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Original poster

That moment when the book turns terrible

135 replies

TofuTuesday · 31/07/2026 19:10

You know when you are reading something great, and then the character says or does something beyond belief, or a character appears, or the dialogue fails? I’ve just hit it with the book I’m reading. I’m now in the ok this is stupid phase, and making myself read it.

OP posts:
likeitshard · 02/08/2026 09:16

I felt this way about the ending to yesteryear

likeitshard · 02/08/2026 09:16

Fluffythefish · 31/07/2026 23:49

I threw My Sisters Keeper across the bed I was so enraged with the ending and never read Jodi Picoult since. (I think the film has a different ending)

Jodi Picoult has written some excellent books but that wasn’t one of them.

likeitshard · 02/08/2026 09:15

BendyDickCumbInMySnatch · 31/07/2026 19:44

The year of the locust
Behind her eyes

Yes to behind her eyes!

AFigureWalks · 02/08/2026 08:54

“We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves”. The protagonist’s sister, Fern, turns out to be a fucking chimpanzee halfway through the book. She disappears then, I can’t remember exactly why, but as the parents were experimenting on animals, I think it was back to the lab for 20 Benson and Hedges, some coral shimmer lipstick and a shit tonne of heart pills.
I stopped reading it when Fern was outed in the book. Bloody stupid.

Squirrelsnut · 01/08/2026 21:45

I found the ending of Magpie Road really unconvincing, despite the rest of it being good.

peedoffandtired · 01/08/2026 21:23

Fluffythefish · 31/07/2026 23:49

I threw My Sisters Keeper across the bed I was so enraged with the ending and never read Jodi Picoult since. (I think the film has a different ending)

Awful book. For some reason my mum let me read it when I was about 10!

Whynottryagain · 01/08/2026 18:41

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 31/07/2026 20:56

Yes. But I reckon she’d at least have qualified as a vet with Nigel. Not least because he’d want her to bring in the money.

Veronica was allowed to choose dance over Sebastian, even if it turned out okay for her. And at some point she acknowledges that she sacrificed her time with Vicky for dance. So why wasn’t Mariella allowed her career?

DISCLAIMER; I may be overthinking this.

I can always wind up my 25 year old DD by saying Tennis Shoes. She responds by muttering darkly about umbrellas.

Hmm, I think you're being too kind to Nigel. I thought he had a plan to stop Sylvia from continuing dancing after they were married? He's totally controlling, I can't imagine him letting his wife have a life outside of him.

Even Sebastian says some awful things, pressuring Veronica to give up her career.

Must reread and remind myself!

NotWavingButReading · 01/08/2026 11:37

On the subject of dogs.
Stranded by Rosalind Tate
The protagonist has a dog which we are reminded of on every page. This was already annoying me by chapter two but I stuck it out because the idea behind the book had so much potential.
Not only do they travel back in time but the past is different. Other people preceded them in the same way and none have found a way home.
The main character is a bit wet. The writer runs out of ideas half way through.
But mainly that bloody dog.

Glidinglikeaswan · 01/08/2026 00:04

In a book group we were reading "Disgrace" by J M Coetzee. Near the beginning there is a female character with a lot of dogs. I said I had a horrible feeling about the fate of the dogs. Someone who was further ahead just said "stop reading". So I did.

I hate books where the author needs to have their character experience trauma/display emotion, so they kill off a pet.

HelenaWilson · 31/07/2026 23:59

I threw My Sisters Keeper across the bed I was so enraged with the ending

I haven't read the book, but I read a plot summary and thought the ending was a total cop out which didn't address or resolve the issues at the centre of the book.

Fluffythefish · 31/07/2026 23:49

I threw My Sisters Keeper across the bed I was so enraged with the ending and never read Jodi Picoult since. (I think the film has a different ending)

OnMarket · 31/07/2026 23:48

OooPourUsACupLove · 31/07/2026 23:39

It's bloody awful isn't it!?

The world building is great, but all the characters are awful and the plot is so bad I kept thinking it must be a misdireaction to a great twist.

Sadly not.

Show quote history

It did just get worse and worse, and squandered an great set-up.

