Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have a rule when reading books, that if I'm hooked by the time I finish the third chapter, I keep reading it. Publishers routinely ask for the first three chapters of a manuscript as a submission, and experience has proven to me that it's a good rule to follow. That said, as stated in the title for this review, I could not for the life of me get past the first three chapters without wanting to throw this book across the room, which is something I've done only once before in my entire life, and that was with the equally god-awful "Da Vinci Code"; I have a concern for the well-being of books, worthy of a 13th century monk, back in the days before printing when books had to be painstakingly copied by hand, letter for letter and word for word. The characters aren't even cardboard: they're tissue-paper thin. The dialogue put my teeth on edge for its triteness. Bella has to be the most anNOYing protagonist I have ever met. She's like one of those apathetic teenaged girls who cashier in a grocery store and can't be arsed to even be polite to the customers (yes, I work grocery retail). I honestly wanted to reach into the book and smack her across the face to see if that would elicit any emotion from her beyond her constant "Wah, wah, blah blah blah, life sucks, everyone sucks." Mind you, I don't mind books with unsympathetic protagonists, but this is one of those cases where your patience gets tested to the limits. I don't mind a slow start to a story, as long as the writer can make that slow start one you enjoy. But the start to this was so slow, it felt like walking in mud and I started looking for some solid ground to step onto. Unfortunately, this story doesn't offer any. The fact that a book like this got published doesn't bode well for the publishing industry, and it makes me wonder if people have lowered their standards in reading so much they'll go crazy over anything. I'm trying not to be an elitist here -- I didn't expect this book to be Shakespeare (and even Shakespeare wrote a few clunkers) -- I came to this book with an open mind and heart, but unfortunately, the badness of it obliged me to put it down before I got upset with it. Before the fangirls start hating on me for this review, I'd better add that I'm thirty-one years old, I've read probably several thousand books in my lifetime, I majored in literature in college, and I used to publish a small science fiction 'zine before I had to discontinue it for lack of time, help and funding. As Dr. Phil would say, "This ain't my first rodeo"; I know bad writing when I read it and sad to say, this is one of the worst books I've ever tried to read.