Plot Twist, Please

She DNF’d His Book… Then the Author Went AFTER Her?! | DNF DIARIES

• Susannah, Beth and Cass • Season 1 • Episode 27

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From overhyped BookTok reads that completely missed the mark, to characters with zero chemistry, to books so frustrating they had you doing chores instead of reading… we are diving into your DNF graveyard.

📚 Books Discussed in This Episode

  • Us Dark Few by Alexis Patton 
  • The Favored Child by Philippa Gregory
  • The Empress by Kristin Cast
  • Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love (Dramione fanfiction) 
  • The Irresistible Urge To Fall For Your Enemy by B.G. Brigitte Knightley 
  • A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan
  • Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
  •  Books by Nora Roberts (specific one not disclosed) 
  • Seduction by Amanda Quick
  • True Colors by Kristin Hannah
  • The Beach Party by Nikki Smith
  • The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (mentioned) 
  • Home Front by Kristin Hannah (mentioned) 
  • Harsh Winters by John Randall 

 ⚠️ Full spoiler warning — these are DNF stories!

🍸 Today’s drink: Saintly The Good Rosé

💌 Want to be featured in the next DNF Diaries?
 Send your submissions to hello@plottwistplease.com

🎧 Tune in, sip with us, and remember — keep your glass, your bookshelf, and your TBR full.

___________________________________________________________________________________


Welcome to Plot Twist, Please – the ultimate bookish podcast for readers who love deep discussions, honest book reviews, and trending BookTok favourites. We talk fantasy books, romance books, thrillers, YA series, and everything in between whilst sipping on our favourite cocktails. From old favourites to the latest viral reads, we’re here for all the plot twists.

✨ Weekly episodes featuring book recommendations, character analysis, and spoiler-filled discussions. If you love BookTok, BookTube, and Bookstagram, this is your space!

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INTRO 
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SPEAKER_01

Alright, welcome back to Plot Twist Please, where we sip, flip, and spill the tea on books and booze. I'm Cass.

SPEAKER_02

I'm Beth. And I'm Susanna. And today we're diving into another episode of DNF Diaries, but this time it's the listener takeover version. So you guys sent us all your DNF Diary entries. And today we're gonna be reading them, delivering the goods, spilling the tea, but we don't have tea today.

SPEAKER_03

No, we have actual beverages, which is the Saintly the Good Rose.

SPEAKER_01

That's literally what it's called.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And it is good. It is very.

SPEAKER_02

I've had Saintly before. So much I liked it so much actually that it was on my list of baby names for girls. Really?

SPEAKER_01

For Saintly. Saintly. I've had their white.

SPEAKER_03

I was gonna say I've had either their white or their red. Oh yeah, I've had their white for sure.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I like this one. This is a good, this is a good wine.

SPEAKER_02

You almost spilled that out of your glass. No, I did not. She's stressed. We're on her couch. New couch. Do not spell wine. Don't do it.

SPEAKER_04

This is why I put it down. Like, I'm gonna be talking with my hands, and the next snow, there's just wine. Everywhere. That's true. We used to play this card game called golf or play nine, sorry. It's like golf. We used to play it like with Zach's family, and I spilled my red wine the one night, but it left like little spots on the back of the cards, and you can't see that like most of them, right? And you so you're supposed to kind of guess sometimes, and I memorized which ones were oh my gosh, you're like a white shapes of the spots on the back of the cards. That's smart, yeah, hilarious. Yeah, exactly. So I'd be like, that one's a three. I need it. Good strategy.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

I don't know if anyone else was secretly doing it. They could have been, but I doubt it. Probably not. Zach might have. He might have caught it. Maybe he's just so competitive. I could see it being something that he would do. That's true.

SPEAKER_01

All right, before we dive in, what are we reading? What's everyone reading? Kingdom of the Feared. We're all reading the same book. That's right. Kingdom of the Feared.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. I have not been good at my chapter notes at this time because I've just been reading. I start reading and I'm just well but I mean that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02

But I have been checking to see if anyone's been I I feel like I've been the only one. You've been good.

SPEAKER_01

You're ahead of me, so I haven't been able to comment on what you're commenting.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, I've already read the book. But honestly, I actually forget this book. Same. There's certain pieces where I'm like, oh yeah. But then I'm reading and I'm like, what happens?

SPEAKER_02

To like oh yeah, I feel like I'm reading it for the first time. Yeah. That's so crazy.

SPEAKER_01

Like I remembered the first one pretty spot on. Second one, uh, there was bits and pieces missing.

SPEAKER_04

Each book in this series is such a different vibe. Like, you you know how like sometimes like when you're reading a book and it kind of the feeling of the book is the same from beginning to end. And I feel like she's so different in every single book. Like, and things change so much from book to mean Amelia, just just everything, like her, yes. Like she changes so much from like the first book to the second book to the third book, yeah. And then just like them and where they are, and just like everything about it, just like it's yeah, she's a very well written character, I find.

SPEAKER_02

She is, yeah. Well, not even only that, but just like the plot twists and like things that are revealed are so different, and you would not see them coming.

SPEAKER_01

No, yeah, this this book's a lot. Yeah, there's a lot going on in this book.

SPEAKER_04

There is a lot. I almost feel like we could have had a fourth book and we could have come back when you finish. I feel like you are getting a lot of answers and a lot of questions. Like there's just like so much keeps happening. Like every chapter is like a mic drop.

SPEAKER_01

I am really excited to read the spin-off series about the rest of the Princes of Hell. Have you read Throne of the Fallen?

