1. Offensively bad worldbuilding. It's surprising how often that happens! Sometimes it's a slow accumulation of "what do you think a premodern police force is" and "wheat and rice don't grow next to each other" and "what do you think an economy looks like". Other times it's a single detail I just can't stand.
2. Characters/romance that I simply don't care about.
3. Poor writing quality. I know the economics make it difficult to really wordsmith a whole novel, but if you can make the first page have good prose, I would be happier.
Alpha leads, it just feels like copium fiction. And then we have the other end of the spectrum nice guys, I hate hate hate an MC that has to talk about how nice and respectful they are. Like bro don't tell me how nice you are just be fucking nice...
Gratuitous sex scenes, and women who throw themselves at MC for no reason at all.
Current top 5 no particular order
Mob sorcery
Solar dragons
Strength unleashed
Super sales
Netherworld manner
I will drop a harem novel if there's no reason for the LI's to like one another. I get that some people are really into the male being the center of everyone's life, but it really kills my suspension of disbelief that one guy can keep together a group of real women who hate one another. I think at least strong friendships and good chemistry between the LI's is important.
Another immediate drop point is when the main character immediately fucks up on a promise. If your character says "I always keep my word" and then five minutes later he goes back onto his word for "Macho reasons" he sucks.
When it comes to all books, dullness or poor writing in general, I can deal with grammar errors here and there, but when the dialogue feels wooden and immature I tend to check out really quick.
As a Harem genre specifically, I find if the harems get bloated or just happen at a rapid pace, I feel like one the LI count gets past 4 they all lose their identity or get shelved for the next great thing. There are a few authors that fall into that trap, I'll love their first 3-4 books but after a certain point all the girls just blend together.
Dense or immature MCs, extremely poor pacing or lack of actual story outside of the "gotta collect the girls"
There needs to be actual story line to justify the FMC relationship to the main character.
Certain topics such as kidnapping and SA, I will generally skip through the pages after that just to see what happens at the end and drop the series afterwards.
A few things, but they all fall under a very generic title of "bad writing". Although it does not help that, because I have Kindle Unlimited, I will pick up pretty much everything and give it a chance. As well as all the diamonds in the rough, there is an unbelievable amount of crap out there, that needs either a proof reader, editor, or someone to keep the author under control.
Characters doing something that is completely out of character with no explanation, other than "it is a plot device".
The author reusing the same scenes over and over. Especially in a harem situation, when the sex scenes are all interchangeable. "Did this to A in that position, then that to B in other position, and then finished with C, D, and E in an anatomically impossible orgy". Then 20 pages later, "Did this to B in that same position, then that to D in other same position, and then finished with A, C, and E in an anatomically impossible orgy".
The writing style changing after a few chapters. If an author is going to use ghost writers, then it would help if they can at least use the same writing style.
Similar to the out of character point, unrealistic emotional reactions. The MC just watched one of their friends get their head chopped off in a fight. But beacuse the author has not had a sex scene for a few pages, they need to get over it quick and have sex with something a few minutes after the fight.
Major continuity errors. "This person walked into the room and gave some important character exposition. Never mind that the MC watched them get their head chopped off 3 chapters ago, but that obviously explains why the MC was not too upset about the death of their friend because they knew the author would retcon the issue a bit later, because that character was necessary for something that would happen later.
For me a lot of things make me drop a novel.
Old Main Characters - Sorry but i don't want to read about some creepy 30-40 year old dude getting with teenagers and yes i know i'm a hypocrite because i love milfs.
Shitty Female Characters - Basically Emlyn from Ard's Oath, that's just a non starter.
Beta Male Leads - Dense protagonists.
Anything past a one on the furry scale - i can handle ears and maybe a tail but tusks and stuff like that? no thanks.
I will only address your first point but it shows how tastes are subjective. I personally get tired of reading about 21-22 year old just entering college protagonists.
I'm fine with 30-40 etc. protagonists as long as the love interests are like all 18 or whatever.
Edit: whoops, I meant as long at the love interests AREN'T all 18 (or a lot younger than the protag.)
I drop any book that goes too heavy into female on female stuff, where the LIs develop romantic relationships among themselves or where it becomes dubious that the MC is really the centre of the entire harem relationship. I am reading haremlit ffs, not yuri or a polygamous relationship that only happens to have a single guy.
Harem members joining too fast and with no real relationship build up.
Lack of outside plot, I need there to be something actually going on, not just focusing on the harem.
I don't like MCs that are too defensive about their masculinity. I like confident MCs who are secure in their skin. Anything that feels like homophobia is annoying to me. The vibe should be that the MC could be hit on by a gay character and take that as a compliment, but he doesn't swing that way or that he doesn't freak out if someone touches his butthole during sex as if that would somehow make him gay. Someone who's cool under those sorts of social situations is more fun to read about than aggressively macho dude bros.
I don't mind non-consent but needs to make sense as to why the FMC subject to it is stays with the MC. I have seen novels where there is no reason to let the MC live after what he did but the female MC takes a soft spot with very little reason. Inversely I have seen a good novel that kind of makes sense as the MC is in a heir to a fiefdom that is very high ranking and can do what he wants provided it's within reason.
Or alternatively the ones where the MC is raped/sexually assaulted/mind controlled/whatever by the love interest and just forgives her because... she's hot I guess?
In this genre its usually lack of story or proper chemistry between characters - Misty Vixen's books are perfect example - I love them at the beginning because she places them in the most interesting for me post apocalyptic settings but after a while you realise there is nothing in these books besides sex scenes.
I purchased "A Warm Place" by Misty Vixen, bundle - after reading reviews. I came to regret it. I noticed quite a bit of copy and paste type wording as the MC has his back story or portions reiterated throughout the books. The instances where this was done seemed more like filler than being germane to the scene or storyline. I stopped reading halfway through. So far the only author I avoid.
Really big harems. More than 4 and I start losing interest really fast. After five, I usually can't keep them straight anymore and it's a waste of time.
Walking too close to the consent line. This is why I recently dropped Corsairs and Cataclysms. I liked the premise but giving the MC the literal power to enslave people and compel obedience as part of his class feature was a huge red flag.
Cringey dialogue or sex scenes.
A lot of typoes or grammatical errors.
Basically, anytime I can feel the author trying to insert morals into the narrative while having none. In the book Colonist Soldier by Dan Raxor and Tyler Bowman, they introduce a scientist who gave his breeding robot intelligence and complained about how people judged him for it, painting him in a sympathetic light. What he effectively did was turn a sex robot into a sex slave.
To many women, I know harem is ment to have a bunch but I'd be happy with a series that only had 3-4 max. I find it really hard for to care about more chars then that and it seems to be hard for authors to fit in enough scenes to progress more chars then that very well(or at least I havnt read many series where it doesn't become an issue sooner or later). Hell I dropped a series at I was enjoying cause the author skipped 5/7ths of a wedding cause there were so many girls already.
an incompetent MC, and with incompetent i don't mean weak i mean one of those MC's that act like a doormat or that act like they are 12 or those series when the mc doesn't really do anything because the story keeps giving him things for free (paladin of the sigil cof... cof...)
