5 Things That Will Make Me DNF a Book

5 Things That Will Make Me DNF a Book

For a long time, I treated finishing every book like an unwritten rule.

It didn't matter whether I was enjoying it or not. Once I'd committed to a story, I felt obligated to see it through. If I was halfway finished, I convinced myself I had already invested too much time to quit. If I was three-quarters of the way through, I figured I might as well finish.

Looking back, I spent far too much time reading books I wasn't excited to pick up simply because I didn't want to admit they weren't for me.

Thankfully, I've outgrown that way of thinking.

These days, I average around one hundred books a year, and one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that reading time is far too valuable to spend on books that aren't working. That doesn't mean I give up easily. Some of my favorite novels had slow beginnings, and there have been plenty of books I've nearly set aside only to fall in love with them fifty pages later.

At the same time, I've also discovered that there are certain things that almost always pull me out of a story. They're not necessarily flaws in the book itself, nor do I think every reader will agree with them. Reading is wonderfully subjective, and that's part of what makes conversations about books so much fun.

These just happen to be the things that almost always convince me it's time to close my Kindle and move on.

1. The Male Main Character Calls the Female Main Character a "Bitch"

This is, without question, my biggest reading dealbreaker.

I'm fully aware that this is an oddly specific boundary, and I know plenty of readers don't feel the same way. For me, though, the moment the male main character refers to the female main character as a bitch, the romance changes permanently.

It doesn't matter whether he says it out loud.

It doesn't matter if it's only an internal thought.

It doesn't matter whether they're enemies, arguing, or at the beginning of a redemption arc.

Once that word appears, I stop believing in the relationship.

Romance, at its core, asks readers to invest emotionally in two people finding their way to one another. The moment I can no longer root for that relationship, it's incredibly difficult for me to stay invested in the rest of the story.

I've closed books at ninety percent because of this.

Some readers can compartmentalize a single moment and continue enjoying everything else. I genuinely wish I could. Unfortunately, once that line has been crossed, my brain refuses to let it go.

2. The Story Starts Feeling Like It's Treading Water

One of the biggest misconceptions about my reading habits is that I only enjoy fast-paced books.

That's actually not true at all.

Some of my favorite novels are beautifully slow. They take their time developing relationships, allowing characters to grow naturally and giving emotional moments the space they deserve. I don't need constant action to stay engaged.

What I do need is a sense that we're moving somewhere.

The moment I begin feeling like chapters exist simply to increase the page count rather than deepen the story, I start losing interest. Repeated conversations, recycled conflicts, and scenes that don't meaningfully develop either the plot or the characters tend to blur together after a while.

A slower pace and slow progression aren't the same thing.

One can be incredibly compelling.

The other usually sends me looking for my next read.

3. Grammar Mistakes That Pull Me Out of the Story

No book is perfect.

Typos happen.

A missing comma or an occasional spelling mistake has never ruined a reading experience for me, and I certainly don't expect perfection from authors or editors.

The problem begins when mistakes become noticeable enough that they interrupt the reading itself.

One of the things I love most about books is how immersive they can be. The best stories make you forget you're reading altogether. You're no longer looking at words on a page. You're standing beside the characters, experiencing the story with them.

Frequent grammar mistakes interrupt that illusion.

Instead of imagining the scene, I find myself mentally rewriting sentences, and once my attention shifts from the story to the mechanics of the writing, it's difficult to settle back into the world the author has created.

4. I Notice the Same Word Over and Over Again

This is probably my most irrational DNF reason.

It's also the one I can do the least about.

Every author has favorite words or expressions. Every reader has certain words they become unusually sensitive to. Mine simply happens to notice repetition very quickly.

Once I recognize that the same descriptive word, phrase, or mannerism keeps appearing, it's almost impossible for me to stop looking for it. Suddenly, I'm anticipating the next time it appears instead of paying attention to what's actually happening in the scene.

It's never the first use that gets me.

Or the second.

It's when I reach the point where I start thinking, There it is again.

From that moment on, my focus quietly shifts away from the story itself.

5. Sometimes I'm Just Not in the Mood

This may be the most important point on the entire list because it has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the book.

Sometimes the writing is excellent.

The pacing is exactly what it should be.

The characters are wonderfully developed.

I'm simply not in the mood for that particular story.

The older I've become as a reader, the more I've embraced mood reading. Sometimes I want an emotionally devastating fantasy. Other times I want a cozy romance where nothing particularly stressful happens for four hundred pages. Occasionally I convince myself I'm ready for a dense literary novel when, in reality, all I want is a book with dragons, witty banter, and people falling in love.

The book hasn't changed.

I have.

I've learned not to confuse "this isn't for me" with "this isn't for me right now." Some of my favorite books are ones I initially put aside before returning months later at exactly the right time.

There's a surprising amount of freedom in recognizing that distinction.

Giving Yourself Permission to Walk Away

One of the healthiest reading habits I've developed has been giving myself permission to stop.

Not because I think books should be abandoned the moment they become challenging, but because I've realized that finishing a book isn't the goal. Enjoying the experience of reading is.

Every reader has their own version of this list. Some people can't tolerate love triangles. Others avoid first-person narration or accidental pregnancy tropes. That's one of the wonderful things about reading. We all approach stories with different tastes, different expectations, and different experiences.

These happen to be mine.

Although I have to admit, if a book manages to avoid all five of these pitfalls, there's a very good chance you'll find me recommending it to everyone I know.

• 5 Things That Will Make Me DNF a Book