How does one properly DNF a book? Like what are some reasons to DNF a book?
How does one properly DNF a book? Like what are some reasons to DNF a book?
75 Answers
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Loading Please wait
How does one properly DNF a book? Like what are some reasons to DNF a book?
Cant answer that myself as i have not done that to any books I’ve read, I keep reading them
I really try my hardest to not DNF books. I wanna give the whole book a chance before I decide. But sometimes it’s just so bad that I can’t do it, lol. Like The Cruel Prince, for instance. I absolutely hated it and everyone said the ending made up for how bad the rest of the book was, but I didn’t care enough to finish. If it takes over 75% of the book for me to even kinda like it, then it’s not worth the time.
Doesn’t grab my attention within the first 5 chapters, lack of character building . In the case of some free kindle books excessive typos and grammar issues
What does DNF stand for? :)) sorry for this stupid question :))
Did not finish
Ooo :)) thanks
Did not finish
I have only done it to one book and the reason was because I couldn’t get into the story line, and I do care for the characters
Don’t*
It’s different for all. Personally I did it to 2 books. One I eventually went back to and actually enjoyed the book. The second one had too much description and not enough dialogue or plot for me. I stopped after chapter 11. I’m not going to force myself to read it if I find myself bored
I DNF a book if it takes me too long to finish. Too long = more than a month.usually if the book is too draggy or annoying main charcters.
I give a book 100 pages. If I still can’t get into it, I DNF it.
Horrible writing! I have no issues DNF a book if I don’t like it. 🙂 life is to short to read a bad book.
I’ve dnf’d a couple books and the common reasons are the instalove is cringey, overshadowed the rest of the plot, and the female MC who is supposedly powerful and has a lot of responsibility is more obsessed with the alpha-douche love interest than what I thought was the actual plot.
For me it’s if I have not found something to like within the first 100 to 150 pages, Im done. I feel like that’s a good amount of time to allow a book, who may just have a slow start, to pick up. If there’s even one element I’m interested in I may push through, but the second it feels like work, I’m done.
Too many cliches, boring, stupid, or awful main characters, insta-love, dull.
If you absolutely hate it or if you just get so bored you literally cannot make yourself pick it up again… but that’s very rare for me I have to admit
If I am over half way through it and I am spending more energy being annoyed with the book than enjoying it I give up but it really has to push me. I have DNF maybe 5 or 6 books to date. I all most always have to finish a story.
Haha we just talked about the yesterday.
If it hasn’t peaked my interest or kept my attention and I’ve already read through halfway, I sometimes will not finish. There are only a handful of books I haven’t seen through to the end. I tend to know what I will and won’t like pretty fast
If I feel I am forcing myself to read then I tend to leave them
Bad writing (twilight), crap dialogue (darkest drae), and intolerable main character with no redeeming side characters (red queen) are all reasons I’ve DNFed books. How to DNF properly, put it down, try not to think about how disappointed you are, and reread something you know is good (six of crows!!!).
If there’s a love triangle.
@Hannah i looooove love triangles. Hihi
@一依美 love triangles completely throw me off of liking a book! For example, I HATE TID because the love triangle was written so poorly.
If I feel like I’m forcing myself to read it, if it’s putting me in a reading slump (like I haven’t read for a week because I have to read that book), almost any book with serious Instalove (because that tends to cause the two things listed above), you don’t like it, it’s not interesting to you. You can honestly DNF a book for whatever reason you want.
If I’m not liking it on the 1st page, I quit. It doesn’t happen too often and my standards are very low so it’s why I don’t do the whole 50 or 100 pages.
If I feel like I’m forcing myself to read it or I find myself getting bored
The kind of insta-love where the MC is just swooning half the time, cringey or too in-your-face romance, etc. And bad writing! If the writing isn’t good, and it feels like a series of events, not well connected and overall not a well developed book then I won’t like it. So I’ll either not finish or if it’s a series I’ll probably finish the first book then leave it.
If i am forcing myself to read, if I keep putting it down, and not wanting to read
Magical solutions to glaring plot holes, insta-love, cringe-worthy dialogue, and an unlikable main character who’s super hot but “doesn’t see it”.
When instead of looking forward to a free moment you can get back to your book it becomes a chore or you dread it because you just ‘can’t get into it’
If the book makes you feel like you’re wasting your time reading it.
If the writing isnt good. I can get behind all the tropes and cliches if they are done right like say the love triangle in the infernal devices or falling in love with the dark prince like in air awakens series
Bad writing and sluggish pace do it for me. If it takes an author forever to get into the actual story because they have to unravel the entire backstory in the first few pages, I lose interest in a hurry. I’m also not big on books that read like a rough draft that never went through the editing process.
If I’m at least past the first 50 or 60 pages and I still don’t find any enjoyment in the story, I consider DNF’ing the book. I especially do this if every time I read the book it feels like torture to read it and my mind struggles to stay focused because I’m so bored.
Bad or lazy writing. Poor editing. One dimensional characters. Thinly veiled misogyny under the guise of ‘im the only girl all the boys like because I’m down to earth and plain and blah, blah every other female in the world is a nasty bitch but me because I’m just so funky and quirky in my converse and jeans even though I don’t know I am’.
