How often do you drop a book down because you could not take it anymore? Not in the positive, overwhelming, OMG I-need-a-moment kind. But more of a what-in-the-crap-did-I-read way. The kind that made us wish we had the book in its physical form, so that we would have had the pleasure of throwing it against the wall.
We pay for the sin of having not taken the hint when their friends warn us about the book in not so subtle ways. We want to taste the poison for ourselves. We are masochistic. We persevere. We suffer through books with half baked plots, overcompensating sex scenes, subplots that adds nothing but pages and what not. Yet it does not stop us from reaching to the next book you have not heard reviews or rather noy good reviews about. Now that is what they call 'the adventurous life of a book lover'.
We already discussed a few things that would make you stop reading a book, if you can help it. Here we are on the second part. Go on.
6) Show not tell me:
Why would you spend 25 lines saying what a badass your villain is when you can tell me what he did and I could form an opinion myself? We readers like visualizing the horrors your villain could unleash, not just accept your word for it. Now, Twilight lovers do not harm me but I have to add this excerpt *hides away under the table*
"You know Bella, Jacob?" Lauren asked—in what I imagined was an insolent tone - from across the fire.
"We've sort of known each other since I was born," he laughed, smiling at me again.
"How nice." She didn't sound like she thought it was nice at all, and her pale, fishy eyes narrowed.
"Bella," she called again, watching my face carefully, "I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn't anyone think to invite them?" Her expression of concern was unconvincing.
"You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?" the tall, older boy asked before I could respond, much to Lauren's irritation. He was really closer to a man than a boy, and his voice was very deep.
"Yes, do you know them?" she asked condescendingly, turning halfway toward him.
- Twilight, Stephenie Meyer.
I am going to ignore every other problem with the above prose and focus on the topic. What does Meyers tell us? Lauren is unlikeable. Yet she does not show us anything to help the fact. I am annoyed; Period!
5) I can not care less for your characters:
We all have heroes that we have fallen for, some that we have rooted for and even characters that we hate, sometimes for a reason or not. Maybe there are protagonists that we can not relate to, yet we understand them. I love roles that fall into the gray area, the broken ones and the one that breaks others.
But what I truly abhor are characters that I cannot feel anything for. Why would I want to read about people who do not do anything or just not interesting enough, for 150 pages or more?
4) Too crowded and suffocating:
We have all read books that have too many things going on. Too many sub plots and too many characters do overwhelm us, the readers. Imagine if only we had had a story for each of the seven dwarfs in the Snow White, would we have enjoyed it as much?
While JK Rowling did a commendable job in delving into so many sub plots, not all authors do that with such success, And to be honest, I have fallen too many a times now harder for the characters from the sub plot than the actual protagonists.
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Yet the number of times I had to skim through the story of the side kick because it does not help the story move forward nor to understand the characters better is too many. They simply might have been filling the pages and be distracting. If so, why would I have to read them to reach the end of the book?
3) What did I read now!:
One of the major issues I have with the YA and fantasy world is that I can't make myself believe in them, this from someone who adores horror fiction and might possibly be scared that one could walk in and out of a picture frame.
Credibility of the story or plot doesn't mean that these things should be able to happen in the real world, but they should be plausible in the world that the author has spun for me. For instance, I don't care if vampires are real or not, but I do mind if you tell me vampires do not drink blood.
I hate books that has characters who are not credible - they do something quite not like themselves at all without proper reasons. Likewise, when books lack cultural and historical authenticity readers tend to stop getting into the characters. Book with no credibility means lazy writing, which is an excellent way to make me hate your book.
2) Plain bad writing and editing:
I linger in the doorway of Command, the high-tech meeting/war council room complete with computerized talking walls, electronic maps showing the troop movements in various districts, and a giant rectangular table with control panels I’m not supposed to touch. - Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.
The above excerpt is a narration by Katniss, how are we supposed to 'hear' the 'meeting/war' part? Does she say slash? Does anybody around here say slash when you are talking to IRL? Minor quirks like these usually end up to form a huge ball of hatred even before I could even complete the book.
“So today is the day,” she says.
“Yes,” I reply.
“Are you nervous?” I stare into my own eyes for a moment.
.....
“No,” I say. “The tests don’t have to change our choices.”
“Right.” She smiles.
“Let’s go eat breakfast.”
“Thank you. For cutting my hair.”- Divergent by Veronica Roth
Brevity might be the soul of wit. But having to read conversations like the one above or the much infamous
"Sorry," Brom apologized - Eragon, Christopher Paolini
Grammatically they might have no errors but they do nothing but make the readers interest drop as fast as it can.
1) Bad grammar:
Though we all dread the Grammar Nazis in the Internet forums and FB posts, bad grammar in books and manuscripts are still acceptable.
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One can be able to tolerate a typo here and there but not those with terrible tenses, senseless smilies and cringe-worthy cliches.
To this day, I can never shake the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark, and the bread that gave me hope, and the dandelion that reminded me that I was not doomed. - The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
While even the classic writers have once in a while chosen to break the rules of English grammar, the number of new age writers who argue that grammar 101 as a restriction to their free thoughts and writing style is simply appalling and their arguments are ridiculous.
How often do you quit a book that you do not enjoy? And what makes you decide to stop putting yourself through hell? What pushes the button for you? Let me know in the comments.