DNF Mini Review: The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova

Ugh, this one hurts. Please don't hate me bloggers friends who love Elise Kova. Read this first. It's not the book, it's me. I don't mark a lot of books as Did Not Finish but every once and a while a book is just not working for me. It's been a few months but I have to once again mark a book as DNF. I gave it a good go but after following my rule of putting it down for a few days to gauge interest, I still didn't want to pick it up.

I decided to to a quick posts to explain my thoughts on the book I shelved as "DNF" this month. Writing DNF reviews is a tricky subject. I don't want to do full reviews on the book because I don't really have a well-rounded enough view on it. But I also wanted to explain why I didn't quite like the books because I try to be really honest here. So I based this post on Nikki at There Were Books Involved's DNF Q+As. This allows me to explain why the book didn't quite work for me without giving a full review. So here you go, my DNF Reviews

Title: The Alchemists of Loom Author: Elise Kova Published: January 10, 2017 by Keymaster Press Source: Netgalley (Amazon / Goodreads)                                                                                           Synopsis: Her vengeance. His vision.   Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds’ resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn’t a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer turned thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors.  Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family’s house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons’ society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King’s assassins.  When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go.  He offers her the one thing Ari can’t refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom.

How Much I Read:
38% of the e-ARC

Why it Didn't Work For Me:

Well first, I think this is just a serious case of it's not you, it's me. I'm in a hardcore reading slump right now. I read about half what I normally read in a month because life. I've been sick and super busy and just haven't been in the mood or even able to focus on reading. I just think this book had the unfortunate position of being the book I started during that time period. I tried to power through that but I don't think this will be the book which is able to do that.

I think the biggest thing here was that it's just a case of being such a plot driven reader. It's not that this book was boring, it just it's the first book in a new series and therefore there is a ton of exposition. It was just so much world building. I know new fantasies have to do that to establish everything but when you are a plot-driven reader in a book slump that's just not going to do it for you. It's just a case of wrong book at the wrong time. I mean don't get me wrong, the world was interesting but right now I can't spend a month reading something that isn't going to hook me.

In addition I didn't really connect with the characters. The book was split up into multiple perspectives and while some characters were interesting, I found it really hard yo keep track of who was who and what they were doing. Both main characters where interesting I just wasn't invested in their struggle. It's like we joined them in the middle of their story and at that point I wasn't invested. I did however like a different character whose name I don't even know. She was such a small part of the story but her struggle I found engaging. But it still wasn't enough.

Will I Go Back to It:
Maybe. I am kind of curious about what happens. I feel like if I wasn't in such a reading slump this may have worked for me. And I am really interested in this author. I know a lot of blogger friends really love her and I have a copy of the first book in her other series. Maybe I will read that first and then depending how I feel, go back to this one. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't the kind of book for me to read during such a hardcore slump.

Have you read The Alchemists of Loom? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!