SBD--2? Because should it be about the books?

I have a historical I hated and I can't figure out why I held on to the bitter end. It's not about the sex like it would have been back when hawt sex in books was still hard to find and fun to read.

It wasn't the plot which was as standard as the list of ingredients on the cereal box. I wish I knew why I read from chapter one to the end. Regency set, cold hero, TSTL heroine. Big misunderstandings etc.

I want you guys to tell me why I held on but then I'd have to put up the name of the book and I can't to do that unless it's someone who's sold a gazillion billion copies and I don't think she has. But really. I could see why I'd force myself to read it if I'd paid good money for it, but it came from the library. Maybe I thought there'd be twists and it wouldn't be so paint-by-number to the very end? That had to be it. Why else would we finish books that don't grab us? WHY? Could it be all about the hooks? (picks up copy) Naw.

Comments

  1. the author12:36 AM

    Why else would we finish books that don't grab us? WHY?

    I used to think it was the polite thing to do, I guess. I don't have time to be that courteous anymore, so I've tried another, time-saving tactic -- I set aside the book and make a mental note to check out the author again after he or she has written a few more novels. That way I'm giving up on that particular novel, not the writer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown12:07 PM

    I stop reading at the point where I am too pissed or too bored to continue. But I don't consider it fair to review a book I can't finish (hey, it might have improved by the end!), so anything I don't finish, I don't think it's fair to review.

    An example of this is The Continuity Girl, which starts out as a real wallbanger (I very nearly quit it early on, fucking terrible), then I stuck with it and it improved...then went back to being a wallbanger again by the end. Ugh.

    Also, any vampire novel where I have hit page 200 and the heroine still has yet to acknowledge that YES, YOU JUST SAW A VAMPIRE? Wall banger.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Corn Dog9:09 PM

    Sometimes the characters are intriguing and we have hopes that it will get better. Hopes until the last page.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11:18 PM

    My guess? The story contained a mystery. Readers rarely put down a mystery no matter how much they hate the characters, the plot, or even the writing.

    ReplyDelete

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