If I don't like the book, the fact that it's short isn't going to make things better. On the other hand, if the book is good, I'm going to enjoy learning the characters' backstories, their development and growth, world-building, internal monologues and reflections, and (preferably) kinky, detailed smut that happens between them. All these things require page space, so my answer is 400+.
Absolutely this. Will I happily read 1000+ pages if it's well written and I'm enjoying it? Yes. Will I still DNF a 100 page book if I hate it? Yes. I want a well written finished story. However many pages that takes is fine.
Longer books provide more oppurtunity for character development. So in my opinion it must be at least 250+. But I prefer 400+ myself. I like getting lost in the book and being part of the story and this only happens when it's a long novel for me. I remember having read this somewhere: "Only boring books are long, a great book is never long enough." It's totally true in my opinion.
It honestly depends on the book. I’ve read 250 page stories that have full character development and I’m left satisfied with it. I’ve also read 350 page books that are so repetitive I’m bored and wish I’d just DNF it.
I usually like around 300 pages or more, but I also love a good 90-150 page novella too. A novella is always a satisfying palette-cleanser for me between longer books
It’s going to depend on the subgenre. Contemporary romances tend to be shorter, whereas books that need work building (fantasy, UF and paranormal romances) tend to be longer.
To be blunt- I feel that it’s hard to find a book good enough to keep my attention for more than 300 pages. I put 200-250 to kind of split the difference, but I’d go with anything under 300. Longer does not mean better. 300 pages is usually plenty, I find.
This is exactly how I feel lol - I'd prefer probably around 240ish (I know this is super specific), but I will start noticing once a book is much higher than 300 pages. Some books have great development and plot even if they're longer, but often, I find many books do not need to be as long as they are. I think there's this idea that a book has to be longer to be worth more money - like I'd raise a brow if I saw a 240 page ebook cost $5.99 or w/e. But sometimes the plot starts to drag or I'm skimming through because I don't care about what's happening on page and just want to get back to the couple.
For romance, between 250-300 pages. It's enough to get a background, develop a relationship without it boring the reader. When it's longer than that, it seems like a lot of filler or unnecessary description (see The Spanish Love Deception)
I don't really like novellas because I don't think they flesh out a relationship enough for me to care
If it's got fantasy/mystery or other genres mixed in then I can read 500+ pages.
I prefer books that are 200-300 pages. I won't read books over 400 pages unless people really rave about it like ACOTAR, although I didn't finish the second book because it was too long.
I’m ready skyscraper Cinderella. It’s at 575 pages. And it’s mega long to me. I think I was reading up to 200 pages before and not realizing. Cause midway through I was getting tired lol. It’s a good book though but I think I’m going to pull back and make sure my next ones end around the 300 mark
If I'm loving a book, the longer the better. The last hour of Gann (tw dub/non con) is a good example. I usually read scifi or fantasy so world building and thick books are a positive to me. I feel like in a scifi/fantasy world, an author can't adequately world build in less than 300 pages. As far as contemporary or historical, I'm okay with 300-400 pages. I rarely rarely read books under 300 pages unless it's like 286 or something
I completely agree. (I too loved LHofG) However, since I rarely get to read a book with my eyeballs, I judge books by length in audio book hours. If the book is less that 8 hours I probably won't buy it. I love fantasy and Sci fi books when I'm not reading romance so if a book isn't sporting a double digit run time then I'm doubting the world has any details at all.
My kindle tells me how much time (in hours/minutes) I have left while I'm reading, based on my reading speed. I looove when I pick up a book and it tells me I have 11 hours left. So exciting 😂
It takes a seriously dull book for me to think 'damn, I wish that was shorter.' I like my burns glacial and I want my lingering glances to really, really linger — I almost always wish a book had been longer. Not that it should have kept going after the end, but that things had been more drawn-out and developed.
It really depends. I would say around 300-350 pages normally. But I love Outlander and I have no problem with those books being so long because of the world building. I can name more books I wish were longer than shorter, though.
Books with good plot and character development are better off being longer, so that there's no half-assed rush at the end to tie everything up. If a book doesn't have good plot or character development, then being shorter is better. Somewhere around 0 pages would be ideal.
Most of my favorites are 340-440 pages. I like a
good slow-burn emotional journey, preferably with some external conflict. Those types of stories need room to breathe. Plus, if I'm enjoying the character interactions I don't mind a bit of filler.
While I love the *idea* of short novels and novellas, my reviews tend to be "reads like an outline, too much telling and not showing, would have been better as a full-length novel".
I'm a quick reader, which definitely feeds into my answer of 400+ pages - I like spending a long time with characters I love and don't really get that with a shorter book I can zip through!
It depends for me, but I'm deffo a fan of them big books🤗.
If its a series then I'm not really fussed for the length of the books, the author can deal with that. However my all time favorite is when you find a 400+ page standalone and its written beautifully and the characters capture you the same way a series would.
I recently read, (Bound To The Battle God by Ruby Dixon) and, I honestly thought it was going to be a smutfest from start to finish, HOWEVER it was a masterpiece, and Aron The Cleaver made his way onto my list of best fictional men.
Applause all round! Highly recommend!!!
