My biggest issue with pregnancy trope is when the female character is very strongly established as someone who doesn't want kids, but ends up with them anyway and oh, would you look at that: she completly changed her mind and now she is ok with that

To answer about the pregnancy thing (just a guess mind you cause I'm fine with it) it's not the being pregnant that's the problem. It's the fact that a sudden pregnancy popping up in the midst of conflict is why the characters end up having to either talk out their issues or put it aside. It's the assumption that getting pregnant can fix all your problems.

I don’t mind dnfing but I sometimes have a hard time because I can’t always tell if I’m not liking the book or if I’m just not in the mood for it. Or sometimes I’m just not in the mood to read period so I have to disentangle those emotions like Christmas lights that have been sitting in the closet for a year

“i’m god’s favorite” almost made me spit out my drink

"Stop giving us clay. Give us sculptures." Love your editing style, and I'd also like to know where you got your safety pin necklace....reminds me fondly of the times when people thought it was cool to wear safety pins as earrings.

I feel like I mostly DNF when a book hasn't caught my attention by 20-30% and I'm just bored out of my mind. But if I suddenly find out there's normalized sexism (especially in romance), unethical things being romanticised and a level of graphic description that makes me uncomfortable, I'd probably be walking out the door too 😅 I feel like DNFing is part of taking care of your peace, so I'm trying to get better at it

I’ve been trying to DNF more this year, and it’s been great! I’ve found that I’m getting better at recognizing early on when a book is going to be a four- or five-star, and when it’s not. This month I challenged myself to tackle the books on my unread shelf that I’ve been avoiding, and to DNF them if I’m not getting awesome vibes within the first 50 pages. I’ve DNFed five so far. No regrets. What makes me DNF? 1: The writing is just awful. 2: It isn’t what I expected, and I’m not interested in what it actually is. Or most frequently, 3: I have little interest in picking the book up and will choose to do almost anything else. After a few days of that, I know it needs to be a DNF.

I wonder if there's a correlation between people pleasers and ability to DNF books because I'm also a people pleaser and used to refuse to ever DNF. I'm pretty picky about what goes on my TBR these days, so I know going into a book that it was recommended to me by someone I trust. So now my personal rule is that I will give a book to the 20% mark, but if it hasn't hooked me by then, it's gone. Some books/TV shows/movies take a minute to really get into, so I acknowledge that perhaps the books I'm reading could improve but if 1/5 of it is not good then... I'm losing hope and my time on earth is finite. I don't want to miss out on reading all the amazing things just because I'm stubborn. It's okay to DNF, Jesse. I believe in you!

I'm a character-driven reader so if the characters are not fundamentally good and likable and interesting I want nothing to do with the book. You can have the most beautifully well written books with the most interesting plot and I will still dnf and rant about how much I disliked it if your characters are cardboard or mean. Also I 100% feel the pregnancy trope dnf. I am absolutely horrified by the idea of pregnancy and terrified of it and I want nothing to do with a book that revolves around a pregnancy as a main plot line.

Totally agree about the women written as objects! I have zero tolerance for any kind of sexism at all. See also: when things get too dark, too violent, or too relentlessly depressing. I read for enjoyment, not suffering. Usually. 😋

„Let me live in my deluluness“ Yes. Slay. 😂 (Also cannot DNF books. I read to the end, complaining all the way.)

it’s been a while since i’ve seen your videos omg, i really missed them. I stopped reading for a while, i was in such a slump and so overwhelmed with life. i missed this. thank you for all the work you put into these videos ❤

Restart is an amazing amnesia story about a bully who falls off his roof and forgets everything. It’s a really sweet middle grade read, I definitely recommend.