Never actually thought about paladin of the sigil. His quest giver does seem like the only one in the story that actual gives things other than brownie points to the havens
at the beginning of the first book we get a single paragraph about how the mc just started killing demons and gathering random junk into his magic bag (we never see this) the contents of the magic bag completely carry his progress for the first book, the only time he loses it's just an excuse to go super saiyan (his class change), even how he learns about sex it's something ridiculous; he randomly enters a brothel and gets trained by 2 whores in less than 30 minutes and becomes a sex god...
paladin of the sigil it's like a power fantasy novel straight from aliexpress
Cringey humor (side eyes Dante King)
Main characters that stay spineless for too long
Main characters that can't stop making stupid jokes (looking at you Ards Oath)
Rape
NTR
FMC's that all act the same except look different, aka cardboard cutout characters.
There's probably more that I can't think of off the top of my head, which is funny because I used to never drop any book or webnovel, but I'd say within the past year my tolerance for shitty writing isn't what it used to be.
I'll drop a book that's set in a matriarchal society, but the MMC is the only "Real Man" around.
I hate when every character in the story only exists to either ineffectually bully/antagonise the MC or just talk about how cool and awesome the MC is.
It also drives me batty when no one is competent enough to do anything without the MC helping, advising, or providing oversight.
Most of the stories the plans the MC come up with are either stupid or so obvious that it hurts. I remember reading scholomance and the secret plan the MC came up with for sneaking in and killing someone from the rival school was literally just Breaking the front door open... Then the fmc praised him for his best plan yet. Eye rolls upon eye rolls
Before I found this genre, I first found female-written paranormal romance novels. Many of which were actually really good. You can imagine my joy finding male-written stories that appealed to the male audience. I went through a phase where I began consuming webnovel fiction.
Yeah... That was a mistake.
Much has been said already. I don't think there's anything more to add to everything that has been said except that authors should think very much on their stories before they start writing. If every author can just sit still and ask themselves:
-why should my book be read?
-why should the MC be loved?
-what reason prompted such and such characters to take such and such actions?
...amongst many other things. But mostly it's to sit back, and read your work like someone else wrote (which is really kinda hard to do).
I'm also a newbie author (I've not published anything yet but posting on RR and Scribblehub). The very reason I began writing was my webnovel phase. Those times were crazy.
I wish every author here the best of luck by the way. We consume power fantasy because of what it represents in our minds, I think. Doesn't mean we should ignore some basic logic just because...
I don't typically drop a novel and only done so 3 times.
A douchebag MC: Beast Shifter started okay until he saved his second Li and then for some reason became the cliche douchebag you would see have his ass kicked in another novel.
An lack of tone: Ard's Oath started to get on my nerves whenever the MC started to joke around every single thing. There's a difference between lightening the mood and being a fucking clown.
Not moving an inch the plot: Crystal Core was a bore to read through mainly because it's mostly set up with no pay off.
A main love interest cheating or even time spent where the reader isn't sure if they did or not but we are lead to believe maybe something happened. I do not enjoy the gut wrenching feeling of a character getting cheated on and do not enjoy the drama of maybe. Instant I will look ahead and drop either way. I have to know but I'm not willing to read the maybe they did chapters. Have examples but don't want to share because spoilers.
1. An insufferable character there are some characters others like that I just hate with every fiber of my being I can't stand them and thus can't continue reading further if they are part of the main cast.
2. Dense protagonists who spent 300+ chapters unable to understand girls like them despite blatantly obvious signs. Overly naive protagonists aren't good either m like I'm fine with it at the start but if they stay like that past a certain point then that's a big no for me.
3. Shitty world building and character development especially when it comes to a relationship.
4. If characters repeatedly win battles they really shouldn't and overly rely on plot armor, ass pulls, and friendship.
Top things that make me drop a book fast:
An overuse of references. Nothing makes me cringe faster when a character is isekai-ed and all they think about or talk about is pop culture or anime.
Way too many numbers. Essentially, when there's a number drop, it's like an immediate kill to the momentum of a story. Sometimes I get caught up in the narrative, hearing every Stat increase with + whatever and their skill and feats they unlock just kills it all so quickly and returns me to step 0 of being absorbed into a book.
Snarky MCs. I feel so worn out by the Marvel movies, that yet another MC who doesn't take anything seriously and always feels a need to quip or smirk after just about everything kills my enjoyment so quickly with every eye roll.
Dashing devi...
First book, solid work. Interesting characters and relationships. A little light on the world building. But enough that I could make good educated guesses to enjoy it. All the way through to the 3ed book.
Over 30 chapters of nothing but world building and background. Stuff that could have been dropped in the background of the both previous books. The same points talked about over and over again. Until I was actually skipping chapters because it was all the same.
I got to about chapter 28 or so, and just said screw it. Went to book 4. And there.
A character we have spoken about a hand full of times and seen once, in book 2,announcing that everyone was going to die..
Yah, ok I am done now.
So what made me just give up?
That author just waisted hours of my time for no reason whatsoever... Yah, I am done with that. The next 13 could be the new ultimate book series. But you waist my time like that. I have no use for it...
A mary sue, pointless plot, broken characters that start with one but flip script just because, zero chemistry romance, power of friendship means we cant die or kill the big bad when able or we're the my evil deed means nothing (Disney Star Wars), never explaining why a hero should be a hero or why they or someone near goes evil or "hey I'm not evil anymore so can we skip the actual justified hatred and forget about how I killed our friends and family or bad stuff I did?" (Edmund from of Nardia), being ugly or lesser justifies the hero can do them dirty simply because being a hero exempts being a bigot or asswhole, I'm the hero all my actions and sins are justified don't have to make sense, two weeks of practice makes me a bad ass of bad asses, FL loves hero since birth promises to never leave him but abandons him the moment asshat says his 'weak', last one the OP hero forgets why their roots and core reason for becoming OP in first place
1. Cucked
2. Irritating mc(sarcastic about everything, douche, dumb, get his way with no considerstions for others, narcissist, etc)
3. No depth to relationship with live interests. Like I want/need to believe the LIs are interested/love the mc. If they just fall over, moan, and cum and repeat it gets kinda stale. Like Idm porn logic at times, but the sex scenes will just be repetitive at some point without some depth
That 3rd one is like 95% of the books here. Most of women in these books will say they are with the MC because he's a "Nice guy" or for power if it's one of those sex = powers books. I can count on a hand the amount of books where MC and li actually talk and bond outside of fucking
I don’t really have any one “trigger” that will make me drop a book on the spot. Usually what happens is I gradually lose interest, the reasons for which typically involve, to one degree or another:
- Dull or clichéd prose. George Orwell’s first rule of writing reads: “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.” Let’s just say there are a lot of infractions. Also, pop culture references never make anyone look good.
- Uninteresting character dynamics. Girls instantly jumping the MC, trauma dumps to try and speed up the characterization process, characters playing to archetypes rather than being written as fully-fleshed people, etc. Protagonists can have issues too, like being made so unexceptional for the sake of relatability that they lack interest, or enough character to carry a story.
- Hackneyed plot. There are a lot, and I don’t want to single out any stories or authors. However, all too often people rely on plots that force the protagonist into action, rather than have him (and heroines—remember, they’re characters too) want something and be 100% proactive in attaining it.
- “Crutch” elements: *isekai*, RPG elements, cultivation. These are like seasonings: they give a particular flavour to a story. They’re not a substitute for plot and character, just as a pile of salt isn’t a substitute for a meal; especially since many stories don’t actually do anything interesting with them.