SPEAKER_02

I have read Throne of the Fallen, but the other two I think I haven't read.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, there's only two out. There's three total out so far.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I have physical copies of the two, and then there's a third one.

SPEAKER_01

That one just came out.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. But my husband would not let me buy it. Rude! Because I have too many books. So you know what? I was like, I need the physical copy because I have the physicals of Kingdom of the Wicked, and then also the other two spin-offs. Yeah, I need the third one. But maybe I'll buy it when I get to it.

SPEAKER_01

You can't just have a missing book.

SPEAKER_02

No, I can't. I need the completed series.

SPEAKER_01

A sin, I feel. It is.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it is. As always, full spoiler warning ahead. These are books our listeners have read, but hated so much they couldn't finish. If any of these books are currently on your TBR and you're curious and want to give them a try, then maybe skip this episode and come back. The books discussed in this episode will be in the show notes and the description on YouTube. So please make sure you check that out before you continue.

SPEAKER_04

So before we really jump in, and I know we've talked about this before, what are your reasons behind DNFing?

SPEAKER_02

Juvenile characters, spelling mistakes.

SPEAKER_01

I don't I can I can still read if there's spelling mistakes, depending on how bad they are, and if they're consistent. Yeah. If there's just like the odd one.

SPEAKER_02

That's not enough to make me DNF, but if it's like a continue, like it's taking me out of the story and I'm not connected to anybody, I'll DNF.

SPEAKER_01

Poorly written characters, a big one for me. If I don't connect with any of the characters I'm reading about, I I can't.

SPEAKER_02

There's no point. What's the point? Yeah. And if you've listened to our podcast for a while, you know this podcast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

That's yes. Yeah. I will I will DNF anything. I'll I DNF to the last one.

SPEAKER_04

I feel like I finally have like a line now since I've had my first official DNF.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'm excited for you about this. Yeah. We'll have some more diary entries, hopefully, down the road.

SPEAKER_04

We will see. We will see. But apparently it needs to be extremely painful for me to continue and has to be free. That's fair. So far, those, those are that's where my bar is.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I don't care if I paid for it. So let's start with our listener, Tatiana. She says, Hello, ladies. I just want to say first that I love the show and the listening to the banter between you guys. You guys are great. Thanks. Her DNF. Yes, thank you. Her DNF is called Us Dark Few by Alexis Patton. She goes, I think it had the potential to be so good with the post-apocalyptic world and the destroying of information from before the world ended up the way that it was and all of that. I didn't get much into the whys of that though, since I got maybe a quarter of the way through the book before I DNF'd. But the fact that the FMC Kalani is in this horrible prison under guards of one of the most feared prison guards, MMC Takashi, who has no qualms about hurting or killing prisoners and has done so in front of her, but she still decides it's a good idea to sass at him and he just doesn't do anything about it, doesn't punish her, and he starts to like her and help her. Why? That's just that just never made sense to me. I really couldn't tell you much else about the book because once all that started happening, I just DNF'd it. I just remember that not much was happening. I didn't like the dynamic between the FMC and the MMC. Key. That's key. I think I'd started reading it from a hyped up TikTok about it, but I honestly think it was way too hyped up. That's how it always goes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So from the sounds of it, you don't have the dual POV, which is probably what is needed. For that story, I would think. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Like Yeah, you need to know what's going on behind like his head. I would have said that.

SPEAKER_04

If it doesn't make sense, yeah, just having it from her side, and as like if your readers are like, What? Then you need to have his because if he's sitting there being like, she infuriates me, but for whatever reason I really like it, you kind of have that yearn there. Yeah. Yeah. Or like maybe it's like it starts off as like he she reminds him of someone he used to know, a sister, cousin, or someone that he was close with. And then that's kind of what gives her a little bit of leniency. Yeah. And then he starts to fall for her. Like, just give me the book, I'll rewrite it.

SPEAKER_01

She also said that she didn't like the chemistry between the FMC and the MMC. And I feel like that's super key. Like I mentioned it with the the Haley fan book. I just didn't feel like any sort of chemistry between those two characters. So it was weird.

SPEAKER_04

It was force.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So then it's like, why am I reading this book?

SPEAKER_04

If there's no you I need to be able to feel the chemistry, not just read about the chemistry. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Exactly. And I feel like that takes a very big, like a very strong talent to be able to do that. Not everyone can convey that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, yeah. If you're reading a romance and there's no chemistry, you're just you're like, why am I reading this? Exactly.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Like when an author is able to make you infuse the proper tone into things that are said without them just saying, like, this is how they said it. Yeah. That you've already kind of picked up on how like their dynamic is that you start to put that tone in and it's how they want that to come across. Right. That is some good dialogue. Some good yeah. Yeah some good writing, some good dialogue. Like you can have banter, but if you don't have that buildup of learning how like the characters are and how they feel and what they think kind of thing, like the banter's gonna fall flat.

SPEAKER_01

Agreed, Tatiana. Agreed.

SPEAKER_02

Next we have Teresa. I have a few books I have DNF'd just because I didn't really get into them, but there is only one book that I DNF that really stands out to me, and that is The Favorite Child by Philippa Gregory. It happened about 10 years ago. The fact that she even remembers it 10 years ago means it stuck out home for her.