I personally think that if you are not interested in the book after the first 3 chapters than you can DNF it. Because sometimes it takes a while for the story to get going but I think at that point it should have got going. And if it's still an interesting at that point just DNF

2:01 it’s not that we hate pregnant women (we don’t) it’s usually used as a method to trap the main woman into a relationship or to cause drama. It’s never actually something the main character has ever hinted they wanted. And it’s just annoying like there are so many other ways to write drama or whatever into a book. It’s honestly just annoying lol

stubborn readers unite! I also very rarely dnf things, but when I do it's usually a mixture of having something else on my tbr that is calling to me more and the current read feeling like a chore rather than a fun hobby. I can usually find enjoyment even in reading books I don't like much (I categorically will not dnf books I fervidly hate because I want to ride that trainwreck to its conclusion), but every so often there will be a book that feels like "I would rather be doing literally anything else than reading this right now". sometimes I power through those too, but if there's a more enticing read on my shelf, yeet it goes! it's all about the vibes in terms of tropes/plot points/writing though, I really don't mind anything in particular as long as it's executed in a way I vibe with (and even if it isn't I'll probably see the book through anyway). big same on the pregnancy ick though, I too have yet to encounter one of those but pregnancy is one of those things I would rather be pretending don't exist than reading about (not enough to make me dnf the book though. is this a form of subconsciously self inflicted torture? mayhaps!)

I dnf like 50-60 books a year. Sometimes after few pages, most of the time after 20-30% but sometimes I dnf books even at 80% if I stop caring about it. I read a lot and can tell if I will like the book pretty early on. Few times I pushed through to the end and it was never worth it, my instincts were right. I feel like thanks to dnfing I can read ~100 books a year.

I find it ridiculous how much hate Cassandra clare gets for just implying incest while male authors (Goerge R.R Martin) literally create dynasties out of incest yet they are praized.

I typically give a book 100 pages, and if I’m still not into it by that point I will DNF. Usually by then I am at least somewhat invested. The only time I’ve rage DNF’d was The Charm Offensive. A character was sad for a couple of days for a reasonable reason, and another character called it a “major depressive episode”. Are you kidding me!? Being sad for a few days isn’t depression, let alone a major depressive episode. And the book is toted as having great mental health rep. I… what!?! There’s also so much more. Boners when someone has a panic attack. Adults “practice kissing” as an excuse to make out. A characters OCD seemingly being cured by love! Yeah, I couldn’t stomach it.

Me too jesse me too, i literally never dnf books no matter what Its just like "it might get better, it might get betterrr"

My biggest "ick" about books is when sexual assault is used as a plot twist or is just there for shock value. And with no trigger warning of course, because you're not going to spoil the plot twist 🙄

I check story graph for content warnings and it doesn’t matter how amazing a book is if it says animal cruely/abuse I will not pick it up. I simply cannot do it. Another stunningly edited video Jesse✨

two videos in ten minutes?? what did we do to deserve this

I HATE pop culture references and social media references. What's the worst fake social media you've seen, Jesse?) And yes, I am with you that cheating should be addressed but not romanticized - I'm there for resolving and healing the pain after that.

I DNFd a book because of suicide. I knew from the concept of the book there was a major character death but I didn't know it was a suicide and my mental health couldn't handle it at the time. . . It was really bad for me I'm doing better now and want to try again but now I'm scared 😖

I’ve only DNFed one book, and that was because it was the second book in a series and it had been a while since I read the first one. I had no idea what was going on, and I didn’t feel motivated to go back and reread the first one.😂

I'd say I have a few. 1 if I'm at least a quarter way through or at the very very least 5 chapters in, and it still hasn't grabbed me. 2. If it did grab me at the start but then goes off the rails (unfortunately a lot of books have this problem for me) 3. Maybe this is just an ick thing, but I have dnfed books over this before. Overly descriptive writing about gore. I almost dnfed vengeful over this, my tolerance for gore is not very high.

“Cassandra Clare only wrote about incest once” it’s technically twice because she wrote Ginny/Ron fanfic 💀

Holding on to a book for dear life is relatable😂 I do that to

Now I'm wondering if the book that made you cry with the dog death was the same one that I read way back when in 6th grade. I actually loved that book because it made me feel so many emotions.

