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That 300 page fantasy book I skimmed for book club, then reread properly
I rushed through the first half of The Fifth Season for our deadline and hated it, but the group discussion made me realize I missed half the plot twists. Anybody else reread a book and completely change their opinion on it?
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hill.david7h ago
The first time I read The Fifth Season I caught every plot twist on page one because Jemisin basically spells them out with the narrative structure and the obvious hints about the second person chapters. People who needed a reread probably weren't paying close attention the first time. The whole "I missed half the plot" excuse is just readers admitting they skim instead of read. A good fantasy book should work on a first pass if the author did their job right. I finished it in three days and got the full experience without any backtracking.
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morgan91549m ago
Ugh, okay but hold on... I actually had the exact opposite experience with that book. I read it slow, like a chapter a night, and I still didn't see half the stuff coming. But I think that's the beauty of it, you know? It's designed so different people pick up on different things. I didn't need a reread to enjoy it the first time, but I definitely caught more on a second pass. It's not about skimming, it's just that some of us read for the story first and the twists later.
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