Lately, we’ve been talking about some related topics, and I figured I might as well go all in and discuss one more that’s kind of in the same vein. For this week’s bookish discussion, I want to talk about reviewing DNF’d books. Just from what I’ve gathered from speaking to the book reviewers and bloggers in my own circle, there are a lot of strongly held opinions about this topic.
Personally, I nearly always write a review on books that I DNF. Whether I give it a star rating or not is a different story. Let me explain. The only time that I don’t write a review on a book that I DNF’d is if I stopped reading really quickly for a personal or frivolous reason. This might be because I didn’t like the audiobook narrator and plan to come back to it as an ebook or physical copy, because I’m a mood reader and it isn’t hitting the spot at the present time, or simply because I was expecting it to be different. These are typically things that wouldn’t really need an explanation for why I DNF’d the book, but I might just write a quick sentence in a review. Other than that, I’ll write a detailed review of why I stopped reading the book, and still try to highlight any positives that I can think of. I try not to star rate a book unless I read a significant part of the book. Usually about half, but on the rare occasion that I DNF an ARC, NetGalley requires a star rating. Also, if there is something really egregious in the part that I read before quitting, that might lead to a star rating reflecting that. For example, I had started an audiobook that used disgustingly ableist language about autism, and used it as a joke within the first chapter. That was a quick DNF and it told me everything I needed to know about that book. I always include a description of why I stopped reading, because it allows me to maintain my honesty as a reviewer and share my thoughts with other readers. Who knows, I might just save another person from reading about a graphic scene that could trigger them. 🤷🏻♀️
However, there are plenty of people who do not review books that they DNF. I can understand where they are coming from. Some people might just prefer to move on and wipe out the memory of that book from their mind. Others may want to avoid the negativity of writing a DNF review or having to bother writing a review for a book that they didn’t even finish. Whatever the reason is, it is a valid reason. Everyone has the right to write or not write a review for whatever book they choose, and no one can tell you different (unless you actually write reviews as part of your job).
Let’s discuss! Do you write DNF reviews? Why or why not?
Categories: Sunday Bookish Discussion
Leah's Books 
Leaving a review for a DNF is really based on my mood and/or how much expectation I went into the book with vs how much I lost for specific reasons. If I just lose interest or the book isn’t working for me but there’s nothing WRONG with it, I may not even mark it as read/DNF on Goodreads! In that case I’d just remove it from my TBR. But if I went into the book excited for it, and then it let me down or it was comically bad, I’ll still try to hit 50% and I’ll either skim-read the rest to see if anything piques my interest. I don’t often rate my DNFs unless it was a particularly egregious read. In fact I think the only one I’ve done that with on my Goodreads page is for Normal People by Sally Rooney – DNF’d at barely 30% and rated it 1 star. I wish I could have rated it lower.
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Agreed. Sometimes I’ll start a book and just not click with it, and especially if it’s really early on, I don’t even have the chance to mark it as currently reading, so I also take it off my TBR. And don’t even get me started with Sally Rooney – I tried reading one of her books and it was so uncomfortable. I was secondhand cringing the whole time I was reading.
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I rarely DNF a book but if I do, I would like to tell why that didn’t work for me.
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I always like finding out why other people didn’t finish a book also.
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Interesting. I don’t write reviews for books I DNF because I feel like I can’t really evaluate the book as a whole if I haven’t finished it. Sometimes when I persevere with a book where I’m not loving the characters or the plot is really slow, that changes as the story goes on. Usually when I DNF, I do it quickly and for reasons that are annoying to me personally but might not be to other people, like excessive foul language, violence, sex, or just characters that irritate me or prose that feels lifeless to me. I do like that you state what bothered you about a book you DNF’d because I do like to have a warning about certain things. At any rate, thanks for the interesting discussion!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Thanks for stopping by and participating in the discussion, Susan! I love hearing the different viewpoints – imagine how boring the bookish world would be if we all thought exactly the same?
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Like Books Teacup, I rarely DNF a book and it depends on my mood if I write a review. Usually, if the book enrages me or pisses me off and I can’t continue reading for concrete reasons, then I’ll write a review. But sometimes I’m just not feeling it and it’s not the book’s fault, so I’d rather not write one.
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THIS! I encounter it most often with audiobooks, but sometimes I’ll start and encounter either a book that is too complicated to read as an audiobook and I’ll stop until I can find the time to read the ebook or physical copy, or I just don’t gel with the narrator, and I don’t write reviews for those either, because that’s a 100% me issue and not the book’s fault. But for books with definite issues, those absolutely get reviews – it’s like taking one for the team, you know?
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