@Manuela Every female main character ever before the ‘I will shoot your head off if you so much as breath you nasty dude’ female main character became a thing.
Usually if I just can’t get into the story. I give it around 100 pages, then shelve it. I will give it a second try sometimes.
i try to stick it out ive only ever Dnfed 2 books
I try not to dnf books. Last year I dnf Wintersong and this year I picked it up again and loved it ? sometimes I dnf if I’m not feeling the book at that moment or if the books just isn’t making me want to pick it up, if it’s slow and nothing happens in the first 150 pages then I usually dnf. But so far I’ve only ever dnf 3 books. Wintersong – Which I went on to love, Flame in the mist – Which I’m going to try again as a buddy read. And Magonia – Which I’ve picked up 3 times and dnf 3 times so I don’t think ill try that one again.
When I’m not enjoying it I put it down. Don’t really have any “rules” for it or something, haha.
I always finish books even if I’m not interested I cant stand not knowing the ending
I DNF a bit (I also read 5+ books a week so it averages out)
1) if it reads like an editor hasn’t touched it. I’m not going to drive myself crazy correcting your shoddily thrown together work.
2)If I get to around 50% and still don’t care about anything going on or even feel an urge to continue.
I normally read the first two or three chapters…then skip to the end of the book and read the last 3 or 4 chapters. I know I know. BUT if I like the ending, I will read the whole thing.
i DNF when something i’m reading just doesn’t interest me and I find something else that i’d rather read
I DNF if I find it really boring or hard to follow. I rarely DNF books but I had to earlier this year with Tessa Gratton’s adult fantasy, The Queens of Innis Lear. The writing is beautiful but it moved at a snail’s pace.
Tessa Gratton has just released a YA title.
@Hannah Yup. I heard that one is amazing!
If you don’t like what your reading and it’s a chore instead of enjoyable DNF it.
I don’t like it by at least 100 pages in. I’m in grad school and don’t want to waste my very precious free time reading a book I don’t like
I normally give a book about 100 pages and if I’m not enjoying it either skim read or put it down.
too little time too many great books-no time to waste reading something you don’t connect with!
timing is also a factor-sometimes i don’t feel like that type of story.
I just DNF’d 78 pages in because I just read the 9th maybe 10th rape scene and said no more… I refuse to read further
Good Lord, what book is THAT?
Yeah, what book is that so I can avoid it ?
Naondel by Maria Turtschaninoff – it is part of the Red Abbey Chronicles. It is actually considered a feminist novel. It is about how all these women who were abused by men in power rise up and take control, but I couldn’t make it. It was too depressing. The book is #2 in the series but is background and world building. There are I think 6 character’s back stories in the book but I finished the first girls (rape, forced poisonings to cause miscarriage, parents murdered, etc etc etc) and then the second girl’s story starts off as a slave being tested by a new buyer… I was just done at that point and couldn’t continue.
Omg
I’m super bad with DNFing books, I’ll either finish the entire series or read 20 pages and drop it. ? But lately if I’m into a series, I’ll save the last book or last 2 to finish when I have nothing else to read.
What does dnf stand for?
Did not finish
Ohhhh. Thanks!
Once I get so far in and it hasn’t pulled me in I put it down. There are so many good books that i want to read I don’t want to waste my time on something I don’t like. Some books like GOT, though, I’ll read one and put it down for a break because it’s so much, but I eventually try to pick it back up.
Give myself 30 pages to get into it. Or else I just give up. Amittedly, I am more inclined to give up on ebooks. Real books I tend to read if I’ve bought it
If I’m never in the mood to pick up the book I DNF. Sometimes I’m able to push through and finish but if I can’t then I can’t.
If the plot progression is super slow and I’ve already figured out the ending
If I’m hating it after 100 pages I quit. I DNFed The Belles during a readathon because it was just such a dumb plot to me. It felt like a slightly better version of Modelland by Tyra Banks (*CRINGE*).
I Dnf’d War Storm cause it was boring me to tears and I never had any motivation to read it.
Depends on the pain book causes me. If it’s boring, I start skimming through pages, eventually DNF’d but that might go as far as half of the book. DNF could happen into 50 pages or half of a book. My main requirements for book: things happen in the book regularly and I need to be surprised – I love unexpected stories and turns. Hence, never read re-tellings 🙂
DNF reasons: boring, predictable or “over-dressed” writing, where I have to re-read sentence three-four times just to understand what author is trying to say.
It takes a heck of a lot for me to dnf a book, but I came extremely close with A Court of Frost and Starlight
The only book I’ve dnf is Turtles all the way down and its because it made me feel like I was going to have a panic attack and i don’t even get panic attacks.
If a book it’s too intense and mentally draining, I DNF it. Sometimes I take a break and move to something else and try some other time, but for the most part, I let it go.
I usually DNF at the point that I realize my reading is slowing down because I’m subconsciously avoiding the book. Then I get ticked off cuz it’s in the way of me getting to other books I want to read. Time to get out of the way!
I can’t read a book with a high school base because I have mental scars of teenage torment. I can’t read about school shootings from books or even in the news because of the mental trauma.
I try to make it to page 100. If it’s so boring or I just can’t get into and don’t care about what happens, I’ll DNF.