15:35 I read ‘10 Things That Never Happened’ by Alexis Hall recently and it had a fake amnesia trope and I thought it was done well and the book was fun! It’s a grumpy/sunshine mm romance book set around Christmas☺️

Mostly bad writting, cringy writting too, surprise pregnancy, cockroach and ghost because I want to sleep and not cry for disgusting during my reading 😅🤣surprise pregnancy is all Collen Hoover and Taylor Jenkinds Reid's books.

I’ve only ever read one book with a “surprise pregnancy” and I thought it was actually very good plot point 😂 So, I would highly recommend it in *that* book, but then that would spoil the surprise

Loved this 🩷 yes Jesse, DNF books! it took me a LONG time to DNF and since I have, I'm free 😂 totally agree with the spice one, it give me the ick unless it is done really tastefully

For me one big reason why I DNF books is the same reason why I DNF movies. If it takes too long to get to the main plot point/action I get bored and just stop reading/watching.

Gosh! I REALLY enjoyed this topic!!! Fantastic idea 💡!!!!

I DNF a book if I'm not enjoying it or something makes me uncomfortable. I never force myself to finish a book if I'm not liking it because if I'm not enjoying it I don't need to know how it ends. I have never rated a book below three stars because I DNF books all the time when I'm not enjoying them. I don't get why people keep reading books they aren't enjoying but you do you and I'll do me

Oh I love dual timelines. That’s the best part trying to figure it out. Love it.

your shirt is amazing 🧡✨

Tropes don't make me DNF books. I will give (almost) any trope a chance, because some tropes subvert expectations or are just well written. But if I cannot connect to the story, I'm done. If I don't care about the stakes, if I find that I can't stand the characters, if I have no curiousity in what comes next, I am out of there.

I’ve never DNF’d a book but I’m reading one now that makes me want to.

I used to be really committed to the idea that once I started a book, I was going to FINISH THAT BOOK. Like, hell or high water. I'd throw myself into a pit of snakes coated in reading slump dust, but I would FINISH, boyhowdy. I might physically throw the book out the window after the last page, but...finished. Then I realized that I'm 50 years old and statistically speaking, I'm probably not going to be able to read through my TBR before I die. (I know. Humbling, that. But it's true.). Therefore, I simply *do not have the time* to read books I'm not enjoying. I give it to about fifty pages, and if an author hasn't pulled their word-ducks into orderly rows, I'm OUT. Done. And I pick up the next one in line because my TBR, laid end to end, could probably circle the freaking earth. Also, I'm with you on the pets. I was writing out a little guide to my star ratings on goodreads, and 1 star was "this book offended my soul, was so poorly edited that I couldn't read it, bored me to tears, or the author made the unfortunate choice to kill a dog. There is never a reason to kill a dog. It's lazy emotional manipulation. It's actually zero stars. Do better, author." I'm not a fan of bookburning for censorship purposes, but there's been at least one that killed the dog as a way to make you hate the villain...which I lit on actual fire in the backyard. I took photos. We do not suffer dog abusers in this house, even literary ones. :)

I would love a part two of this!

i started reading a book a little while ago that has amnesia as a trope that i think utilizes it very well in the plot. called The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. idk if you've mentioned it in a previous video or not but i remember coming across the title from booktube somewhere lol

Most of the time I DNF if the writing is just not for me. But I sometimes DNF books that are really good. Usually this happens because I can tell my heart will break at the end, so I DNF it because I don't think I can handle it. I also "DNF" a lot of nonfiction books when I feel like I have gotten the information I need even if I overall liked the book.

