Welcome to another blog hop. Today’s topic is given below:
What determines whether or not you finish a book you’re reading? Do you review books you didn’t finish?
If I see a book description I like the look of and the price is right, then I’ll add it to my Kindle. Reviews are subjective and so I don’t take too much notice of these, as there’ll always be 5 star and 1 star reviews of the same book. As I start to read, several things will turn me off wanting to read it to the end:
- Bad grammar and spelling.
- Too many repeated words.
- Too many adverbs.
- A stagnated plot or a plot that is too long-drawn out and takes ages to move forward.
- Too much description in order to eke out the word count.
- Too graphic: Too much sex, swearing and violence.
- The book is so boring that I don’t really care what happens in the end.
I will keep reading a book to the end and review it if:
- The book is not too long.
- The plot moves along at a good pace.
- I am interested enough to keep turning the pages to find out ‘whodunnit’.
- Not too much fluff and shite added simply to increase the word count.
- The book is well written, in my preferred genres (psychological thrillers, memoirs, autobiographies and family sagas), and especially if it’s witty.
- If I am interested in the subject, especially when it comes to memoirs and autobiographies.
When I first started out as an author, I had an ‘abandoned’ shelf on Goodreads for the books I couldn’t get on with and didn’t finish. I haven’t added any books to it for several years now, as most of the authors contacted me. Some, especially one of them, were quite nasty that their book had been added to the shelf. However, in my opinion they had all been added for some dire reason, but hey, I didn’t want the backlash anymore. I just decided instead not to review any books I didn’t like or didn’t finish. Authors will know I liked their book because they’ll always see my review either on Goodreads or Amazon.
What to other blog hoppers do regarding finishing a book and reviewing it? Please click on the blue button to find out, or just leave a comment. Thanks.
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Stevie Turner 
I always used to finish books that I started, but I’ve give up that habit in the past couple of years. It seems nonsensical to keep going with something I’m not enjoying, especially when there are so many other books I want to read. A couple of my deal breakers are stilted dialog and implausible circumstances such as running into the main suspect of a crime in some random city that has nothing to do with the crime or plot.
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Yes, I agree. My TBR list is too long to bother about reading something I’m not enjoying.
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I will occasionally mention stop-reads, but won’t bother with a shit review as it’s pointless. What’s really getting to me lately is too much passive voice. Bob was sitting in his pickup truck, Maria was putting her groceries away, Becky was checking out the guy, Jack was pleased with his choice of breakfast muffins. Talk about useless wordcount and lazy writing. Yes, it has its place. Particularly in dialog, but several sentences in a row of it is a mushy as oatmeal read. Metaphor and simile everywhere are also a turnoff 😉 I have no trouble with potty mouth, particularly in given genres because that’s how certain elements, not all criminal, talk. Watch any episode of a true crime show. Saw one the other night, dude in a car, with his dope salesman in the back seat, both talking to an undercover cop about killing the dude’s wife. Once they ****ing bleeped all the ****ing **** out there wasn’t ****ing **** for ***ing convo between the three ****ing ***holes. Whether it plays at Walmart or the senior center, church picnic or not. And I ****ing despise cliché flashbacks. However inventive ones are a treat. three or four pages of dense narrative full of time killer, I skip ahead looking for the author to quit ****ing writing dull as **** **** and the story to wake up.
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Lol, yes all true. New writers have to learn not to use the passive voice. It takes time if they don’t have a degree in creative writing.
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Well, you know my answers are the same as yours. Except: Ya, shelving the books you couldn’t finish for the authors to find – I’m not that brave. But I will tell you that I read a lot of political books too. I know from my blog following people aren’t interested in political anything. So I won’t review such books on my blog, but will elsewhere. I recently finished a great book by one of my fav journalists – Douglas Murray (from UK)- The War on the West. I decided not to review because my opinion turns into some angry readers or no comments at all. And I’m not here to discuss world politics openly, but happy to among like-minded souls. I am also just finishing a best seller, The Josiah Manifesto – nonfiction. Comparing biblical occurences to modern days, but harping on one topic, and using some bizarro comparisons to authenticate the author’s tellings. I know well, what I’d have to say won’t go well over with others, so another book to add to my ‘read list’ on Goodreads, but one I’m not interested in the opinionaters to jump on my review. LOL. xx
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I stay well clear of politics. Everybody has an opinion, and it causes so many arguments. The ‘entitled’ Ruperts get put in power, who have no idea how ordinary people live. x
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YOU got that right! 🙂 x
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I seldom don’t finish a book but if I do it’s because it was too confusing or badly written or very boring. I didn’t finish, The Road, as it was too scary and depressing.
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I once tried to read a very boring book where everything was described to the nth degree. I didn’t even get to halfway!
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That will do it for me, too.
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I’ve begun relying on the Amazon “Read Sample” to keep me from buying any books with the turnoffs you identified. If I read a book that is seriously flawed, I don’t bother putting time into reviewing it.
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Good idea, Liz.
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Thanks!
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Hi Stevie, another interesting post. I don’t always finish books and I also don’t review unfinished books. I don’t always review well known books I read now as I just don’t have the time. I always review Indie books I read.
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Same as me; I often don’t review well known books either, but I know how Indie authors need reviews and so like you I review Indie books.
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I don’t review well-know books either.
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Most of them have thousands of reviews anyway.
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Exactly. They certainly don’t need mine.
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Yes!
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I don’t like being confused by a book. Either too many characters, abrupt flashbacks, or a storyline that’s hard to follow. And I’ll immediately stop if the author writes themselves into the book (I’m looking at you Clive Cussler.)
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Flashbacks can be confusing sometimes. I once wrote one of my other books into a story, but never myself, lol.
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For my own work, if I find that I’m confused upon reviewing a particular passage, paragraph, or sentence, I immediately flag it for revision. If I’ve confused myself, I know readers would be confused, too.
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I always read each chapter a few times after I’ve completed it.
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So do I.
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I steer well clear of Goodreads. The normal rules of decent behaviour don’t seem to apply there.
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I haven’t had too much trouble on Goodreads… some one star reviews on one of my books from a group of trolls all working together about 5 years ago, but nothing else since.
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I stop reading a book if I don’t believe in the characters or the story. Another reason I would abandon a book is historical inaccuracies, something I can never forgive. I would not review a book I hadn’t read as I don’t think that’s fair on the writer.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I agree, and I don’t like leaving negative comments.
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