Question about the "don't judge a book by its first chapter" advice

My book club buddy told me to always finish a book before forming an opinion, so I slogged through 400 pages of a novel I hated from page 10. Turns out the ending was just as bad and I wasted 3 evenings on it. Has anyone else had a book that got way worse after you forced yourself to keep reading?

3 comments

3 Comments

danielnelson24d ago

Ask your buddy what books they think got better after a bad start. I want to know if they can name a single one that actually turned around. For me, I tried that with "The Goldfinch" after hating the first 50 pages, and it somehow got more boring. The ending just made me mad I stuck with it.

piperbailey24d ago

@danielnelson you're really holding a grudge against that book huh... I mean yeah The Goldfinch is long but like, is it that deep? There's plenty of books where the slow start pays off later, like "The Night Circus" or even "The Stand". Still don't get the hate for Tartt though, she's just wordy.

hill.margaret24d ago

Read somewhere that life's too short for bad books, so I stopped feeling guilty about quitting them.