The first thing that came to my mind was mysogony or sexualization of female characters. UNLESS it's at level that is appropiate to the time period / sociaty where plot is happening. Because I'll get equally frustrated if the characters have very modern mentality, but the book suggests 18/19th century

So I only got back on the reading train about halfway through this year and of the 30ish books I've read since then I've only DNF'd two of them. Even though a couple of them have been real clunkers, I usually get caught in the sunk cost fallacy very quickly and can trudge through stuff that's boring or badly written. (If anything I think they're educational in showing me what not to do in my personal writing! ) One I DNF'd was House of Leaves because....I'm a huge baby when it comes to horror and I chose to read it during a weekend my roommate was away and I literally lost two nights of sleep over it XD I did like it though! I want to come back to it someday! And the second I DNF'd just last week actually. It really, really wasn't a bad book, but I had it set up in an awkward position. For one, I thought it was Histotical Fantasy when I picked it up at random at the library, but it was Historical Fiction which is not my usual wheelhouse. And around the same time I had gotten two Discworld books that I was really excited to read! And when compared to that excitement, thr Historical Fiction book was just...boring. And very long. The pages were so dense with words and I felt like I was hardly making progress with it! So my reading time was spent thinking "I wish I was reading a Discworld book right now" and that wasn't fun so I just...put that down and started a Discworld book haha. So, maybe that was a helpful experience for me so I can better gage if I'm spending my reading time the way I want to.

Pregnancy tropes is just cringe. Especially if it’s done by a man who isn’t present or hated. If it’s from love, then I’m in. I also will DNF Billionaire romances. Every time I read anything involving a rich man ends up with a woman who has some sort of struggle and him hiding a huge secret. Both ends up in lies. Not a good one either. It makes me stop reading so quickly. Anything involving cheating, incest, and male writers on how they write about women is my biggest ick. I can’t stand it! We’re not objects! If done respectfully then it’s fine. I’m sorry for the long message but I had to share my thoughts. 😅

I've actually never DNFed a book before. I'm a proud member of the Suffered But Finished (sbf) party. Even though it can be quite painful sometimes. I didn't know people hated on amnesia so much. "Restart" by Gordon Korman is a great MG read. My favorite example I can think of off the top of my head is the "Dragonwatch" series by Brandon Mull. It is the sequel series to "Fablehaven" and has a great use of amnesia that turns one of the main characters from the good side to the bad side and it is quite phenomenal. I'm sure there are others too, but those are the two that jumped into my mind.

Oh I got one. When a book is advertised as lgbtq+ but then just isn't. Although by the time you notice it you have probably finished the book. Happened to me recently

Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone has one of these tropes, and at first I was annoyed but I ended up loving it!

I’m reading “So let them burn” and almost DNF’d it really early because I wasn’t super fond of the main character but convinced myself to give it time and I’m almost finished and I’d say it’s a 4.5/5 star book. But there are other times when I don’t DNF soon enough and just let it drag me into a reading slump. I got 60% through “Poison Season” and finally DNF’d it even though I was having to take month long breaks in between reading sessions.

When it comes to pregnancy trope, what I have observed that it is usually in two genres - romanticy or romance. I haven’t read a book with this trope but I know enough books that have them and I get why readers will be mad, including myself. 1) In the fantasy genre (or even paranormal) when the character gets pregnant they get majorly sidelined. Suddenly the all badass female MC can't contribute to anything because of the pregnancy. It's quite a bad stereotype to show because it views pregnant women as extremely vulnerable and easy to break. Also another thing I've seen is when the pregnancy is extremely dangerous to the mother and most of the time the mother has no idea about it. 2) Idk much about this trope set in modern times but I know it's annoying and I know in one of the Hoover books the couple made fun of their babies big genitalia so...take that as you will.

Constance by Matthew FitzSimmons was a very creative use of the amnesia trope in an atypical way. If you read the summary, you’ll understand what I mean. Lol

I don't really DNF any other books than romance. I can take the rough road of a bad fantasy, boring ya and predictable mystery but I can't take toxic and possessive manchildren. I know I ain't the prettiest but I can boil pasta, count to 10 and be respectful so I'm way above their league. Other than that I have sometimes DNFd overly complicated fantasy and historical fiction

In terms of books with amnesia, I personally don't agree. Yes, I think it can be done terribly and be emblematic of lazy writing, but I can think of many examples where it really worked within the story. For example, while I'm not the biggest fan of the Maze Runner series, the amnesia in that is done really well. Amnesia is actually really well done in a number of books, in my opinion. Those moments in THG where Peeta doesn't really remember Katniss because of the tracker jacker venom hit HARD. Amnesia was also really well done in Piranesi, The Darkest Minds, and the Heroes of Olympus series just to name a few. In many ways, Addie Larue is also an amnesia story, and that book is excellent. I think it really depends on how exactly amnesia is used as a device, and I tend to prefer stories where the amnesia is something that is actively DONE to a character as opposed to being a side effect. However, there are also many books that explore trauma-related memory loss, which is not exactly the same thing, but can be very powerful if done well.

