When Reading a Book Goes Horribly Wrong

[hopefulmorning]

Have you ever started a book with high hopes, and then became more and more disappointed to the point where you don't even want to finish the book?

When in those situations, did you finish the book or didn't you?

Have you regretted your decision either way?

I had started a book in between reading WoA and HoA that I thought would be a light, fun, urban fantasy type romp. I was SORELY disappointed. The completionist in me wants to finish the book, while the reader in me doesn't want to be subjected to the book anymore and just wants to get rid of it. I'm at a loss with what to do, and would love to hear what any of you have to say on the matter.

 

[Silverblade5]

 

Have you ever started a book with high hopes, and then became more and more disappointed to the point where you don't even want to finish the book?

When in those situations, did you finish the book or didn't you?

Have you regretted your decision either way?

I had started a book in between reading WoA and HoA that I thought would be a light, fun, urban fantasy type romp. I was SORELY disappointed. The completionist in me wants to finish the book, while the reader in me doesn't want to be subjected to the book anymore and just wants to get rid of it. I'm at a loss with what to do, and would love to hear what any of you have to say on the matter.

 

I'd say skip to the ending. If it's a good one, finish it. If not, ditch it.

[Lightning]

I went into the 4th Eragon book with very high hopes.  The first two books were fun (if not deep), and I liked the third one okay.  But the 4th one was just AWFUL!  First, I had to wait YEARS for it to come out.  When it finally did, it seemed like they gave the author too much free rein.  He needed a good editor.  There was one part where it seemed like he droned on for 10 pages about toenails or something.  The last 200-300 pages could have been cut from the book and nothing good would have been lost.

 

I should have stopped, but I didn't.  I guess the good thing that came out of it was I will no longer read his books.  So there is that...

[Araris Valerian]

Well. Hunger Games number 3. I guess all of my expectations came from reading Mistborn, but that book was pretty bad even when you don't compare it to Sanderson's works. I like to re read books, even ones that I don't necessarily like the endings to, but I will never revisit that one.

[hopefulmorning]

Well. Hunger Games number 3. I guess all of my expectations came from reading Mistborn, but that book was pretty bad even when you don't compare it to Sanderson's works. I like to re read books, even ones that I don't necessarily like the endings to, but I will never revisit that one.

 

I was really disappointed in the second and third Hunger Games books. The way the PTSD was done was extremely tropy. My ex husband has severe PTSD, and so it was really obvious to me that she hadn't done her research other than maybe reading some articles. Plus, I HATE LOVE TRIANGLES!!!! They're one of my biggest pet peeves. They really lower my respect for an author's writing if they have to use something like that to make enough 'drama' for their character, and they have a tendency to really lower the impact of a strong, female character because the focus becomes she has to be with a guy to be valuable instead of the focus being on how much of a bad chull she is.

 

I went into the 4th Eragon book with very high hopes.  The first two books were fun (if not deep), and I liked the third one okay.  But the 4th one was just AWFUL!  First, I had to wait YEARS for it to come out.  When it finally did, it seemed like they gave the author too much free rein.  He needed a good editor.  There was one part where it seemed like he droned on for 10 pages about toenails or something.  The last 200-300 pages could have been cut from the book and nothing good would have been lost.

 

I should have stopped, but I didn't.  I guess the good thing that came out of it was I will no longer read his books.  So there is that...

 

I never finished this series. I had read the first two, tried reading the third when it came out, but lost interest. I've since not been able to bring myself to read it just because I've gotten a bit tired of the traditional human, elves, dragons, etc. fantasy. It has to be amazing for me to want to read it and keep reading it. This is part of why I love Sanderson's work so much. He's been breathing in fresh life into fantasy.

 

I'd say skip to the ending. If it's a good one, finish it. If not, ditch it.

 

I did this already, haha, and was just kind of 'blah' about it. I've finally decided I'm just going to donate it. I primarily read fiction for enjoyment, and since this book really isn't bringing me much enjoyment I'm going to just let it go and move on.

[Ookla the Absent]

What book was it?

[Orlion Blight]

Usually, I just set the book aside and read something else. I usually get back to it, unless it's really bad. 

[maxal]

It happened to me when I tried to read Joe Abercrombie which is supposed to be VERY good... I tried the Blade Itself and Before they were Hanged. Whereas I thought the second book was much better than the first, I was sorely disappointed. I was told this story was strong characterization and I found myself not caring about them at all... or very little. There was just something in that story that failed to move me. It was not bad, but it was far from being the revelation I was expecting.

