Weekly topic for discussion - What throws you out of a story?

[Jonetta]

There are certain things a hero/heroine can do that will just stop me cold, preventing me from really moving on or staying connected with a story. Sometimes it may be the way the author describes a scene or the use (or repetitive use) of a word that turns me off.

One example is cheating. I don't ever seem to recover or be able to forgive the h/H no matter what she/he does by the end of the book.

Do you have any pet peeves or situations that are big no-nos for you, perhaps ruining the romance, the moment or something similar?

[Maggie]

Using the same words over and over, big turn off for me.

[Jonetta]

Do you ever find yourself counting them after a time?

[Giulia]

Turn offs... That's a good question. I don't think I have a particular pet peeve that just makes me abandon a book, but if a book is boring I can't go on. Sometimes style can get under my skin, and then I continue with a book. Or, if a book feels like it's gone on longer than necessary, like the story is already told and yet dragging on, I just can't finish a book then. These things can make the book boring for me.

[Jonetta]

I hate when the same point gets made over and over again. That's when I resort to some serious skimming.

[Giulia]

I just give up lol

[Heather L]

Actually, my biggest pet peeve and the number one item that pulls me out of a story is sloppy editing. This can be anything from excessive typos to repeating an action just done or not knowing where their characters are and what they're doing. If there is a lot of this, my internal editor takes over and I end up looking for mistakes rather than enjoying the book.

Repetition can also be annoying. Not just the overuse of one word (although I dislike that as well), but of theme/motif. There's one mystery writer I will no longer read as she has a habit of seizing on a particular motif in every book as a secondary plot, and then beating you over the head with it. Not only was it annoying, it detracted from the overall story.

[Sandra]

Maggie wrote: "Using the same words over and over, big turn off for me."

LOL Maggie...I recently read a book that repeatedly used a word to describe the male's "assets"...after a few times, I became more interested in counting the times the word was used than in reading the book! But it was still a good read.

[Jonetta]

Jewels~♌ wrote: "I just give up lol"

Oh, I wish I could:)

[Jonetta]

Heather L wrote: "Actually, my biggest pet peeve and the number one item that pulls me out of a story is sloppy editing. This can be anything from excessive typos to repeating an action just done or not knowing wher..."

It is so very distracting to find a lot of editing issues. Unfortunately, that's becoming quite commonplace these days.

[Sandra]

One thing that loses me in a book is descriptive scenes that go on and on without adding a thing to the story or plot. I love a good description but page upon page upon page is usually unnecessary to the story. I begin skimming and skipping over them.

Here lately...a big turn off for me has become the loooooong graphic sex scenes that some authors are using to fill pages. Never thought I'd say that but even some of my past fav authors have become guilty of doing that. It's hard to find the storyline for all the sex scenes. What happened to a good developed romance story that builds anticipation before the sex starts?

[Jonetta]

Sandra - *Star* wrote: "One thing that loses me in a book is descriptive scenes that go on and on without adding a thing to the story or plot. I love a good description but page upon page upon page is usually unnecessary..."

I'm reading one now, a m/m romance, where I'm just getting worn out by the sex. Normally I can handle it but I'm learning a little too much right now.

[Sandra]

LOL...exactly. It goes from being romantic to being boring. I'm pretty sure sex scenes shouldn't do that!

[Giulia]

No, they ought add depth to the story. Build chemistry. Not be a lesson in sex.

[Talya]

What gets on my nerves is when the hero or heroine is a complete jerk to their love interest, or doesn't seem to be that into them, that totally zaps the chemistry for me. I also get annoyed with too much bickering, arguing, and breaking up. I get conflict, but on and off, then on and off again does not work for me.

[Maribel]

I agree on the sex scenes getting boring. Which makes me quite sad. Sex scenes should not be the portions of the books Im most inclined to skip through.

Talya I also get annoyed with the on and off routine. It takes away the feelings of a connection between the couple for me.

[[deleted user]]

Jewels~♌ wrote: "Turn offs... That's a good question. I don't think I have a particular pet peeve that just makes me abandon a book, but if a book is boring I can't go on. Sometimes style can get under my skin, and..."
Jewels, I know exactly how u feel. That's how I'm feelin' right now with the book that I'm readin' on right now....it's called ,it's kinda startin' to get boring for me at the moment...I'm sorta thinkin' about either skimming thru the rest of the noval,simply skippin' over to the more "exciting moments" of the book or basicly just give up and quit readin' on it....I don't know 'cause I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm sorta like u when it comes to the pet peeves...if a noval just gets down right boring or the story feels like its just dragging and dragging then I can't simply just keep on readin' it and hope for the best, I give all of ya'll credit and respect for doin' that,I can't
do that at all. The super bad editing and even the waaay too much sex scenes is too gruesome and gross for me to digest. I get it that the sex scenes are in the books for the readers to enjoy and sorta "feel sexy" for the characters but ya'll are right, it shouldn't b in there just simply for learning lessons,that's not y sex should b in the books in the first place in my opinion. Not enough chemistry is just not good at all,and also while I need to add here is this: too much arguing and too much drama is waay too much for someone to take it all in. I mean, whatever happened to some really good books to enjoy? Did they all get sorta stuck down the drain by all of the horrible extra long sex scenes that we (as the readers) are supposed to digest and take in? Come on!

[Janeiowa]

Two things make me stop reading.

1. Poor editing so that grammatical and spelling errors/misuse of words make the text sound like a poor first draft.

2. Repetition of a phrase. I dumped an author after the narrator used "my man" 11 times in the first 5 pages and the characters seemed to be illiterate.

Life is too short and there are too many decent authors out there to waste my time on garbage.

[Giulia]

Agreed April, if the book just drags...I'm not usually along for the ride.

[[deleted user]]

Jewels~♌ wrote: "Agreed April, if the book just drags...I'm not usually along for the ride."

Thank u Jewels! Finally somebody out there who agrees with me and doesn't make me feel so damn guilty,lol!!!! I am so glad that u agree with me. Yes, I agree with ya: if the book drags, then yeah, I'm not along for the ride either! If the book drags and deep down, u know that the story is goin' south instead of the way that it should b goin',then y in the world go along with the ride when the whole thing/story/characters/setting and everything drag u down with it? Eh, it's totally not for me....not every book is the best one of all and not ev'ry book is great literature!

[Giulia]

I just lose interest. I think a lot of readers don't feel guilty about not finishing a book they aren't into. Maybe if it was for a series I was hugely invested in, I'd plow through in the hopes the ending would make it worthwhile; I think many of us do that BUT for a book I don't gave an investment in? Nope? Not wasting my time. I give a book a good chance, sometimes go back to it after a few weeks but if I'm still disinterested I just move on. Too many books to read to waste time on one I'm not enjoying. Note though that I usually enjoy and fi yah my reads; I've gotten good at choosing them.