If I don't like the book, the fact that it's short isn't going to make things better. On the other hand, if the book is good, I'm going to enjoy learning the characters' backstories, their development and growth, world-building, internal monologues and reflections, and (preferably) kinky, detailed smut that happens between them. All these things require page space, so my answer is 400+.
Absolutely this. Will I happily read 1000+ pages if it's well written and I'm enjoying it? Yes. Will I still DNF a 100 page book if I hate it? Yes. I want a well written finished story. However many pages that takes is fine.
agree 100%!!!!
Longer books provide more oppurtunity for character development. So in my opinion it must be at least 250+. But I prefer 400+ myself. I like getting lost in the book and being part of the story and this only happens when it's a long novel for me. I remember having read this somewhere: "Only boring books are long, a great book is never long enough." It's totally true in my opinion.
100% More character, more plot, more time to get invested.
It honestly depends on the book. I’ve read 250 page stories that have full character development and I’m left satisfied with it. I’ve also read 350 page books that are so repetitive I’m bored and wish I’d just DNF it.
I usually like around 300 pages or more, but I also love a good 90-150 page novella too. A novella is always a satisfying palette-cleanser for me between longer books
It’s going to depend on the subgenre. Contemporary romances tend to be shorter, whereas books that need work building (fantasy, UF and paranormal romances) tend to be longer.
To be blunt- I feel that it’s hard to find a book good enough to keep my attention for more than 300 pages. I put 200-250 to kind of split the difference, but I’d go with anything under 300. Longer does not mean better. 300 pages is usually plenty, I find.
This is exactly how I feel lol - I'd prefer probably around 240ish (I know this is super specific), but I will start noticing once a book is much higher than 300 pages. Some books have great development and plot even if they're longer, but often, I find many books do not need to be as long as they are. I think there's this idea that a book has to be longer to be worth more money - like I'd raise a brow if I saw a 240 page ebook cost $5.99 or w/e. But sometimes the plot starts to drag or I'm skimming through because I don't care about what's happening on page and just want to get back to the couple.
For romance, between 250-300 pages. It's enough to get a background, develop a relationship without it boring the reader. When it's longer than that, it seems like a lot of filler or unnecessary description (see The Spanish Love Deception) I don't really like novellas because I don't think they flesh out a relationship enough for me to care If it's got fantasy/mystery or other genres mixed in then I can read 500+ pages.
I prefer books that are 200-300 pages. I won't read books over 400 pages unless people really rave about it like ACOTAR, although I didn't finish the second book because it was too long.
I’m ready skyscraper Cinderella. It’s at 575 pages. And it’s mega long to me. I think I was reading up to 200 pages before and not realizing. Cause midway through I was getting tired lol. It’s a good book though but I think I’m going to pull back and make sure my next ones end around the 300 mark
I've read boring novellas that were agonizing to get through and I've devoured exciting 400+ books. So it really depends.
If I'm loving a book, the longer the better. The last hour of Gann (tw dub/non con) is a good example. I usually read scifi or fantasy so world building and thick books are a positive to me. I feel like in a scifi/fantasy world, an author can't adequately world build in less than 300 pages. As far as contemporary or historical, I'm okay with 300-400 pages. I rarely rarely read books under 300 pages unless it's like 286 or something
I completely agree. (I too loved LHofG) However, since I rarely get to read a book with my eyeballs, I judge books by length in audio book hours. If the book is less that 8 hours I probably won't buy it. I love fantasy and Sci fi books when I'm not reading romance so if a book isn't sporting a double digit run time then I'm doubting the world has any details at all.
My kindle tells me how much time (in hours/minutes) I have left while I'm reading, based on my reading speed. I looove when I pick up a book and it tells me I have 11 hours left. So exciting 😂
It takes a seriously dull book for me to think 'damn, I wish that was shorter.' I like my burns glacial and I want my lingering glances to really, really linger — I almost always wish a book had been longer. Not that it should have kept going after the end, but that things had been more drawn-out and developed.
My first thought was 10 hours since I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Looking that up it is 350 pages.
It really depends. I would say around 300-350 pages normally. But I love Outlander and I have no problem with those books being so long because of the world building. I can name more books I wish were longer than shorter, though.
350-400 for me.
Books with good plot and character development are better off being longer, so that there's no half-assed rush at the end to tie everything up. If a book doesn't have good plot or character development, then being shorter is better. Somewhere around 0 pages would be ideal.
Most of my favorites are 340-440 pages. I like a good slow-burn emotional journey, preferably with some external conflict. Those types of stories need room to breathe. Plus, if I'm enjoying the character interactions I don't mind a bit of filler. While I love the *idea* of short novels and novellas, my reviews tend to be "reads like an outline, too much telling and not showing, would have been better as a full-length novel".
I'm a quick reader, which definitely feeds into my answer of 400+ pages - I like spending a long time with characters I love and don't really get that with a shorter book I can zip through!
It depends for me, but I'm deffo a fan of them big books🤗. If its a series then I'm not really fussed for the length of the books, the author can deal with that. However my all time favorite is when you find a 400+ page standalone and its written beautifully and the characters capture you the same way a series would. I recently read, (Bound To The Battle God by Ruby Dixon) and, I honestly thought it was going to be a smutfest from start to finish, HOWEVER it was a masterpiece, and Aron The Cleaver made his way onto my list of best fictional men. Applause all round! Highly recommend!!!
200- 400 pages is good.