Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is Top Ten Petty Reasons I’ve DNF’d a Book or Lowered its Rating. This topic was submitted anonymously through the topics suggestion form, and sounded like a lot of fun. I had to put it on the calendar! We’re all at least a little nitpicky when it comes to our books, right? Any avid reader, who has read and loved (and hated) a lot of books develops some kind of dealbreakers list. Sometimes it’s the very little, insignificant gripes that bring down a book for us. Maybe it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back, or maybe it’s something that seems insignificant to others but is HUGE and insurmountable for us! Whatever the case may be, this is where we can air those out. I’m not going to be sharing the books in question because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Plus, some of these individual reasons have made me unhappy with multiple books. So here we go! I’m super excited to see all your lists this week.
1. For being too quirky.
Like, maybe the character is so unrealistically quirky that I couldn’t believe they existed. Or maybe the writing, setting, concepts were just so wild.
2. For having too many unnecessary commas.
I cannot stand it when I’m reading a book and there are commas everywhere. I love a good comma, but sometimes there’s so many and a sentence runs on forever. Just end the sentence! Let me catch my breath!
3. For being too “slice of life”.
I need a plot. I need for things to happen. I don’t care to read about a character’s mindless musings and meanderings through life, with no point.
4. For being too many genres at once.
I recently read a book that was supposed to be a historical romance/historical fiction blend. Great. But the romance was so underdeveloped and the historical fiction was so basic that I was left unsatisfied with all of it. If you’re promising a romance, I want to be swept away and swoon and fall in love. If you’re promising historical fiction, I want to be immersed in history and learn something. If you smush them together and don’t give me either thing, I’m not going to think favorably of the book.
5. For not being Christmassy enough.
I’ve read so many books that had beautiful Christmas covers, festive titles, and a back cover synopsis that sounded like the story was going to be filled with cheer, only to get halfway through and forget that I was supposed to be reading a Christmas story. Don’t tell me it’s a Christmas book, but have no Christmas in it! A book set in October, ending with a scene or two around the tree in December is not a Christmas book!
6. For having an annoying narrator.
I’ve been known to abandon an audiobook 10 minutes in because I couldn’t stand the narrator’s voice, the voice acting, or the narrator’s inability to pronounce words correctly.
7. For being sad when it’s not supposed to be.
Sometimes I can expect that a book will be sad. If I’m reading WW2 fiction, it’s to be expected. But if I’m reading a rom-com and am hit with super sad subject matter, that’s a kind of whiplash I can’t recover from.
8. For having characters of scientifically impossible sizes.
I get so tired of reading about heroines who are OBSESSED with recounting how large their male love interests are. Or men talking about how tiny their female love interests are. Hands the size of her entire head, shoulders the size of a car, thighs the size of her waist, neck the size of her thigh, manhood the size of a log. And this is not an uncommon trend. lol. I see this more than I’d like. Are these men 8 feet tall and 500 pounds of muscle? Are these women Thumbelina?
9. For having too many easy-to-research inaccuracies.
It is not hard to research what it’s like to go on a cruise. I’ll leave it at that. lol.
10. For clearly ripping off another book.
I have a lot of favorite books, so I’m always looking for similar books that will give me the same adventure. I am not looking for an inferior rip-off of the story. Write something new! Not everything has to be ACOTAR to be romantasy!
What small things make you DNF a book or lower its rating?
I wish I had thought of #5. Great list, Jana!
Thank you, Cheryl!
These are some fun reasons, Jana! I forgot that mixing too many genres is something that annoys me too. I think it can be done well, but sometimes it’s just too much. Fun list, and one that reminds me of some reasons I could have used. :)
Thanks, Rissi! Yes, I’m all for mixing genres if it’s done well! Romantic suspense is one of my favorite genre mash-ups, but I still need enough of both genres to be fully satisfied!
They are great reasons. I drew a complete blank so had to change it a bit.
One thing I really dislike in a book is swearing. That puts me off.
The only DNF I have had was a collection of short stories where I had absolutely no idea what was going on in them 😂
Have a great week!
Swearing puts me off, too. I know I kind of have to expect there will be some in most books, but too much makes me quit.
Enjoy your week!