SPEAKER_04

I mean, to be fair, I probably read a book like how old am I? 20 years ago that I cried through and I still think about it. I cried. I've never read it, I've never read it again. Affected you that deeply affected me that deeply. I mean, yeah, that's fair. There's certain books, but like sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's good, that they've just it's like a core memory.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's like inside out. It's like one of their core memories, just stockpiled away. Yeah. I ended up quitting about 40% of the way through because I hated the antagonist so much.

SPEAKER_00

Oh no.

SPEAKER_02

The story was interesting enough. The writing style was fine, but the antagonist was such a piece of SHIT that I could just not stand to read about him any longer. Guess that speaks to Philippa's skill, as she obviously did a great job writing a villain. I like a good villain.

SPEAKER_01

We love a good villain.

SPEAKER_02

Um, but it was so good of a job that I haven't picked up another one of her books since for fear of getting unpleasantly and unwillingly subjected to another detestable, repulsive, foul you seriously getting the DNF that had the most of her words. I didn't read these character. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, I've never had anyone to tell the story to except my husband who didn't really understand because he doesn't read fiction. And it feels so good to tell people that get it and get that off my chest after a decade. We're happy to be here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, that's what we're here for.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01

I love a good villain, but if he's like actually repulsive, but that's like the one we just read in uh Daggermouth. That was a foul villain, the dad.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I totally get it. I had a hard time reading some of the chapters in Daggermouth, but I think there's a reason for that. And Teresa said, like, it's proof that Philippa can write really well because I think that was intentional.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But what were they supposed to be? A like it's an enemies to lover story?

SPEAKER_03

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

But Teresa, I am intrigued.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, maybe you'll have to read it.

SPEAKER_04

Maybe I'll add it to my never-ending list. TBR.

SPEAKER_01

Stop going through my TBR and then you'll stop adding to your TBR.

SPEAKER_04

It's not just yours, sometimes other people's TBRs pop up and like, ooh. I know.

SPEAKER_02

Have you ever added a book from my TBR to your TBR?

SPEAKER_01

I probably have. Yeah. A stage set for villains. That's true.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You guys still need to read that, guys.

SPEAKER_04

Come on.

SPEAKER_01

Well, we got so many books on the card.

SPEAKER_04

See, I've got like five books I'm in the middle of right now. Out of six. What's one more? What's one more? Get rid of Clan Lance. That's never gonna happen. No, let's be. I'm not ready to DNF that one yet, guys. I'll be so sad if that gets added to my DNF list.

SPEAKER_02

Maybe it's just like a pause list. Like you're not actually DNF. It's just like not right now. Can't finish it right now.

SPEAKER_04

But I also hate having a pause now. I hate it because I had, what was it? It was Outlander and the one book club one. Oh, Eldritch. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That sat on my for a long time reading list.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

For months.

SPEAKER_02

Does that not give you anxiety? It does. I did not like it. When I look down on my fable and I see like the amount of days I spent reading, like even Kingdom of the Feared right now, I've spent like six days reading this book, which is a long time for me. I'm just like, dang, I'm slow.

SPEAKER_04

Although I will say this year, every time I finish a book, I do go to your page to see what number you're at. I do that with YouTube. Like we're in competition. We're in competition. What are you at right now? Uh I think you might be beating me. I'm at 24. Oh, I think we're doing like 21.

SPEAKER_01

Wait.

SPEAKER_04

24 books so far this year.

SPEAKER_01

I don't even know what I'm at. You're at 21.

SPEAKER_02

But just when you wait, once I finish like all five books on my currently reading. 24 books.

SPEAKER_01

So far this year. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

I'm 23.

SPEAKER_01

Oh.

SPEAKER_02

I'm still I gotta up my game. Nobody likes it. I gotta read a lot. No, we're gonna look at yours. I'm not even looking at mine.

SPEAKER_01

I think I'm at 13.

SPEAKER_02

There's one girl that I saw on Fable. She had 64 this year already. Wow. What? I was like, there's no way. They gotta be all novellas.

SPEAKER_04

And I still wasn't at if I was just in at home.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but that's me. I'm here. I have no kids. That's it.

SPEAKER_01

Other stuff though. Yeah, you edit our podcast.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, Andrew Greenmore.

SPEAKER_01

And your own.

SPEAKER_02

I also just started replaying Dragon's Age the Veilguard. So here's here we go.

SPEAKER_01

That's so rude. I'm just being honest.

SPEAKER_02

We mean by. I'm gonna be off the grid.

SPEAKER_01

That's what happens.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, let's see.

SPEAKER_01

When you get fixated on something, you're just 16. I'm at 16 already. Yeah, at 16. Well, good for me. I haven't remembered doing it. I thought I was at like 13. All right. Next.

SPEAKER_04

Now we have Andrea. My DNF listener submission is The Empress by Kristen Cass. This book was majorly hyped up via Instagram Reels. I followed Zach Harrison. Weird. Oh, yeah. Oh, that is weird. What a coincidence. In case anyone doesn't know, that is both my husband and my son's name together on Instagram. And he was one of the actors promoting the book as he acted out some of the scenes and posted them as part of the book's promotion. He or the author must have cherry-pooked the best witty banter from the book for these scenes because you would never have known the characters in the book have less chemistry than a rock and a paper clip based on his acting. So props to him, I guess. I thought the concept of the book was fantastic. A girl falls through a portal via a tarot card into a tarot-themed world. What could go wrong? A lot, apparently. The FMC was annoying, AF, irredeemably self-depreciating, whiny. Deprecating. Whatever, whiny, immature, main character syndrome, pain in the ass. She had no chemistry with the MMC. Their romance was super rushed. I DNF'd after she caught the MMC with another character who was a clear potster and assumed they were having some sort of affair. The whole thing was just predictably overdramatized misunderstanding. I wanted to reach into the book and smack the FMC to grow up and act like an adult, not a toddler. I was so thoroughly disappointed by the writing, by the rush plot, by the lack of chemistry, and lack of whimsy and world building. It was a mess of a book.

