Last week I posted here asking what people thought about trigger warnings. The consensus seemed to be “It’s not the author/publisher’s responsibility. Readers should find their own warnings and stop reading if bothered.” which I agree with! Well it happened to me today. I started reading [“Bride of the Tornado” by James Kennedy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61053447-bride-of-the-tornado?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=ealR84rHXB&rank=1) after waiting quite anxiously for it. About 5-6 weeks.
There are just 85 written reviews right now. The 5 star ones are about how great and fever-dream like it is. The blurb says The Mist meets Twin Peaks. Awesome! Gore is mentioned. Fine. The one star reviews I skimmed said they didn’t like it because it was weird. Whatever. I don’t read every one star review obviously — and I just skim to see what might be triggering for me: >!rape, child loss, fire, SA, animal harm !<
The vibe is a little weird but I’m enjoying the (perceived) midwest gothic atmosphere. Well there’s an abandoned convenience store and >!a mother cat and all but one kitten are dead in the basement. The scene describes a lot of blood and the remaining one is scared. !<This is a hard no for me. I can’t read about it. So I stopped reading and went back to the 1 – 2 star reviews. Because while this was a short scene >!I don’t want to be anxious about that kitten (now the cat the main character adopted!) dying later on in a graphic way. !<No reviews mentioned it but I did discover that >!there is an unwanted pregnancy. !<Another hard no for me because that implies (to me) >!rape, grooming, coersion !<and the MC is a 15 year old girl. So I returned the book and now I’m looking at my to-read to on Goodreads looking for something else a little pissed that I wasted my time. I have a baby and reading time is sacred! My husband will DNF after 3 chapters if the writing style is a certain way — he can’t really describe it but I know what he means. I’ll also DNF if the writing isn’t just so.
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**TDLR: what kinds of things will make you stop reading even if you were heavily anticipating it?**
by LittleCricket_
25 Comments
“I don’t like this”
“This is boring”
Either of those 2 and I’m done.
Would/Did you read Game Of Thrones?
I think its a top tier book series. It’s the BAR for fantasy series, honestly.
It has all of that first censored blurb you had, but I didn’t feel put off by it.
There are ways for writers to make it creative and impactful without making you regret reading the passage.
If Im bored or uncomfortable, if the writing is bad (too many misspelled words, characters reacting in ridiculously unrealistic ways), or if im noticing myself getting annoyed.
Grammar/spelling mistakes and misused words drive me crazy. If they get too numerous, I’m out.
I hate anything with huge age gaps. That sort of relationship _never_ is healthy, and always just feels a sidestop off from age-related abuse. There is literally no way to write this that doesn’t feel creepy.
A lot of the things you mention bother me… But like, a 50 year old hooked up with a 20 year old will _always_ feel like a sidestep to pedophilia when I read it.
I never consciously DNF a book. It’s always “eh I’ll come back to this I’d just rather read this other book instead” then I never do
I’m not wild about gratuitous gore but there’s a good site called ‘Does The Dog Die?’ that flags stuff that might do your head in.
Nothing in a book triggers me so my DNF is solely based on enjoyment. I just DNF a book in the second chapter because a scene let me know the author of a crime novel had no that you couldn’t cremate a body in a campfire. It did not give me high hopes for the rest of the book.
I’ve never DNFd because of content, but I’ll drop a book if the writing is bad or if I get bored.
I try to give books 50 pages. If I’m not otherwise engaged or interested I drop it. I think that’s a fair point for any book regardless of pace or length
I always read at least half a book then drop it if I’m not liking it
What is DNF?
I almost never quit on a book. Maybe 5 in my entire 67 yrs! I try not to quit any, but somethings that might cause me to would be unnecessary explicit scenes (sex, violence, whatever) or continuous profanity, or if I can’t keep focused on it, EXTREMELY BORING!
If I am not into the plot by 20% in, that is usually a sign for me. Also, I can’t stand romance, so if a book tries to sneak in tons of previously unadvertised schlocky romance I will quit it.
For me to DNF it’s usually if I am really struggling to concentrate on it and it’s going to put me into a reading slump. Or it’s boring/not great and very long.
If it’s an average length and is just ‘okay’ I usually finish it.
Harm of children & I’m out. I don’t care if it’s a thriller where they’re trying to catch the bad buy or what, I’m still out. Especially the ones where the author lingers. I don’t need that in my life and i don’t need it in stories where it becomes less horrific thru exposure.
Any book that I’m not enjoying reading will be a DNF. Only two books met that criteria in the last 10 or so years.
If the dog dies. I think it’s manipulative, lazy writing. The only writer I pass on this is Stephen King because his dog died traumatically when he was a child.
I have some stuff I find difficult right now but “does the dog die” comes in very handy for helping me with that. I do think it should be on the reader to check if they are going to be genuinely triggered but I think it should be info that’s easy to find when you look for it.
Animal torture/cruelty
My line is basically “Do I look forward to picking up this book?” I love my reading time, and if I am not looking forward to the book I am reading, then I DNF it. I don’t expect every book to be one that I can’t put down. But if I am not wondering what’s coming next or at least thinking about my reading time as I go into the evening, then it’s done-so.
When the writer is boring, overly political (or bigoted), and/or full of shit. Atlas Shrugged comes to mind.
I will dnf audiobooks if I don’t like the way the reader sounds with the first few sentences. I’ll still check the book out for reading on my own in case it’s good but even then I’ll give it about 3 or 4 chapters. There are far too many books and not even time to waste. I have come back to books that I quit on at a different time in my life and loved them on a second try.
I recently just DNF’d my first book years. It was the first Bridgerton novel and I got to THAT scene between the main characters after their marriage (fans will know which one I’m talking about). All the good fluffy feelings were instantly gone and I just couldn’t finish after that. I did NOT expect something like that in that book and it just gave me serious ick :/
If I haven’t pick it up in a few weeks then I’ll just DNF it
I usually give something about 100 pages before I decide if I should DNF. And even then, I’d check reviews to see if there’s something in them that motivates me to go on. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten triggered to a point where I would stop reading a book entirely. I’ve read some surprising dark stuff – a scene in Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo comes to mine, which if you’ve read it, you likely know which one – that made me step away for a couple hours before I could continue. Or something that hit too close to home – Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner – and had to set the book down for, at this point, probably a couple weeks, before I could continue.
If you want to know triggers before reading, you could try checking StoryGraph. They have content warnings that will tell you what’s Graphic / Moderate / Minor. Not sure if that works for your current read since it sounds new/obscure but could be worth checking out.