SPEAKER_06 0:00

There is no world where I would enjoy the series enough to get through five books. No thank you, Alex. Please just let it die. That's how I felt about Zodiac. This is a weird. I don't like it.

SPEAKER_05 0:11

It's a heavy book. Oh no. What a disaster. I am exhausted.

SPEAKER_06 0:16

I'm just reading That is the literal definition of a shit show. Withering Heights is one I wish I'd quit. Susie D. First page.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

First page. Didn't even like it. Nope, this one's not for me.

SPEAKER_06 0:27

And about Welcome back to Plot Twist Please, where we sip, flip, and spill the tea on books and booze. I'm Cass. I'm Susanna, and I'm Beth. And today is one of our favorite filming days, especially when we hear from you guys. That's right, we're doing our DNF Diaries listener takeover. Yee buddy. Yeah, buddy. We've had so many submissions, so if you don't hear your entry today, don't worry. We will be doing all of them on upcoming episodes. We're just saving a bunch of them. We still want to hear from you, so send in more stories because this this is going to be a mini sode, I think, going forward.

SPEAKER_04 1:07

A reoccurring episode. I think it'll be a yeah, recurring regular monthly episode.

SPEAKER_06 1:12

Yeah. That's what I meant. So definitely still keep them coming, and we will definitely get to all of them in future episodes.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Also, if you're new to our channel and weren't aware that we do this like episode, mini mini episode, reoccurring episode, whatever Cass said, um, we do not read the emails prior to discussing them on the podcast. So this is all our first reactions to these emails. Sometimes they're wild, sometimes we are shocked. And uh yeah, it's basically just on the fly. We do not research these books beforehand because this is our first impression. And we have had comments in the past saying, like, if you research the book, blah, blah, blah. Like these are not our opinions, these are submissions that are sent to us. So please do not hold us responsible for an opinion that you do not agree with. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 2:01

Thank you for our TED Talk.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

None of those necessary for someone else's DNF. Yeah. And we're not here to police anyone's opinion. Reading is subjective, people. Remember that their opinion on the book does not mean it's fact, it's just opinions. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 2:14

Actually, you could, if you want, very nicely email us in why you think someone else's DNF is wrong. Ooh, a little challenge episode. The drink of the episode is wedding wine.

SPEAKER_06 2:25

My wedding wine. I still have so much. Eight bottles of red and like six bottles of white. I don't want no more of your red. No, the red's terrible. Tastes not. I've drank like four bottles of vinegar. I didn't mind it when I had it last. It's better in a sangria with lots of.

SPEAKER_04 2:42

But I also had just come off of not drinking. Although you think that it would it would taste worse.

SPEAKER_06 2:48

No, I think your first sip of alcohol after not drinking for a while would be like anything would be good.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

But you know, drinking good red wine and then drinking Cass's wedding wine. You can't do them back to back.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

It's like so bad. You go from a nice smooth red to salad dressing. To what?

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Salad dressing.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Red wine vinaigrette.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Yeah. Did you want to talk about the giveaway? No? Giveaway.

SPEAKER_04 3:17

We have we are in the middle of a giveaway right now, uh, which launched July 7th. Yes. And we will be pulling, uh, well, it will be ending on the 21st. And so you have another about a week, eight days to enter for that. So we will have all the info. Most of the info is gonna be on our Instagram of what you need to do. But some of the biggest things are you do need to follow, subscribe to our channel here on YouTube. Follow us on Instagram, but go check out that uh us on Instagram at plot twist please. Pod pod. All the requirements are there.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Follow the instructions for chance to win.

SPEAKER_04 3:53

Yeah. And our photos will be there of what you can win.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Yeah. Before we jump into it, we are all reading the same book right now, A Forsaken Prophecy by Stacey McEwen.

SPEAKER_06 4:03

Not at all, Forsaken Prophecy. That's the second one.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Okay. You had the second book, right? Do you want to try it again? I'm gonna try it again. So we're currently reading A Forbidden Alchemy with Stacy Stacy McEwen. Is that how you say her name? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's our book club book pick of the month. If you want to join us, you can hop over to our book club on Fable and join in on the chats. The comments are actually not what we were expecting. No. People are not.

SPEAKER_04 4:30

For a high-rated fable rating, I was I think it is more surprising because of how high it is.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

It's like 4.27 on Fable. Hot take, I think the higher a book is rated, the more criticism it will get.

SPEAKER_04 4:41

Like scrutiny and like kicking apart. That is true. I did really struggle for the first chunk. And I know some people were struggling with the age at the beginning. And you do age through. Like she does go like her second year, third year, fourth year graduating pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_06 4:55

I wouldn't say it's super quickly. It does drag on for quite a while. Well, it was like by chapter 13, it was like, and then she turned 18 or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:03

Because you start out when she's 12.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Yeah. And then by 16, it's seven years later. Yeah. So the the time goes by really fast. I wish there was a little bit more.

