That $20 book I quit after 50 pages because the main character kept making the same dumb choices

I picked up a thriller from the library last Tuesday, something about a detective in Portland chasing a serial killer. By page 30, the detective had already walked into an obvious trap twice, and I was yelling at the book in my kitchen. Then on page 48, she ignored her partner's warning and went alone to a warehouse at midnight - I just closed it and put it in the return pile. It's like the author needed her to be stupid just to move the plot along, and I don't have time for that anymore. I gave it three chances over two days, but after that third bad choice I was done. Has anyone else bailed on a book because the main character was too dumb to live?

2 comments

2 Comments

rileygonzalez21d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, this whole thing reminds me that sometimes I wonder if authors forget readers have a brain too. What gets me worse though is when the dumb character is supposed to be a genius. Like I quit a book where this "brilliant neuroscientist" kept leaving her phone in her car and walking into dark rooms alone. If she was so smart, why didn't she just text her friend her location or carry pepper spray? That book made me feel like the author thought I was dumb too.

rileygonzalez21d agoMost Upvoted

A genius neuroscientist would carry pepper spray though.