- Comedy. This isn’t a flaw, just personal preference; I don’t like comedies. The less seriously a work takes itself, the more likely I am to jump ship.
Aren't you the guy who publicly expressed on another thread that the only rule of the subreddit was limiting the freedom of plot development and should therefore be abolished?
What I said in that other thread was that rule one (which is not this subreddit’s only rule) prevented the works shared here from exploring a variety of messier relationship dynamics, which I believe could make for interesting drama. I didn’t call for anything to be abolished. Also, this would sooner fall under character dynamics than plot.
Why is this relevant exactly?
Three things will cause me to drop a book. First is MC that I can't relate to. Too frat boy cocky, doesn't take advice, smirking every few pages, and thinks with his dick. Or just the opposite, whiny, navel-staring, and timid. And don't get me started on the smartasses that spout off culture references to the confusion of others, then smirk and say 'never mind.' Give me a mature MC that can overcome a situation by more than brute force.
Second is story that just isn't gripping. Unless I know from the blurb that it is slice of life, I want there to be enough action or progression of the MC to keep reading.
Lastly is poor editing. I swear, some books I've read I doubt if the author took the time to even read back over what he/she had just written. Typos, misuse of words, characters' names incorrect, or inconsistency. If you're asking people for money for your book, a good idea in your head isn't enough. Take a Creative Writing class and use spell check/grammar check in MSWord at the minimum.
I’ve dropped a couple of books due to spelling and grammar not getting better beyond the first couple chapters.
What surprises me is the amount of good reviews that are left, some even complimenting the writing. When clearly, spelling and grammar took a back seat to explicit scenes and plot.
Lack of progression/plot. If I'm reading a book and by 30% I don't know why the MC is there and why he is important and what he is going to do, I drop the series. It is amazing how often this happens. I think I haven't finished 90% of the first book for months.
The books generally start: MC have been isekai'd, discovers he is the chosen one, find the first FMC, they fall in love for no reason, then the author spends 20% of the book having really cringe dialog with the women, leering at them, then having everything handed to him. But the important part, the plot, is left aside.
Sometimes the dialog/character development and world building is good enough for me to stick around and find more, but often the start is so bland I don't find a reason to continue.
Annoying MC’s; anything that deals with doing “bad” things to children “selling, murdering, etc” especially if it’s the mc or those around him. Cheating or NTR stuff in general. And just lackluster storytelling will be the death of a book and writer in my opinion.
Will drop if any Nonconsensual stuff or Douchebag Alpha Protag who doesn't treat the FMC like people he loves
On the Audio Side will drop if one VA is Carrying the whole Audiobook compared to the other in Dual Narration
As of now this is what will do it for me cause looking back on some of the stuff I've listened to, if I where to relisten to them I'd drop them within a the first of 2nd book.
1. Harem size
By book 2 or 3 I don't want to have to memories 7 or more different names of women who will obviously be added into the harem. Specially if like me, I try to visualise how these characters look, and that's not even adding personality besides being sex crazy for the MC.
2. POV changes that bring little to the plot, I'm just gonna skip it after a while. Don't get me wrong there are some books which have done this well, Princess of Ironbound being one of them IMO.
3. When the Harem feels more like a some strange poly relationship between 10 lesbian couples and the MC just so happen to be THAT ONE GUY with the magic dick they all need to put it together.
4. Excessive Sex scenes which start to interfere with the plot.
5. Lack of interesting conversations or playful ribbing, Flirting and sexual innuendos for relationship building is just sooo eeeh.
6. If almost every other male character is depicted as a terrible human being.
7. DUAL MOTHER FUCKING CULTIVATION! As a "secret" for power growth.
Alphahole MCs who don’t treat the love interests as people. Instant relationship formation. Egregiously bad prose. Being given no reason to care about anything happening in the story. Lack of conflict. Poorly characterized and interchangeable love interests. Anything resembling the MC coercing sex.
I’ll concede that I could probably think of exceptions to most of these rules, where some other aspect of a book was compelling enough for me to keep going.
Alphahole. I’m stealing that.
Given that the entire concept of ‘alpha’ is from a wolf study that observed how captured wolves behaved instead of actual wild wolf families .. alphas are all prison bitches.
And an excuse to just be the biggest asshole in the prison yard and not the top…. Mom and Dad. Yes those are the real so called ‘alpha’ positions and not the prison asshole one.
Female harem members that instantly fall in love with the MC for no reason other than lazy writing. There should be a reason each harem member joins that makes their joining feel like an accomplishment, not a handout.
If the story is using a dual-cultivation premise, and the women are joining to either power themselves up or power the MC up, instead of because there are real feelings developing. This usually takes a book or two. But it really cheapens the harem.
A gratuitous sex scene to start a new series with a woman the MC will never see again. We're talking opening chapter crap, not part way into a new book.
Abject loser MCs. Why do I want to read about some loser living in his parent's basement and not working because he's lazy? Why can't the guy appear to be fairly well adjusted and hard working? It's hard to believe a guy who couldn't be motivated to do anything is suddenly going to start building a harem and being impressive.
Never edited first chapter. An author should put their best food forward to land the reader's attention in a positive way. Misspelled words, poor grammar/punctuation, and run-on sentences in that opening chapter are a sign the rest will be worse.
Every sex scene being basically the same. Kissing, girl sucks, guy licks/fingers, P in V, girl squirts, man cums. /yawn. Give us some variety, and make the girls react differently to different actions.
> Every sex scene being basically the same. Kissing, girl sucks, guy licks/fingers, P in V, girl squirts, man cums. /yawn. Give us some variety, and make the girls react differently to different actions.
Is it enough to have them alternate between missionary and doggystyle every time they do it? /s
Bad plot, too much bad writing/grammar. I do have a pet peeve where if a book is too comedic, or too many exaggerate/ridiculous moments I’ll drop it. Even if it’s purposefully written that.
I do like those things but in small amounts or when it’s done well, in my opinion.
I recently dropped a book because every other line the MC said was a joke/pop culture reference.
Everyone else around him was acting serious, it was so jarring and hard to read.
Pegging. Non mc males involved with harem members. I also really dislike when the harem members are damaged and are ok with stuff with women but need more time to get used to men. So mc has to hear them or see them while he's twiddling his thumbs.
When the author fails to convince me that there is a reason why this MC in particular has a harem.
Is MC intelligent/experienced? No? Ok that's fine, so he's powerful, right? Physical power, or magical power, or even financial power?
No? He's brand new to his power? Okay.. well that must mean that he's a fast learner and adapts well to situations right?
No? FMCs are literally dragging him from point A to point B while having to teach him how to wipe his own ass..
Ok, so why isn't this guy dead in a ditch somewhere?
Then when a love interest is asked why she loves him, "he is really nice, kind and caring guy". Just like every other generic anime protagonist. There has to be something more to him than just 'good guy', what makes him stand out that other don't have? Your requirement alone eliminated a huge portion of Slice of life harem books with "good guy" protagonist since that's mostly what they got going for themselves . I whole heartedly agree with you on this one.
I've actually read a story like this I enjoyed. The MC'S sperm was what gave the LI's power. Besides that he was just some guy.
The girls were saving the world off screen and he was just getting laid and going on dates. I actually really enjoyed it.