OooPourUsACupLove · 31/07/2026 23:39

OnMarket · 31/07/2026 22:59

Babel by R. F. Kuang ?

That might have been the book I was talking about!

Show quote history

It's bloody awful isn't it!?

The world building is great, but all the characters are awful and the plot is so bad I kept thinking it must be a misdireaction to a great twist.

Sadly not.

peedoffandtired · 31/07/2026 23:24

The blue hour by Paula Hawkins.

The final page. Literally what was the point of the entire book?!

TheLightOfDay · 31/07/2026 23:21

@Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies Mariella was much more pragmatic, feet firmly on the ground. She probably had a very happy life. Veronica was known to be away with the fairies and single minded.

TheLightOfDay · 31/07/2026 23:17

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 31/07/2026 19:48

My mother and I frequently moan about Mariella (Masquerade at the Wells). She kicks off the shackles of the expectation to dance, gets into Vet School… then giv s it up with only a year left to marry the handsome Vet (she did say she could use her training to act as a nurse). There is no way she would have given up like that. Unless she was pregnant, I suppose. But no pattern of tiny feet.

Don’t get me started on No Castanets at the Wells. So Caroline “learned” flamenco in one night did she? My arse she did!

PangolinPan · 31/07/2026 23:12

JaneyDC · 31/07/2026 22:57

I enjoyed an author, so thought I'd read one of her earlier books. Big mistake. The husband wanted a baby so much that he put pin holes in the condom. The wife never wanted children, but hey ho, she forgave him cos she just loved him SO much. And yes, she kept the child she was tricked into conceiving. I was like WTF.

Ha Adele parks! I was the same with that book, I'd really liked her previous ones but haven't read another as that book was condoning sexual assault and forced pregnancy. Can't believe it got published tbh.

OnMarket · 31/07/2026 22:59

OooPourUsACupLove · 31/07/2026 22:53

Babel, when the thing that happened on the ship happened and they got away with it.

Babel by R. F. Kuang ?

That might have been the book I was talking about!

JaneyDC · 31/07/2026 22:57

I enjoyed an author, so thought I'd read one of her earlier books. Big mistake. The husband wanted a baby so much that he put pin holes in the condom. The wife never wanted children, but hey ho, she forgave him cos she just loved him SO much. And yes, she kept the child she was tricked into conceiving. I was like WTF.

OooPourUsACupLove · 31/07/2026 22:53

Babel, when the thing that happened on the ship happened and they got away with it.

Original poster
TofuTuesday · 31/07/2026 22:48

NotWavingButReading · 31/07/2026 21:18

There is no point in a book when I'm not willing to DNF. I've been known to give up with only a chapter to go if it annoys me.

I really would love to do this. I’m currently reading Liar and now I hate it.

OP posts:
OnMarket · 31/07/2026 22:44

BendyDickCumbInMySnatch · 31/07/2026 19:44

The year of the locust
Behind her eyes

I've watched Behind Her Eyes on TV and it did a hairpin turn into utterly batshit. I almost admire how awful it is!

NotWavingButReading · 31/07/2026 21:18

There is no point in a book when I'm not willing to DNF. I've been known to give up with only a chapter to go if it annoys me.

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 31/07/2026 20:56

Yes. But I reckon she’d at least have qualified as a vet with Nigel. Not least because he’d want her to bring in the money.

Veronica was allowed to choose dance over Sebastian, even if it turned out okay for her. And at some point she acknowledges that she sacrificed her time with Vicky for dance. So why wasn’t Mariella allowed her career?

DISCLAIMER; I may be overthinking this.

I can always wind up my 25 year old DD by saying Tennis Shoes. She responds by muttering darkly about umbrellas.

Whynottryagain · 31/07/2026 20:50

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 31/07/2026 19:48

My mother and I frequently moan about Mariella (Masquerade at the Wells). She kicks off the shackles of the expectation to dance, gets into Vet School… then giv s it up with only a year left to marry the handsome Vet (she did say she could use her training to act as a nurse). There is no way she would have given up like that. Unless she was pregnant, I suppose. But no pattern of tiny feet.

At least she didn't end up with horrible Nigel!
I love that series. And the Drina books.