What makes you quit a book? What is the point where you’ve come too far to quit? Do you finish books even if you hate them?
What makes you quit a book? What is the point where you’ve come too far to quit? Do you finish books even if you hate them?
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I don’t finish a book if I hate it. Usually, when I don’t like a book is because it bores me in a way that I can’t pick it up
Usually if I’m bored or I feel like there is no real plot. If I’m almost done I’ll push through. I’m more likely to read all of it if I’m mod series too. If I absolutely hate it I’m probably not finishing it.
If I start it I have to finish it even if I hate it
For me, it depends, and I’m not entirely sure on what. I hated Crichton’s Pirate Latitudes from the first chapter, but I read the whole thing. I couldn’t get through a few pages of The Way of Shadows before I was so edge-lordy troped out I had to shelf it.
I think it depends on how long the book is and whether I have faith the author can save the book
For me to quit a book it has to be truly awful. I don’t usually give up. I’ve found some wonderful stories that started slow but became one that was memorable.
Nope it goes. The hardest though is when it is series
Doesn’t happen often but it’s a tough choice. If it doesn’t grip me by half way through it goes. Life’s too short man. Had to do it recently with the blade itself, but that was more the writing style
thats an amazing story. sorry to hear u didnt like it
Story wise, yeah. As soon as anything good happened though the tempo would drop on the next chapter. Then it would rev back up and drop again. Didn’t like it more due to the style. I could he see he was blending in 3/4 storylines but couldn’t deal with the chopping and changing.
I’ll finish the book but wont move on to any other in the series
Sword of truth series is a good example
I used to finish everything I started but decided life is too short to waste my time with a terrible book. Also in the past I would have simply said that if it was a boring read and didn’t go anywhere. BUT nowadays it is most definitely bad and/or juvenile writing or a storyline that doesn’t progress. I most definitely can tell a true author from others! Perfect example is the post apocalyptic genre. Every prepper/survivalist thinks they have a story to tell and that their zombie or EMP fantasy is “book worthy” and although the genre is flooded with plentiful material, it’s mostly garbage.
So I guess I’m saying that I really appreciate a true author/writer/word smith nowadays and the posers are glaringly obvious! Even a great and interesting storyline can’t save some of these people writing and self publishing their books.
Before Lord of the rings, there was only one other book I put down and couldn’t finish it. YEARS later I picked it back up because I had nothing else. I got so hooked on that series I have read all of them now. Also, I am not about 3/4 way through LOTR and still not enjoying it. Even my partner commented saying it has never taken me so long to finish a book ??
I rarely give up on a book. I think I am lucky in that I read very quickly, so even a terrible book is only a few days investment. But I always do a fair amount of research into a book before I pick it up, so I tend to avoid the duds.
@Veronica
I do quite a bit of research myself but I find that the info I find can be very sketchy or biased for different reasons.
For example I think a huge amount of people talk up a book and give it high praise just for the simple fact that they finished it and there is an unconscious satisfaction at the end of almost every read that makes you appreciate a book for the simple fact that you accomplished reading it. Not everyone but I think a lot of people do that regardless of how good the book really is. I know people that don’t read all that much but when they do they always talk the book up like it’s the best thing they’ve ever read and try to push the book on you even if it’s not of much interest to you. I feel like a lot of people do this in reviews of books also.
Not sure if I’m making sense…
I get you. Almost as if their pride and self-respect, gained from finishing the book, translates into respect for the book itself.
I am quite easy on books (any media really) and can normally see the good points – for example, if I like the writing and the story, but not the characters, it won’t ruin the book for me. But there are books that I would have given up on if I read slower. The Silmarillion being one that has always stood out as being awful, and by which all other awful books are gauged ?
I hate when books change back and forth between stories without any notice for the reader. Add a couple stars, or a line, or a page break. I will almsost always stop reading these types.
I’ve finished books that bored me to death. A lot of it is taste. I absolutely hated IT and plowed through to the end. I liked most Stephen King books, but that one just didn’t do it for me. Other books, I’ll read through several chapters and if it doesn’t grab me, I’ll set it aside and try something else.
I am literally going through the same thing, to the point where I could have asked this myself. Watching this thread like a hawk xx
If something isn’t grabbing me ill just drop it.
I tend to flit between books. Sometimes I’m distracted by something better or just something I’m more in the mood for at the time. Sometimes I go back to books I’ve dropped a year later and really enjoy them. Because I travel a lot I find it easier to read on Kindle or listen to audiobooks so sometimes a physical book I’m enjoying will get left behind. There are currently 12 books on my “currently reading” on goodreads: 4 I’m actively reading (1 kindle, 1 hardback, 1 audiobook, 1 reading along with my partner) the others I’ll get back to eventually…
If I pick up my Kindle and think to myself that I don’t want to read because of the story, I will give it a second or third chance, but after that I’m done. The book I’m reading now will be on it’s second chance tonight.
I’ve dropped Zoo by Patterson, (please don’t kill me) wheel of Time, and I’m having a hard time picking up the second Mistborn series.
