Angela of Musings of a Literary Wanderer recently posted an awesome discussion post: What Makes You DNF A Book that really got me thinking.
I already have a DNF Policy for myself, though the word “policy” is used rather lightly here.
But what makes me DNF a book? There are MANY things.
What Makes Me DNF A Book?
Repetition
Repetition drives me insane. This is the #1 reason why I will DNF a book.
In some cases, repetition in books can be a good thing if it makes sense for the story! For example, when you are in the head of the character and they are panicking about something, and keep thinking about the same times.
Unfortunately, many times I find that repetition just bogs down the story.
I have DNFed many books because I found myself rolling my eyes with how much repetition there was. One of my biggest peeves is when the story is recapped time and time again when the reader absolutely doesn’t need the recap in the first place.
Too many typos or a serious lack of editing
I read a lot of ARC’s for authors, many of which are uncorrected proofs. I have absolutely no problem sending over a list of edits for them to review in order to help out. So when I DNF a book because there are too many typos, you know it’s an extreme case.
Latching on to the same phrase
Related to repetition, I cannot stand when an author latches on to a certain phrase and you see it appear time and time again in the book.
Prime example… when an author writes “he/she let out a breath he/she didn’t know they were holding” in six different places of the story.
The element of cheating
Cheating is a trigger for me and I try to avoid it as much as I can.
Sometimes, if it’s only referenced, and not a major plot point, I can push through. But if the plot is centered around it, I have to bail. If there is a very descriptive scene about cheating, I have to close the book immediately or jump forward and hope that it doesn’t happen again.
Vulgarity & over the top sex scenes
My fuse is quite short when it comes to vulgarity in books. I also don’t enjoy sex scenes that go a bit too far for my personal preference. Ugh, there’s one sex scene from a book I buddy read that, to this day, still makes me nauseous…
Don’t get me wrong! The inclusion of a sex scene isn’t an automatic DNF for me, it just needs to be done in a way that doesn’t stray into erotica or use the same pretty gross phrase, like in A Court of Mist and Fury.
Bad narration
In print books, if the narrator is rubbing me the wrong way, I’ll bail. Far too often I have found books where the narration really drags the story down rather than being there to support the main events.
In audiobooks, narration is key. I am SO picky about audiobook narrators. The voice of the narrator needs to be easy to listen to, the tone needs to be level, they need to portray the story well, and it needs to be a great quality recording. If the voice is irritating or if I can hear all the little clicks and such from their mouth moving, I stop listening.
Confusing organization
I don’t mind if a storyline jumps around a bit, just as long as I can still follow it. If a storyline is organized in a way that is just too jumpy, or if I am confused and can’t follow, I’ll bail.
Too many POV’s
For me to stay engaged in a story with varying POVs, it needs to be written very well. The character development needs to occur early on so I really have a feel for each of the different characters, and each of the voices for the characters needs to be unique so they don’t blend together.
Extremely unlikable characters
I don’t need to enjoy every single character. I don’t even need to like them However, if the main character is one that I absolutely cannot stand, I will bail.
It’s just no fun reading a tale where I cannot connect to the character at all and absolutely hate everything that they do. Girl On The Train… I’m looking at you!
Thanks for reading!
What are some reasons why you may DNF a book?
I agree with you on the cheating thing, especially if the person has been in their relationship for awhile. Maybe it’s a trigger because I’ve been with my partner for 8+ years? Great things here.
Repetition is a big one for me. I was reading a book that had dual POVs and in one of the POVs, EVERY chapter referenced that the character had a secret. OMG, just tell us what the secret is! And repeating certain phrases is annoying, too.
I’m listening to an audiobook now and it’s really reinforcing that the narrator’s voice has a lot to do with my enjoyment of the book. It has 3 narrators and one of them over-enunciates everything and has this weird put-on accent. It’s hard to listen to. If she were the only narrator, I’d probably DNF.
Thanks for linking to my post!! <3
Oh nooooo! That repetition and over enunciation would drive me nuts!! And of course, thanks for giving me the inspiration to write this one! 🙂
Great discussion. I think slow pacing and too many confusing POVs are the two main factors that will make me DNF a book. When continuing with a book starts to feel like a chore, I’m over it, lol.
Same here! Life is too short for book you’re not enjoying!!
YES! Too many POVs is irritating. I know its trendy, but ‘COME ON!’
On audiobook narrators – I have almost stopped listening because quite a few made the story worse than what it actually was.
The main things that make stop reading: obvious spelling errors (‘rode’ vs ‘road’), completely sane characters who all of a sudden have a different name, and copycat plots (those where I have seen it before in a recent bestseller).
Yeah!! Ugh it just has to be done REALLY well for me to be on board with varying POV’s. Oh, great point about the copycat plots!! That is certainly irritating!
Yes all very valid points for not finishing a book! For me it is dreadful characters and plots going nowhere that are the biggest killers for me.
Yeah, those two elements are the worst!!
Repetition can be really annoying, especially when you read somewhat fast, you seem to come across this similar passages or phrases rather rapidly. Makes it hard not to notice. I see a lot of people annoyed with cheating storylines. I don’t think I’ve come across too many, but it’s definitely not one that would make me want to pick up a book.
Repetition is my biggest irk!!
I agree with all your post and then some. Editing is my pet peeve and I will gladly DNF a book that looks like it wasn’t proofread.
Yeah! That’s so frustrating! I don’t mind too much if it’s an uncorrected proof or early ARC, but if it’s way too much and I’m editing more than reading, that’s a problem.
I don’t really have hard NOs when it comes to most books, so I don’t DNF too often. If the book is really slow or just not interesting, then I’ll probably put it down though.
-Lauren
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These are all excellent reasons! I try to never DNF a book because I hate leaving things unfinished, but when a book’s been poorly edited, it gets hard!!
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I should really DNF books more than I actually do. Typos and too many grammatical errors really bother me too! I also really don’t like cheating in my books and I hate reading about it. And I think bad narration definitely has an affect as well.
I feel the same way… I push through too many that I’m not enjoying and it’s so frustrating.