Highlights issue with one specific book

Siavahda · 06-28-2026, 12:00 PM

All my ebooks are EPUB. I noticed today that trying to create highlights in one book - and only this one book, as far as I can tell (I tested a handful of others and highlights worked normally with all of them) - keeps going wrong. I don't even know how to describe it, so there are pictures under a spoiler cut.

Spoiler:

This is an EPUB I received through Netgalley (the website publishers use to share digital advanced reader copies of books to reviewers) so it seems unlikely it would be corrupted.

I tried deleting it from my Kobo and re-adding it; that didn't help. Then I made a duplicate copy in Calibre, ran an EPUB to EPUB conversion, and put that on the Kobo; no change. I didn't spot anything strange in the CSS, but I don't know what I'm looking for; I don't know if CSS could cause anything like this.

Obviously I can read without highlighting, but I'd still like to know what this is and how to fix it. My highlights are important to me!

DNSB · 06-28-2026, 01:05 PM

Since you have calibre, I would suggest adding the ScrambleEbook plugin and posting a scrambled copy since that will let us see the CSS and also see if the issue shows on other Kobo devices.

Siavahda · 06-28-2026, 01:58 PM

So it COULD be a CSS thing?!

Eek. Okay, here's the scrambled file!

JSWolf · 06-28-2026, 05:50 PM

That looks more like a KePub gone wrong.

Siavahda · Yesterday, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That looks more like a KePub gone wrong.

It isn't, though. Or at least, the filename doesn't have KEPUB in it, and I unchecked the 'view with Kobo viewer' option in Calibre a week or so ago, so it SHOULDN'T be.

Siavahda · Yesterday, 08:28 AM

Still no clue what's wrong with it, but I redownloaded it via Kobo (you can download your Netgalley books via Kindle or Kobo, and previously I used the Kindle) and now the file's fine. So I guess it WAS some kind of corruption of the initial file after all?

06-28-2026, 12:00 PM	#1
Siavahda Groupie Posts: 176 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Helsinki Device: Kobo Clara Colour	Highlights issue with one specific book All my ebooks are EPUB. I noticed today that trying to create highlights in one book - and only this one book, as far as I can tell (I tested a handful of others and highlights worked normally with all of them) - keeps going wrong. I don't even know how to describe it, so there are pictures under a spoiler cut. Spoiler: Trying to highlight one word = highlights (bits of?) the whole line. Trying to highlight multiple lines. This is an EPUB I received through Netgalley (the website publishers use to share digital advanced reader copies of books to reviewers) so it seems unlikely it would be corrupted. I tried deleting it from my Kobo and re-adding it; that didn't help. Then I made a duplicate copy in Calibre, ran an EPUB to EPUB conversion, and put that on the Kobo; no change. I didn't spot anything strange in the CSS, but I don't know what I'm looking for; I don't know if CSS could cause anything like this. Obviously I can read without highlighting, but I'd still like to know what this is and how to fix it. My highlights are important to me!

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06-28-2026, 01:05 PM	#2
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 52,728 Karma: 180988364 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Since you have calibre, I would suggest adding the ScrambleEbook plugin and posting a scrambled copy since that will let us see the CSS and also see if the issue shows on other Kobo devices.

06-28-2026, 05:50 PM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 83,944 Karma: 153695583 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	That looks more like a KePub gone wrong.

Yesterday, 08:28 AM	#6
Siavahda Groupie Posts: 176 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Helsinki Device: Kobo Clara Colour	Still no clue what's wrong with it, but I redownloaded it via Kobo (you can download your Netgalley books via Kindle or Kobo, and previously I used the Kindle) and now the file's fine. So I guess it WAS some kind of corruption of the initial file after all?