SPEAKER_04 5:11

I'm at right now, she's 25. Perfect. Yeah, I think that's where I would be too. That's where I think things changed for me. And I don't even know necessarily if it's it if it's her age or the story, but I know a lot of people had an issue with how young they were at the beginning, and maybe it's just how long you're in those younger years.

SPEAKER_06 5:27

Well, and I think a big part of it was like people were confused about she was 12, but written as a much older character. But is it much harsher world? Yes. So when you think Hunger Games, those kids were very young. Yeah. But they did not act their ages because they grew up in a harsh world.

SPEAKER_04 5:44

Even Harry Potter, though, like I wouldn't say they grew up in a harsh world, but I mean they were young going off to school on their own. Just sent off. That's what I'm saying. Like he had to go out and buy all of his stuff that he needed for school. Yep.

SPEAKER_06 5:56

All right. Okay, as always, full spoiler warning ahead. These are books that our listeners have read but hated so much that they could not finish. So if any of these books are in your TBR and you still want to read them, maybe don't watch this episode. Read the book, come back, see if you agree, disagree. Um, but any books discussed in this episode will be listed in our show notes.

SPEAKER_04 6:17

So before we jump into your guys' DNFs, we're gonna do ours, which is actually just Susie's. Just Susie.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Yeah. This one was actually surprising for me. My first DNF of June was Alice Feeney's My Husband's Wife, which is shocking. I like her books. It has a 4.05 rating on Fable, but I'll read the synopsis and then I'll tell you guys why I DNF. So, the synopsis. Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn't fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door, and her husband insists that the stranger is his wife. One house, one husband, two women, someone is lying. Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Bertie, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Bertie stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person's state of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Bertie feels compelled to write some old wrongs.

SPEAKER_06 7:27

See, that sounds really good.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

It does. So that's why I picked up the book in the first place.

SPEAKER_04 7:32

But you've also read other books of hers, too.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:34

Yeah. I've I was surprised when you said it was Alice Feeney. Yeah. I was like, oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Some other people, like I was looking at the lowest reviews as well. Some people speculated that it was like a completely different author writing this book, like maybe a ghostwriter or AI, for example, because it was really that bad. Like it didn't seem like her writing? No. People who read like rock, paper, scissors said this is completely different writing style. I loved rock, paper, scissors. A lot of people did. Yeah. So anyway, that's why I picked it up. It was really popular. It's been on my TBR for a while. At what point did you realize this book was heading towards a DNF? Before 15%. Really? Yeah. My review. I always review books that I DNF just so I can come back to it for these episodes. But my review says DNF at 15%. The writing is terrible. How this got so many four-star reviews, I do not know. Not only that, but it is so repetitive. Reiterating facts that were already discussed in the same manner. This has been on my TBR forever, and I'm disappointed to say the least.

SPEAKER_06 8:30

I hate that. That's so upsetting.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 8:32

Especially from an author that you've read like really good books from before in the past.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

The writing is just, yeah, it's just so bad. Let me just read like one part. I suspect might be family. I venture closer. I see that every one of the expensive looking frames contains a photograph of a dog. I presumed we had little, like have little in common. I don't recall the dog. I close the front door. I experienced a lightning bolt of pain. I wish I knew. I try to forget about the future. I have been dragged in said an unfamiliar version of my past. I feel off-kilter and uncertain. This is where this is the exact moment where I DNF'd.

SPEAKER_06 9:05

It's just too much. If anyone's read that book and enjoyed it, let us know in the comments. I did not enjoy it. It's painful.

SPEAKER_04 9:14

Or if you've read farther in. Yeah. Did you enjoy it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:18

Does it get better? Yeah. Is it worth the 4.05 rating?

SPEAKER_04 9:23

Let's get to your guys' DNFs. So our first is from Elua, who we've mentioned her before as one of our OG Fable book club members, which by the way, you may join us on there. Yep. Here is my entry for your DNF diaries. I need to de-stress Melting Smiley Face. That's definitely a Lua file. She loves her emojis. There is a lot of faces in the chapters for the book.

SPEAKER_06 9:45

Oh, I know. That's all she has.