SPEAKER_01

That's so sad.

SPEAKER_04

This is the first book I DNF'd in possibly years. Or at least I can't think of the last time I DNF'd prior to this book. That's unfortunate.

SPEAKER_02

I hate the lack of communication tropes. That's what was in Hailey Fam's book, Just Friends. The miscommunication, like they can't talk, like it's so frustrating. Gross.

SPEAKER_04

It's not even just the miscommunication, it's when that's like the majority of the plot. When it just keeps circling around this miscommunication, and you're like, just just talk. Just be an adult. Something talk or therapy. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. So Rihannin. Rihannin. I hope I said that. Rihannon. Rihannin. That sounds better. Yeah. She says, Hi guys. Recently I DNF'd Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love, a Dramione fan fiction rom-con with a title that is too long. I agree. That was a long. Yeah. I got 50% in and was super struggling to pick it up, and it felt like the longest book ever, even though it was under 600 pages. That's still pretty long.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, that is pretty long.

SPEAKER_01

Like 600 pages is for a fanfic. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Not as long as Manacled, though, which was in the Hermione. Yeah. Which I loved. Okay, continue.

SPEAKER_01

There was little happening in the plot, and what was building up felt like it was all going to get dumped on me towards the end. I was struggling to picture Draco and Hermione because to me they are the Harry Potter characters I know and not the people in this book. I was really expecting to get some feel-good nostalgia, but it was missing. The writing also did not grip me and it was hard to read. I don't have much to add to this, but fair. Yeah. Super fair. Struggling to picture the characters is tough. Like if you're gonna write a fanfic based on a beloved series already, and it's missing that nostalgia aspect, that's tough too.

SPEAKER_02

Senlin Yu, I think that's her name. She did that very well in Manacold to the point where I didn't actually want to read anything else, even though it was like a thousand pages. She did the nostalgia factor really well. There's like a lot of references to the Harry Potter series where if it's missing that, then I can understand like, okay, I'm not getting what I want from this. I'm not gonna commit to 600 pages.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that's what I mean. It's like that's the whole point of a fan fiction based on an already beloved series or whatever characters. If you don't have that nostalgia aspect tied into it, that would be hard to like grip the person reading it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Skylar's DNF said where to begin. Oh no. This book. The irresistible urge to fall for your enemy by BJ Bridget Knightley was my first official DNF. That actually sounds like something that I would read. It's like the assistant to the villain kind of vibes.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. But also, it's funny how many people like it's a first DNF and it like it has stayed with them.

SPEAKER_03

I don't even remember my first DNF.

SPEAKER_02

Me either.

SPEAKER_03

I do. It feels like it was just yesterday. Because it was.

SPEAKER_02

Skywar says, What is sad is that I got through 70% and just could not make myself finish it. I am really trying to I don't know if I could get that far.

SPEAKER_04

And then DNF. It's too much time. That may be part of on my list, my bar. That's rough.

SPEAKER_02

I'm really trying to finish all the books I've started, and so I might go back to Libby and audiobook it. Sky Synopsis. This long title book is supposed to be a Draco and Hermione fan thick. It's another one?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Oh wow. Okay. You have two members of enemy clans, one Osric, a part of an assassin clan, and the other Ariane, the best healer in the healer clan, are forced to work together. Osric has a disease that is affecting his magic, and Arien is trying to cure a pox outbreak. Osric goes to Ariane and funds her research, so she has to try to heal him against her better judgment. When I started this book, it was easy to read, 125 pages in, I wrote a note with these thoughts. I do not feel the sense of urgency that the main character should have, possibly because I'm not attached to either of them. Osric is supposed to be sick, but so far he's acting like nothing is happening to him other than a state of numbness. Ariane is looking for treatment options to epoch sickness, but we do not see her fumbling through the medicines and treatments for her patients. Overall, there is no urgency to their goals of treatment. If Osric has more deterioration, then a sense of survival would kick in and I might actually feel something. Side note, I think it would have helped if Osric was on a mission and the reader experienced his magic failing, which would be high stakes for him. It is stated that if Osric could not use this magic, his clan would kill him, and this is only mentioned once, and there's one interaction with his clan, but no one knows he is struggling, so nothing urgent. The same recommendation could be for Rien. Show the reader she is with her patients and that they are dying. I would feel her pain as a healer. Then by page 198, I wrote, So I'm going to soft DNF the book. The banter is set up to be good, but Knightly summarizes every good conversation and event between the characters. They're not very likable, both arrogant and vain, which is so disappointing. I did push myself to page 259, which leave a hundred pages until the end. That's so close. That's sad.

SPEAKER_04

I could do that in like halfway. I probably would yeah, I probably wouldn't read it. Like I'd probably start skimming.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I love banter. I enjoy enemies to lovers, and I got a smidgen of it by chapters 15 and 16, but it was not assistant to the villain. Level banter. Yes, which is humorous and witty that it is. Both characters are stuck up and it was not appealing to me as a reader. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to rant about a book I DNF. Thank you for hyping up assistant to the villain.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you for your submission too.

SPEAKER_02

This just looks like a whole mess. It sounds like a mess. It sounds like a mess.