[TCshard]

I have a similar problem but it's not that I don't like the book, I just cant seem to get through it. I stopped reading a Feast of Crows near the end for no reason and not wanting to finish it when I've forgotten some of the plot for the rest of asoiaf, I decided to reread the series. I always stop at after the first or second book because I don't have time and I always have this urge to start from the first book before reading the others if it's been at least a few months. Have read game of thrones like 5 times and I'm finally getting to the point that I'm sick of it. :/ I think it might be my OCD is very reactive to my reading style.

[hopefulmorning]

What book was it?

 

"The Witch's Daughter" by Paula Brackston.

 

It started off as very urban fantasy with Wicca influences, which was great. I thought it was going to have some time travel elements due to the back cover description kind of hinting at that, but it wasn't that AT ALL. Then there's the big bad warlock, which had some really creepy, rapey elements and the main character knowing this and still somewhat falling for him and just...ick...blech. ::shudders:: Nope. The characters were difficult to relate to along with being poorly developed to the point where certain scenes would happen and the reactions were obviously the author railroading them.

 

Basically, I just can't subject myself to reading it anymore. It's too bad because apparently it was a NY Times bestseller so I had a lot of high hopes going into it.

[hopefulmorning]

I have a similar problem but it's not that I don't like the book, I just cant seem to get through it. I stopped reading a Feast of Crows near the end for no reason and not wanting to finish it when I've forgotten some of the plot for the rest of asoiaf, I decided to reread the series. I always stop at after the first or second book because I don't have time and I always have this urge to start from the first book before reading the others if it's been at least a few months. Have read game of thrones like 5 times and I'm finally getting to the point that I'm sick of it. :/ I think it might be my OCD is very reactive to my reading style.

 

I'm having similar difficulty with Martin's series. I've tried multiple times to get into it, but I just get the blah's about it and don't want to continue. Then feel like I need to start over when I decide I want to try again, and it just becomes this vicious cycle. Maybe if the series actually gets finished I'll read it through at that time.

 

I got stuck with WoT too. I got to book 4 and needed to go cleanse my pallet with something else. It's been awhile with reading them, and I really want to start them again, but don't want to start over. My husband said there's a woman who has a blog that's quite literally a summary of each chapter of all the books. I may try that instead.

[Syleena]

I had the same problem with Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan. The first book in the trilogy, Blood Song, was really good, the second wasn't so good and hoped the final book would improve again but it didn't! I did read it to the end which was difficult and I was dissapointed.

[Chaos]

Moving this to Entertainment/Book Discussion.

[ccstat]

This has happened to me a number of times, and I almost always choose to finish the book. I've mildly regretted that about a third of the time, wishing for my time back, and strongly regretted it 2 or 3 times, wishing to get it out of my brain. I've never regretted abandoning a book, but in fairness I haven't done that very often.

Edited August 12, 2015 by ccstat

[Briar King]

I'm having similar difficulty with Martin's series. I've tried multiple times to get into it, but I just get the blah's about it and don't want to continue. Then feel like I need to start over when I decide I want to try again, and it just becomes this vicious cycle. Maybe if the series actually gets finished I'll read it through at that time.

I got stuck with WoT too. I got to book 4 and needed to go cleanse my pallet with something else. It's been awhile with reading them, and I really want to start them again, but don't want to start over. My husband said there's a woman who has a blog that's quite literally a summary of each chapter of all the books. I may try that instead.

He maybe talking about Terez idk. She is the 4th biggest WoT fan but she is always active on Malazan board.

I ll finish every book I start just on the hope it goes somewhere. My one exception was Brisinger(Eragon 3)......Got about 50ish pages in and my eyes were bleeding so much(Trump ftw) I wound up throwing it in trash along with bks 1&2.

[ParadoxicalZen]

He maybe talking about Terez idk. She is the 4th biggest WoT fan but she is always active on Malazan board.

I ll finish every book I start just on the hope it goes somewhere. My one exception was Brisinger(Eragon 3)......Got about 50ish pages in and my eyes were bleeding so much(Trump ftw) I wound up throwing it in trash along with bks 1&2.

 

My eyes for second, made me think i read 'Throwing up in the trash over it' then.

 

I actually quited liked the Inheritance Saga but that may just be me. Terry Brooks i was beyond disappointed in: I had to force myself to finish the first book of the Sword of Shannara trilogy and then tried the second and I was just like 'nope, not happening'

[Kestrel]

Did you mean: Divergent

[Hood]

Joe Abercrombie's book "Last Argument of The Kings" is the only book which I couldn't finish. I mean, suddenly every character changes, and the change is bad. Being a total goody-goody person, I couldn't tolerate this, and just spoilered my way to the end.