I have a hard time DNFing books too, but a clear sign for me is when I start googling, wether I should DNF and look for reasons to drop the book.

I don't think there's anything wrong with writing a main character who's a cheater either. Of course it also depends on how it's done. But I don't think a main character needs to be a paragon of morality. You can write about a protagonist who is just straight up supposed to be unlikable. Or you can treat it as a character flaw that they're deeply regretful over. Maybe I'm just getting prematurely defensive because one of my planned stories has the protagonist cheat on his boyfriend (he loses both love interests in the end, mostly for cheating on the first one).

If you want to up your risk of surprise pregnancies, read more romance. I don't recall DNFing because of one, but that's where I remember running into them. "Annoying main characters" is why I DNFed The Secret History very early. Most of my DNFs really boil down to "eh, not feeling it", but something about serious hand injuries makes me nope out of books.

One for me is if I can't understand the world building. Sometimes to make things work in fantasy books, authors add layers and sometimes it's difficult to catch onto whart's happening. I like a well thought-out world, but there is such thing as it being too much - too complicated...

A Situation where I really like amnesia is in scifi settings. Really enjoyed both the plot twists of The Darkness Outside Us and Six Wakes

Here are my well-written amnesia recommendations (minor spoilers since not all the amnesiacs know they have amnesia from the start): Piranesi - Short, unique fantasy book with a naive MC who has a very interesting worldview. The amnesiac character’s reaction to their amnesia is quite different from most books, which feels refreshing and realistic. The Bone Shard Daughter - Darker fantasy. Abusive dad is eternally disappointed in the MC for not remembering anything before a certain age. Also the reason for the amnesia is very different from most books and makes sense. The Stormlight Archive - This massive series is a huge commitment and you should probably read at least something else by Sanderson first (Mistborn trilogy is a great place to start). But if you do ever read this epic fantasy series, it has very interesting characters and worldbuilding. There are many different plotlines so amnesia is certainly not the main plot, but it is very well written. There are at least four characters who have some form of amnesia at some point, all of which are well written and for specific reasons (not all the same reason), but my favorite instance of amnesia is a man who has forgotten his late wife. All his memories of her are gone. In one of the later books, after a slow build-up, comes the big reveal, and it is good stuff.

Jesse backing up with the overdescriptive comment and me like "yeah, said it out loud", but also me +a sucker for Les Misérables and Stephen King+ XDDD I agree with them, but I love it XD

I accidentally DNF books a LOT more than on purpose 😅 main reason is shiny book syndrome - I get a new book or this other book is perfect for the season, so before I know it I’ve started 5 books and can’t choose so I read none of them 🫠 The first main DNF I had was the mortal instruments series. It was the sneakiness I hated most. She tricked her readers into shipping a couple believed to be siblings then for the time between end of that book, wait time, and end of next book. It felt creepy and wrong how sneaky it was.. THEN, I learned she has a lot of controversy and is not a good person (allegedly scamming money, allegedly plagiarizing, incest again) And I’m fine with social media being included as long as it either isn’t excessive or serves a purpose (mc works as influencer, or writes stories online). To me it’s kind of like phones, internet, TV, video games, random hobbies - they’re all just part of the world we live in now

I literally dnfed two books IN MY ENTIRE LIFE (and I’m planning on finishing one of them). I just can’t do that! It happened to me so often that I hated the book through the most of it, but then I finished it and looked at the whole picture and realised that it was actually good

You want a really good amnesia trope book, read Robert Ludlums The Bourne Identity. Brandon Sandersons secret project book The wizards guide to medieval England that was releases this year was also well worth reading.

i don't mind when social media is mention or used by characters in the book if the book is set in modern day but when they mention/use tiktok it gives me the ick i perfer when they use a made up social media

I usually do not finish a book because the story doesn't engage me or I don't find it interesting.. It shouldn't feel like torture to read a book and I don't want to waste my time with it when I could be reading a book I really enjoy. This is one of the reason I hardly ever rate a book below 3 out of 5 stars, if it is a 2 or 1 star for me it just doesn't get finished.