SPEAKER_04

I'm not even gonna bother to put this on my but again, it's writing that doesn't grab you enough to understand the characters. Yeah. Right? Like, like she kind of said, like, she's like, so usually, like, one of the things I find when it comes to someone who's supposed to have like a medical background, like a healer. Yes, they usually give you one patient of theirs that they're attached to. Yeah. Right? Something you can relate to through that. Where it's like it's it's that one patient that they they always banter with and they always check on and they have like a special bond with, and then that that patient is either really struggling or they die.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And it kind of like you get to see kind of how they are and how they feel, and that that actually fills in a lot for that character, right?

SPEAKER_01

Well, even when she says like the main character, Osric, is supposed to be sick, yeah. He's acting like nothing's happened. If he had more of a deterioration, then a sense of survival would kick in and she might actually feel something, which I agree.

SPEAKER_04

Like, yeah, but again, bring in the clan, bring in the yeah, like I guess that urgency, kind of what she called it.

SPEAKER_01

Like, like in Not Quite Dead Yet with Jet.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, she was literally dying, and you felt that urgency throughout the book that's yeah, because you would say she's deteriorating and she'd like cover it up with her sarcasm, but it would also say, like, I don't feel good.

SPEAKER_01

Right. And well, Beth said, like, Oh, I was just expecting her to just like drop dead.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But you don't Think about the like lead up to that where like this she had like a dead arm, like it just stopped working, and like the vision and stuff like that. So it's very important when you're trying to explain an urgency, but it's not coming through the pages for the I was gonna say, like that, like you know the timeline mentally, you know the timeline.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, but when you're reading, like sometimes you kind of forget a little bit of the timeline. And so, like, those were kind of like reminders of like, hey, she doesn't have much time. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, yeah, totally agree. I get that. So we have Amber's DNF. Hello from New Zealand.

SPEAKER_00

Hello, hello New Zealand.

SPEAKER_04

I decided a few years ago to give myself permission to DNF. Yes, good value. Yeah, I've decided this year, and even then it's it's a hot take. Yep. I decided life is too short to read a book that was pissing me off. See? Cassidy write this. No, are you Amber? A book gets 10% if I'm not hooked by 10% a DNF. She's sounds like Cheryl, actually. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Sorry, we'll have Cheryl write this. One day we'll have Cheryl on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02

If you guys want to donate$250 so we can buy another mic, then we'll have Cheryl.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks us, and we'll put that towards Yeah. But do the people want Cheryl? The people want Cheryl.

SPEAKER_02

The people want Cheryl. Do they though? They might not know they want Cheryl, but they want Cheryl.

SPEAKER_04

Please donate. Thank you. To be fair, Akatar 2, Accord of Mist and Fur Fury. Don't say anything. Was lucky. I pushed on at the insistence of a friend and glad I did. Oh thank God.

SPEAKER_01

She's safe.

SPEAKER_04

I just even have a book yesterday, which I was about 30% through, but instead of reading it, I was finding other books to read or even housework to do. So for that book, A Natural History of Dragons, a memoir by Lady Trent. What is with these long names?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Maybe that's the first sign. It says history in the title. It's obviously gonna be boring.

SPEAKER_04

It was initially good, but didn't hold my interest. No kidding. The premise was great, definitely seemed like my kind of story, and there are about five in the series, but couldn't hold my interest. I DNF'd 50 Shades of Grey just last week.

SPEAKER_01

Oh what? To be fair, we read Fifty Shades of Grey when we were being introduced to that level. It's like a dark romance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

In church, mind you. Correct. Mayor said that.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like if we read it now, we would be like, it's probably not that good.

SPEAKER_04

Even the movie. I have the book. I maybe I should reread it. I just feel like I will come back to it.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like I feel like she's on to something with the the 50 shades.

SPEAKER_04

We are going to we're going to table this conversation and then we're going to come back to it. Okay. I'll hold in my thought. Yeah. When I finish my five books on my list, yeah. 50 shades. Please make time for that. Yeah. Okay. I read all three when they first came out. Okay. Saw reels for the movie on YouTube, so thought I'd reread them. They were my first foray into really spicy romance or dark romance.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh, we didn't even read that before.

SPEAKER_04

We just said that. Yeah. Yeah, nah. The writing is even worse than I remember, and I just cringed and groaned my way through the first chapters. Too much gasping and lip biting, and we hadn't even made it to him admitting he was a Dom looking for a stud. Amazing. She's just thirsty. I'm sorry to say Beth. I DNF'd a couple of nobody. I won't know which ones. I want names. I need an answer. Yeah. Amber. They were about 30 years old at the MMC was a domineering, arrogant artist who smoked.

SPEAKER_01

Do you know the book?

SPEAKER_04

I mean, I have some inklings? Yeah. No, I wouldn't say every Nora Roberts book is good. If you like, I feel like Amber, you should have come to me and we could have talked. I could have given you a list.

SPEAKER_01

But she didn't know you then.

SPEAKER_04

She can find me. I'm online.

SPEAKER_01

She didn't even know you existed then. And she sent us an email. She didn't know she didn't know you existed when she was reading these Nora Roberts books. It's okay, Amber. I probably will DNF so much. Amber, I'm gonna be emailing you after this.

SPEAKER_04

I have I have questions. It surprised me that the smoking really put me off. Okay, that's fair. The FMC wasn't as strong as she writes them now, just sort of stayed put like a good little girl aside.

