no every book survives
Welcome to Literary Purgatory
Where books go when things between us did not work out.
Some were abandoned halfway through. Some were finished through a baffling combination of optimism, stubbornness, and spite. Others were enormously popular books that everyone seemed to adore while I sat quietly wondering what vital piece of the human experience I was missing.
This is their resting place.
no every book survives
Welcome to Literary Purgatory
Where books go when things between us did not work out.
Some were abandoned halfway through. Some were finished through a baffling combination of optimism, stubbornness, and spite. Others were enormously popular books that everyone seemed to adore while I sat quietly wondering what vital piece of the human experience I was missing.
This is their resting place.
what sends a book to purgatory?
A painfully slow plot. Characters who make terrible decisions without being interesting enough to justify them. Worldbuilding held together by decorative string. Romance without chemistry. Five hundred pages that could have been an email.
Sometimes the writing simply isn’t for me. Sometimes a book and I meet at the wrong moment. And sometimes I finish it, close it, and immediately begin preparing my case for the prosecution.
Not every book featured here is objectively terrible because reading is subjective, and someone else’s five-star favorite can be my personal endurance test. These aren’t declarations of universal truth. They’re honest reviews of books that disappointed me, frustrated me, or failed to convince me to keep reading.
popularity offers no protection
Yes, some extremely popular books will appear here.
Being beloved by millions does not guarantee immunity from my opinions. In fact, discussing overhyped books, disappointing bestsellers, and popular fantasy books I didn’t enjoy is part of the fun. We don’t need to agree about every book to have a good conversation about it.
Inside Literary Purgatory, you’ll find my DNFs, lowest-rated reads, spectacular disappointments, and the occasional book I hated with such intensity that it became entertaining again.
Proceed carefully. Your favorite may be inside.
Rebel Witch,
by Kristen Ciccarelli
What it’s about: The conclusion to Heartless Hunter picks up after its cliffhanger, with Rune on the run and her dangerous romance with witch hunter Gideon caught in a struggle for power.
Why it’s in purgatory: Heartless Hunter was silly but fun; its cat-and-mouse game worked. Here, forced proximity, a marriage plot, and endless “we love each other but we’re enemies” drama replaced that spark. So many conflicts could have ended with one conversation, and the predictable ending made the whole thing feel like fan service.
Faebound,
by Saara El-Arifi
What it’s about: After a disastrous mistake, an elven warrior and her sister are exiled into the wilderness and discover a fae court their people believed lost for centuries.
Why it’s in purgatory: I liked the worldbuilding and several side characters, but the emotional turns felt strangely unearned. A major revelation is brushed aside, neither romance drew me in, and the drama often felt more imposed than lived. I wanted to love this premise; I just never became invested in its characters or plot.
Five Broken Blades,
by Mai Corland
What it’s about: Five dangerous liars are brought together to assassinate an apparently untouchable king. Their alliance depends on people who have every reason to betray one another.
Why it’s in purgatory: It moves quickly and a few characters won me over, but for much of the book the mission barely moves. The many POVs dwell on internal monologues without much growth, while the supposedly formidable women rarely get to demonstrate their skills. Add a romance for practically everyone, and the promised adult Six of Crows never materialized for me.
Caraval,
by Stephanie Garber
What it’s about: Five dangerous liars are brought together to assassinate an apparently untouchable king. Their alliance depends on people who have every reason to betray one another.
Why it’s in purgatory: I loved the charm of Once Upon a Broken Heart, so I wanted to enjoy this world too. The setting and magic appealed to me, but the story bored me and I never connected with Scarlett or Tella. Most of all, I couldn’t buy Scarlett’s romance after so much lying and manipulation. I finished this one, but gave up on the series.
When the Moon Hatched,
by Sarah A. Parker
What it’s about: In a world of fae, rebellion, and fallen dragons, an assassin is captured after a mission goes wrong and becomes entangled in a powerful ruler’s past.
Why it’s in purgatory: The world sounded made for me. Reading it was another matter: I kept waiting for the story to take off, even around the 70 percent mark. The central group felt too familiar to me, like a less compelling echo of A Court of Mist and Fury. All that imaginative worldbuilding couldn’t rescue how bored I was.
The Dragon Wakes with Thunder,
by K. X. Song
What it’s about: The sequel to The Night Ends with Fire follows Meilin after the war, as the power of the dragon spirit threatens to consume her and new loyalties pull her apart.
Why it’s in purgatory: The first book gave me a fierce, capable soldier and an ending that left me desperate for more. This sequel made Meilin’s ambition feel like a flaw and repeatedly left her helpless. The love triangle and the reversals of character felt like it was trying to do the Tamlin-Rhysand thing so hard and it didn't work at all. For me, the story ends with book one.
A Court of Frost and Starlight,
by Sarah J. Mass
What it’s about: After the war in A Court of Wings and Ruin, Feyre, Rhysand, and their friends try to heal as Winter Solstice approaches.
Why it’s in purgatory: I was already content to leave the series after book three, but curiosity and concern for the wellbeing of Cassian brought me back. I found this interlude so uneventful and boring that I DNFed it. I understand the appeal of watching beloved characters rest and recover; I wasn’t invested enough to enjoy an entire book of it.
Iron Flame,
by Rebecca Yarros
What it’s about: Violet returns to Basgiath for another brutal year of dragon-rider training while the truths uncovered in Fourth Wing strain her relationship with Xaden and threaten the kingdom.
Why it’s in purgatory: Fourth Wing was ridiculous but entertaining. I hoped this would deliver the same cheap thrills after that cliffhanger. Instead, Violet’s resentment of Xaden dominated the book, and conflicts that needed a conversation became painfully drawn out. The shaky worldbuilding stood out even more, and finishing it felt like work. I'm in no rush to continue the series.
To Bargain with Mortals,
by R. A. Basu
What it’s about: In a colonized nation on the edge of revolution, an outcast heiress and a criminal leader with forbidden divine magic find their interests and their fight against the ruling order entangled.
Why it’s in purgatory: This had so many ingredients I love: colonial politics, resistance, morally gray characters, and a promising magic system. But Poppy frustrated me, the magic rarely lived up to its promise, and plot turns felt contrived rather than earned. I kept spotting holes in the story and saw the ending coming. It was one of my biggest disappointments of the year.
Alchemised,
by SenLinYu
What it’s about: After a devastating war, a captive alchemist with missing memories is sent to a feared necromancer who has been ordered to uncover what she knows.
Why it’s in purgatory: The atmosphere and magic intrigued me at first, but the heavy exposition slowed everything down. More decisively, I couldn’t accept the story’s handling of sexual violence in a relationship framed as romance. The abuse felt gratuitous to me, and I couldn’t imagine rooting for that pairing afterward. I stopped around page 300.
follow what I'm reading
I don’t blog about everything I read, but I do review everything I read.
If you are interested in the most complete list of the books I’ve finished and my current reads, visit my Goodreads page, my Story Graph page or my Fable page.