Yeah I kept mine simple as well and avoided titles. I can’t even be sure I’d remember them all either! If they were DNFs or low ratings it’s most likely that book has been rehomed! Lol. Characters of scientifically impossible sizes is a good one! I couldn’t think of 10 specifically because I guess I was homing in on the DNF part rather than the reduced rating. The last one is another good one! I keep seeing so many titles lately of “A Court of…” and I’m just thinking…are you trying to trick the unsavvy reader into thinking you’re apart of the same series? It feels misleading. I mean I get jumping on the romantasy bandwagon but to play off other series titles just feels weird to me. I saw it for another series too and I don’t know…I just feel like it’s a wee bit deceiving. Guess I could’ve added that to my list as well! I knew I’d think of more “things” once I saw other posts!
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Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
Luckily I keep very good records on Goodreads, because I’m with you! I donate my DNFs and low-star reads and would never be able to remember them all! Totally agree with you on the “A Court of…” books. I hadn’t ever thought of it as a little sneaky/misleading, but I absolutely get it! I can see people getting confused and thinking they were buying books in the same series. Very good point. Thanks for stopping by!
I really don’t like sad in a book that I am not expecting it in. That’s an evil trick!
Yes! It’s really not nice when authors to do that to us!
LOL, the bodies of impossible sizes!! I was just reading a book this week where a woman was admiring the man’s massive thighs… and I just thought how unlikely the description made it seem (not to mention — where does he buy pants?)
Haha right?! After a while, I start picturing these guys as the Hulk. LOL
I agree, a book that promises one thing and delivers another is a huge turn-off for me, too!
Great minds think alike!
Oh I definitely agree with your “too slice of life” reason, I also don’t like that (or stream-of-consciousness style of writing) for the same reason, I need things to happen!
Oh yes, I forgot about the stream of consciousness kinds of stories. Zzzzzzz. Can’t do it!
#2 is truly the definition of petty and I love it. (I’m similar with using dashes instead of quotation marks for dialogue. How can something that does not technically affect the story in any way affect its rating? It Just Does.)
These are all great, but that & #8 particularly made me laugh.
Dashes instead of quotation marks?!?! Oh no no no, that would drive me up the wall! I’ve never seen that before, but my patience would be gone very quickly. It’s so wild how the tiniest things can make us abandon ship. I guess they’re not actually that tiny after all!
Big oops here. Can you delete my first Beckie@ByTheBook link? It takes it to my dashboard. Thanks!
Absolutely! I’ve deleted it!
6, 9, 10 [agree on the large male comment too but don’t read those lol] Annoying narrator–esp when I’ve even taken the trouble to listen to the sample on Amazon. I am a Christian, but Christian publishing rips-off many secular books in my opinion. I avoid most of them for that reason. [I don’t say this to be offensive]
Yes!! I do my best to listen to samples so I don’t make bad purchasing decisions. I even do that before checking out audios from my library so I’m not wasting resources, so it’s extremely frustrating when the sample is great and then everything falls apart! I agree with you on Christian publishing. I’m also Christian, but I have definitely seen some very similar storylines of popular secular books come out of some of those publishing houses. Very disappointing.
Oooh, yes, #1 is a problem for me too. A little bit of quirky can go a VERY long way! I’m a fan of a touch, but I don’t want anything too zany or silly.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Exactly! A little quirk can be endearing and fun, but when things get too wacky I start to lose focus. Enjoy your week, Susan!
100% on #9. It’s a big pet peeve of mine when info is easy to find, but novels have clear time-period inaccuracies.
YES. When I find inaccuracies in historical novels I get very frustrated. There’s so much info out there on so many topics, and it’s never been easier to access it than now! Research is important.
Total agreement on the annoying narrators and books full of inaccuracies. I’ll DNF for those, too.
I’m a bit late this week, but at least I managed to get the post up eventually!
This was hilarious, everything I didn’t realize I needed. I am 100% guilty of number 2, and I’m not even a author (in case you’re wondering, I did analyze this comment for commas, I’ll leave you to decide). I can appreciate a book that totally rips off another… If I expect it to be a retelling of a CLASSIC tale, but rip-offs of just any book are the worst.