Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Addicts discussion
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What makes you NOT finish a book?
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HEAD-Hopping! I hate headhopping. worst thing on Wattpad is the headhopping. I actually like some books without TOO much plot; sometimes plot makes me tired if it's too fast-moving.
When an author does too much "telling" rather than "showing," I tend to lose emotional commitment to the story.
Wow, I agree with so many of these, didn't realise I had so many pet peeves... Yikes! My worst is too descriptive or repetitive, for example I recently read a book where the author spent a page... A PAGE... describing every single item on the shelves of a store they went into. It went something like lamp, mouse pad, oil, book, nails, etc. for a page!! Like come on!! Only problem there is that I had read the authors other series and know she can take some time to get to things, I also already own the rest of the series so I have to read it but if I didnt I would have packed it up then and there.Also when characters who arent religious at all at the beginning become overly religious and then start preaching to everyone else, I quit a 13 book series mid way due to this, which for me is unheard of. Once I start I'm in it for the long haul for better or worse.
OMG. Every SINGLE thing on shelves? I love books where a single beautiful sentence just makes you feel like you are THERE.
When there's too much/unnecessary detail & not enough getting to the point. It's annoying.
There are a few reasons that I don't finish a book.1. excessive bad editing/spelling mistakes- computers can really help with spelling.
2. when the story take a left and changes into something alien to what I have been reading in the book.
3. When it gets boring- I want backstory so I can understand what is going on, but please don't over do it or gloss over it.
4. Sometimes it just doesn't hold my attention. I have a trilogy where I just can't get into the third book.
5. If the story seems too close to something else I read.
6. A big one issue I have with some series is that they last too long. After so many battle books fighting the bad guys the story needs to progress, not repeating itself.
7. Characters that do not develop or grow. Some series I have wanted to slap the heroine and say stop making the same mistakes over and over again, grow up.
I would agree with many of the reasons on here for not finishing, but would add judgemental and/or misogynistic third person narration to the list. I dont mind if such comes from a first person POV as it is clearly coming from a character, but to judge in third person is unforgivable for a storyteller whose job is to dramatize a feeling, not state it.
Moonlight wrote: "I'm reading a first novel in both a series and I think for the author. In the first 52 pages, 22 characters were introduced. Not counting the pets and dead characters. I started counting because I ..."I hate that, and it seems to be a big problem now authors are always trying to set up a huge, long series instead of writing a good first book.
I read an article once about how a person isn't capable of caring about more than half a dozen characters per book.
Secondary characters can be there, but don't expect us to remember their life stories!
Michael wrote: "I would agree with many of the reasons on here for not finishing, but would add judgemental and/or misogynistic third person narration to the list. I dont mind if such comes from a first person PO..."Misogyny seems to be becoming a bigger and bigger problem, especially in YA/NA books (thanks for kicking off that craze, Stephenie Meyer!). It is the #1 reason I'll stop reading. Not every female character other than the heroine has to be a sexy, nasty, stupid villainess!
I'll add to that the fact I will drop a book the second the author uses the phrase 'dumb blonde'.
I get the whole Mary Sue, reader self-insertion thing is the reason for it, but there's an entire generation of readers growing up with awful female role models in their books.
I have left books where the plot gives way to sex so much that the storyline stops. Or if tiny details that seem petty and unnecessary stop the plot from moving forward. Otherwise, I usually finish most books.
If there is too much of a set up and no action for a loooong time I get bored
When the tension is killed and there's nothing i'm curious about anymore
Boredom, when nothing happens, far too much description of the scenery, thin plots and unlikable characters. And of course, when the blurb says one thing and the book does another.
everything everybody else has mentioned...and also, okay, here is a pet peeve i have come across recently - a book with a so-called "unreliable narrator." IMO, this is a very hard-to-pull-off literary trick. it can be compelling, OR...simply unbelievable. if i lose faith, i won't finish a book.
if the book is too slow i have to stop reading it or it takes me forever, even if its short page-wise
If the author can't catch my attention in the first quarter of the book (less if it's a long book) then I"ll put it down. There are just too many phenomenal books out there to read something I"m not really interested in.
