Let's Talk: What makes you DNF a book?

[snowynight]

I quickly get bored if the book began with long description of scenery. That's why I gave up on The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers.

I dislike when the author forces me to accept their agenda. I am here to read a story, nor propaganda. In the case of nonfiction, please convince me with good evidence or argument.

I dislike when the author writes sad ending because supposedly it's more realistic or high brow. It was lucky that I skipped to the ending of The Necessary Hunger, or I would have wasted my time finishing it. It also had my hated trope: miscommunication problems that can be solved if people could just talk for 5 minutes.

I also dislike entitled protagonists who thinks the world should rotate around him, and the narrative agrees with this. I couldn't finish The Children of Men by P. D. James because how insufferable the male protagonist was. Sadly, I continued to read Private Patient by her, which was so horrible and offensive.

The protagonist is a male police detective. His lesbian friend is brutally raped and stays in a coma until the end. Her spouse (also his friend) told him she didn't feel respected by the investigating police officer, only for him to be really condescending to her. (How dare she doesn't think of the police!) His fiancée spent time with the couple because she was a decent human being and their friends. Then the protagonist felt so hurt because how dare his fiancée spent time with her friend in coma instead of catering to his whim.

The entire subplot was completely random and had nothing to do with the main plot. Its purpose is apparently for the protagonist to be a jerk and complained why his fiancée focused on her friend (In a coma) instead of him (totally fine)

And of course the lesbian character woke up at ending to be an object lesson how love conquers all for the protagonist. How romantic for the protagonist!

And this novel is praised in more than one review how it's lgbt inclusive/positively depicted lgbt characters

This is so awful that I never read anything of her anymore

Comments

[snowynight]

I (stupidly) gave her chance because people kept talking about how awesome her detective novels were, so I thought it was my problem. Private Patient proved that it wasn't me. It was her.