SPEAKER_01

So she's basically saying she writes better now. Yeah. See, and I would kind of disagree. You need to email Amber. How old is The Awakening? Because I'm concerned now.

SPEAKER_03

Uh three years? Two or three years? It's not that old. Oh, okay. Are we still reading that? Since half the book club has already read it. Yes, it is. Yes, we are. It has been decided.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. You banned from book club, Ilua and Brandy.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Banned. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

We're on to reading the book that we were supposed to read for April. And that is strike one. Brandy.

SPEAKER_04

She's gonna watch it. I don't know if I can keep reading. I'm so upset.

unknown

Carry on.

SPEAKER_04

I mean, like I should have saw it coming. She started with, I'm sorry to say, Beth.

SPEAKER_01

But she also did say that the FMC wasn't as strong as what she writes them now. So these were older books that she was.

SPEAKER_04

I would say, like, okay, so there's like there's like a point. When she was with Harlequin, I would say like her books were okay. When she finally went off on her own, I'd say her books got really good. And then I would actually say some of her newer ones, I don't find her writing as good. Maybe she's burnt out. Or maybe she has a ghostwriter. She's probably just over it.

SPEAKER_02

She's like, I'm done. I'm retired.

SPEAKER_04

By this point, she has like such a long list that ghostwriters could look at on how she writes. Right. It's a hot day too. Yeah. I will still be emailing her. I also recently DNF'd a book because the FMC drugged the MMC and made him believe they had consummated her wedding night. Oh, okay. Yeah. I mean, fair. What then occurred was the miscommunication trope that is very common in old romances and apparently in newer romances as well. Yeah, it's too common. This book, once again, was published in the 1990s, early 2000s. In current dark romances, being drugged, etc., is somewhat common, I think. I don't read that genre, but this was an historical romance in the Regency era. Think Bridgerton. Okay. I also hate the lack of communication or miscommunication trope that was very common in older romance novels. This book was seductioned by Amanda Quick, an author I love, and the books she writes under her other pen names, Jane Castle and Jane Ann Krenz. It is hard to read older books and look at them through the lens of today's standards, morals, values, and ethics. Sometimes I can set this aside and enjoy the story, but this time I couldn't.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like that's very fair.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. So many books she brought up.

SPEAKER_02

We did unpack a lot of it throughout. Yeah, we did. We did. Yeah. You'll have to find out more information on the Nora Roberts, though, and update us. Yeah. Amber expectations. Do you know in your inbox from Beth from Beth. She's triggered, so she needs answers.

SPEAKER_04

I think my concern is if it's like one of like my top books. If it's not one of my top books, I'm not offended. But if it is, I don't think it is though. I guess we'll see. I'm trying to be like of my top. That's coming for you. If it's one of her top books, expect an argument. I don't think any of them smoke.

SPEAKER_01

Her whole Sunday evening is ruined. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

She's gonna be replaying ruined. Just rereading this DNF entry over and over tonight. Yeah. I just feel like she should name drop. At least let me know. Maybe she didn't want to cause you to have a heart attack on her.

SPEAKER_04

I'm already having a heart attack.

SPEAKER_01

She's malfunctioning.

SPEAKER_04

I couldn't even read after that. I just kept tripping over my words.

SPEAKER_01

That's true. She did. Okay. Our next listener asked that we call her S. She says, Hi gals. I just rather recently discovered Susanna's channel, which led me to Plot Chris Please. And after binging a bunch of videos, respectively, I am so excited about the opportunity to partake in one. I've been reading since I was a little kid and don't ever really remember DNFing a book until about two years ago. The books are True Colors by Kristen Hannah. Is she the one that does Nightingale? Yeah. Kristen Hanna? Yeah. She's historic, she does historical fiction. Yeah, I'm surprised it made a DNF, but okay. And The Beach Party by Nikki Smith. Does it? It does actually sound familiar. I feel like I have that book. On my actual bookshelf. I do have real books, guys. They just sit there. They're they're just decor, decor. To be fair, with both books, I was going through a bit of a slump and they just didn't help. For example, they pushed me into the slump completely. Oh no. DNFing both was rather unfortunate though. I was recommended the beach party by my sister, who even warned me that due to the large number of main characters of the book, it was confusing at times who was talking, being talked about, or just a part of the action. Ooh, that's tough. Yeah. But honestly, it wasn't even that. I actually DNF'd right before the big terrible event that I knew was coming because I just didn't care. Nothing gripped me enough to want to go on. Fair. And honestly, if you're gonna have a lot of characters in a book, we need to be accurate and clear on who's who's who. Yeah. As for true crullers, crullers. As for true crawlers. As for true c true colours. It's the wine. I was gifted the physical copy by a friend, but I think that book just led me to discover that I appreciate plot-driven books more. I got to pretty much exactly 50% and just couldn't keep going. The pacing was just too sluggish for me. I just want to get a move on and find out what the truth is and still have a whole half of the book to get through. No, I'm sorry. Fair.

SPEAKER_03

But if she wants answers though. She's like Beth.

SPEAKER_01

After reading reviews and having a look at Kristen Hannah book Analysis, Analysis. On Bookstagram.

SPEAKER_02

I just have a stroke.

SPEAKER_01

I'm relieved that I found similar understandings. I really hope that because True Colors was an earlier book of hers compared to The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and The Women, I'll find more enjoyment in the others.