I tried to read a couple chapters of zoo but ended up watching the tv show adaptation instead haha
@Jasmine I ended up dropping it early in the second season. I thought it was a good idea, but it fell apart, actually, near the end of the first season.
I kept watching in the hopes that Jamie would be eaten by something. I was disappointed in her continued survival.
If I don’t get pulled in within the first couple of chapters, I usually skip forward to the middle somewhere and read two pages to see if that catches my attention and makes me want to read more but if that doesn’t work I don’t force it. I have books that I’ve read tonnes of times and sometimes I pick them up to read, get a chapter in, realise I’m not in the mood and I’ll just put them back and pick up something else instead. I usually have about 3 books going at the same time and counting on my mood to which one I pick to continue for that evening.
I tend to be very choosy about what I read, so it is rare I struggle with a book, though when I do I push myself to read to the end, just in case it is a slow burner. Occasionally I have been pleasantly surprised
That said I did stop reading one book I couldn’t get to grips with as it was very poorly written and bounced around all over the place and it didn’t seem to be edited. It was a genre I wouldn’t choose and a freebie
In the “olden” days, I always finished a book, even if I disliked it. I read fast and I read a lot. Now days, if a book doesn’t hold my interest, if none of the characters are likable, if I don’t like the style of writing, etc., I don’t mind quitting. Life’s too short to read books I don’t like.
No if I just can’t I can’t. But a lot of the time ill try it again later and ill like it, its just my mind set
Grimdark. Stereotypical characters or situations. Characters (especially female characters, I’m sad to say) behaving in a way I find utterly unrealistic. Brattish kids (unless they’re getting their comeuppance). Characters who bore me. Endless sex, torture or romance. Rubbish writing.
No point is ever too far to quit.
The first book I ever quit was “White Dragon” Pern thing. I figured out it was a horse book.
Characters. If I come to hate (usually because of stupidity or irrational behavior) one of the MCs, I may try to give it a second chance, but if I hate more than one, I drop the book. Wise Man’s Fear. I already hated Denna with passion, but I got fed up with so much sex with Felurian. I could not stand Kvothe (or the book) anymore. Too bad. I really loved the story, at first.
If I’m not into a book I stop reading. There are so many books out there that I want to read. I don’t want to waste my time with one I’m not enjoying. Usually I can tell it’s time to move on if I find myself constantly checking on how much of the book I have left before I can get to my next one (I usually read on Kindle). I’m especially quick to drop an audiobook. It’s my wind down time after getting the kids to bed, and I want a really enjoyable listen. Plus I own all the Harry Potter audiobooks, so those are a great fallback while I’m waiting to find a good audiobook.
If I bought it, I’m finishing it.
If I’m bored or disgusted, I quit reading. And it’s a lot easier for me to do that with ebooks, since I don’t seem to have the connection with them that I have with a hard copy. Too far to quit? I could be 3 pages from the end and walk away if I no longer care about the characters.
But I don’t commit to (aka buy) books I don’t already know that I want. I have to read them first and then plan to re/read them.
I just stopped reading The Innocent Mage at page 430. I finally got tired and bored because the author took a lot of words to say very little. I didn’t have the heart to continue. Too much waiting around for something significant to happen. I moved on to something else.
@Jane I didn’t mind innocent/awakened mage but I gave up on her other books
@Laura I have to have more action, not this “bumbling around while we wait for something to happen”. Drives me bonkers.
@Jane tbh I can’t remember them that well – I read them when I was about 15 and still discovering fantasy so there’s a chance I just thought everything was good at the time ?
@Laura Same here. I read and loved Dragonlance when I was 15. Went to re-read them here recently and couldn’t finish the 2nd one because I had issues with A, B, and C. My life experience has changed so I view things differently now.
If I can’t get through the first chapter without getting interested in the story I will put it down and then pick it some time later when I am in a different mood. I will do that 3 times. But after 3 times of getting bored with the book I will put it away.
I used to be a die hard “I started this, now I’m going to finish it!” person but now I won’t if the book is just terrible. I have a HUGE TBR list to get through and I don’t want to waste time reading something that has me slugging because I don’t like it. What usually gets me to stop reading a book is the writing. If it annoys the hell out of me, I’m going put the book down. If it sounds like an idiot wrote it, I’m going to put it down. If it has too many jumps and holes throughout the story, I’m going to put it down. Etc..
I will often finish books I hate so I can properly complain about how awful it is later.
I actually just decided to drop a series. I made it to book 3, and decided to drop it. Things that have added to it: To romance heavy, and it will cut into the action that is exceedingly rare. One character is telepathic, so it then goes on repeat. Every character has a long name, that by itself is fine, it’s just another straw. There’s a twist set up early in the third book, and the author keeps bringing up parts trying to dig on it, problem is I figured it out as soon as it comes up at all. (I haven’t gotten to the reveal yet) she had a copy of a thesaurus beside her as she wrote. To pile on top of that, she really likes one of the words she found, and it’s there a lot. I find repetition annoying to start with, but when it’s something I never use, it’s even worse. Now the telepath has been separated from her romantic partner, so every chapter is what one group of characters does, and a wrap up of what I just read.