DNF stands for ‘did not finish’ and is a way book bloggers label books that they stopped reading and didn’t pick up again.
Within the book blogging community, there is a whole spectrum of opinions on choosing to DNF a book. Some people are all for it and believe it’s the only way to ensure you get the most of your reading whilst others don’t like it and feel as though you have to keep going to fully try out the book. Now I’m not quite sure how I feel. This post is prompted by the latest book I read and rated 2 stars. Multiple times throughout the book I wanted to put it down and not ever pick it back up but for some reason I kept pushing through and finished the book. Maybe it’s because I watched to give the book a chance or because this is my third book of 2017 and I want to stick to my Goodreads reading goal or maybe a combination of both. Even now it’s finished I don’t know whether I’m glad I kept reading or not.
So this debate about to DNF or not to DNF is all very well and good, but what about when the book in question is an ARC or a book that you’ve been sent to review? How does this change our feelings on DNFing? Luckily I have never yet had this problem. All the books I’ve been sent to review, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed and finished but I know of other bloggers who have DNFed books they’ve been sent and that must have been a tough decision to make. I certainly think if I’d been sent a book, it would make me more likely to keep going with the book but I honestly don’t know what I’d do if I really disliked the book.
Another query that comes along with DNFing books is whether or not you qualify the book as part of your total number of books read in a year. The vast majority of us set a Goodreads reading goal for the year and are really determined to reach it, so are we allowed to qualify DNFed reads as part of that total? Personally I wouldn’t choose to qualify a book I DNFed as part of my total but I know that others do. I cant certainly see the appeal of doing so if you’ve spend ages reading a book, only to put it down 75% of the way through.
So where have we got to, now we’ve asked all these questions? Have we reached a conclusion about DNFing? I certainly haven’t! I think all I can say is it’s up to you! I’m going to try and be less afraid of DNFing so I don’t waste time on books I quite frankly am not enjoying.
What do you think? Do you DNF books? What about books you’ve been sent to review? And how do you feel about counting DNFed books in your yearly total? Let me know in the comments!
alwaysopinionatedgirl 
Cheyenne Raphael (cheyenneraphaelwrites.wordpress.com)
Great post! It really takes a lot for me to DNF a book, but I will if it gets to the point where I just can’t connect with the story and have no idea what’s even happening. When I do that, I never give it a rating on Goodreads or Amazon because I don’t want my rating to factor into the average since I can’t really judge it as a whobe story.
alwaysopinionatedgirl
That’s kinda how I feel about the whole thing, I don’t DNF easily but sometimes I just know a book is not for me. Thanks for commenting! x
By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff
I think I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I’ve DNF a book. And as for arcs go, it’s only happened one time since I started blogging.
alwaysopinionatedgirl
Yeah, I hardly ever DNF too! Thanks for commenting! x
Briana
I finished the vast majority of books I start, but I’ll DNF if I’m really bored or pained. Why torture myself? I don’t think it does the author/publisher much good either. Even if the last half of the book is good, I’m not exactly going to give it a 4 or 5 star review if I thought the first half was terrible. While I’m sure authors may be disappointed if you have an ARC and don’t finish, it’s probably doing them more of a favor than if it you DID finish and then gave it a 1 star review.
alwaysopinionatedgirl
I think the idea that you read for fun so shouldn’t force yourself to read something you’re hating is a good one. You’re right that even if you do finish an ARC you would probably rate it very low! Thanks for commenting! x
Kayleigh @ K-Books
I DNF books all the time. I never used to because I used to feel like I couldn’t judge a book if I haven’t read the entire thing. But then I got to the point that forcing myself to keep reading a book I wasn’t enjoying made me not want to read anything at all. I was suffering through it when I read books to enjoy them. That’s defeating the point of my hobby. I add it to my read shelf as I’ve attempted the book so I suppose on Goodreads it does count to my goal but I add them on there as I write ‘non-reviews’ of the books I don’t finish explaining why I didn’t. When you read for fun and enjoyment why struggle through something you hate? I have been a much happier reader since I started DNF’ing. Now if I don’t like it or am not interested by page 100 then I’m gonna stop reading.
alwaysopinionatedgirl
This definitely seems like a sensible thing you’ve decided to do! There’s no point wasting our time reading books we’re frankly not enjoying because you’re right, at the end of the day reading is a hobby for all of us and hobbies are supposed to be fun! Thanks for commenting. x
Keira
I will DNF a book even if it was sent to me, but I don’t rate it because I can’t speak for the whole story and I don’t mark it as read or add it to my total on Goodreads. I will however still review books I DNF.
alwaysopinionatedgirl
I need to learn to DNF more! This seems like a sensible system you have going on for DNFing books. Thanks for commenting! x
Keira
Thank you!
Emily Witt
I’m pretty ruthless about DNFing if I’m not enjoying a book, though there are still times I will push through (if I’ve previously enjoyed the author’s work, for example). If I DNF an ARC I send a message to the publisher with my reasons, and I don’t post an official review, though I may put a few remarks on GoodReads stating how I felt. I don’t rate DNFed books, though, and I have a separate shelf on my GoodReads for them, so they don’t count towards my yearly goal.
alwaysopinionatedgirl
I’m trying to learn to be more ruthless- it’s a skill I need to work on! I think it’s far enough to post some of your thoughts if you’re not posting a review. A separate Goodreads shelf sounds like a good idea! Thanks for commenting! x
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SERIESous Book Reviews
It took me the better part of last year to get comfortable DNFing books. I used to just tough it out but I found it was causing me too much stress and I was getting into too many reading slumps. So I decided to set a guideline to help me evaluate (50 pages for a physical copy or 20% for an eBook) and if I’m not enjoying the book at that point nor do I care what happens next, it gets DNF’d.
As for review copies, I hate to do it, but I have DNF’d them. I’m upfront with authors when I accept requests and tell them that I may DNF a book if I don’t enjoy it. It is an “honest” review after all even if it isn’t a “positive” one. I don’t rate the book (unless I read more than 50%), but I do write a constructive mini-review where I recommend who I think will best enjoy it.
chocolatepages
This is a great discussion post as most bookblogger have an opinion about dnf ing. I choose my books more carefully now and have only recently dnf one book. But I only got about 20 % through. I wouldn’t read 75% and not finish as I would feel I wasted the time reading the majority of it and wouldn’t be able to write a fair review. I don’t feel as bad not reading an e book, but I would feel worse if it were a paperback. I have given these to other bloggers who I feel would like the books in these cases. Great post.
Amanda
Trisha Jenn Loehr
Hey Emily, I struggled a lot with DNF-ing when I was younger. I felt like I HAD to finish the book, no matter how little I was enjoying it, or else I wasn’t a true bookworm. And then I pretty much ruined a beach vacation while struggling through Wuthering Heights for the entirety of the 10 days. It was brutal! And I realized, I wasn’t helping anyone by reading a book I wasn’t enjoying.
So, from then on, I’ve given a book 50-75 pages to hook me. If I’m not into it by then, I put it down and pick up something else. There are too many books I’ll like out there to spend time on one I don’t.
And, I have done this with a Netgalley book once. I reviewed it with a one star and a note that I wasn’t able to finish it because of a, b, and c and that it just wasn’t what I was expecting and that it just wasn’t the book for me. I’m not sure if that is perceived negatively or not, but it felt honest and right to me. And, as I didn’t finish the book, I didn’t include it on my Goodreads goal.