There is one book that for me is really hard to actually finish or even going through the first couple chapters. It called Tender is the Flesh and it just a very morbid book. Like in the book there is something wrong with all the live stock in the world so they start breeding humans as meat for consumption. And there are a lot of things besides that really make the book a lot more morbid. Its a good eye opener for the way we treat animals and such but there definitely needs to have a SA and other such trigger warnings in the beginning.

At the top of my head, I have DNF'd 2 books. One, I DNF was because Time Travel was suddenly thrown at the me in the final book. I am not a big fan of Time Travel, I can get picky about it and the series, was already toeing the line with me because it also had the 'love triangle' trope involving a girl and two brothers. So that was the final straw. The other was a book for book club. It was like, a murder mystery book and barely halfway through, I had lost all interest and I did not care about any of the characters. So I quit. And that was early on in my time with Book Club, since then, I've gotten good at deciding what would be worth my time reading and there have been months I didn't read BC book. If I had DNf more books that I'm not remembering, then that just means the books were so forgettable.

Oh my gosh, this video came at a time when I am tempted to DNF this book but I also want to push through because it’s that really popular dragon book but I’m just not vibing with it. 😅😂 I have like 200 pages left and hoping maybe it’ll surprise me?

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley utilizes the amnesia trope in an interesting way. It begins with the protagonist stepping off of a train and realizing that he has no memory of who he is or what he was doing before that moment. It’s historical fiction with a sci-fi twist, plus a compelling queer romance; highly recommended.

I recently DNFed a book which was not descriptive enough. I had no idea what the places looked like. In another one, I didn't even know what was going on XD good descriptions are important.

16:00 I’ve never seen pride and prejudice, but isn’t that a teacher student relationship? Because everybody loves that book/movie 😅

Some reasons I'd personally dnf a book - yes the pregnancy trope but only if it feels like it's not needed and doesn't belong (like a married couple trying is fine to me) - 100% agree, if tiktok or covid is mentioned im out - Also if the book has a heavy social media focus, like a little is fine I get it basically everyone has an insta but for example theres a netflix film called reality high (google to see what it's about) and if that were a book I would never read it - Golden retriever men like EW sorry not sorry - Sometimes an annoying main character would make me dnf but like everyone else would have to be annoying too like if I was really vibing with a side character I could push through for that awesome side character for example the vampire dairies hated Elena but obsessed with Damon (I know Damon isnt a side character but you get what I mean) - I also agree with the miscommunication thing but in a different way. I hate when people arent upfront like JUST ASK HIM stop beating around the bush or being too afraid to ask or like in a romance book when the bitchh (who wants your man) tries to break you up maybe she kisses him maybe she doesn't and just says so to make the main female mad and instead of just asking the guy to explain his side and say what really happened (which is what the female lead should do btw) she just says were over and believes the bitchh like seriously??? your not friends with the bitchh she just wants to take your man!! - High school related anything just isnt for me, there are some exceptions for example I really enjoyed love simon and before I fall but most others I can't get into, maybe it's because im older (even though I like YA books just not ones that are high school centred) - The second chance trope (again maybe a few exceptions) but majority of the time im like why the f are you giving him another chance like he did whatever he did to you why would you ever go back to him - Country small towns just arent for me (costal/beach ones are fine but I don't like country ones) - step siblings getting together (enough said) - If I find the plot boring then Ill just stop (why read it if im not loving it?) (I only ever did that during school when I had to because otherwise id get an F on my essay about it) - Anything that is too gory/horror (I can't do horror books or films) Recently I dnf'd the true blood books even though I love vampire books they were just a bit too gory for me plus I also just found the plot of those books confusing like I kept asking myself what is even happening??

