Thank you for reading and commenting! Yes, some books can be difficult to digest, maybe due to the subject matter (an example of one I read is Witness The Night). If we find it compelling and want to keep reading and find out what happens, then we should absolutely keep reading :) Thought-provoking books, too—if we’re willing to continue to explore the issue. If we don’t feel like continuing and force ourselves to plough on despite not enjoying the book, it might not be a good reading experience and leave us in a sour mood. These are the situations I think we should avoid.

This is slightly unrelated and more for the writers than readers: I believe the opening pages/chapters should hook the reader and make them enough little promises for what’s to come so that they are happy to read on and don’t have to keep telling themselves, “Be patient, I’m sure something interesting will happen.” It’s subjective, of course. Something that hooks one reader might not be interesting enough for another. Some readers might not be as easily affected by the negative experiences as others—though, a lot of the 1-star reviews I’ve read do mention things like wanting to bang their heads against the wall throughout the novel.