SPEAKER_02

You read The Nightingale. It made me sob. It's one of my top books ever.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So many people seem to love them and say she just has a beautiful writing style. She does. I have a gifted copy of The Great Alone and thrifted copy of Home Front on my shelf. And as a female officer in the military myself, good for you, girl. I'm really hoping that one will be will pull through. I can't wait to hear about other people's DNF.

SPEAKER_02

Graveyard. Our last DNF is from Megan. Good morning, ladies. Just to watch your bookish hot takes vid from March 10th. I saw that you were all curious about some DNFs. So here I am, sharing the drama that has ensued since DNFing a book in January. Love this. Disclaimer for DNF. I give books about 20% on Kindle or up to 100 pages if it's a physical book. It also takes a lot for me to DNF a book. So January 2026, I picked up a book called Harsh Winters by John Randall. It was a book club pick. Nothing excited me about this book, but I was willing to support another indie author by reading their book.

SPEAKER_04

It's because his name is John Randall.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Almost like John Randall.

SPEAKER_04

His name is Jonathan Jonathan Randall Randall. Yep.

SPEAKER_02

I tried. I really, really tried to get into this book. I went back and reread the prologue and the first chapter, but couldn't get into the book between some things I found personally offensive. It wasn't in the trigger warning. And so many typos that I just couldn't keep going.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, that's the worst.

SPEAKER_02

So I quietly I DNF'd the book. Marked a DNF on Goodreads through their new feature and moved on. Don't they have that now? Good for them. So yeah. Come end of January. The author sent me. No! What? I never read this before I put them in here.

SPEAKER_01

This is good.

SPEAKER_04

I've seen them, but I don't like every time I've like looked at the emails, I've just like marked it. I haven't actually read them.

SPEAKER_01

No, I just want the our reading it to be genuine on the channel so I just like message people back saying thank you, but that's funny.

SPEAKER_02

All right, let's get into the drama. Yeah. I need more wine for this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Nate drank the rest of it. Nate.

unknown

Bring in Nate.

SPEAKER_02

Come end of January. The author sent me six messages on Facebook claiming I'm trying to bash his book and gave him a bad review. At the time, I had not rated it or reviewed it as it was a DNF, and I didn't read enough of it.

SPEAKER_04

So as an author, can you see who DNFs your book? Or does he just go to who rated his book poorly?

SPEAKER_02

Maybe that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he probably went to like his book and then checked the rating.

SPEAKER_02

But like if you're an author, don't message people.

SPEAKER_04

But then not only that, but he would have because if she's on Goodreads, he would have then had to find her on Facebook.

SPEAKER_02

He is giving Jonathan Randall. He is jack black. No.

SPEAKER_01

Especially if you're an indie author, you gotta, you gotta do your time, you gotta pay your dues. Should I tell you going around harassing people? No, that can just be because they didn't like your book.

SPEAKER_04

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we'll do that. At the time, I have not rated it or reviewed it as it was a DNF, and I didn't read enough of it to have an honest opinion of the story of this.

SPEAKER_04

He wasn't just looking at ratings, he was looking at who who DNF'd his book. How do you see that on kids who don't know that? I just find this, I just find this really creepy. That's crazy talk. Megan, I hope you're creeped out. Yeah. I'm creeped out for you.

SPEAKER_02

I told him I had no idea what he was talking about and blocked him. Fair enough. Fast forward two weeks to my birthday in mid-February, and all of a sudden my name is all over Facebook with a massive post from this guy saying I'm not only bashing his book, but have supposedly made fake accounts to bring down his rating.

SPEAKER_00

Bro.

SPEAKER_02

He had screenshots of these reviews, only one of which is actually found on his book. The other two don't even mention his book, so not sure where he got the info. But his followers, of course, believe his libel and start coming after me. It has been a fun issue over on Goodreads where I've had to report this other author for harassing my readers in their reviews and some of his followers doing the same. I can't.

SPEAKER_04

You're making your either an author herself or something.

SPEAKER_02

I think so, maybe.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

How did they find you? I'm angry. I'm I'm more angry about this than I am about Amers talking about Nora Roberts. There you go.

SPEAKER_01

That's wild. I would feel like harassed almost. The author is making himself look really bad too, doing this. Oh yeah. Like blasting this girl just because she didn't like your book, bro. No way. Not everyone's gonna like your book. I'd say this is our official blast of John Randall. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Reading's subjective, bro. Like, don't take it so personally. Yeah, not everyone's gonna enjoy your book. You're just gonna have to sit with them. I don't expect everyone to enjoy this podcast, especially if your name's John Randall.

SPEAKER_04

And quite frankly, I don't care if you enjoyed it. I don't care. Some of that is broke. We should move on because I am feeling spicy. I am mad for you. I'm so upset for Megan. This is not okay. So she said I almost feel like I had wish I had like I had good reads so I could go on there and defend her. Same. Make a fake account.

SPEAKER_02

Speaking of fake accounts, all I did was DNF the book. Thankfully, before seeing the Facebook post, I had written a statement on the book with my opinion of why I stopped reading. I didn't say anything bad about the author, only that I couldn't read a book that I found offensive to me. Fair. It has actually made me hesitate to pick up another indie author because he has publicly accused me of bringing down others with my three-star readings of books I've read. Three-star reviews are valid in good readings. His accusations, though, have made me rethink felt helping my fellow authors. Okay, so she is despite having done so since 2015. Wow. It has been a fun time, and as of yesterday, he was back again harassing people in my reviews. Thankfully, Goodreads was on top of it this time and removed them a few moments after I reported him. Moral of the story be careful if the author knows you're reading their book and you stop. Thank you for your time and reading my rants. Megan, I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, you poor girl. Yeah. Also, what do you what do you write? Yeah, let us let us know. Yeah. Send us another email. I'm gonna email you. There you go. There you go. I'm going for Amber. We'll talk soon.

