultimate redemption.

Another one that I wanted while at BEA but they ran out so the publisher shipped me a copy. I love this cover.

I read a great deal of this one, page 205. I just got disinterested in it. I didn’t like any of the characters. There were a little too many to really connect with them. There wasn’t any main character besides Madame Vileroy, who isn’t someone I wanted to connect with. I wasn’t really intrigued by the whole Faust element either. I basically found this book a bit confusing. There was a little too much going on. I guess that’s bound to happen when there are supposed to be five main characters.

I read that the Nayeri’s will have more books in the future. I will give them another try.

Again, I’m going to give these away. Just fill out the below form and an entrant will be selected for each book. You can select if you are interested or not for each book. You have a chance to win one, two or even all three if you so chose it.

RULES:

• Entries will be accepted until Midnight, November 22 ET
• Entries are open to US & Canada only, sorry. NO P.O. Boxes.
• The winner will be randomly selected via Random.org.
• The winner will be announced on November 23 (or soon thereafter)
• The winner will have 3 days to email me their shipping info or they will forfeit their winnings and a new winner will be selected.

Disclosure:
Amazon.com Associate. If you click on my links and purchase something I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.