That book you mentioned made you seriously cry Jesse it wouldn’t have been Marley and Me would it? cause if it is I feel you I balled my eyes too I love dogs 🐶🥺🥺

I'm not a big fan of cheating. But I agree when it comes to cheating. It depends on the situation and how it is written. I don't like incest in books. But I didn't mind it in Cassandra Clare's books because it was obvious long way they weren't siblings. In Game of thrones I didn't like it. Because it was actually incest. I don't like a lot of s** descriptions. It's boring to me and I skip it 😂 What makes me dnf a book is if the story is veeeery slow or I feel I don't like the story/character. I'm not a big DNF-reader but I do it sometimes. I love kids, so I love stories with pregnancy trope or character's having children. I don't read it often in the books I read, but I don't mind it.

Not a book, but I feel CW’s The Flash used amnesia really well in its one off episode about it (Of course, there’s also the question of the ethics of using a severe psychological/neurological condition as a plot point but I’ll leave that to the philosophers)

I'm the same as you! I read a lot and I've NEVER read a book with a surprise pregnancy. Is it in a certain genre that I just don't read (even though I read most genres) or what? I'm so confused.

Reasons I ha ve DNF'd a book: The super smarty smart character keeps doing INCREDIBLY stupid things without stopping to think for 4 seconds, Insta-Love, when it feels like the author is trying to just show how smart they are and it comes off as pretentious (more often in non fiction books), and tbh Fake Dating- it never has anything new to it so it feels like the same story over and over and over.

I DNF books when there is a sudden sex scene that is too long and too graphic. I also don't like long chapters.

Re: the cheating thing. If it's the protagonist of a romance or a character I'm supposed to think is good and moral, then yeah, I would dnf or rate a book low over that. However, I read a lot of books full of unsympathetic or morally complex characters, sooo, it really doesn't bother me most of the time. As long as I'm not supposed to be rooting for them to succeed in their love life, it's fine. I rarely actively DNF a book (I just kind of stop reading and a few months later I'm like, oh... I don't remember what was happening), but I did DNF Lolita. It was a very beautifully written book, but the content was not good for my brain.

I think amnesia is (most of the time) used really badly, but I think if there is a valid reason for amnesia like in We Were Liars (It's basically the point of the book, but anyway) it works. And i think in the inheritance games series there is a good example of amnesia too, it isn't lazy, it's smart and it makes sence in the storylines perspective. But if amnesia is used too more than ones in a story, I think it's a DNF for me.

1. Having just accidentally read THREE of these, first person narration! Nothing keeps me from sinking into a story more than being forced to feel in charge of the thoughts of characters I do not relate to. It actually hurts my brain. 2. SA unless extremely vague/past as part of a character's makeup, especially if it's considered normal or goes basically unchallenged in the world being written. Recently had to DNF the Bandit Queens after multiple casual references to women needing to be careful when they went to the bathroom because of assault being so common. No matter what the characters accomplished during the book, that told me that they'd still exist in that fucked up of a world and it made me too sad.

I will DNF a book if it starts making feel uncomfortable in an unjustified way. (For example, I read a horror book about a snow monster, and DNF-ed when a main character started describing how horny he felt towards a young lady, in a scene that was establishing his character, and wasn't in anyway related to the snow monster.) Sexual scenes/information completely unrelated to the main plot seems be a problem in a couple of horror books I wanted to read.

