Tell Me Something Tuesday is hosted by Rainy Day Ramblings. Check out her blog for upcoming topics! I saw a post by Jen (Twimom) and thought it was fun and decided to join in. So I’ll be jumping in sporadically 🙂
What ruins a good read for you?
2020! No, let’s be serious, I’ve read and enjoyed some good books this year. But my reading mojo has been off and the things that usually just push the rating down have been full stops lately. Some things that ruin a good read for me:
- A bad narrator. I love audio books and most the narrators I encounter are really good in recent years. But every now and again there’s one that just grates wrong and that’s it, I’m done.
- Too much world building. I know I need to understand the world, but get to the damn story please. IMO, a well written book – even the deepest of fantasy – is able to build the world as the story unfolds.
- An affair. I love sexy stories, but when the sex is coming at the expense of a marriage, I’m out. I just don’t enjoy it, but no judgment if you do. (Outlander is a notable exception, but without spoiling for the 2 people in the world who don’t know the story lol I think I can say that was an exceedingly unique situation)
- Needing a serious edit. I don’t mind a few errors – I get it, even the best editor misses things. But if I’m more aware of the grammar than the character’s personality… there’s something not right. Same for editing because the story just isn’t moving along. I love description, but if it’s endless and hurts the story’s progression, it’s not working for me.
- Watching the movie first. If I watch the movie adaptation of a book first, I just don’t even bother reading the book anymore. I can’t enjoy it! So if I know a movie is from a book I might want to read, I refuse to watch it. Weirdly enough, I can read the book, watch the move and read the book over and over, no problem. It’s about first exposure.
That’s it I think. I’m pretty easy going where my reading is concerned. I should say though that I am very much a mood reader so sometimes books don’t work for me temporarily. I just have to come back to them at a different time.
What ruins a good read for you?
Want to join in next week? The topic is: What things make a good book for you?
Here's what spoils a book for me... what about you? #TMST Share on X
Great list! I am the same when it comes to a narrator, most are great, but sometimes a narrator can really ruin the story for me. I’ve DNF’d plenty of audio after only the first chapter because of the narrator, but usually I just listen to the sample and can gauge from that whether I am going to like the narrator or not.
I am probably one of the exceptions, that I usually don’t mind editing errors. Most of the time I don’t even spot them. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that was so badly editing that it ruined the book for me. Or maybe I’ve just been lucky.
Stupid character and a lot of the ones you mentioned above. 🙂
Yes, I have one book series in particular that I have to read it and can’t do it on audio. The narrator sounds like she’s whining.
If I notice the need for editing then it must be pretty bad or the story isn’t grabbing me.
All good points, Berls.
Interesting question! Bad editing ruins books for sure. I don’t mind a few mistakes, but I don’t want to be distracted or work too hard to understand something. Too much romance also ruins books for me. Sometimes the romance takes over the whole plot.
Yes to Number 1 and 5. I didn’t think about those situations. For me, a bad ending can ruin what was a good book (up until that point).