What’s a book you initially hated but after multiple attempts finally realized you loved?

Two examples for me are (1) 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz, and (2) the first book in the Brother Cadfael mystery series by Ellis Peters.

For the Koontz book, I initially hated it because there were so many short sections switching between so many viewpoint characters that I didn’t feel close to any of them. I persevered because I’d liked other books by Koontz, and I eventually got drawn into the overall mystery of what the building was doing as perceived by the inhabitants. It took at least three attempts but eventually I found it unputdownable.

For the Peters book, I kept hearing good feedback for years and I was curious. But it initially seemed boring because of the old fashioned writing style and the very slow start. As a reader of murder mysteries, I’m used to finding the body (or often even witnessing the murder) on the first page, and here are these 12th century monks spending at least a chapter on weeding the garden and then having a religious service. I mean the actual murder doesn’t occur until the 30% mark. But I started paying attention to how the main character and his friend viewed their superior, and I could see a power struggle developing that fired up my interest.

What books were like this for you? Why did you initially hate them? Why did you keep trying to read them? What finally won you over?