When Is It Time To Stop?

This isn't a review - well, not really. But a question I have over reading this, but with reasons why I stopped reading the book in question (as I want to be more honest to you guys and myself. Make this blog more open and fun!).

Over the past few days, I have been reading Cross My Heart by James Patterson - a book I got from NetGalley. And while it was light and fluffy crime read - ok, crime lite.

However, I've had real problems with it. I felt like I have read this before - with every James Patterson novel, it lacks substance. However, a few things happened last night that made me go "Do I really want to continue this?". The first was that a character - ok, the bad guy - did one or two things I just couldn't stomach. It made me feel uncomfortable - I get this is a crime and this is the baddie, and in most cases, I am fine with putting a line between fact and fiction. But this time - no. I couldn't do it.

The second was a lot of things were thrown at me. We have this killer, a murder of a celebrity with a possible sex addiction and drug addiction found in a "massage palour" and a missing child. Not to mention a missing family member from the Cross family. TOO MUCH!

The third was that I wasn't feeling it. I wasn't enjoying it.

And I was only 30% in.

Now, I know some of you guys have rules about reading stories, like if you're not feeling a book within the first 100 pages, you stop. Or if you are under half way.

But that's with a real book. What if you are reading an eBook? Do the same rules apply?

I had this problem last year. I was reading Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas and, around the 18-20% mark, I just wasn't liking it. I found it hard work and I didn't know whether to continue. But I did keep going and I found myself finishing it and liking it. Not a great deal, but I do have the sequel (impulse buy. No idea why bar that).

And yet, it felt weird giving up on Throne of Glass and Cross My Heart when, a few years back, I openly chatted to you guys about me deciding to stop reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver. This was a hardback and while I struggled with it, I accepted that I wasn't enjoying the book and stopped reading it.

Life is too short to read crap books. So why is that ok but with eBooks, it feels different somehow?

So, readers, what do you do when you're reading a book or eBook that you aren't feeling? Do you stop? Do you keep going? When is it ok to stop and go "I gave you a fair try and it's not going to work..."?

Leave a comment, tweet or facebook me and let me know as I am very curious over this topic...