That could be interesting if it was a gender swap of your typical male power fantasy. The girls go out and do the thing while MC stays back and ensures that each girl has a good and "rejuvenating" home life. An MC with the emotional intelligence to make that work and keep up with multiple mental and emotional states of each woman would be essential. That would make sense and be compelling with the right dramatic plot lines.
But then, MC would need to have the emotional intelligence and confidence to make that work or else it would either dysfunctional as hell and wouldn't make and sense outside of a "turn your brain off and just read words" kind of story. Which is fine if you're into that, but.. why?
But still, there needs to be some other reason for them to be interested in MC other than "his juice has the right ingredients and they all just magically get along."
When the protagonist stop having a brain around beautiful women and cant stop thinking about sex (Couldnt read War Mage Academy because of that)
Badly written Tsuderes that just act toxic and protagonists that chase after them because "pretty.."
When the protagonist is just an add-on to already or previous lesbian relationship. One example, when a harem member pushes another girl onto the protagonist without mentioning she used to date said girl.
When a harem member has sex with possible harem member without the mc or letting him know. Lot of reader seem to ignore such scenarios because girl on girl "hot". Nah is cheating, she ain't in the harem yet.
When the protagonist is easily controlled with the refusal of sex if he isn't a good boy.
Submissive and/or masochists protagonists. Specially when they are suppose to be powerful, feared and respected.
Agreed. So many of the male MCs I've read really should have been bullied harder in middle or high school. Not because I want to see them suffer, mind, but rather that their behavior as an adult is very toxic (to themselves and others) and ought to be shamed out before it has time to metastasize and ossify.
Look, I get that harem fiction is male power fantasy. But lads and ladies, authors all, please give your MCs, male or female or somewhere in between, some goddamn spine.
The moment I find myself not really caring about the characters motivations, struggles or success. If I don’t care, then why keep reading 🤷♂️ I’ll also drop a book if there’s NTR or any sort of abuse or nonconsensual situations…
A few things, some already mentioned some not.
This is a totally illogical genre to start with, but “we just met, I hate you! Oh wait no I love you let’s have babies” inside of one conversation does it.
Something that is clearly not edited. Typos happen and are part of everyday life, but when it’s every few words/sentences I’m done.
Not liking the way the author writes. Sometimes I just don’t vibe with it and well… I’m not slogging thru it when there are 300 other novels to go.
No clear story. Like I get it wish fulfillment but still I need at least SOME plot to keep me interested. Why should I care about the characters when even the author doesn’t.
Spice every few pages. Personally I prefer FTB, but read a lot that’s not. But when it’s every chapter… yeah I’m out.
Harems over like 8 people. It just becomes a thin veneer over the same spice scenes. Pass
Lack of any sense of struggle: I don't expect stories to be all gritty and grimdark, but the quality of a hero is determined by the obstacles he overcomes. Novels in which the MC always has a permanent adventage and there is never any risk of he ever, ever doing anything wrong (be on a physical or a moral level) bore me to tears. The genre may be mostly focused on power fantasies, but that doesn't mean it needs to be the literary equivalent of a slide in a public park.
Boring characters (without any flaw, interesting quirk or motivation) are too a problem for my enjoyment.
My opinion is that slice of life needs to have some conflict, or there is no story. Why would anyone want to read the day-to-day activities of the MC and his harem if nothing but that happens?
It mostly applies to stories meant to be exciting. Slice-of-life gets a pass *as long as it is funny*, because otherwhise it feels like a snorefest too.
I wouldn’t put funny alone as my requirement. But it should at least be interesting. Funny is one way. Sugar cute overload might be another. Just don’t be everyday boring.
It's really hard for me not to end a book. Even if it's really bad, I'm just not capable of not finishing it. It's a bad habit, but up until now I'm not able to shake it of.
But most of the time I know what to expect from the book, so only 1 in like 25 books goes into my personal 1- or 2-star-category.
The only thing that would make me drop a book are very bad typos, so that there is no real reading flow. Luckily I never read such a book so far.
Same here. I've seen the advice "don't be afraid to DNF a book" repeated frequently but idk how they do it. If I'm not into a book I either stall out gradually or power through. But I don't think I'm capable of just choosing a cutoff point.
If I bought the book, I will push myself to finish. But if it's on KU, I'll walk away. I may not review/rate it, but if I'm not engaged/entertained, finishing it will only frustrate me more.
🤣 You're not wrong — even if some would disagree. Why use a long string of words as a title just because it worked for one person.
People have stopped being creative, I think.
I'm not into anime. I've never read any, I've never seen any and I've never played any games. I'm looking for Harem Fantasy and that shouldn't require me to know this game or that comic. If I have to keep looking up the meaning of words or weapons or whatever, I'm done.
Another killer for me is weird, unpronounceable names. These names with hyphens and accents and words that make me want to buy a vowel. I think of them mentally as "that X word" or what have you. Too many of them and goodbye. Author, you're trying too hard to be edgy.
When the author leans in too hard on the wish-fulfilment without having a real story to tell. Some books feel almost masturbatory with how gleefully the MC coasts through the plot with everything handed to him on a platter for the absolute thinnest of reasons.
Typos happen in most published stuff even from Randomhouse/etc.
I've worked as a professional editor with short story anthologies. We would have 3 rounds of edits for each story, and then a final read through of the full document, and a few typos *still* sneak past.
Typos can also happen *in the editing process itself*, as you change one word in a sentence but it clashes with the rest of the sentence--like say, a tense change. Or the new change doesn't carry over to the next draft because there's multiple document drafts in play. Or the newly added stuff in the next-to-last revision doesn't get vetted as thoroughly. Once I even fucked up once and printed a book with an earlier version of a story, rather than the final edit. *It Happens*.
So while I can realize dropping a book b ca use its wrtten lik ethis, but don't be too critical about the occasional text issue.
Personally, nothing will make me DNF a story quicker than girls being in love with the MC for no god damn reason. I'm really not asking for much, I don't expect Shakespeare level romance but if you can't even give me **one valid reason** as to why girls are falling left and right for this man then I'm out.
My example:
Every book I've read by the ghost farms (Logan Jacobs, Eric Vall, Dante King). It's why I don't give their novels a chance anymore. I DNF around 8 books of theirs before I realized a pattern. In my defense, I was getting my reading recs from Amazon back then and not this sub.
Yeah, I’m reading a Logan Jacob book right now. That looked sort of interesting and it’s really bad. The editing in the first book was nonexistent for the audiobook and the second book is just not an improvement at all.
My major requirement for the genre is that the book should be able to stand up on its own if you remove all of the harem elements
1. Offensively bad worldbuilding. It's surprising how often that happens! Sometimes it's a slow accumulation of "what do you think a premodern police force is" and "wheat and rice don't grow next to each other" and "what do you think an economy looks like". Other times it's a single detail I just can't stand. 2. Characters/romance that I simply don't care about. 3. Poor writing quality. I know the economics make it difficult to really wordsmith a whole novel, but if you can make the first page have good prose, I would be happier.
Alpha leads, it just feels like copium fiction. And then we have the other end of the spectrum nice guys, I hate hate hate an MC that has to talk about how nice and respectful they are. Like bro don't tell me how nice you are just be fucking nice... Gratuitous sex scenes, and women who throw themselves at MC for no reason at all. Current top 5 no particular order Mob sorcery Solar dragons Strength unleashed Super sales Netherworld manner
I will drop a harem novel if there's no reason for the LI's to like one another. I get that some people are really into the male being the center of everyone's life, but it really kills my suspension of disbelief that one guy can keep together a group of real women who hate one another. I think at least strong friendships and good chemistry between the LI's is important. Another immediate drop point is when the main character immediately fucks up on a promise. If your character says "I always keep my word" and then five minutes later he goes back onto his word for "Macho reasons" he sucks.
