That moment when the book turns terrible

[TofuTuesday]

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.

Two recently

The Enchanted April went from feminist awakening to centring men

and an award winning book where the man explains that the doctors asked him to choose between the wife and baby and he chose to save the baby because that’s what she would have wanted. They wouldn’t have asked him you dingbat

There’s one book where the heroine gets off the bus at our local bus station, turns right and walks to a caravan park overlooking a beach in an hour or so. No bloody way did she!

I picked up a book at the library because it mentioned a police force using an AI detective and I thought that sounded interesting - until it becomes clear this is a hologram (ok…) and one who acts like a robot in a sitcom, not understanding any jokes or idioms. This might have been ok a few years ago but it was published last year and we’ve all used AI, and it doesn’t act like that! Annoying as I found the premise quite appealing if done properly.

🤣 love this idea

could be quite dystopian with the AI having hallucinations and falsely accusing people

He actually was First Sea Lord during WW1! From 1911 to 1915, as far as I recall. Responsible for the Gallipolli campaign, which led his star into eclipse for a while. People forget that Churchill led men in two wars, not just one. Maybe you should pick that book back up

He actually was First Sea Lord during WW1!

No he wasn't!

He was First Lord of the Admiralty, which is quite a different post.
First Lord of the Admiralty is or was a political appointment, a Cabinet post.
First Sea Lord is the highest rank achievable by a serving Naval officer, which Churchill never was. The actual First Sea Lord at the outbreak of the First World War was Prince Louis of Battenberg. - Prince Philip's grandfather.

I stand corrected, thank you!

The worst detective book I ever read was about a murder that initially looked like a suicide. After an entire book of detective work... Turns out it was a suicide after all. Argghhhh.

Second Sleep- great start, dire ending. Chucked it on the floor in annoyance!

I loved the, the book and series.

Just remembered - I once read a book where the heroine was overweight and she ate a bacon sandwich in two bites!

@HoppityBun While I agree that the Sickert book was a pile of crap, I have to say that it was the first bit of Ripper literature I had read until that point that went into any sort of detail about the victims lives. Obviously since then Hallie Rubenhold has written The Five and taken it much further, but I learned things in Patricia Cornwell’s book that none of the other male authors I had read bothered to include. If I remember correctly there were also a few good chapters on Victorian policing and the general background of the East End at the time. Then it all turned into complete bollocks

Songs of The Humpbacked Whale has recently been republished. I bought it thinking it would be great but it’s her first ever novel and is excruciatingly bad. I felt conned.

Oh God. My DP bought me this and before I even started reading it, he'd bought me another one by the same author. I've started it now and struggling to be arsed with it, even before anything noteworthily annoying has happened. I'm going to have to express an opinion on it before I have another bloody birthday.

Birnham Wood has the worst ending.

It's like the author ran out of time and "everybody died". Totally ridiculous and I was so annoyed because I quite enjoyed the rest of the book.

19 minutes
the pact
small great things
the storyteller
plain truth
a spark of light
handle with care
Keeping faith
perfect match

were all very good.

i couldn’t get on with songs of the humpback whale either

I feel like Butter and Lessons in Chemistry were both disappointing because they fell back onto giving their characters the perfect life at the end

i at least enjoyed reading butter for a time though was disappointed by the end

lessons in chemistry had me continually rolling my eyes and I wish I’d never bothered

Butter just got worse and worse and just kept repeating itself. Was glad to see the back of it.

Lessons in Chemistry was total fluff with far too many "and then everyone stood up and cheered " moments. It waa fun enough to read, though.

Honestly the end of lessons in chemistry had me throwing it against the wall

butter just seemed like a good idea she didn’t know what to do with

I felt like this with Sorrow and Bliss , my goodness how much I detested the book and the main character but that also had an ok that’s it I’m done moment in it.

I really enjoyed Five by Illona Bannister (?) recently, she's an American author living in Britain, book set in London, and at one point she says that a character would often slip another a hundred-pound note. It drove me mad.

All Clear/Black out by Connie Willis?

I loved that book,and thought it was so clever! But I had been primed for the general idea by watching a programme about a gorilla which had been brought up as a human as an experiment - either in a home or by a group of researchers, it was on a campus in the US I think.
it was tragic and DS and I still remember. Predicably,he got too big ( and dangerous) and the Uni basically caged him and shipped him off.But - he could sign,was used to talking to people,wandering the campus. He would buy snacks with fake money which he was given.One of his family went to see him in the cage,asked him how he was ( via sign) and he said he was hurt - she asked where? “Feelings” .
Honestly, that might sound banal but it was heartbreaking…

No, it was Babel which someone else also brought up! My "annoyed moment" was far more innocuous though! It was about a food item the characters comment on which would not have been around then, but might sound very "olde english" to a non-native...

I'm trying to work out which things you're talking about!