Books aren’t easy to write. There are always bumps along the road, whether they are a part of the writing process or events in life, which can set writers back and make an already difficult task much harder. In the end, a book is produced, but they don’t always get the same reception from their readers. Here is a list of elements in a story (or excluded from the story) that make a bad book in my eyes, one I likely won’t recommend and possibly will have DNFed.

These aren’t, of course, the only things that make a bad book, and this list is entirely subjective to my tastes and preferences with reading. I can include things on this list that you love, but that doesn’t mean you read bad books. Similarly, I could mention things in some of the recent books I’ve read, but that didn’t mean it overshadowed the novel to the point I gave it a poor rating. These are purely elements and aspects of stories that don’t always gel with me.

Omniscient Perspective
If you’ve seen my reactions to some of the beloved favourites within dark academia and classic lit, then you know what I will say about omniscient perspective. There is a separation between the reader and the characters with omniscient perspectives as we don’t get inside their heads – we don’t learn their thoughts and feelings unless they are voiced, and we certainly don’t get to see what the person is thinking but not saying. I need that closeness to the characters – the protagonist especially – to feel engaged in the novel. If there isn’t a connection to the characters, I can and will easily lose interest.

Emotionally Lacking Protagonists
As with omniscient perspectives, I need to empathise with the characters, and the protagonists need to react reasonably to the happenings around them. I need characters to feel fear, sadness, excitement, anger, and loss. I need characters to get up in their heads about something that’s worrying them. I need characters to feel flashes of guilt and remorse and agony in moments when they should otherwise be staunch and stoic. It doesn’t have to be extreme because I did say a reasonable reaction. When I read scenes where the action picks up, the tension rises and the events are not mundane, I need characters who similarly come alive. I need a reaction to the action, and if there isn’t one then it feels like a missed opportunity to showcase the character as a human being.

Robotic Dialogue
I’m sure you’ve seen some of this, regardless of what genres you read. There’s something about clunky, robotic dialogue that ruins the flow of the engagement and pacing of the story. This is especially upsetting when the action is handled so well and the tension is riding high off the backs of a fight scene or revelation. Not only can it stop the pacing dead in its tracks, but it doesn’t come across well for the characters. There is an exception if the characters are having an awkward conversation or one character is just bad with small talk, but you can tell when this is the angle the author has taken. Characters feel less authentic and less believable when the dialogue has no flow or rhythm.

Slow/No Pace in a Plot-Driven Book
I’m not a “for the vibes” reader. I need plot engagement and active characters to feel immersed in a novel. I love vibes, but they can’t propel the story forward fast enough for me. Slow or no pace lends itself to the idea that there isn’t anything within the scenes, or worse in the whole book, that is worth including. This doesn’t include a slight slowdown when establishing backstory, story world detail and complex systems as these are generally elements of a story I am interested in hearing about. If the characters are filling a space or the plot has no external pressure carrying it forward, I will not be hooked into the read and I will likely DNF.

Tropes Just Thrown In There
Again, you’ve probably read a few books where this has happened. I’m not against tropes, even the constantly used tropes, because I know that there are some books and some tropes that aren’t for me but are loved by many. When a trope is thrown into the story as an afterthought, or the story is heavily centred on a trope and isn’t much of a story outside of it, the novel comes across as very off in my eyes. I also can’t help but think that the true depths and meanings behind the trope aren’t being considered – for example, if we love the enemies-to-lovers trope, it tells us that we want someone to see the worst parts of ourselves and still love us, still see beauty and goodness in us, and still what to be with us even with our darkness. Maybe it’s the boom in books as a result of TikTok that has brought about more trope-orientated books, of which there may or may not be a deeper understanding of the tropes in practice, which could be a reason why I struggle with finding recs through BookTok and Bookstagram.

Narrative Voices I Cannot Relate To
Relate to, empathise with, understand in some way, whatever way you want to phrase this – if the main character or protagonist is saying, thinking and doing things that are the opposite of what I would do without a compelling reason, I will not be interested in the book. This is likely due to me being an INFJ, but I can have adverse reactions to characters who are unlike me in every way. Keep in mind this is subjective because trust me I am aware that this isn’t even a measurable element of writing. I do my best to try books and genres I’m not as familiar with, authors I haven’t tried before, and the stories that sit outside my usual playing field, but I need to gel with the narrative voice, even if I don’t like the character.

Plot Holes (This isn’t subjective – it’s just fact)

You know its a bad book if there are plot holes. Not just little-hole-in-a-sweater holes but pot-hole-in-the-middle-of-the-road holes. It’s evident that these kinds of books are generally self published simple because traditional publishing measures go through so many people, including editor and proofreaders, and plot holes will be found and patched up before publication. However, this does not mean a traditionally published book can’t have plot holes. Now, small plot holes aren’t going to break the book or be the ruin of the author, but it does leave the reader feeling a little unsure, maybe confused, maybe even mad about the plot hole. It’s best this gets dealt with because you don’t want your books to have plot holes of any size, unless its an intentional part of the story telling – perhaps an unreliable narrator is creating these plot holes and misleading the reader, trying to convince them of something but not having the whole story fixed before starting their version of events.

Let me know what makes for a bad read in your books. This wasn’t easy to write, but it will be a lot easier for me to write my “What Makes A Good Book In My Eyes” post as I have a lot more to talk about there. You will have to wait a bit for that but I hope you look forward to it.