Over the weekend, my sister and I were watching a psychological thriller on Netflix, but around the 25-minute mark, a fourth of the way into the movie, I told her I was bored and wanted to watch something else. I love a good psychological thriller on film and in print, but this one was dragging. My sister, however, didn’t want to give up on the movie.
She said she’d finish watching it another time, and we ended up watching Roadhouse on Amazon Prime. We watched the original with Patrick Swayze because we’d never seen it, and the new one with Jake Gyllenhaal. (Both were fun movies, by the way!)
Giving up on the first movie made me think about what makes us give up on books. Like movies, books are a form of entertainment, and readers will DNF a book for all sorts of reasons. They might be bored, like I was, with the movie. They might not like the author’s writing style, or there could be triggering content in the story.
I have a friend who only gives a book the first few chapters to grab her attention, and then she DNFs and moves on to the next one. In my case, I’ll read as much as a fourth of a book before I DNF. Typically, it happens when the plot moves too slowly and I’m bored. I also don’t like reading books that have a lot of typos, though that’s thankfully rare.
What about you—what makes you DNF a book and how quickly do you do it?
10 Comments. Leave new
Hello Author DD…now I know you didn’t just leave us hanging about which movie on Netflix?! Well we were about to give up on “Alone” glad we didn’t! But movies I generally will watch all the way through. Especially if the movie was highly rated/recommended. I then realize in just waisted 1 and 1/2 hours of my life!
Books are ironically treated differently. They get “up to” page 50 or 1/4 the book or so. There are TOO many on my TBR list to waste the time on a book that isn’t holding my interest. Depending on the author and/or if it’s part of a series, I might go back to it. Sometimes it ends up being a hit. My mind wasn’t in the space to really enjoy that particular book on the first pass. 🤭
That’s the way I feel too! There are too many books and films out there to slog through something I’m not enjoying. If it’s not working for me, on to the next. As for books, I’m a mood reader, so there have been times I didn’t enjoy a novel and then came back to it, and it worked just fine.
As for the movie I mentioned, I was hesitant to bash it, but I’ll put it here in the comments lol. The movie is The Nest with Jude Law. I’m guessing there’s a message in there somewhere (Jude is a jerk who in the beginning seems to be living beyond his means), but I don’t care to learn it. I’ll let me sister tell me how the story goes and what theme is lol.
Hi Delaney, much like you if the book is dragging, takes too long to get to the meat of the story and is hard to read due to typos and grammatical errors. Movies must grab my attention from the opening credits. It is rare that I will return to a DNF book or movie once it loses my interest.
I’m the same way. I’ve returned to books I’ve DNF’d because on occasion the DNF is because of mood. But after some thought, I don’t think I’ve ever given a second chance to a film that lost my interest. That might be why I like action films so much. They grab my attention right away, like you said, from the opening credits.
Sorry, I’m late to the chat😆 I’m with ur friend, Delaney. Two chapters max! If I’m not “snatched,” Beata HAS moved on😆 Also, not knowing who’s POV I’m reading from gets me ANNOYED. I appreciate Amazon let’s u sample before u buy😁 Hope u have a blessed week, Delaney 🙏🏽
LOL! I hear you, and I agree, the Amazon preview is wonderful! Enjoy the rest of your week!
I will DNF a book if the characters are too young and make dumb decisions. My youngest niece is 24 so I don’t like to read books if they are too young cause I don’t want to think about what she’s out there doing! Excessive typos is another one for me. When words just don’t make sense because of using it in the wrong context multiple times or just lots of misspellings, I can’t take it. Shows a lack of editing and care….dang, just use spellcheck!
I understand books might still have the occasional typo, but unedited books drive me nuts, too.
A romantic at heart so love a happy ending. Will always skip to the end first, then do quick skim for ‘juicy’ parts. Will DNF if there is no happy ending, emotionally triggering / disturbing aspects.
2nd level will DNF if plot is incredible/ illogical, nonsensical, poor writing in general. If author can’t take the time for quality, will not waste my time to read. I read for good feeling vibes.
Happy endings are the one thing that we’re guaranteed in romance, so without it, I’d be devastated. I only ever check the endings of love triangle books because I can’t stand not knowing. As I’m reading, it’s too stressful!