♥!The Young Adult Book Club!♥ discussion

Do you finish every book you start?

At what point do you give up on a book?

What are some books you started but never finished?

I used to always finish books I started but like the picture above I have such a big list of books I want to read and so many on my shelves that I don't like to waste time and push myself to finish something I am not enjoying. The last series I forced myself to finish was The Immortals series by Alyson Noel. I really should not have wasted my time. I also DNF some other popular books like The Maze Runner, Throne of Glass, The Vincent Boys and Beautiful Creatures because they were just not for me. I was so bored and I just couldn't do it.

A lot of books I've started but never finished were freebies I downloaded onto my kindle. Most of them I would give up on within the first few chapters if they didn't pull me in. A couple I think I got about halfway through and then just skipped to the ending to see what happened. The only book I have on my actual book shelf that I read and did not finish (and have no intention of going back) is The Summer Prince. Made it about 3/4 of the way but gave up. Too confusing, and I didn't like the world or characters. I started The Odyssey but put it down within the first handful of pages, but I do plan on trying that one again eventually!

Oh, and I have read 9 of the House of Night books but I've definitely given up on that series. I just got tired of nothing new ever happening. I regret ever wasting my time on them, actually. The only good thing I've ever taken from them was Stevie Rae and Rephaim. (they were such a complex and fascinating relationship!)

I always finish. it a goal I have. I might shelve it for awhile but have to finish. sometimes I have to make an accentive like I can't buy another book until I finish a shelves book or will trade off chapters with a book I'm liking.

I definitely don't think it's worth torturing myself by finishing a book I'm not enjoying. Only exceptions are books which have been recommended by someone whose judgement I respect. Sometimes I find I have to get two or three chapters in before the characters come alive for me and I start to know what's going to happen next. The only other books I will finish even if I am not enjoying them are ones where I think the author is doing (or trying to do) something really interesting and I want to see whether he/she can make it work. So then I am more interested in the form, rather than the characters.

it always hurts me when a book joins my DNF pile. but i cannot read any book which failed to get my attention. there have been some books despite being horrible, i finish it. the kind of books that fall into DNF are predominantly adult books which i inadvertently choose. otherwise all YA i start i force myself to finish excepting Crossed by Allie conde and Fault in stars by john green

I always try to finish a book...but sometimes I have to take a break from it for a while until I can come back to it. I just feel like if I'm not enjoying it...there's no point I wasting my time when there are lots of other books that actually do grab my attention. Usually I get annoyed with books if the writing is just bad... Or too predictable..or the heroine is stupid and i just can't get over it to read the rest of the book. The last DNA book I read was come away with me by Kristen proby

I always try to finish a book. But being a student kills the time I can use to read books, and I can't concentrate in reading while I have piles of homework to do. And also, reading in school--where the surrounding is noisy--is sometimes a bad idea. And I can't focus on my lessons when I'm reading an awesome book. So those books that needed a deep comprehension, like classic books, I stop reading them after a few chapters. And when the book I'm reading is getting lame and hard to understand, I really stop reading it.
Some books that I started but never finished are The Casual Vacancy, 1984, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Blackhouse.

I always finish a book. Too many times I have become bored with the story line and put the book down only to come back later and start re-reading to find that was not that bad after all, in fact in some cases they again turn into something really good. I think a lot of it had to do with my mindset at the time I was reading. There have been some bad ones, but I leave a review stating that fact in hopes that someone else doesn't have to go through and finish the book. Especially if they are the type of person who doesn't have the time or opportunity to waste on a book that goes nowhere or takes you around in circles. I am just the type of person who has to weather the storm and see things through good or bad. I don't necessarily like this about myself because I waste valuable time reading stories that I do not enjoy and I have stacks that I want to read plus all I have on my nook and the kindle on my iPhone. Every spare minute I get is reading though, so Onward Ho!!! I'm raring to go!!! LOL:-)

If I don't like the book I'm reading, I look for something else to read but I eventually go back to it after some time. I make it my goal to finish all the books I've started. In the past, it was also my goal to finish all the series I started, but it's not anymore.

When I got my first Kindle a couple of years ago, I made it a point to finish every book it started. Then I realized how many awesome books I need to be able to cram into the rest of my life, and decided not to waste my time. If the author can't draw me in within the first five chapters or the writing is too horrific to make sense of, I delete it. Once in a blue moon, I may give it another try. Usually that isn't the case, though.

I have always finished every book I read, even if it is not a great book. There are some books that I wanted to throw at the wall haha But at least I can give it a fair review.

I dislike not finishing books, but a lot of times if a book is hard to enjoy I give it too about halfway. I didn't finish Surrender and A Matter of Fate. There are some books that I do put on the return to again shelf, but I've figured to just start DNFing instead of pushing through something I hate.

I always try to finish a book. But sometimes when the book is to boring, or i just cant understand it. If i cant get through the first few chapter there is no point to try and finish.