SPEAKER_04 9:47

She's like, although honestly, I'll like I've gotten to the point now where like I go into the chapter and I see that she's and I'm like, yep, that's my face. So the book is Broken Country, author Claire Leslie Hall. She DNF'd at 30%. I know I had claimed early on that I went DNF a book so I could argue better points, but honestly, dot dot dot. I didn't think I could sit through it. Maybe if it was the book version, I could have glazed over certain chapters. Alas, I had an audiobook for this for the sake of work. Also chosen at random because I did not want to sit through an obnoxious fay woman who I wanted to very much throw out a non-existent window. Not the point. Though I have to be clear, when I'm picking an audiobook for work, I don't bother reading the summary in depth. It was also something currently available on Libby, so I figured I'd try it. I can never get back the two to three hours of pure torture. This isn't to say that it wasn't interesting. The first line in the book indicated that it is a thriller of some sort. The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him. The chapter segmentation was similar to Listen for the Lie book that we had for the book club previously, going between the past and the present, even though it did at a more frequent pacing than I thought it should be. I don't even think that this book has a dual POV. From what I listened to in the first part, the main view is from a farmer's wife. She's still grieving over the loss of her child when some old Flynn comes back to town with his child after a divorce. This is where I scrunch my nose and do my best not to sneeze. She ends up taking care of his son, which isn't bad. No, it's more of the past between her and the father of this child. See, every time a chapter of their past comes up, every other chapter I get irritated with him and his mother specifically. His mother is a snob drinker who literally looks down on everyone from her nose, thinking her son is God's gift. She'd definitely be that kind of boy mom now and puts the young FMC in such awkward positions. Gods, even the hypothetical window is enough for this woman. Question mark, question mark, question mark, question mark. Look, I know they're teenagers at this point in time. Not much a teenager can do, really, but the FMC literally thinks that she's dating him. His wishy-washy attitude and no clear set boundaries just made him sit at the bottom of the trash can at this point. I don't even think he has a right to be in the trash can. Oh straight to the dump. Yeah. Straight to the dump. Anyway, I tried to listen to it at two times the speed to see if it could numb this irritation. It did not. For the record, I listened to audiobooks at 1.25. Not too fast, but fast enough to get through things. I do that sometimes. Go to 2.5? 1.2.25. Two is fast. Two is a little too fast. I accidentally did that to us the other week, and I was like, why is Susie talking like that? So malfunctioning. Hi, welcome to Blackwest Beach where we sip flipping T on books and bees. I'm just like, that's very horror movie. Did we have coffee in this episode? We did. I went back to reading the summary in length because I need to know what I was listening to. I find out a few things. One, it's not so much of a thriller, but a raw emotional read with a thriller aspect. Two, it is a book that has reached the finals for the Audi Award for Fiction this year. Three, it was on Reese's book club pick. Someone who is well known and choosing books that strongly feature women and books. It explained a lot. Overall, it's an exceptionally well-written book that is definitely not something I would have a short-term relationship with. Maybe I'll pick it up again in the unforeseeable future and drop it again. Maybe it'll be the book and not the autobook this time. That's all. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my work headphones back in working condition. It's not good for my heart when I'm listening to the mild spice making sure no one's around. P.S. Did I mention is something close to historical? The year that she gives in the present chapters are somewhere in the 1960s, I think. And I can't be bothered to check at this point.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

It's very valuable. Fair enough. Fair. So basically, in this DNF, like the mom has like a weird relationship with the son. It's the mother having the golden son.

SPEAKER_04 13:44

He can do no wrong.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Yeah. I hate that. That's the yeah. I have such a thing with like boy moms and not be not you. Don't worry. You're well, I'm also a girl mom. Yeah, exactly. But just uh boy moms.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

Yeah, I also have something with just boy moms. That makes sense. Yes. Being married to someone with a mother, such as that.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

I've never had a thing like that. I've never been with anyone who is like has a mom like that.

SPEAKER_06 14:11

I have.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

But just reading about it.

SPEAKER_06 14:14

Not married, but dated.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

Oh, I know. I know. But just thinking about it, reading about it, watching it in shows, I have such the ick. I saw a TikTok the other day, yesterday, about this woman, and she's like with her baby watching her mother-in-law massage her husband's shoulders. Like her that's weird. Her son's shoulders. And it was like really intimate. It was like disgusting. I wanted to puke.

SPEAKER_03 14:37

No. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:38

My dad will come up behind me and he'll be like, hey. Yeah, but that's that's like playful. Playful. Well, and it's yeah, it's not like a it's like more of like a yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:47

Yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah. I've seen your dad do it.

SPEAKER_04 14:49

Yeah. Yeah. But this was like, she was rubbing. Yeah, that's what I mean. Like it's not like my dad's like sitting there, like right in there.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

Ooh, gross. Ew.

SPEAKER_06 15:00

The ick. Okay, next we have Mel. So to start a series I endured, Library System Reset by KT Hanna, a friend recommended it, but the funny thing is that that she DNF'd in the middle of book three, and I finished all six. No regrets because I loved the story. True YA fantasy zero spice. Ooh, Susie, there you go. All right. And the characters. But it hurt a lot. The execution was horrible. Grammar, punctuation, hominem. Hominim? I'm gonna say no already, just based on this. Uh misuse. Pronouns changing in the same paragraph. A real editor would have been a boon, but a friend who had an average grasp would have been better than nothing. If these issues were fixed, I could recommend the series, but it was because it was fun. But as it is, I have secondhand embarrassment and can't suggest that anyone read it. Oh, that sucks. Wuthering Heights is one I wish I'd quit.

SPEAKER_03 15:53

Susie. First page! First page. Didn't you? Nope, this one's not for me.

