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A review by ghostlydreamer
Cold Iron by Stina Leicht
Did not finish book.
2.0
I don't know what compelled me to pick up this book the Friday before I started college, but I think it was a bad choice. There are a few reasons for this.
When I think of Cold Iron, I think about that Sunday before I started college for the first time, lying on my floor, anxious as fuck about all the changes that were coming the next day. I'd never been to college before. I'd never done anything like it. Everything was so new, so frightening, so...anxiety-inducing. I could hardly concentrate on reading because I was so focused on the unknown. So I stared at the page, longing for escape that wouldn't come. Thing is, I don't think the story was really all that compelling to start with. But it was made worse by what I was going through at the time. Thing is, I'd spent the ENTIRE summer engaging in all my favorite avoidance/defense mechanisms. That meant I read for sometimes six to eight hours a day, and was why I was able to get through so many books so quickly. I wasn't working, was just basking in my summer, living through constant anxiety concerning driving and starting college. And then, that weekend before everything changed, I was unable to engage in the very thing that had worked for so long. Escape simply wasn't possible. And I think that ruined the book, if we're being honest.
But I don't think my dislike for the book had EVERYTHING to do with my poor mental health at the time. If I recall correctly, none of the characters stood out to me. Things jumped around in plot all too much. I remember sitting there wondering how the fuck we got from point A to point B...and getting frustrated as a result. I didn't want to go back and figure out how that happened. Connecting the dots wasn't something I had the capacity to do. I know that sounds bad, but look. I was trying to ESCAPE. And I wanted an EASY escape. Not something that made me think. And this story simply didn't suck me in to begin with.
So I DNFed it on my first day of college. *insert upside down smiley face* I simply wasn't going to subject myself to a book that I didn't enjoy when I was going through so much. That first day was rough, and I needed something different. So I DNFed the book and never looked back.
At least it only cost me a couple dollars during my Hasting's clearance sale. Hell, this thing might have been one of the last books I bought from there... Needless to say, I don't have it anymore. But it's funny how much this one disappointed me, because I remember eyeballing it for months before I finally got my hands on it. Oh well. Just another book that simply wasn't for me.
But welcome to a new phase in my reading career! When I started college, I became far more open to DNFing books than I had been that summer, and it all started with Cold Iron. I thank it for that.
When I think of Cold Iron, I think about that Sunday before I started college for the first time, lying on my floor, anxious as fuck about all the changes that were coming the next day. I'd never been to college before. I'd never done anything like it. Everything was so new, so frightening, so...anxiety-inducing. I could hardly concentrate on reading because I was so focused on the unknown. So I stared at the page, longing for escape that wouldn't come. Thing is, I don't think the story was really all that compelling to start with. But it was made worse by what I was going through at the time. Thing is, I'd spent the ENTIRE summer engaging in all my favorite avoidance/defense mechanisms. That meant I read for sometimes six to eight hours a day, and was why I was able to get through so many books so quickly. I wasn't working, was just basking in my summer, living through constant anxiety concerning driving and starting college. And then, that weekend before everything changed, I was unable to engage in the very thing that had worked for so long. Escape simply wasn't possible. And I think that ruined the book, if we're being honest.
But I don't think my dislike for the book had EVERYTHING to do with my poor mental health at the time. If I recall correctly, none of the characters stood out to me. Things jumped around in plot all too much. I remember sitting there wondering how the fuck we got from point A to point B...and getting frustrated as a result. I didn't want to go back and figure out how that happened. Connecting the dots wasn't something I had the capacity to do. I know that sounds bad, but look. I was trying to ESCAPE. And I wanted an EASY escape. Not something that made me think. And this story simply didn't suck me in to begin with.
So I DNFed it on my first day of college. *insert upside down smiley face* I simply wasn't going to subject myself to a book that I didn't enjoy when I was going through so much. That first day was rough, and I needed something different. So I DNFed the book and never looked back.
At least it only cost me a couple dollars during my Hasting's clearance sale. Hell, this thing might have been one of the last books I bought from there... Needless to say, I don't have it anymore. But it's funny how much this one disappointed me, because I remember eyeballing it for months before I finally got my hands on it. Oh well. Just another book that simply wasn't for me.
But welcome to a new phase in my reading career! When I started college, I became far more open to DNFing books than I had been that summer, and it all started with Cold Iron. I thank it for that.