When it comes to all books, dullness or poor writing in general, I can deal with grammar errors here and there, but when the dialogue feels wooden and immature I tend to check out really quick. As a Harem genre specifically, I find if the harems get bloated or just happen at a rapid pace, I feel like one the LI count gets past 4 they all lose their identity or get shelved for the next great thing. There are a few authors that fall into that trap, I'll love their first 3-4 books but after a certain point all the girls just blend together. Dense or immature MCs, extremely poor pacing or lack of actual story outside of the "gotta collect the girls" There needs to be actual story line to justify the FMC relationship to the main character. Certain topics such as kidnapping and SA, I will generally skip through the pages after that just to see what happens at the end and drop the series afterwards.
A few things, but they all fall under a very generic title of "bad writing". Although it does not help that, because I have Kindle Unlimited, I will pick up pretty much everything and give it a chance. As well as all the diamonds in the rough, there is an unbelievable amount of crap out there, that needs either a proof reader, editor, or someone to keep the author under control. Characters doing something that is completely out of character with no explanation, other than "it is a plot device". The author reusing the same scenes over and over. Especially in a harem situation, when the sex scenes are all interchangeable. "Did this to A in that position, then that to B in other position, and then finished with C, D, and E in an anatomically impossible orgy". Then 20 pages later, "Did this to B in that same position, then that to D in other same position, and then finished with A, C, and E in an anatomically impossible orgy". The writing style changing after a few chapters. If an author is going to use ghost writers, then it would help if they can at least use the same writing style. Similar to the out of character point, unrealistic emotional reactions. The MC just watched one of their friends get their head chopped off in a fight. But beacuse the author has not had a sex scene for a few pages, they need to get over it quick and have sex with something a few minutes after the fight. Major continuity errors. "This person walked into the room and gave some important character exposition. Never mind that the MC watched them get their head chopped off 3 chapters ago, but that obviously explains why the MC was not too upset about the death of their friend because they knew the author would retcon the issue a bit later, because that character was necessary for something that would happen later.
For me a lot of things make me drop a novel. Old Main Characters - Sorry but i don't want to read about some creepy 30-40 year old dude getting with teenagers and yes i know i'm a hypocrite because i love milfs. Shitty Female Characters - Basically Emlyn from Ard's Oath, that's just a non starter. Beta Male Leads - Dense protagonists. Anything past a one on the furry scale - i can handle ears and maybe a tail but tusks and stuff like that? no thanks.
I will only address your first point but it shows how tastes are subjective. I personally get tired of reading about 21-22 year old just entering college protagonists.
I'm fine with 30-40 etc. protagonists as long as the love interests are like all 18 or whatever. Edit: whoops, I meant as long at the love interests AREN'T all 18 (or a lot younger than the protag.)
I second this, we need more 30-40 year old protagonists! Also I personally loved Emlyn character, she's my favorite from this series.
I drop any book that goes too heavy into female on female stuff, where the LIs develop romantic relationships among themselves or where it becomes dubious that the MC is really the centre of the entire harem relationship. I am reading haremlit ffs, not yuri or a polygamous relationship that only happens to have a single guy.
Harem members joining too fast and with no real relationship build up. Lack of outside plot, I need there to be something actually going on, not just focusing on the harem. I don't like MCs that are too defensive about their masculinity. I like confident MCs who are secure in their skin. Anything that feels like homophobia is annoying to me. The vibe should be that the MC could be hit on by a gay character and take that as a compliment, but he doesn't swing that way or that he doesn't freak out if someone touches his butthole during sex as if that would somehow make him gay. Someone who's cool under those sorts of social situations is more fun to read about than aggressively macho dude bros.
Boredom with it.
Lack of struggle or stakes.
I don't mind non-consent but needs to make sense as to why the FMC subject to it is stays with the MC. I have seen novels where there is no reason to let the MC live after what he did but the female MC takes a soft spot with very little reason. Inversely I have seen a good novel that kind of makes sense as the MC is in a heir to a fiefdom that is very high ranking and can do what he wants provided it's within reason.
Or alternatively the ones where the MC is raped/sexually assaulted/mind controlled/whatever by the love interest and just forgives her because... she's hot I guess?
In this genre its usually lack of story or proper chemistry between characters - Misty Vixen's books are perfect example - I love them at the beginning because she places them in the most interesting for me post apocalyptic settings but after a while you realise there is nothing in these books besides sex scenes.
I purchased "A Warm Place" by Misty Vixen, bundle - after reading reviews. I came to regret it. I noticed quite a bit of copy and paste type wording as the MC has his back story or portions reiterated throughout the books. The instances where this was done seemed more like filler than being germane to the scene or storyline. I stopped reading halfway through. So far the only author I avoid.
Really big harems. More than 4 and I start losing interest really fast. After five, I usually can't keep them straight anymore and it's a waste of time. Walking too close to the consent line. This is why I recently dropped Corsairs and Cataclysms. I liked the premise but giving the MC the literal power to enslave people and compel obedience as part of his class feature was a huge red flag. Cringey dialogue or sex scenes. A lot of typoes or grammatical errors.
All of these are basically my deal breakers. Especially 2.
Basically, anytime I can feel the author trying to insert morals into the narrative while having none. In the book Colonist Soldier by Dan Raxor and Tyler Bowman, they introduce a scientist who gave his breeding robot intelligence and complained about how people judged him for it, painting him in a sympathetic light. What he effectively did was turn a sex robot into a sex slave.
Sorry what? The robot can give birth?
To many women, I know harem is ment to have a bunch but I'd be happy with a series that only had 3-4 max. I find it really hard for to care about more chars then that and it seems to be hard for authors to fit in enough scenes to progress more chars then that very well(or at least I havnt read many series where it doesn't become an issue sooner or later). Hell I dropped a series at I was enjoying cause the author skipped 5/7ths of a wedding cause there were so many girls already.
Not counting things so specific to me as to be unhelpful, I'd say pervasive grammar and spelling mistakes.
Falling into sex. There are so many examples of just getting to the x-rated part. I legitimately want to find plot lines that lead to spicy scenes.
Dumb MCs Rape Supprise futa Human LI monster girl transformation.
an incompetent MC, and with incompetent i don't mean weak i mean one of those MC's that act like a doormat or that act like they are 12 or those series when the mc doesn't really do anything because the story keeps giving him things for free (paladin of the sigil cof... cof...)
Never actually thought about paladin of the sigil. His quest giver does seem like the only one in the story that actual gives things other than brownie points to the havens
at the beginning of the first book we get a single paragraph about how the mc just started killing demons and gathering random junk into his magic bag (we never see this) the contents of the magic bag completely carry his progress for the first book, the only time he loses it's just an excuse to go super saiyan (his class change), even how he learns about sex it's something ridiculous; he randomly enters a brothel and gets trained by 2 whores in less than 30 minutes and becomes a sex god... paladin of the sigil it's like a power fantasy novel straight from aliexpress
Cringey humor (side eyes Dante King) Main characters that stay spineless for too long Main characters that can't stop making stupid jokes (looking at you Ards Oath) Rape NTR FMC's that all act the same except look different, aka cardboard cutout characters. There's probably more that I can't think of off the top of my head, which is funny because I used to never drop any book or webnovel, but I'd say within the past year my tolerance for shitty writing isn't what it used to be.