SPEAKER_06 15:59

And about I'm like, mmm, I can't see it again. Wuthering Heights. No, the the part you DNF'd at? Oh, it was um Pois ejaculation? That's what it was. Pious. Pious.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Pious ejaculation. Yeah. Something. But it wasn't anything to do with sex.

SPEAKER_06 16:14

I did find the language difficult, but couldn't see the appeal. How do people consider this romantic? Also tired of people dying from getting caught in the rain. I struggled to DNF, but have been giving myself permission to do it. My main criteria is do I want to spend time with this main character? If the answer is no, I quit. The one that comes to mind is Confessions of a Shopaholic.

SPEAKER_04 16:33

I did love that. I actually liked that series. But that was like way back when.

SPEAKER_06 16:37

Back in the day. Yeah. It was a group slash buddy read a few years ago, and I don't think I finished the second chapter. The main character was a moron slash fool, and I couldn't spend one more second in her company. Bye. I don't read romance, romanticity, etc. So I'm frequently lost during your discussions, but enjoy them when I know what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

So sorry. Thank you. Sorry. I'm um I don't know how you watched Withering Heights, the movie, by the way. I only watched half.

SPEAKER_04 17:02

She started it without us, remember? I know, but I didn't know. And so did she.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

I started it, but I didn't even get five minutes in. Like, I was like, once I saw someone hanging and like the their like mouth sucking in with the thing over their head, I turned it off. Oh, you didn't even give it a fair shot. I don't need to say any more than that. That was horrifying.

SPEAKER_06 17:19

Well, it was back in the day, Susie. It doesn't mean this is supposed to be rolling.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

And there's worse things in that show. I don't know. It just gave a, you know, it was too much off the bat. I can't. I can't do it. Next we have Jessica. I've had a string of DNF books lately. I've gone 40 years of my life and never DNF'd a book. Cool. Apples Never Fall by Leanne Moriarty was the first book that really tested me. I skimmed and skipped half the book to find out the ending. I actually just started turning pages without reading, stopped and checked if something caught my eye, skipped more, etc. The ending was stupid. I get that the author wanted to shock you, but it was stupid. I hated the repetitive stories that the characters told. It switched POVs and they told the same story over and over and over and over. Oh my gosh. So, all that to say, after the book, I swore I would DNF the next book that came along that I was forcing myself to read. Whelp. I hard DNF'd Babbel by R.F. Quang. I love historical fiction. I love fantasy. It sounded right up my alley. I got to page 20 and tried to pawn it off on my mom. I thought maybe if she could get into it a little bit, she could tell me what happens and I could skip to the good part. She couldn't read it either. She stopped at almost the exact same spot as me. The first thing that happens is exciting and interesting. It starts off strong, then it spends pages describing mundane things that I couldn't care less about. I'm on the verge of DNFing one right now, so I switched to a Brian Sanderson behemoth of a book. Maybe I'll go back to it. Maybe I'll be sending you another email. We'll be waiting. Yeah, I have not read either of those books. No, me neither. But I've heard of Apples Never Fall. So did I. That was on my TBR, I think, like a long time ago.

SPEAKER_04 19:03

All right, next up we have Hannah. I started watching Susanna first after YouTube suggested her videos. Specifically when readers were being shamed for reading too much. I remember that one. Yeah. The algorithm was with me and suggested the podcast where I've been obsessed and binge watching videos.

SPEAKER_07 19:18

Oh thank you.

SPEAKER_04 19:19

Thanks, Hannah.

unknown 19:20

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 19:20

I've been an avid reader since I was 12 after a sub had me read Anna Green Gables. Oh god. I got I got Ainsley a little Anna Green Gables hat. Did you? Yeah. And then it was funny because then at the free library I found a copy of Anna Green Gables. Nice. Yeah. I was like, that's sick. Love it. So she might be Anna Green Gables, maybe not this year, but next year. It took several years for me to ever want to DNF because I didn't want to discredit an author's work. That has since changed. At the time of writing this, because I read an ungodly amount, my most recent DNF was Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reed. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

I DNF that one too.

SPEAKER_04 19:53

Did you hear I've heard from a few people that like they loved the show, did not like the book. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

That it's because the book is written in like an interview style format. Yeah. It's so hard to be immersed in it. I'd rather just watch the show.