 

Now, I think WoT book 5 is going through same phase. I just cannot tolerate any more Nynaeve pulling here braids, and her apparent disdain for men. Elayne till now is nice. Same goes for Min. But Aviendha is irritating. Her constant "Rand, you are for Elayne" and "Elayne loves you" is annoying. Though, I must say, Mat is an interesting character.

[hopefulmorning]

Now, I think WoT book 5 is going through same phase. I just cannot tolerate any more Nynaeve pulling here braids, and her apparent disdain for men. Elayne till now is nice. Same goes for Min. But Aviendha is irritating. Her constant "Rand, you are for Elayne" and "Elayne loves you" is annoying. Though, I must say, Mat is an interesting character.

 

Hahahaha!! I can totally relate to this. At one point I was like, "If Robert Jordan says 'she crossed her arms under her breasts' one more time...I'm throwing this into the fire!"

 

His character development stuff is lacking somewhat, but the world building is brilliant, which was what got me through to where I did. Nynaeve grew on me. I like Aviendha EXCEPT where it pertains to Rand. I loved Min from the start. Egwene (sp?) annoyed me from the get go and still does. Mat is now starting to grow on me some after the whole knife situation. Perrin I just want to slap and tell him to get over it with his whole wolf thing, and Jordan pairing him with Faile was just...fail. 

[Iarwainiel I]

Did you all know there's an actual term for this? It was invented by the Sword & Laser Book Group (they have an audio podcast, are active on Goodreads, and used to have a show on the Geek & Sundry channel). Here's the definition from their wiki:

Lem: "The term 'Lem' means to not finish a book and abandon it. This term comes from when the Sword and Laser (audio podcast) was reading Stanisław Lem's Memoirs Found in a Bathtub. Veronica couldn't make it through the book so just gave up reading it."

Since learning this term, I'm happy to say that I've lemmed several books - - very useful terminology.

 

Re: WoT summary: Your husband probably meant Leigh Butler's WoT Reread over at tor.com. That was the only way I got through WoT to the point where I could read Brandon's 3 books. When I realized I was forcing myself through the grinding agony of reading book 6 - supposedly "for pleasure" - I was ready to just give up; I hated all the characters except Hopper and wanted them all to die. Then I found the re-read. Between that and the online WoT encyclopedia , I got through it, and I am not the only Sharder who has gone this route. I figure that since the only reason for starting the series was to get to Brandon's books, I don't have to feel bad about skipping over Jordan's. As always, your mileage may vary.

 

Great topic, hopefulmorning!

Edited August 16, 2015 by old aggie

[Curious Anamaximder]

DIVERGENT 2 AND 3.

[Dunkum]

there have been a couple book series where this happened to me.  for one of them, it was only 3 books long, so I went ahead and finished it (it actually succeeded in getting worse and worse in the later books).  the other was substantially longer and I just stopped midway through the third book.  would have finished that book, at least, but my copy happened to have a misprint, where it was missing a good 60 pages.  at that point I just decide that it wasn't worth pursuing further.

 

Hahahaha!! I can totally relate to this. At one point I was like, "If Robert Jordan says 'she crossed her arms under her breasts' one more time...I'm throwing this into the fire!"

 

His character development stuff is lacking somewhat, but the world building is brilliant, which was what got me through to where I did. Nynaeve grew on me. I like Aviendha EXCEPT where it pertains to Rand. I loved Min from the start. Egwene (sp?) annoyed me from the get go and still does. Mat is now starting to grow on me some after the whole knife situation. Perrin I just want to slap and tell him to get over it with his whole wolf thing, and Jordan pairing him with Faile was just...fail. 

 

Mat and Perrin got me through that series.  I basically couldn't stand anything Rand did past about book 2, but Mat was always fun, and while I agree that Perrin just needed to get over it, I still mostly enjoyed his character.  interestingly, one of the characters I liked most at the end was Egwene.  I found her boring at first, and annoying most of the way through, but in the last few books she gets much, much better.  Thom helps too, but he is very rarely a viewpoint character, so his help is mostly on the side.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Dunkum

[maxal]

DIVERGENT 2 AND 3.

 

I'd give a hundred upvotes if I could   First book was enjoyable enough despite its flaws. Book 2 was not really up to it and book 3 was plain awful. 

[Briar King]

Ah I lied. There was another book I put down in disgust. I forgot all about it as I did plan on going back to it but never managed before it got throw away. Donaldson 2nd Chronicles of Unbeliever.

[Orlion Blight]

Ah I lied. There was another book I put down in disgust. I forgot all about it as I did plan on going back to it but never managed before it got throw away. Donaldson 2nd Chronicles of Unbeliever.

Was that during The One Tree? Because if it was during The Wounded Land... *shakes fist*