I try to finish every book I pick up. If I am not super into it then I put it down, read another, and come back to it. I did not however think I would every finish The Night Circus. I won a copy off of here before it ever came out, and I started it and was like uh no I will not read this and put it on my shelf. It took me almost a year but I came back and finally finished it. It wasn't great to me, and I had to force myself to read it. I even gave myself nightly goals, if I finish two more chapters I can get Starbucks before work or things like that.

I try very hard to finish every book I start, and I can honestly probably count on one hand the number I haven't. But sometimes, if it's just too slow moving or I start to just get bored, I stop. I just tried to read Promised by J.L. Block and finally had to just give up about 40 pages in because of the lengthy minutiae and explanations that went between each minor bit of dialogue. I kept losing track of what was happening because so much time went between and interaction between characters.

I try to finish every book i ever open, and if it gets boring i try to power through it hoping that it picks up later on, but a few books i have up on:

Twilight the first one
A book on the life of Shakespeare
Julius Caesar biography, horribly written

when a book does not capitalize on its story-character potential,i will drop it. reviews help to a great extent.
manifest by artist arthur was one such.

"Do you finish every book you start?"
No, because once I finish a horrible book I'm overthrown by the horrible feeling to have wasted my precious little life on it.

"At what point do you give up on a book?"
First chapters, the middle of the book, depending on the level of horrible. Some have a better way of masking their flaws than others.

"What are some books you started but never finished?"
85 books so far: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... (all listed here). The one and 2 stars read books managed to fool me till after the middle of the book and if I got that far I'm going to finish it, but not give it a favorable review.

I have a small rule with myself that I can only give up on a book if Im past the half way because you never really know do you?
It could the most amazing book ever but all the drama or action (or watever youre into) happens towards the ending. :) Please take this advice unless of course its the WORST book youve ever read and you cant stand to look at it.

i agree. but when you have time constraint,the rule may not work.

I finish when it has a good premise and just needs some guidence to a good resonant ending. And honestly sometimes I just forget to finish. :)

I finish most books, but if the characters grate and the writing is poor then I give up. It's not worth wasting your time on something you don't really enjoy, so leave that book and find one which is better suited to you. :)

honestly, I don't think it's worth my time to finish a book I know I'm not going to enjoy. I'm considering giving up on the Pretty Little Liars series because it goes on forever.

I try to finish all the books I read so it's very rare for me to not finish one. But when I do DNF a book, I delete from my good reads shelves all together coz I don't like them tainting my library. Haha ;)

I always try to finish a book. A few times before, I would give up on one because the first couple chapters just didn't pull me in. But when I read it again, it turned out to be an amazing book and I regretted not finishing it before. For example, Unwind by Simon Schuster.

I do, no matter how bad the story is because I hate the idea of not finishing a book.

But the first ever book I read and after reaching 3/4 of it I totally gave up was .

I gave up on this book because it was really disturbing and long.

Books that come to mind:

The Maze Runner I found the premise interesting, but I just couldn't get into it.

The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore I was so annoyed by the writing of this book and the characters. I still don't have any intention of finishing it.

The Hunger Games I have picked this book up and put it down so many times. I hold on to the hope that maybe I'll get around to actually reading the series, especially since I'm repeatedly told I have to get half way through the first one before it picks up, but I just get bored or annoyed reading it. (I know, that's a horrible thing to say about this series, but it is what it is.)

The House of Night series. I read the first few books, but I lost interest in the series.

Misguided Angel I read the first four books of the Blue Bloods series. I struggled with the fourth one, but it at least picked up. However, the fifth one, I still have it sitting on my shelf. I started reading it and I just didn't like it. The writing was different, the same characters felt different and honestly just annoying, I just couldn't do it. I just didn't enjoy it.

Keep in mind these books span a few years, so they are the exceptions not the rule. I really do try to finish the books, but once in a while I get that one book that I just don't have the patience for.

Some of the books I've started and not finished:

I always try to finish a book, even if it's not exactly one of my favourites. I just feel obligated to finish every book once I've started, although there are a few that I haven't finished. Unfortunately when I was taking my time reading Great Expectations I had to return it to the library because it was going to be overdue... and I have not been able to read the rest as there is so many other books right in front of my face ready to read. I do intend to pick it back up when I get the chance though and read it all.
I'm too curious about every story, so I have to read every page.

I started reading Reason to Breathe but halfway through,it became a struggle to want to read more so I gave up....

definitely the fallen series by Lauren Oliver. the first book, Fallen was okay, even thought I wasn't much of a fan.
But I made the biggest mistake of my life for not being able to contain myself when I saw the second and third book, Torment and Passion up on sale at the bookstore.
I bought them, and forced myself to read them since there was no way I was spending my money on things I would end up ditching.
So I read Torment, and by the first 50 pages, I swear I was going to doze out. but then I kept on forcing myself up to the end of the book.
And by the end, I felt like I was losing my mind. I didn't even get what was happening.
By then I swore that I wouldn't even try reading Passion.
So yeah, up till now, those two books are still in the back of myself, no way am I ever gonna pick them up.
And I learned from my mistakes. NEVER pick up anything you know is crap even it it's on sale in the lowest most outrageous price ever.