SPEAKER_04 20:05

I hadn't liked Evelyn Hugo all that much, admittedly, but I had given Atmosphere five stars. Honestly, it felt the same as I did with Evelyn Hugo and thought that I was overhyped. I didn't care about the characters or what was going on. I was around 32% when I set it down. It feels like she's probably a one-hit wonder author for me. The worst DNF I ever had was A Hunger Like No Other by Cresley Cole. I like reading books with vampires, werewolves, and things like that. Seeing a vampire/slash Valkyrie by Werewolf Story from the early 2000s had me intrigued, especially because the reprint was blurred like Ali Hazelwood. I DNF'd at chapter 10, roughly 32% as well. The setting was nice because it was nostalgic for a time when I was a kid, but this book was glorifying. The MMC acted like he owed the FMC from the beginning, I think owned to the point he chased her to an airfield and ripped her clothes off. Ooh, now ripped her clothes off of her. Oh. When I DNF'd he had assaulted her in a restaurant under the table, there was zero chemistry between the two of them, and the ick factor was so high. I read another book that was similar with glorifying and DNF'd it too at 17%. The claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Anne Rice, A. N. Roculaire. I'm really glad books like this don't glorify abuse as much anymore, but scary to think how many books in the past were loved but glorified these things. Crazy.

SPEAKER_06 21:15

There are still new books that glorify the same things.

SPEAKER_04 21:17

In the dark romance.

SPEAKER_06 21:18

In the dark romance genre.

SPEAKER_04 21:21

I feel like someone talked about this book before. I would have DNF'd it too. That's messed up.

SPEAKER_06 21:26

Next up is Jesse. Hey girlies. First, I want to say I am obsessed with you guys, and I was doubled over laughing at Susanna's witch. Oh no! I forgot. I am giggling thinking about it right now. It'll never happen again. No. The editing was pure cinema, and her emojis are as follows. Now, the series I DNF is the Light Lark series by Alex Astor.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

Oh interesting. That's a hugely popular series.

SPEAKER_06 21:55

Yeah. It has been on my TBR for a very long time. Yep. But I did. Hear that the first book was the best one, and then the rest after that, not so much. Ugh. I loved the plot and the characters, but the fourth book was so grueling to finish. As an anti-smut girl, I was doing fine skipping the spice in the first two books, but in books three and four, it felt like smut was the entire plot. Also, we went the first three books using phrases like she cursed, but then suddenly in book four, all the characters are dropping F-bombs in almost every sentence. That's a bit weird.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:27

It wouldn't have been so annoying if she had started that with the first book, but just throwing it in for the fourth book was weird. Agreed.

SPEAKER_04 22:32

Yeah, there needs to be like consistent. Continuity with the series. What I wonder too, like if you are writing other books and say you've you've like as an author, as a person, you're gonna change and adapt things and stuff. And if maybe she's like written something else and that's how she did that, and then coming back to this series, yeah, she's still within that like style. Yeah. But it's gonna be it's gonna sound different from your your first. I can see why some authors like they just they finish that series before they even do like they start another one.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Mixing two different books, like if you're writing one book and then another book, and then you know, someone's like they're used to something in the first book and the second book, and then you come back and write something completely different, or even more like, but I also feel like as an editor, continuity would be part of your job as well.

SPEAKER_06 23:17

Yeah, unless it's like character development type thing, yeah, but like where they don't swear, then they become hardened and all of a sudden but it already says they used to say she cursed as opposed to the character did swear, it's just the author didn't write it.

SPEAKER_04 23:32

Yeah, so that's different.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

I think I enjoy books more like when it's not like swearing all the time, but like in Project Hail Mary in the book, the character didn't swear at all, apart from one time where circumstances were dire, but he'd like say other things, right? And there's yeah, there's only one time where he said the F word.

SPEAKER_04 23:55

There is actually I was quite shocked. Yeah, yeah. A lot of F bombs. Yeah, like right off the bat. Yeah, and it gets it gets worse as they get older.

SPEAKER_06 24:03

Interesting. Okay, okay, but bringing it back. On top of all that, this could have been a very glorious trilogy. She had a perfect opening to end it very well in the third book, but it seems she or the publishers got greedy. That happens a lot behind. It feels like she started a whole new plot in the fourth book, and now she is releasing a fifth. There is no world where I would enjoy this series enough to get through five books. No thank you, Alex. Please just let it die. That's how I felt about Zodiac.

SPEAKER_04 24:31

I I will say that a lot of times when that happens, I understand I can understand why for off-campus it's part of the Briar, no, it's part of the is it the off-campus series? And then there's also the Briar U series. Like she does ones within the same world, but she has different series from them because they're and then they also have like their kids as well. So it's like if it's in the same world but a different like two different characters, a different story, yeah. Yeah, you can still like use your momentum with that that series to launch a new series based on the same world as the beloved whatever world prior.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

I think Akatar is the only series that I could really like love five books and with the upcoming books like six and seven. Like I wanted more Avatar.

SPEAKER_06 25:16

I'm actually very worried about six and seven, if I'm being entirely honest.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

I'm I'm worried, but you know, I'm still gonna try to read them.

SPEAKER_06 25:22

Oh, I'll still read them, but but it's been so long in between like the last book that we got and now six and seven. Yeah, I'm like, how is this gonna go? And it's like, is she writing it because she always has always had intentions of writing more books, or is she writing it because there was a resurgence of Avatar online?

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Maybe, maybe.

