What makes a passive protagonist ruin a book for you?

[Matthew32]

I just finished a novel that everyone else in my book club seemed to adore, but I found the main character so frustratingly passive that it almost ruined the whole story for me. Has anyone else ever had a book’s central premise completely undercut by a character you just couldn’t connect with or believe in? I’m left wondering if I missed something everyone else saw.

[ScarlettJ]

I have felt that drift too. The protagonist felt like a wall the plot kept banging into, and it killed my immersion even when other readers loved it.

[AbigailLR]

Sometimes a central premise wants you to watch rather than take action, and a passive lead can be a deliberate device to let other characters shine.

[Adam.H]

I might have misunderstood what the book was aiming at, and the tension could be in the world around the protagonist rather than in the protagonist's choices.

[Violet_L]

Maybe the flaw is in marketing rather than writing, the idea of a compelling premise can clash with a slow moving lead.

[Benjamin_W]

Could it be that you are reading it with an expectation of heroism and a tight arc, while the book is testing patience and perception?

[Hannah.H]

What if the issue isn't the character but the genre habit of turning crises into catalysts for change, and this book tries a different rhythm with passivity as a lens.