DNF&Y [15]

DNF&Y is used to explain why I gave up on certain books, and what about them just didn't work for me. What I disliked about a book might be something you love, so it helps to share your thoughts even when they're negative! If you would like additional information, please click on the DNF&Y tab at the top. If you want to join, you can link up at the bottom!

Potency (Glow, #1) by Aubrey Hadley

Synopsis (via Goodreads): The Maasai Mara Sleeping Syndrome has returned after a six-month hiatus. This time, it's popped up in New York, and it's wiped out an entire homeless shelter.

The same night of the outbreak, Harper, a seventeen-year-old girl, stumbles across a glowing figure in the desert outskirts of her neighborhood. As her suburb goes on lockdown, Harper finds herself isolated from her friends and family, and soon begins to suspect that the events — though thousands of miles apart — may have something in common.

Harper must find her bravery and embark on a plot-twisting adventure that will have her looking for answers in unexpected places... and worlds.

DNF at 19%

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

Warning: potential spoilers for the first few chapters of the book.

I was really jazzed about this one after reading the synopsis, but it ended up not being a good fit for me. Harper was a very bland character that I couldn't relate to, and her family was confusing. Her mother is only strict when it comes to Harper, and her brother comes across as uncaring and aloof. His sudden desire to be protective later on really threw me. Harper says something about forgetting about the past (she says this out of nowhere), but they were both in unfavorable situations. I feel like there would have been more pressing concerns at that moment. Especially if her brother knew something she didn't.

All of the relationships were weird. Harper's mother is scary strict, constantly grounding and yelling at Harper, while praising the behavior of her other children. She lies to Harper, snoops through her personal stuff (even online), and comes across as slightly unhinged. Harper has three close friends that she plays soccer with, but I kept getting them mixed up. I felt like they were trying too hard to sound like teenagers, while also trying to make Harper seem special.  

Then there's Max, a really odd character that I don't know how to place. He appears at a soccer game with Harper's brother (who appeared gross and disheveled, no questions asked), and then just happens to be around when the quarantine happens. He shows up in Harper's room uninvited, which was super creepy, and basically gave her cardboard to eat. I don't know, the whole thing was weird. After leaving her room, he makes her sit away from him, but then he comes closer to ask her questions about her brother and father. It made zero sense! He would be angry and reprimanding one second, sleazy and flirtatious the next.

If you decide to try this one, you're going to have to suspend your disbelief. At one point, Harper rolls a tennis ball across the street and it's immediately seen and targeted. However, she slips out and runs across several backyards completely unnoticed? And then Max happens to find her before someone else does? His explanations are bananas, and then he helps her only to change his mind at the last minute.

I stopped reading this one shortly after Harper was captured. I'm not entirely sure where she was when she woke up, but she's captivated by her surroundings despite being stuck in goop. It was a touch too unbelievable for me. I would have been freaking out, if I'd woken up in a foreign substance that wouldn't let me move. Also, her brother is there yelling that she doesn't know anything, but then shouts for her to tell them what she knows -- sooo confusing!

Potency has a beautiful cover and an interesting premise, but lackluster characters and an unbelievable story. It's also insanely long, and I feel like some of it could have been left out for a quicker pace. There's a lot of telling instead of showing, which I always find disappointing.

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