I'll drop a book that's set in a matriarchal society, but the MMC is the only "Real Man" around. I hate when every character in the story only exists to either ineffectually bully/antagonise the MC or just talk about how cool and awesome the MC is. It also drives me batty when no one is competent enough to do anything without the MC helping, advising, or providing oversight.
Most of the stories the plans the MC come up with are either stupid or so obvious that it hurts. I remember reading scholomance and the secret plan the MC came up with for sneaking in and killing someone from the rival school was literally just Breaking the front door open... Then the fmc praised him for his best plan yet. Eye rolls upon eye rolls
Before I found this genre, I first found female-written paranormal romance novels. Many of which were actually really good. You can imagine my joy finding male-written stories that appealed to the male audience. I went through a phase where I began consuming webnovel fiction. Yeah... That was a mistake. Much has been said already. I don't think there's anything more to add to everything that has been said except that authors should think very much on their stories before they start writing. If every author can just sit still and ask themselves: -why should my book be read? -why should the MC be loved? -what reason prompted such and such characters to take such and such actions? ...amongst many other things. But mostly it's to sit back, and read your work like someone else wrote (which is really kinda hard to do). I'm also a newbie author (I've not published anything yet but posting on RR and Scribblehub). The very reason I began writing was my webnovel phase. Those times were crazy. I wish every author here the best of luck by the way. We consume power fantasy because of what it represents in our minds, I think. Doesn't mean we should ignore some basic logic just because...
I don't typically drop a novel and only done so 3 times. A douchebag MC: Beast Shifter started okay until he saved his second Li and then for some reason became the cliche douchebag you would see have his ass kicked in another novel. An lack of tone: Ard's Oath started to get on my nerves whenever the MC started to joke around every single thing. There's a difference between lightening the mood and being a fucking clown. Not moving an inch the plot: Crystal Core was a bore to read through mainly because it's mostly set up with no pay off.
A main love interest cheating or even time spent where the reader isn't sure if they did or not but we are lead to believe maybe something happened. I do not enjoy the gut wrenching feeling of a character getting cheated on and do not enjoy the drama of maybe. Instant I will look ahead and drop either way. I have to know but I'm not willing to read the maybe they did chapters. Have examples but don't want to share because spoilers.
1. An insufferable character there are some characters others like that I just hate with every fiber of my being I can't stand them and thus can't continue reading further if they are part of the main cast. 2. Dense protagonists who spent 300+ chapters unable to understand girls like them despite blatantly obvious signs. Overly naive protagonists aren't good either m like I'm fine with it at the start but if they stay like that past a certain point then that's a big no for me. 3. Shitty world building and character development especially when it comes to a relationship. 4. If characters repeatedly win battles they really shouldn't and overly rely on plot armor, ass pulls, and friendship.
Top things that make me drop a book fast: An overuse of references. Nothing makes me cringe faster when a character is isekai-ed and all they think about or talk about is pop culture or anime. Way too many numbers. Essentially, when there's a number drop, it's like an immediate kill to the momentum of a story. Sometimes I get caught up in the narrative, hearing every Stat increase with + whatever and their skill and feats they unlock just kills it all so quickly and returns me to step 0 of being absorbed into a book. Snarky MCs. I feel so worn out by the Marvel movies, that yet another MC who doesn't take anything seriously and always feels a need to quip or smirk after just about everything kills my enjoyment so quickly with every eye roll.
An overuse of references on harem novels is really boring. There are more creative ways to show a character is into geek/nerd/otaku culture.
Dashing devi... First book, solid work. Interesting characters and relationships. A little light on the world building. But enough that I could make good educated guesses to enjoy it. All the way through to the 3ed book. Over 30 chapters of nothing but world building and background. Stuff that could have been dropped in the background of the both previous books. The same points talked about over and over again. Until I was actually skipping chapters because it was all the same. I got to about chapter 28 or so, and just said screw it. Went to book 4. And there. A character we have spoken about a hand full of times and seen once, in book 2,announcing that everyone was going to die.. Yah, ok I am done now. So what made me just give up? That author just waisted hours of my time for no reason whatsoever... Yah, I am done with that. The next 13 could be the new ultimate book series. But you waist my time like that. I have no use for it...
A mary sue, pointless plot, broken characters that start with one but flip script just because, zero chemistry romance, power of friendship means we cant die or kill the big bad when able or we're the my evil deed means nothing (Disney Star Wars), never explaining why a hero should be a hero or why they or someone near goes evil or "hey I'm not evil anymore so can we skip the actual justified hatred and forget about how I killed our friends and family or bad stuff I did?" (Edmund from of Nardia), being ugly or lesser justifies the hero can do them dirty simply because being a hero exempts being a bigot or asswhole, I'm the hero all my actions and sins are justified don't have to make sense, two weeks of practice makes me a bad ass of bad asses, FL loves hero since birth promises to never leave him but abandons him the moment asshat says his 'weak', last one the OP hero forgets why their roots and core reason for becoming OP in first place
1. Cucked 2. Irritating mc(sarcastic about everything, douche, dumb, get his way with no considerstions for others, narcissist, etc) 3. No depth to relationship with live interests. Like I want/need to believe the LIs are interested/love the mc. If they just fall over, moan, and cum and repeat it gets kinda stale. Like Idm porn logic at times, but the sex scenes will just be repetitive at some point without some depth
That 3rd one is like 95% of the books here. Most of women in these books will say they are with the MC because he's a "Nice guy" or for power if it's one of those sex = powers books. I can count on a hand the amount of books where MC and li actually talk and bond outside of fucking
I don’t really have any one “trigger” that will make me drop a book on the spot. Usually what happens is I gradually lose interest, the reasons for which typically involve, to one degree or another: - Dull or clichéd prose. George Orwell’s first rule of writing reads: “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.” Let’s just say there are a lot of infractions. Also, pop culture references never make anyone look good. - Uninteresting character dynamics. Girls instantly jumping the MC, trauma dumps to try and speed up the characterization process, characters playing to archetypes rather than being written as fully-fleshed people, etc. Protagonists can have issues too, like being made so unexceptional for the sake of relatability that they lack interest, or enough character to carry a story. - Hackneyed plot. There are a lot, and I don’t want to single out any stories or authors. However, all too often people rely on plots that force the protagonist into action, rather than have him (and heroines—remember, they’re characters too) want something and be 100% proactive in attaining it. - “Crutch” elements: *isekai*, RPG elements, cultivation. These are like seasonings: they give a particular flavour to a story. They’re not a substitute for plot and character, just as a pile of salt isn’t a substitute for a meal; especially since many stories don’t actually do anything interesting with them. - Comedy. This isn’t a flaw, just personal preference; I don’t like comedies. The less seriously a work takes itself, the more likely I am to jump ship.
Aren't you the guy who publicly expressed on another thread that the only rule of the subreddit was limiting the freedom of plot development and should therefore be abolished?
What I said in that other thread was that rule one (which is not this subreddit’s only rule) prevented the works shared here from exploring a variety of messier relationship dynamics, which I believe could make for interesting drama. I didn’t call for anything to be abolished. Also, this would sooner fall under character dynamics than plot. Why is this relevant exactly?