SPEAKER_06 25:42

Hot take.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

We'll we'll figure out if they're as good as they were back then.

SPEAKER_06 25:45

Yeah, yeah. We'll come back to that. Please just let it die. It deserves rest. Needless to say, I will not be reading the fifth book. In my brain, it ended as a trilogy, and the new plot never existed. Anywho, I love the ne the DNF Diaries series so much. Thanks for letting me tell you about this, and I hope to hear y'all's thoughts. With love from the US.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Hello, Naba. Some people were also saying like the new star side book by Alex Astor is basically white lark. Like kind of the same. I really want to read that. Some people hated it though. I know.

SPEAKER_04 26:15

It's been all over the place. Didn't Brandy DNF it? Brandy didn't Brandy didn't like it. Did not like it. Cheryl loved it. DNF'd it. I don't remember anyone else. He tells me all I need to know right there. That Cheryl loved it? Brandy Brandy didn't, and Cheryl did. But so what does that mean though?

SPEAKER_01 26:28

That it's good or bad? I don't know. I trust Brandy over Cheryl. Sorry. Sorry, Cheryl. You don't like my books and you make fun of me all the time.

SPEAKER_04 26:34

I'd say knowing that as a group, we probably as a group wouldn't like it. Or one of us would, but the majority wouldn't.

SPEAKER_06 26:41

We're gonna have to do some research. We're gonna read it. We'll read it.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

And the final listener DNF for this episode is Christina. Hi girls, my name is Christina, and I'm from Montreal. I recently discovered your podcast and I have been enjoying listening to your show. Thank you. My favorite episodes are your DNF Diaries, and I wanted to share the book that I DNF'd recently. It was the most popular book that was on everyone's reading list, and mine as well. And that book was none other than The Wedding of People by Allison S. Patch. Oh, I've never heard this one. Neither have I. Have you, Beth?

SPEAKER_06 27:12

No. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

If one of you or anyone enjoyed this book, I'm really sorry, but this was not for me. I think the concept that the summary of the book was very interesting, and honestly, I felt very dubbed because the story itself did not reflect to what the summary portrayed. The female man character, Phoebe, was the most annoying character I've ever read. Probably I would put her in the same category of worst female characters, just like Bella Swan in Twilight. Blasphemous.

SPEAKER_06 27:38

Bella was terrible. She was hindsight. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:42

The book Bella was better, but the movie Bella was just I don't know. Go on. I'll take your word for it, Susie, but I just don't know. Blasphemous. Um, for those who don't know the story, in short summary, our female main character, Phoebe, goes to a fancy hotel with one plan in mind to commit. But the twist is that there will be a wedding that will happen at that same hotel. Oh. Once meeting the bride, Lila, Phoebe decides to join the wedding party instead. Interesting.

SPEAKER_06 28:12

Did she know this, Lila?

SPEAKER_01 28:13

No.

SPEAKER_06 28:14

But how do you just join a wedding party not knowing the bride? Yeah. Fake it till you make it. Wedding crashers. Yeah, but like I get being a fake guest, but to just be like, hey, I'm about to be a big thing. Maybe they became wedding friends.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

I'm hoping so, because that's so strange. There are so many things with this book that rub me the wrong way. Like that, maybe? One, if you're going to include sensitive topics like there needs to be a trigger warning statement somewhere in the book. For sure. I found the author was very insensitive about the subject matter. There's one explicit scene in the book where the authors describe how one of the characters attempted to commit I'm not gonna say that word on YouTube, by cutting his wrists and how his wife was cleaning up the mess as it was a normal chore. Also, don't get me stirred on how our FMC wanted to end her life by taking her cat's painkillers and decides to vomit them out because she wanted to hear the end of one of the speeches during one of the wedding events at the hotel. This is a this is weird.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

This is very uh I don't like it.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Two, as someone who recently got married last year, I find it extremely frustrating how obnoxious and bridezilla-esque the author characterized the bride to be Lila in this book. Majority of the brides aren't like that facts. Three, I can understand why cuss words are necessary in certain types of scenes or even certain types of genres, but having the F-word in every second sentence is a big turnoff for me. Yeah, same. It's too much for someone who I don't swear typically, so reading about it is just exhausting. I tried to get at least halfway of the book, but the next chapter was worse than the last. So by 30% into the book, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to DNF it. Thank God I didn't finish it because I found out that later on in the book, Phoebe ends up having a crush on the groom on the groom.

SPEAKER_04 29:57

What a disaster.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

Since the first time she met him at the hotel hot tub. Okay, so she's nuts. Okay. She is nuts.

SPEAKER_04 30:03

I think so. I hate when you're reading as the crazy person.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

Oh it makes me feel crazy. Like, am I rooting for you or am I wishing for destruction?

SPEAKER_03 30:12

I'm like, am I crazy?