The devil wears Prada... Is massively boring.

I couldn't finish The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. GOD that book was awful. I initially picked it up because it had been getting amazing reviews, but 100 pages in I was honestly questioning if I was reading the same book as everyone else because it was just that bad

If there are times where i don't finish a book its because maybe i found one that i find really good, and then i just keep going with other books and then when i have stopped my little "book spree" i'm just not that interested in the book anymore. Not because i find it bad or boring. That only happens somtimes :)

I've started the first chapter of The Tiger's Curse but gave it up. Boring, predictable story.

A series that I haven't finished and I'm not planning to is the House of Night Series!

I don't think I'll ever finish the Morganville Vampire Series, too. I loved the first few books but there are, I think, 15 (?!?!?!?!) books in this series and sorry, but that's WAY too many!!

I always try to finish every book I start but a few weeks ago when I started reading the unbecoming of Mara dyer, I don't know what happened but I couldn't finish it. I was disappointed that it couldn't grasp me like a lot of other books do

For the most part, I do finish every book. It may take a while, especially if I'm reading several at a time, but I get to the end.

HOWEVER, there are a few books that are so horribly written/make no sense that I simply cannot finish it. Before this year, I put down maybe 3 books over a 5 year period. 2014 brought me 2 books that I could not finish. Hope this is not a blossoming trend!

@Natalie I didnt like The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer too. I just forced myself to finish it.

well some books are good but just take some time to actually get to the story line
for this reason i have a rule: i have to at least read the first 100 pages of a book
if i break that rule the book is basically a bag of shit
no offense
some books that i couldnt finish were josh and hannah, caught, until november, sinister kisses and plenty more.
but like say if i want to finish a book purely over the fact that i want to know what happen i just skip pages and read only the dialogue
i get the book finished within the hour

If a book gets too boring, or I'm tired of the story plot, or the plot starts to seem to become ridiculous I will try to finish, but then I get to the end and I just put it down.

Like I was almost finished with alliegent even though it was killing me, and someone told me, a special someone died at the end. I stopped reading after that because it just seemed pointless.

I used to NEVER DNF books but a couple years ago I started a book I couldn't stand and I had a ton of other review copies I needed to get to and I finally just did it and I was so relieved! Since then I've felt free to DNF but I don't do it often, maybe 4 a year out of the 100+ I read. I also make sure to read to at least the 15-20% mark that way if the first couple chapters are bad maybe it will pick up and I gave the book a fair chance.

I finish most of the books I read, but some are just not for me and there's nothing I can do about it.
I usually give a book something like a 100 pages to impress me before giving up. If after that it's still not amazing, but better, I'll read up to the half mark. If I read this far and it's STILL not clicking, chances are it never would and why torture myself when there's a TON of other books I want to read, who are probably more for me?

Also, my DNF percentile really grew the last few years with the introduction of free kindle books to my life. Too many of them are kind of awful...

Here are some very much loved book that I never finished though...

I am in love with The Songs of Ice and Fire series, but since College started I haven't touched the book :(

Like that charming e-card at the top, my patience for books that haven't grasped me directly correlates to the size of my "to-read" pile. If I have a few books that I want to read, I'm more likely to drop the one I'm currently struggling with. If I have nothing else, though, I try to muddle through until the end.

Books I DNF:
Les Miserables: I think I left during an commendably extensive description of Parisian Sewers.
House of Night No. 2. Marked? No. Hidden? Bitten? Eaten?: I didn't really care about any of characters, especially that guy's boyfriend who cried over everything. His very presence felt like an insult to gay, no any, men.
Dune: I'm sad about this one since it's so well-loved. I'll probably try this one again.
Allegiant: This one was very close. I had to make myself finish this. It just seemed so far-removed from the two books that I loved.

I tried The Graveyard Book a few months ago but didn't even get halfway through it. I don't know why I couldn't stay into it...

I give it like 50 pages, if I'm not into I stop...
Some of these included..

1. We were Liars- this just moved way to slow and I didn't find the main characrter interesting or engaging.

2. Maze Runner- Once again not engaging!

My rule is that if I paid for it I have to finish it otherwise I wasted my money. My biggest let down were the Providence series by Jamie McGuire. I loved Beautiful Disaster and was so excited to see that she had other books out there. Also, i am probably one of the few people who did not like The Fault in Our Stars.

Typically, if a book doesn't hold my interest by the 100th page then I'm going to stop reading it. The reason that I give up on the book is because its either too slow or the characters aren't developed well. Some books that I have started but never finished are: