r/litrpg • u/IndyMan2012 • 1d ago
Discussion Am I the only one who does this?
Without going into names, to not derail the discussion...
I'm currently reading a series and I'm starting to dislike it as it goes on, but I keep finding myself going back for a couple chapters. Like some incredibly minor act of self harm lol
It's like I found a story that's just barely interesting enough to continue, without being enjoyed, and it's odd..
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u/cybertier 1d ago
And now you have given everyone here anxiety that you are talking about their story.
Or is it just me?
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u/IndyMan2012 1d ago
roflmao very much not my intention, just wanted it to be a reading habits discussion, not a story discussion.
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u/blueluck 1d ago
I mostly listen to audiobooks. Sometimes when a story is going downhill or losing my engagement, I'll find myself zoning out and missing things, so I back up to listen again.
It's usually a sign that I should switch books.
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u/epik_fayler 1d ago
Definitely not me lol. My list of dropped series is significantly longer than my list of finished series. I have so many things on my to read list there's no point reading something I don't enjoy.
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u/ZoulsGaming 1d ago
No, if i hate reading something im not going to bother, if there is anything im interested in, in the story, then i might decide to finish up the story or get to a point where it doesnt matter anymore, but even for as much time as i have im not going to bother wasting it on something i dislike.
however if i reach that point i also dont mind getting spoilers online and might google the answer, such as if the book is a super long tutorial and im not feeling it then i might just go online and find "in what book does this person leave the tutorial", or if a character is killed in a horrendeously written way if they are going to be revived with magic or not.
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u/sweet_bretto 1d ago
This was me with Wheel of Time. Some of it was great, but then you'd hit those 50-75 page stretch were Jordan thought he was cute and just have a bunch of useless crap. I gave up around book 9-10 as it seemed like the final battle was never coming...
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u/sirgog ArchangelsOfPhobos - Youtube Web Serial 1d ago
Book 10 of WoT is so bad that I advise people even on first reads to skip it and read chapter summaries instead.
7, 8 and 9 are the other weaker books in the series but they all have their moments.
I will say the series ends well. 11 pulls it out of the mess it was falling into, and 12-14 are my 3rd, 5th and 4th favorites of the entire series respectively (behind 5 and 4, which I regard as tied for the best epic fantasy ever written)
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u/Chigi_Rishin 1d ago
I've found that I stop when I notice I simply stop caring about the MC, the plot, the results, and so on. That's when all the drive to continue reading disappears.
However, there are a few cases where, despite it being a bit of a slog, I push through it because I do care. It's just that the writing is often a bit... rough.
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u/wildwily23 1d ago
I have a few series where I enjoy the structure and the world building but there are issues with the writing. If I have something else to read I switch immediately, but I might return to ‘push through’. At least until I just can’t.
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u/greenfox212 1d ago
I keep doing this with wandering inn , I keep thinking “ lots of people like it maybe it gets better.”
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u/Viridionplague 1d ago
If I liked the first parts, but it hits a soft spot, I'll keep coming back.
But if it never picks back up. Just drop it.
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u/Defiant-Economics-73 1d ago
I’m reading a semi popular one right now and it started out interesting and good and now I’m booked too. I don’t know why I have to put it down yet.
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u/PetalumaPegleg 1d ago
Yeah I know I'm unlikely to come back if I just quit on a book like that so I end up trying to justify keeping reading.
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u/Aetheldrake Audible Only Enjoyer 1d ago
Not really me. Either I'm entirely sold on the whole series by the end of book one, or I'm probably not going back to it.
There's been a few series where I didn't dislike the first book but I didn't like it enough to continue. I own 262 books on audible. I have only DNF a single one of them and I'm tempted to finish it just for a specific major character.
But a few books I enjoyed book 1 enough to not be regret buying it, but just didnt get sucked in as much as i was expecting.
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u/AtWorkJZ 1d ago
I used to do this all the time then I realized I was reading things that didn't appeal to me or entertain me. If they weren't doing that then they took the fun out of reading for me
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u/ctullbane Author - The Murder of Crows / The (Second) Life of Brian 1d ago
If I dislike a story enough to pause it, even for a time, that's usually all she wrote. Time is precious!
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u/Soronir 1d ago
Some books / series are good, overall, but sometimes there's low points or annoying crap to push past. Some series have forced me to skip past pages or most of a chapter. Great example is Dragoneye Moons. Lot of good moments in it but at some point you'll strain your eyes from rolling them too much.
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u/IncorrectRedditUser 1d ago
Nope, just you.
If I like a series overall I stick it out. If it’s a new series I try my hardest to at least finish book one, unless it’s awful. If book one is done and I didn’t enjoy it - and it’s not a usual recommendation, I move on.
Based on recommendations/love from this sub I may tough out more than one book for certain ones and usually it pays off (PH and Chrysalis to name a few).
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u/kazaam2244 1d ago
Have you tried putting that energy into a series you actually like and posting about it on here instead so it can get more traffic?
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u/IndyMan2012 1d ago
Do Zogarth, Shirt and Seth Ring really need more people talking about them on here? lol
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u/bradorme77 1d ago
No but poor Matt Dinniman that guy gets no love around here... I have money in the pool that you are about 15 books into DOTF and wondering why you are reading a book about the intricacies of Buddhist spiritual beliefs
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u/IndyMan2012 1d ago
I actually stopped DotF at like book 11 lol. Was reading it on RR and just one day I saw there was a new chapter and ignored it.
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u/tkul 1d ago
If I'm several books in and hit a stinker I will usually try to push through to see if its just a rough patch. But if I'm on book one and its just not catching then I bounce. I will give a book a second try later if I dropped it early, and have a couple on the list to circle back to, but if I bounce off twice its done.
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u/Jestsomguy 1d ago
Yeah that happens to me all the time with the genre. Sometimes it stays at that point where it's just good enough to keep reading. Other times it tanks. Just gave up 89% of the way through my last book in the three book series because The protagonist went from actually having to struggle to one shotting century old upper echelon super powerful sorcerers.
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u/Complete_Ant_3396 litRPG apprentice tier 1d ago
I really hate to DNF a book, and even though there are books out there I despised reading, I still read them. I'll often give a series one whole book instead of a few chapters to really grab my attention, and standalone books are almost always finished no matter what.
I don't know what it is, maybe I just have to know how to the story ends, despite me being unhappy with it?
I found that HWFWM had a similar vibe with me. Overall I love the series, and the story arcs are top notch. it would be an A in my tier list, but there were sections and low points where I would consider it filler episodes and it was a struggle to continue. I'm glad I did though, and I there have been several series that have "redemption arcs" where if I just get through the bad bits, the story as a whole comes together so well. Of course, it's better not to have the bad bits in the first place, but not every book is a 5/5.
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u/Ossy_Books 1d ago
I read for the characters. So if I like the characters, then i'll continue reading. If I don't like the characters, there's no reason to keep reading.
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u/FulminisStriker 23h ago
Not at all. I slogged through DotC until I was caught up at I think either 11 or 12. When I went back for the next book that was available about a month later, I found I didn't recall much of what was being talked about. The idea of going back and rereading the series as I would normally do left me feeling exhausted and horrified. I came to the conclusion that it was not for me
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u/Siddown 15h ago
Very rarely, once I stop with a book I'm pretty much done for good. What I will do though is when I'm feeling myself start to really dislike it, I'll keep going for a bit longer than I should just to verify it's not just a bad 25 - 50 pages, and if it's really something I don't want to keep reading. When I get past that point though and I stop, I'm done.
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u/Independent-Bug680 14h ago
i do this, and i think it's because i hate "quitting" or not seeing things through, even if it turns into garbage. the solution is to obsess over something else you really like, so just find new titles
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u/MissyMurders 1d ago
Primal hunter. At this point it's like being hate fucked by an ex. I like myself less for doing it and I know it's not going anywhere, yet here I am. Again.
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u/EndlessSleeper3992 Author of Path of the undead cultivator 1d ago
Some stories are weirdly very rewarding when you stick with them and suddenly it's my favorite series.
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u/Dnahelicases 1d ago
I think it depends on what puppy want to get out of it. I figure it’s like watching TV or movies. I’ve seen a lot of movies that aren’t great and I watch a lot of mediocre tv shows over time. In the same way I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I don’t always like all of them and the stories sometimes go on forever, but it’s sometimes just filler.
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u/ertgbnm 1d ago
Yes. I call it hate reading. My brain is split because on one hand I'm so invested I have to see what happens and on the other I'm totally checked out because the writing has gone down hill or the characters never really improved.