Suzanne Reads

I have read some poor reviews, and hoped that I might like this anyway, I mean, it's OZ for heaven's sake! Unfortunately, I am marking this DNF and moving on.

The story and characters didn't grab me at all, and the poor writing made me quit, finally.

This is the sentence that did me in (page 61 in my ebook edition). It was not the first example of what bothered me, and I am assuming it wasn't going to be the last.

"In desperation, knowing it would do me no good, I stood and banged my fist against the wall until it was throbbing with pain."

(a) "knowing it would do me no good" is what DESPERATION means.
(b) I didn't know walls could throb with pain.

How about this instead?
"In desperation, I stood and banged the wall with my fist until it was throbbing with pain."

Actually, I like this one better:
"In desperation, I stood and banged the wall until my fist was throbbing with pain."