SPEAKER_06 30:13

Oh, yeah. What a rhyme book was. You are crazy. Yeah. I still think Susie should read that book.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

Really? No? You don't think she'd like it? I might give it a try, but I have just like talked about it with you guys. So I'd have to go into it, like knowing that you're not gonna like it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 30:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

And I'd have to like pick a party.

SPEAKER_06 30:33

I didn't hate it. I just didn't love it. It was an interesting concept. I'll give it that.

SPEAKER_04 30:37

Do I waste my own time though? The whole book gives me the ick. And it made me feel icky. Because of because again because you're crazy. I know. I'll give it props to that. And even like, and then like I think that there's also another level being a mom, like seeing how she like she was with the kids. I just felt I just I just made me feel icky. It's a very yeah, it's very interesting. Read.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Where am I?

SPEAKER_04 30:56

But there's no swearing.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

That's one upside. She's Christian. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:59

Two very interesting. I think she swears like three times in the book. Yeah. And it and every single time she's like, sorry, God.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

I'm gonna tell Jesus. She boarded out that she wanted to have sex with them. Yes. Her ex-husband, whom cheated on her with her friend and is the very reason why she wanted to enter her wife in the first place. Oh, shows up at her hotel room wanting to take her back and they sleep together. Oh, this is a toxic book. Yeah. Luckily, she doesn't take him back. Finally, the worst part of it all, the wedding is called off by the bride, and Phoebe and the groom decide that they will keep in touch with one another and potentially see each other in the future. Oh no. What a disaster. I am exhausted.

SPEAKER_06 31:33

That is the literal definition of a shit show. I mean, I am intrigued.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

Yeah. I will say I'm intrigued.

SPEAKER_04 31:38

I am a little intrigued for sure. I'm intrigued for you guys. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_06 31:43

You're like, I will not be reading this. I will not be reading this, though.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

I wanted to like this book, but realize I'm not the target audience. Thankfully, I am not the target audience. Thankfully, my husband is a librarian. So I'm grateful to have this book on loan than to buy the book and regret my purchase. Do you get perks? Like, do you get bumped in the list? To the top of the list, the waiting list.

SPEAKER_06 32:02

Do you get it before it's actually released? Ooh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Ooh.

SPEAKER_06 32:07

Let us know. Email us. Email us back. Email us or let us know in the comments and let us know that you are if you're someone else submission.

SPEAKER_04 32:15

Also married to a librarian, you can let us know how it works for you. Let us know.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

I'm very curious. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I cannot wait to listen to your next episode.

SPEAKER_06 32:24

No, thank you. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Well, thank you so much. Yeah, that was a crap show. What a wild thing. So brutal. Yeah. But I am intrigued. I just love the craziness. I recently read a book that was like kind of the crazy vibes. And uh I think you guys would like it. Hold on.

SPEAKER_06 32:40

I don't think crazy is for me. What? Yeah, you didn't like yesteryear. I didn't hate it. I think you liked it less than I did. This gives me yesteryear vibes. This DNF? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Olivia Whirley is the one I read that was like decent. So happy together. You guys can keep crazy.

SPEAKER_06 32:55

I'll go to Fantasyland. I don't mind crazy actually.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

Crazy is like it keeps me on my toes. I'm like, oh, what's she gonna do next? Yeah, like obsession. Anyway, if you have a DNF that you want to submit to us, please send them in at hello at Poit2Space.com. We would love to read them on our next DNF episodes. Yes. We do have quite a few, so it might be a little bit, but it will be read.

SPEAKER_06 33:17

So yeah, we will get to them.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

We do not discriminate DNF episode.

SPEAKER_04 33:20

I think we've actually had a bit of time too since our last one. So we've kind of they've kind of been backlogged a little bit. Yes. We do have quite a few slides.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

There's just been too much book talk drama to come. I know.

SPEAKER_06 33:29

Yeah. We've kept having to bump other episodes because Well, we do try and do these at least once, once a month. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 33:35

So if you do send it in, rest assured we will get to them. Don't you worry.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

Now's time for Lines We Loved.

SPEAKER_04 33:45

Now she's not doing it on purpose.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

It's okay.

SPEAKER_04 33:47

I know I I never did it to begin with. I have her lips. Yeah, but I saw your face.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

You're like too cool. Her lips will be there. In spirit. So the ghost of your past lips past or whatever. Okay, who's going first?

