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It’s OK to Give Up

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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on November 14, 2012.

It’s OK to give up on books that aren’t a good fit for you.

I know this intellectually, but in practice, it can be more difficult. I’ll often set a book down for a few days, thinking I’ll pick it up again soon. Then days turn into months, and before I know it, a book has been sitting on my “currently reading” shelf for over a year.

I’m better at giving up on books now than I used to be. I have a better idea of what I like, and if I really want to know how a story turns out but don’t particularly care for how the author is writing it, I can head to the Internet for answers. (I’m imagining some of you gasping at this, but really, this is one of the best uses for Goodreads.)

Here are a few books that I’ve given up on recently and why. Of course, I know people who have loved these, but they weren’t good fits for me.

After the Snow by S. D. Crockett

This is written in dialect, which normally takes some time to get used to. Unfortunately, I never fell into the rhythm of it like I did with Blood Red Road. That made reading it a huge struggle, and it wasn’t worth it for me to keep going. I did get to a point where I felt like I could predict a major plot point, so I flipped forward to see if I was right (I was). That was enough for me.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Nick’s wife Amy goes missing, and Nick turns into the prime suspect. Nothing is what it seems in this disturbing adult mystery/thriller. Normally I love a good mystery, particularly one full of twists as this one is, but this book just made me feel gross. I don’t mind language, I don’t mind much violence, I don’t mind sex and drugs. It’s the relationship between Nick and Amy – manipulative and twisted – that prevented me from wanting to finish this one, and it’s the relationship that will be the draw for most readers. It’s a credit to Flynn that she made me feel slimy reading about her characters, since they are supposed to be messed up people, but I sure didn’t like reading about it. It made me want to run over to my boyfriend and give him a huge hug and thank goodness our relationship isn’t so ugly. So, so ugly. Unlike most others, my abandonment of Gone Girl wasn’t due to boredom. (I did check out the intentionally spoilery reviews on Goodreads so I could find out how it ended.)

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

This book should have been a surefire winner for me. High fantasy, snarky and badass female protagonist, court intrigue, magic. My teen self would have been salivating over it. But nothing here really clicked for me. It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly why, other than I found the writing kind of blah. Celaena’s voice should have been strong, considering her character (assassin who survived being a slave in salt mines), but it was mostly forgettable. And I guess I just never felt invested in her story, which revolves around a competition to be the king’s personal assassin. The stakes are high, there’s a lot of danger, but she never made me care about it enough to want to keep reading.
Are there any books you’ve given up on lately?

Comments

  1. Great post. I finished "Gone Girl," but it was a bit of letdown because it was so overhyped. But the reason she stopped reading "Gone Girl" is the same reason I stopped watching "Mad Men." I just didn't like the characters. It was nice to see someone article that view.

  3. I had to give up on The Twelve, even though I really enjoyed The Passage. I'm so disappointed…but I really enjoyed (well, in a disturbing sort of way) Gone Girl and LOVED Throne of Glass. I have read three of the four prequel novellas and enjoyed them too. (Very unusually for me to read novellas.) It's OK, though. I wholeheartedly agree that you should not feel obligated to finish a book. Too many other great choices out there!