I would scream If I would find out , that the main characters are pregnant

This video came out at the perfect time for me ! When I dislike a book, I tend to stick it out because the idea of not finishing a book hurts my very soul. But I forced myself to DNF a book yesterday because I hadn't picked it up in months and felt no joy at the thought of opening it again. Literally nothing was happening and the characters weren't interesting, no sign of it evolving either. 100 pages in and I still didn't know what it was about or where it was going ! Finally I removed the bookmark and it truly felt like taking a band-aid off. Then chucked it in the Donate pile far away from me : begone you soul-sucking reading-slump-maker waste-of-trees devil of a book !!! I keep reminding myself, there are so many good books waiting for me, and we have so little time on this Earth, why should I waste it on bad/unfulfilling books ? In 2024, my reading goal might be to DNF more books and be more ruthless in my decisions to do so 💪

Insta love. Now it’s different if I KNOW there’s insta and I’m wanting spice, otherwise, nope! I hate it. If there is zero character development or a deeper meaning with characters or plot. And again, if I’m not looking for it.

Strong content no wrong

I think I like when character can't remember cuz I love project hail Mary questioning myself

15:17 I literally thought he said "black characters" and then "Mood" and I thought I was on the wrong channel for a second there 😅

For me the reasons are when two characters have met each other just for some days and one character is already lost in thoughts of another when they have barely talked. I get romance but i would not like romance being the main plot or sometimes not even sub plot Or like the FL forgives the ML even after treated like shit or when the books are too predictable. Like I am reading a romance or thriller book and it starts moving towards the direction of every generic romance and thriller books (hope it makes sense)

Just DNF'd a book a picked up because we were following a character who was a thinly veiled incel and had too much misogyny and aphobia for me to deal with.

The one book i almost DNF is City of Bones, because the main character was so annoying. Got close to throwing the book actoss the room multiple times and i never continued the series, even though i have the second book

A lot of toxic romance tropes would make me DNF a book if I ever came accross them, but I usually don't as I tend to read a lot of middle grade books.

For me I hate when a pregnancy gets thrown into a romance at the end as as if that means it's the only way for us to know they "lived happily ever after" like it's the pinnacle moment - you've won life - here's your baby. You couldn't possibly have been happy without a baby! Granted if it's an epilogue or whatever eh. I'm not dnf'ing at the epilogue lol (and sometimes it fits the life you knew the characters wanted - sure). I don't like when it becomes the "third act conflict" or worse - resolves the conflict. I just don't like when the plot was about something else then wham bam oh instead the plot is about a baby. At least warn me in the blurb (So I can purposely avoid it kthx). I haven't read it yet but the only amnesia trope that seems kind of fun is 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall cause the main guy is lying about having amnesia the whole time then has to deal with the fallout/complications of that. My biggest pet peeve is when it doesn't get good until "the end" or "book 2" or "book 4/7/19" etc. Why...does it need to take thousands of pages to...get good? Why should we have to slog through a bunch of stuff that is boring/annoying/gonna get retconned for it to eventually get good (maybe)? I don't want to hate a whole book to be like woah that ONE SCENE was awesome. Ah if only the whole book was interesting and fun. I do hate pop culture and song references in books. It does not age well and eventually people won't know what you're referencing. I'm real bad about knowing songs by their names and I don't want to feel like I need to stop reading to look up a song - and I also quite possibly won't like the song. Even when it's in an urban fantasy I still find it jarring and feels out of place. I don't DNF too much but I have been trying to be better about it this year (DNF'd a WHOLE EIGHT), I may have hundreds of books on my shelf I still need to read so I'm trying to move on if I'm not enjoying myself.

Omg you singing Blackpink!! Such a surprise haha

REC WITH GOOD AMNESIA: Project Hail Mary

I 100% get what you mean about being able to curate your tiktok and therefore get better recommendations that suit you better but also I think the other part about the reason people hate to tiktok hyped books is that often times they're flawed in some way that is so egregious to a wide variety of readers that makes them distrustful and angry. So so many hyped tiktok books romanticize abuse or romanticize cheating or show toxic relationships without breaking down the harm or demonize mental health. So many hyped tiktok books are casually ableist, racist, sexist, or homophobic and I'm tired of it. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 3 authors that get wide criticism for fitting into one of these categories and yet they're incredibly hyped tiktok authors.

15:24 Project Hail Mary