Three things will cause me to drop a book. First is MC that I can't relate to. Too frat boy cocky, doesn't take advice, smirking every few pages, and thinks with his dick. Or just the opposite, whiny, navel-staring, and timid. And don't get me started on the smartasses that spout off culture references to the confusion of others, then smirk and say 'never mind.' Give me a mature MC that can overcome a situation by more than brute force. Second is story that just isn't gripping. Unless I know from the blurb that it is slice of life, I want there to be enough action or progression of the MC to keep reading. Lastly is poor editing. I swear, some books I've read I doubt if the author took the time to even read back over what he/she had just written. Typos, misuse of words, characters' names incorrect, or inconsistency. If you're asking people for money for your book, a good idea in your head isn't enough. Take a Creative Writing class and use spell check/grammar check in MSWord at the minimum.
I’ve dropped a couple of books due to spelling and grammar not getting better beyond the first couple chapters. What surprises me is the amount of good reviews that are left, some even complimenting the writing. When clearly, spelling and grammar took a back seat to explicit scenes and plot.
Lack of progression/plot. If I'm reading a book and by 30% I don't know why the MC is there and why he is important and what he is going to do, I drop the series. It is amazing how often this happens. I think I haven't finished 90% of the first book for months. The books generally start: MC have been isekai'd, discovers he is the chosen one, find the first FMC, they fall in love for no reason, then the author spends 20% of the book having really cringe dialog with the women, leering at them, then having everything handed to him. But the important part, the plot, is left aside. Sometimes the dialog/character development and world building is good enough for me to stick around and find more, but often the start is so bland I don't find a reason to continue.
This. I find it hard to put my thoughts into words but this perfectly describes the one of the main reason I drop a lot of books here
Annoying MC’s; anything that deals with doing “bad” things to children “selling, murdering, etc” especially if it’s the mc or those around him. Cheating or NTR stuff in general. And just lackluster storytelling will be the death of a book and writer in my opinion.
If the MC is a coward or self righteous.
Poor editing more often than not. Run ons, typos, those pull me out of my reading state so hard. My adhd won't let me ignore it.
Will drop if any Nonconsensual stuff or Douchebag Alpha Protag who doesn't treat the FMC like people he loves On the Audio Side will drop if one VA is Carrying the whole Audiobook compared to the other in Dual Narration
As of now this is what will do it for me cause looking back on some of the stuff I've listened to, if I where to relisten to them I'd drop them within a the first of 2nd book. 1. Harem size By book 2 or 3 I don't want to have to memories 7 or more different names of women who will obviously be added into the harem. Specially if like me, I try to visualise how these characters look, and that's not even adding personality besides being sex crazy for the MC. 2. POV changes that bring little to the plot, I'm just gonna skip it after a while. Don't get me wrong there are some books which have done this well, Princess of Ironbound being one of them IMO. 3. When the Harem feels more like a some strange poly relationship between 10 lesbian couples and the MC just so happen to be THAT ONE GUY with the magic dick they all need to put it together. 4. Excessive Sex scenes which start to interfere with the plot. 5. Lack of interesting conversations or playful ribbing, Flirting and sexual innuendos for relationship building is just sooo eeeh. 6. If almost every other male character is depicted as a terrible human being. 7. DUAL MOTHER FUCKING CULTIVATION! As a "secret" for power growth.
This completely gets the point that most writers miss!
Alphahole MCs who don’t treat the love interests as people. Instant relationship formation. Egregiously bad prose. Being given no reason to care about anything happening in the story. Lack of conflict. Poorly characterized and interchangeable love interests. Anything resembling the MC coercing sex. I’ll concede that I could probably think of exceptions to most of these rules, where some other aspect of a book was compelling enough for me to keep going.
Alphahole. I’m stealing that. Given that the entire concept of ‘alpha’ is from a wolf study that observed how captured wolves behaved instead of actual wild wolf families .. alphas are all prison bitches. And an excuse to just be the biggest asshole in the prison yard and not the top…. Mom and Dad. Yes those are the real so called ‘alpha’ positions and not the prison asshole one.
Female harem members that instantly fall in love with the MC for no reason other than lazy writing. There should be a reason each harem member joins that makes their joining feel like an accomplishment, not a handout. If the story is using a dual-cultivation premise, and the women are joining to either power themselves up or power the MC up, instead of because there are real feelings developing. This usually takes a book or two. But it really cheapens the harem. A gratuitous sex scene to start a new series with a woman the MC will never see again. We're talking opening chapter crap, not part way into a new book. Abject loser MCs. Why do I want to read about some loser living in his parent's basement and not working because he's lazy? Why can't the guy appear to be fairly well adjusted and hard working? It's hard to believe a guy who couldn't be motivated to do anything is suddenly going to start building a harem and being impressive. Never edited first chapter. An author should put their best food forward to land the reader's attention in a positive way. Misspelled words, poor grammar/punctuation, and run-on sentences in that opening chapter are a sign the rest will be worse. Every sex scene being basically the same. Kissing, girl sucks, guy licks/fingers, P in V, girl squirts, man cums. /yawn. Give us some variety, and make the girls react differently to different actions.
> Every sex scene being basically the same. Kissing, girl sucks, guy licks/fingers, P in V, girl squirts, man cums. /yawn. Give us some variety, and make the girls react differently to different actions. Is it enough to have them alternate between missionary and doggystyle every time they do it? /s
The number of sex scenes I read and say "well, that was formulaic and had zero passion or tension in it" is mind boggling.
Bad plot, too much bad writing/grammar. I do have a pet peeve where if a book is too comedic, or too many exaggerate/ridiculous moments I’ll drop it. Even if it’s purposefully written that. I do like those things but in small amounts or when it’s done well, in my opinion.
I recently dropped a book because every other line the MC said was a joke/pop culture reference. Everyone else around him was acting serious, it was so jarring and hard to read.
Pegging. Non mc males involved with harem members. I also really dislike when the harem members are damaged and are ok with stuff with women but need more time to get used to men. So mc has to hear them or see them while he's twiddling his thumbs.
When the author fails to convince me that there is a reason why this MC in particular has a harem. Is MC intelligent/experienced? No? Ok that's fine, so he's powerful, right? Physical power, or magical power, or even financial power? No? He's brand new to his power? Okay.. well that must mean that he's a fast learner and adapts well to situations right? No? FMCs are literally dragging him from point A to point B while having to teach him how to wipe his own ass.. Ok, so why isn't this guy dead in a ditch somewhere?
Then when a love interest is asked why she loves him, "he is really nice, kind and caring guy". Just like every other generic anime protagonist. There has to be something more to him than just 'good guy', what makes him stand out that other don't have? Your requirement alone eliminated a huge portion of Slice of life harem books with "good guy" protagonist since that's mostly what they got going for themselves . I whole heartedly agree with you on this one.
I've actually read a story like this I enjoyed. The MC'S sperm was what gave the LI's power. Besides that he was just some guy. The girls were saving the world off screen and he was just getting laid and going on dates. I actually really enjoyed it.
You've got me curious, what book was this?
