“Never force yourself to read a book that you do not enjoy. There are so many good books in the world that it is foolish to waste time on one that does not give you pleasure.”
In the book world, ‘DNF’ refers to ‘did not finish’. It’s a term used to to describe the act of discarding a book before reaching the final page, without the intention of ever picking it up again. We’ve already explored what goes into DNFing books and why the subject is a controversial one in the reading community. But, how do you know when it is time to DNF a book? Join us here at What We Reading as we delve into some of the considerations you should take into account before giving up on a story you’re just not that into!
Take Stock Of Your Mood
Arguably the biggest reason why someone might consider DNFing a book is the mood they find themselves in when they pick it up. Whether you’ve had a bad day and the author catches you in a particularly impatient mood, or whether their subject material catches you off guard, don’t underestimate how much our moods influence our opinion on things. Other environmental factors can influence your overall opinion of a book as well; for instance, reading a summary romance novel in winter. Or when we decided to do a book review of Malin Stehn’s Happy New Year in April…
Either way, taking stock of how you’re feeling can be a useful tactic in assessing how you really feel about a book, and whether you want to fully DNF or return to it another time.
Give It Time
Asking a reader when an appropriate time to DNF a book is a bit like asking how long a piece of string is. Everyone is different. Some people will know they aren’t going to get along with a book within the first few pages, whereas others like to at least make it to the halfway point before setting it down.
We always think it’s worth giving a book a bit of time to explain itself before it is discarded. Because of how page counts can vary, we prefer reaching a rough percentage of progress rather than a set number of pages before deciding whether to DNF or not. Reading about 25-30% of a book is a good amount of material to get through to know whether an author’s style is for you or not.
Analyse What Didn’t Work
Rather than dismissing a book outright with a pejorative, analysing what it is specifically about the book that has put you off can be a great way of not only understanding it better but also your own reading habits and preferences.
For example, was the author’s writing style overly descriptive? Were their characters unlikeable? Were the themes and messages conveyed alienating to you? Asking these sorts of questions will help you feel more convinced about DNFing a book, and ensure the odds of you doing it again are narrowed going forward.
We’ve found characters that we’ve not enjoyed reading to be one of the most recurring gripes we’ve had with books during our reading lives. Let us know what your most common reasons for DNFing a book are!
Be Fair
And finally, it’s always worth remembering that just because you have DNFed a book, that doesn’t mean everyone else has. The different reactions a story can throw up are one of the best parts of the reading world, so it’s always worth being conscious of other people’s opinions when you’re launching your scathing review of a book.
We also believe that even the most hapless of books has a positive or two to take from it. In the interest of creating a more measured and rounded review, take the time when DNFing a book to think of any aspects to it that you actually enjoyed, or that you could imagine others enjoying. Ultimately, you want to give others the chance to enjoy the book.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