Info dumps
Need I say more?
Excessive character stupidity
If I have to roll my eyes too many times or am tempted to backhand, bit$h-slap the heroine,.....we are done.
Bad grammar/type-o's
A few slipping by is not bad but when it is on every page you turn.....nah-someone is not doing their job.
Serials
TOTAL rip off for reader...first in cost of books and secondly in remembering the story-I forget what was going on waiting for book 2 to come out of one. I pretty much don't read these anymore...or trilogies to tell one story. I also tend to rate these lower probably because I don't get into them like a do a full novel.
Story with too much going on in one book
Don't get me wrong, I Love a detailed story but sometimes it becomes a bit much.
If I put the book down and am not anxious to pick it up again. It's a rap!!!!
I put it down when all the little side stories don't add up. Some authors spend too much time waiting to connect the dots. Connect 'em already...
TSTL is usually a sticking point for me. But sex that goes on for pages with NO dialog beyond --ooh baby, yes, more--- sometimes is a DNF.
When reading it starts to make me feel like I'm trapped in a Tom & Jerry cartoon and I’ve been cast in the part of Jerry.
A.R. wrote: "TSTL is usually a sticking point for me. But sex that goes on for pages with NO dialog beyond --ooh baby, yes, more--- sometimes is a DNF."I agree with you on that. I find that sex scenes that go on for pages are just boring and will skim to the end of them to pick up the plot again (since many of these seemingly endless scenes do very little to advance plot or characterisation). And if there really isn't much of a plot, just one sex scene following another, it's a DNF.
Yep, endless sex is a DNF for me as well. Unless I'm reading an erotica, then it's expected. ;)I find if there is more than 2 sex scenes a book then it's too many.
Maeve wrote: "When reading it starts to make me feel like I'm trapped in a Tom & Jerry cartoon and I’ve been cast in the part of Jerry."Maeve, I love the analogy!
I have two things that make me DNF a book: boredom/not being able to get into the story and too much sex. I'm a romance reader and endless sex, to me, does not equal romance.
A big one for me is lack of character development. It really kills a story. Also the use of rape or assault in an unnecessary manner, or as a plot device. Aaaand stereotypical female characters/Mary Sues
The deal-breaker for me is predictability. Any time I can figure out what the ending will be without reading it, I'm done.It's tough as an author to put onto paper ideas that meet all of the criteria mentioned above - BUT it is such a great help to read everything that has been suggested here. So, from a writer, THANK YOU for posting your thoughts!!
(It makes me want to be a better writer...and pick up another good book!)
Katya wrote: "Maeve wrote: "When reading it starts to make me feel like I'm trapped in a Tom & Jerry cartoon and I’ve been cast in the part of Jerry."Maeve, I love the analogy!"
Thanks :D
POV characters who are dry and lack wit or drive. That's fine if the first few chapters are about getting the POV out of that phase and onto something more interesting with a call to action, but boring, unmotivated characters annoy me and make me want to not finish books!
Two sins: 1)Boredom and 2)Stupidity1) Boredom is self-explanatory. If the story arcs drag, I probably won't care. Sorry, they might be rad, but pacing issues can really bother me.
2) Stupidity is more nebulous because it kind of has more to do with how the novel handles tropes vs. the actual content of the plot. If something is played too straight or inverted poorly, it can be a huge turn-off for me.
What keeps me from finishing a book is the journey. When I pick up a book, I expect it to lead me through a journey of the main character. I want to feel like I am them and I want to laugh and cry with them. I don't want to wish they would hurry up and meet that special someone and be done with it. I want to believe they are real and I could meet them when I am out.
I won't finish a book that jumps around too much, either switching POV unexpectedly, or changing scenes and it makes no sense or even just skipping parts of the story to move the plot along. Of course, those usually occur in indie books.
I also hate it when there is no plot, when I try to figure out exactly what's going on and I realize that nothing has happened in the past 50 pages or so.