SPEAKER_04

It's Megan. I'm going for Amber. You can go for Megan nicely. That was a good ending.

SPEAKER_02

I didn't agree, but you brought the drama to the pod, and that's appreciated. Thank you for that. I was so upset on her behalf. I don't blame her for not wanting to read any under other indie author's books. This has probably ruined her experience for sure. Actually, though. Like being horrible.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah to do this. And then not only that, but it's like it he's so upset about it. Then try to sabotage her. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. It's so weird. And then going into her like reviews for her books and then harassing her readers. Readers.

SPEAKER_01

Because Jack Black is showing. I said what I said. Blackjack. That's who I meant.

SPEAKER_04

I was going to say, don't disrespect Jack Black. Jack Black is wonderful. Is the king of men. Oh, he's so good. We love Jack Black. However. Black Jack. Black Jack can kick rocks. Can get back. Actually, I'm going to go sit in my car after this. I'm just going to sit in silence and just think about it. Think about Amber and Megan. I just need to like stare directly ahead in silence. Yeah. I just I just need to think about it. I just need to marinate in my upset. Is the car on or off? Is there sad music playing or no? No, it's gonna be off.

SPEAKER_01

Your car makes too much noise on.

SPEAKER_02

So this episode was really fun. If you have any DNFs that you want to send in to us, please send them to hello at Poitwistplease.com. We would love to do more listener takeovers for our DNF Diary series. So please make sure you do that. And if they're full of drama, way better. So thank you.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you for that. I'm still not over Megan. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02

Me either.

SPEAKER_04

Beth's still on Amber. I'm on both, honestly. They're just like they're on like opposite sides of upset for me.

SPEAKER_02

Personally offended, offended for.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Yeah. That's the scale. Yeah. Yeah. Both of them. One I will fight, and the other one I will fight for.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, Amber.

SPEAKER_04

You watch made a mistake. Again, I thought I don't think I'd be this upset if I knew what book she was talking about, or I'd be more upset because I didn't know the book.

SPEAKER_01

So maybe that's why she didn't put the book in there because she just.

SPEAKER_04

I really wish that Fable had the direct messaging still. So this leads us to Lines We Love.

SPEAKER_02

Lines We Loved. Ooh. I love how I've just slowly gotten you guys to partake in that. All right. Mine is from Kingdom of the Feared, page 14. Tell me every dark desire, Amelia. He tilted my face up, every fantasy you wished to come true. His fingers slightly stroked the pulse point at my throat before he brought his mouth to mine. A kiss, a mere brush of his lips that left me breathless and wanting. He pulled back and slowly ran his hands down my silhouette, and I vowed to make every one of them happen.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I just love him. He's so good.

SPEAKER_02

I almost think he should go to the number one spot now.

SPEAKER_01

He's he hasn't moved from my top five.

SPEAKER_02

It's just he's been in my top two for so long, but I honestly think that Raff should go.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Sorry, Reese, I do love you, but let's be honest here. Rath is let's call it how it is, you know?

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Honestly, I I have to I would have to agree with you guys.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Okay, I'm gonna do um Golden Shadow, a sweet and spicy Goldilocks retelling um by Madel Madeline Elliott. Page 41. The golden amulet hung temptingly over his shirt, and I tried not to stare at it as I continued. We don't need a male to protect us. I didn't say you did, Orson argued, eyebrows furring and irritation as he caught my hand to prevent a second poke. But there's worse than me out here. Do you think I cannot handle you? I asked, leaning back to try to put some distance between us. Orson caught my waist with his free hand, caging me in. Oh, I think you could, he answered, his voice skittering up my bones as he pulled me closer. And I would very much like to see you try.

SPEAKER_00

Nice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I need more of those series.

SPEAKER_00

I know they were so good.

SPEAKER_04

I'm very upset. I really need her to appeal. Get better. Get better, please. Get better and then produce like 15 more books for me. It was so good here.

SPEAKER_02

I very much in that series for me.

SPEAKER_04

So Kingdom of the Feared as well, page 168. Okay. With me secured in his strong grip, he waded over to a cave wall that had a group of stylactites hanging close to it. I braced my back against the smooth stone wall, still holding on to Wrath, grab onto them. His voice was husky. I know. Low desire rolled through me.

SPEAKER_03

So good.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I figured you'd like this series just because of how spicy it got.

SPEAKER_04

And also because Wrath is just like Wrath is everything that he does is the right thing.

unknown

I know.

SPEAKER_04

He's just so good. I was like, yes. Yes. Yes, Daddy.

unknown

Right?

SPEAKER_04

Daddy Rath. Daddy Rath. He is a daddy for sure. Yeah. Yeah. He definitely puts the big D in daddy. He does.

SPEAKER_01

The capital D.

SPEAKER_04

So this concludes our first DNF Diary Listeners Takeover episode. We hope you enjoy it and let us know in the comments if you want more of this mini-series. And if so, please remember to send us in your DNF Diaries to hello at plottwistplease.com.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Ye buddy. Yeehow! The most awkward exit.

SPEAKER_02

That's all right. And scene. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at Plot TwistPlease Pod. 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_01

Thank you so much for joining us on this episode.

SPEAKER_04

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