SPEAKER_04 34:02

Me. Alright, go on. What's going on here? I'm gonna do uh Cinder Vale. So it's the sign sins of the Zodiac Book Three. Uh it's the Twisted Sisters. This is page 331. She broke her kiss, her forehead falling against mine, and her hands coming up to cradle my jaw. I trusted a stonebreaker once before, she said, a tear slipping slipping down her cheek as the weight of her grief pressed in on her. I don't think I can do it again. Then don't I expelled a heavy breath and pushed aside the desperate ache in my body could to continue what we started because no matter how much I wanted to, I knew she wasn't ready for me yet. I won't be a mistake you make, Vesper. I won't be a distraction or a scratch that you itch beneath your skin. I don't want you because of what you are, but I don't expect you to blindly believe me on that either. So I'll be here for you and I'll tread whatever path you need to walk to because you're it for me. The only thing I have in this forsaken world, and I'm willing to become your shadow so long as you can swear to stop keeping me in the dark.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Oh, the yearny. I thought you'd let that. Mine's really yearny too. So the mine. Oh, okay. Mine is from This Immortal Heart by Jennifer Stink, page 109. I don't remember what he was they were talking about, but it starts off with, and if I did, that's something he's saying. Okay. His gaze is so intense and we're so close now that I could reach out and touch him. Olympus won't miss me. I can't seem to get enough air into my lungs. I would. My words hang between us, a fatal moment of honesty I can't take back. I don't know what he's going to do, and then in an instant his lips are crushed against mine. I reach up and lift the helmet from his head, letting it fall to the stone floor with a crash, and then my hands are in his hair, his arms wrapped around me. I slide my hands down over the cold metal of his armor, and I pause, confounded for a moment. The bronze is hammered into the shape of a muscled chest, pleasing to look at, but I want to feel his skin against mine. He hoists me onto the table and reaches for the buckles down the side of his armor. He's kissing me again, greedy and eager, and I scrabble to unfasten them too. As the last one gives way, the chest piece swings forward and he pulls it off, letting it clatter to the floor like his helmet. There's more. Keep going.

SPEAKER_06 36:03

It was a very long one too, but this is I'm invested in this story. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

He hoists me onto the table and reaches for the buckles down the side of his armor. He's kissing me again, greedy and eager, and I scrabble to unfasten. Oh wait. That's okay. Keep going. Scrabble to unfasten them too. Keep going. As the last one gives way, the chest be swings forward and he pulls it off, letting it clatter to the floor like his helmet. I break away from the kiss, pressing my palms against him. I take it all in, the amber glow of the torches glinting in his dark eyes, his chest heaving under his leather tunic, his body finely honed by battle, sculpted as if it were a statue made for worship. He's urgent and intent, all his reserve stripped away with his armor, all his simmering anger and volatility, transformed into raw passion and naked desire. He works his way down my body and I sink onto the soft bed beneath him, losing myself through the surges of pleasure. Then I'm astride him, and he's as lost as I am, like an ocean wave exploding against rocks, crashing to the shore, gasping for breath. Oh, that's good. That was that was like two full pages of a quote. But it separated them on here. That's unfortunate, but I hope you guys didn't. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 37:11

That was cute. Okay, mine is mine is from In the Veins of the Drowning, uh, The Siren Mage by Callie Cassidy, page 258. I cannot even see her for the way you encompass me. Emotion etched his face. You fill my every sense. You stalk my waking mind. You make up the entirety of my dreams. I couldn't speak to you after what Lachlan said because it shocked me that he was right about what I feel. Theo, I whispered, cutting him off. He shook his head sharply. It's not the blood bond. We both know it's not. There's something between us that that gods damn bottle of muck cannot sever. He closed the rest of the distance between us, cupped my face in his hands, he spoke over my lips. What I feel for you is beyond reason, beyond duty and desire. You have tipped my whole world on its side, and you are the one clear thing in the chaos. His nose brushed with the end of mine. You, I want you.

SPEAKER_04 38:05

Ah, that was urinary. So good. So good. These are some great lines this week. Right? Are you gonna read this immortal heart now?

SPEAKER_01 38:12

Some urine burners. There's so many to-do's on my list. It was good though. It was beautiful writing. Loved it. But that concludes our DNF Diaries listener takeover episode. Please make sure to send your DNF entries to hello at Plotwistplease.com again. Hello at PlotWispleas.com. And do not forget to enter our giveaway. Yeah. That's it, guys. Bye. Bye. Bye. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at PlotWistpleasPod. We're also anywhere you can get your podcast. So make sure you're following or subscribed so you never miss an episode. If you love this one, hype us up a little. Leave us a comment, drop a rating or review, and tell us what you would like us to read next.

SPEAKER_06 38:52

Thank you so much for joining us on this episode.

SPEAKER_04 38:55

And as always, keep your glass, your bookshelf, and your TBR full. Cheers.

SPEAKER_01 39:09

You lied. I lloyed. I semi-loyed. There's an Irish guy in my uh game, and uh he just I thought he was Scottish because he was always saying, like talking like the Scots do.

SPEAKER_06 39:21

Also, I knew you'd play last night.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

I know. Nate showed me the video he sent you. I was like, are you serious? I cleaned up the whole kitchen. Like I didn't want to do that.

SPEAKER_06 39:29

You did that because you were like, if I come home and play it right away, it's gonna look even worse than if I clean up and do things before I so that way when I come home and be like, no, I didn't I didn't come home right away and play it, I cleaned up the kitchen. I was meant to I laughed at the consumer. She smiled, she's like, Yeah.