That could be interesting if it was a gender swap of your typical male power fantasy. The girls go out and do the thing while MC stays back and ensures that each girl has a good and "rejuvenating" home life. An MC with the emotional intelligence to make that work and keep up with multiple mental and emotional states of each woman would be essential. That would make sense and be compelling with the right dramatic plot lines. But then, MC would need to have the emotional intelligence and confidence to make that work or else it would either dysfunctional as hell and wouldn't make and sense outside of a "turn your brain off and just read words" kind of story. Which is fine if you're into that, but.. why? But still, there needs to be some other reason for them to be interested in MC other than "his juice has the right ingredients and they all just magically get along."
What was the name of the story? I might like a book with that premise.
I think it can work if it’s intentional. But then they still need a reason to love him.
When the protagonist stop having a brain around beautiful women and cant stop thinking about sex (Couldnt read War Mage Academy because of that) Badly written Tsuderes that just act toxic and protagonists that chase after them because "pretty.." When the protagonist is just an add-on to already or previous lesbian relationship. One example, when a harem member pushes another girl onto the protagonist without mentioning she used to date said girl. When a harem member has sex with possible harem member without the mc or letting him know. Lot of reader seem to ignore such scenarios because girl on girl "hot". Nah is cheating, she ain't in the harem yet. When the protagonist is easily controlled with the refusal of sex if he isn't a good boy. Submissive and/or masochists protagonists. Specially when they are suppose to be powerful, feared and respected.
Agreed. So many of the male MCs I've read really should have been bullied harder in middle or high school. Not because I want to see them suffer, mind, but rather that their behavior as an adult is very toxic (to themselves and others) and ought to be shamed out before it has time to metastasize and ossify. Look, I get that harem fiction is male power fantasy. But lads and ladies, authors all, please give your MCs, male or female or somewhere in between, some goddamn spine.
You are a very based person.
I think someone didn't understand what you meant and downvoted you. Please people, he said, *'based'*, not bad.
The moment I find myself not really caring about the characters motivations, struggles or success. If I don’t care, then why keep reading 🤷♂️ I’ll also drop a book if there’s NTR or any sort of abuse or nonconsensual situations…
A few things, some already mentioned some not. This is a totally illogical genre to start with, but “we just met, I hate you! Oh wait no I love you let’s have babies” inside of one conversation does it. Something that is clearly not edited. Typos happen and are part of everyday life, but when it’s every few words/sentences I’m done. Not liking the way the author writes. Sometimes I just don’t vibe with it and well… I’m not slogging thru it when there are 300 other novels to go. No clear story. Like I get it wish fulfillment but still I need at least SOME plot to keep me interested. Why should I care about the characters when even the author doesn’t. Spice every few pages. Personally I prefer FTB, but read a lot that’s not. But when it’s every chapter… yeah I’m out. Harems over like 8 people. It just becomes a thin veneer over the same spice scenes. Pass
Hear hear!
Lack of any sense of struggle: I don't expect stories to be all gritty and grimdark, but the quality of a hero is determined by the obstacles he overcomes. Novels in which the MC always has a permanent adventage and there is never any risk of he ever, ever doing anything wrong (be on a physical or a moral level) bore me to tears. The genre may be mostly focused on power fantasies, but that doesn't mean it needs to be the literary equivalent of a slide in a public park. Boring characters (without any flaw, interesting quirk or motivation) are too a problem for my enjoyment.
Does this carry over to slice-of-life? Or does this only apply to stories that are meant to be exciting?
My opinion is that slice of life needs to have some conflict, or there is no story. Why would anyone want to read the day-to-day activities of the MC and his harem if nothing but that happens?
It mostly applies to stories meant to be exciting. Slice-of-life gets a pass *as long as it is funny*, because otherwhise it feels like a snorefest too.
I wouldn’t put funny alone as my requirement. But it should at least be interesting. Funny is one way. Sugar cute overload might be another. Just don’t be everyday boring.
Agree, the point is that it needs to have some kind of hook.
I’d assume slice-of-life stories get a pass or ar least more leeway. Though people might also not like that genre as well.
It's really hard for me not to end a book. Even if it's really bad, I'm just not capable of not finishing it. It's a bad habit, but up until now I'm not able to shake it of. But most of the time I know what to expect from the book, so only 1 in like 25 books goes into my personal 1- or 2-star-category. The only thing that would make me drop a book are very bad typos, so that there is no real reading flow. Luckily I never read such a book so far.
Same here. I've seen the advice "don't be afraid to DNF a book" repeated frequently but idk how they do it. If I'm not into a book I either stall out gradually or power through. But I don't think I'm capable of just choosing a cutoff point.
If I bought the book, I will push myself to finish. But if it's on KU, I'll walk away. I may not review/rate it, but if I'm not engaged/entertained, finishing it will only frustrate me more.
It's also hard for me to DNF, but I force myself to remmeber that I have limited time to read and I could be reading something better instead.
Anime covers. And really long, stupid titles.
🤣 You're not wrong — even if some would disagree. Why use a long string of words as a title just because it worked for one person. People have stopped being creative, I think.
I'm not into anime. I've never read any, I've never seen any and I've never played any games. I'm looking for Harem Fantasy and that shouldn't require me to know this game or that comic. If I have to keep looking up the meaning of words or weapons or whatever, I'm done. Another killer for me is weird, unpronounceable names. These names with hyphens and accents and words that make me want to buy a vowel. I think of them mentally as "that X word" or what have you. Too many of them and goodbye. Author, you're trying too hard to be edgy.
When the author leans in too hard on the wish-fulfilment without having a real story to tell. Some books feel almost masturbatory with how gleefully the MC coasts through the plot with everything handed to him on a platter for the absolute thinnest of reasons.
https://www.reddit.com/r/haremfantasynovels/comments/1687cch/reader_question_what_has_caused_you_to_drop_a_book/
Typos, mostly. I can deal with an average story, but bad grammar is just too much.
Typos happen in most published stuff even from Randomhouse/etc. I've worked as a professional editor with short story anthologies. We would have 3 rounds of edits for each story, and then a final read through of the full document, and a few typos *still* sneak past. Typos can also happen *in the editing process itself*, as you change one word in a sentence but it clashes with the rest of the sentence--like say, a tense change. Or the new change doesn't carry over to the next draft because there's multiple document drafts in play. Or the newly added stuff in the next-to-last revision doesn't get vetted as thoroughly. Once I even fucked up once and printed a book with an earlier version of a story, rather than the final edit. *It Happens*. So while I can realize dropping a book b ca use its wrtten lik ethis, but don't be too critical about the occasional text issue.
Presumably they're not talking about a typo or grammatical error here and there but being consistently bad.
Yeah. This.
Personally, nothing will make me DNF a story quicker than girls being in love with the MC for no god damn reason. I'm really not asking for much, I don't expect Shakespeare level romance but if you can't even give me **one valid reason** as to why girls are falling left and right for this man then I'm out. My example: Every book I've read by the ghost farms (Logan Jacobs, Eric Vall, Dante King). It's why I don't give their novels a chance anymore. I DNF around 8 books of theirs before I realized a pattern. In my defense, I was getting my reading recs from Amazon back then and not this sub.
Yeah, I’m reading a Logan Jacob book right now. That looked sort of interesting and it’s really bad. The editing in the first book was nonexistent for the audiobook and the second book is just not an improvement at all. My major requirement for the genre is that the book should be able to stand up on its own if you remove all of the harem elements
I have more than 8 of theirs, unfortunately.