Disappointing Reading - You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover

Or the first few pages apparently.

Call it therapy or a what you will but I today need to vent about about a book that I am currently reading. I thought it was going to be a reading highlight this summer but, instead, I'm wondering how on earth it got published. And, no, I won't give the title.

The first thing that attracted me to it was its beautiful cover that seems to fit not only the title but also the genre and the blurb on the back of the book. I loved it when I cracked it open in Borders and, before I knew it, was several pages in - one of my prerequisites for buying a book - and wanting to read more. As is usual for me, I was in the middle of another book and I somehow waited to keep reading until I had finished the other one.

Said book finished, eager as a beaver to finally delve in, and needing a few moments of R&R (Reading and Relaxation), I picked it up last weekend. Only to be greatly disappointed by the end of the first few chapters. Already, the characters and their relationships with each other weren't ringing true to me, no matter how hard I tried to turn the critical reader part of me off. The book was also skipping scenes that it spent a lot of energy - and emotion - building up to, leaving me feeling like I was stuck being told about what could be pivotal scenes in the book, instead of being shown. I don't know if it's poor editing or poor writing or both, but I'm disappointed either way. I will probably finish reading it, just to see if my hopes for the plot can be fulfilled, despite the other disappointments. So I guess I am hooked, in a way.

How about you? Has this ever happened to you? Did you finish the book? Was it worth it?

I'll post again once I finish it.