Thursday, May 29, 2014

A Cocktail and Conversation--Book Hype

Every other Thursday here at the Broke & The Bookish is  A Cocktail & Conversation time. One of the TB&TB members will pose a question to 2-3 of the other members of TB&TB crew about books, life, music, etc and then they'll answer and we can converse about it. So grab a cocktail & cozy up for some conversation. It's 5 o'clock somewhere, friends.


Name a case in which a book's hype ruined your reading experience.

Julia:  I don't think I have ever had a book ruined for me because of hype, but I have put off reading books because of the hype and high expectations (Divergent being the most recent example). I have had books that have a hell of a lot of hype surrounding them, like Outlander or Gone Girl for instance, that I read and disliked, but the hype really didn't cause me to dislike it. It just caused me to think what the hell everyone else was seeing but me.

Jen:  Harry Potter - I resisted for years!! But finally gave in and read the entire series last summer. So many people reference the books and talk about the characters that I felt left out! I'm glad I read the series! I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The hype around the book definitely deterred me from reading it as the books (and movies) were being released. 

Kimberly:  The 5th Wave.  I swear, EVERYONE was talking about this book. I was reading raving reviews weeks before it even published. I was so excited to get my hands on it when it finally released. I don't think I have ever been more disappointed. I finished the book, but it took months. I kept waiting for it to get better. I think I only gave it two stars. I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. I think if I hadn't been so excited and hadn't read so many reviews praising it, I wouldn't have been as annoyed.

Lori:  So many books!  I've bought so many books because of the hype (the first, I remember, was Edgar Sawtelle) and then realized that the book just wasn't me.  Usually in these cases, I don't wind up reading the book at all and just discreetly donate it or let it sit on my shelves forever (where it points and laughs and mocks me), but sometimes I read quite a bit of the book before realizing I'm just not that into it.  I think it's mostly a case of me not looking very closely at the blurb or knee-jerk buying a book; if I had looked into things before buying, I probably would have saved my money.

What about y'all?  Have you ever been let down or led astray by a book's hype?

12 comments:

  1. Great post to read, it's too bad sometimes a hype can ruin an otherwise wonderful book...

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  2. Yes I have books because of the hype, and I have learned to read them later or I do finally break down and read it and its amazing as my friends say it is ie. The winner's curse .

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  3. I think that I tend to let a book that has a bunch of hype around it just sit on my shelf collecting dust for years before I will read it. I didn't want to read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer because of the hype. I wanted to just avoid the book but then I decided to give it a chance and read it and I loved it. I also recently read Divergent, finally, and while I didn't think it was as amazing as all the hype I did like the book and want to keep reading the series. I think hype makes us think that a certain book is going to be perfect and that can sometimes ruin our opinion of the book. Who knows maybe I would have thought Divergent was amazing had I not known of all the hype and been expecting so much out of it.

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  4. I'm still new to blogging, but I learned quick that I can't hop on every hype train that steams by. I was disappointed by Divergent, TFiOS, Splintered, Dorothy Must Die...

    Now, I just read the genres I like, or if a plot summary catches my interest. So much easier and less stressful. And it means I'm not always reviewing the same books as everyone else,

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  5. I am one who is VERY skeptical about hyped books. I was really disappointed with Gone Girl, Eat Pray Love and a few others. So I'm slow to read hyped books.

    I also reviewed a book today (Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire) that was a total let down - and I look at all the 4 and 5 stars on Goodreads and Amazon and wonder what the heck I'm missing!

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  6. Ugh! Harry Potter is killing me! I was so excited when I got the series for Christmas, finally. I jumped right into the first book and oh good gordy, it took me nearly a month to push through it and now I am dreading to read the rest of the series. I don't know why it got so much hype. I honestly would have never bought the next book in the series if I read it when it first came out so don't understand why so many people continued with the series.

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  7. I wouldn't say that hype has ever ruined a book for me, but I do avoid reading some books until the hype has died down. It takes the pressure off me. I totally understand though. The hype can be hard to get past!

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  8. Agree with Julia on Outlander and Gone Girl. Couldn't finish Outlander, finished GG but was sorry I did. but for me the really hyped one that bombed with me was The Goldfinch-gave up at page 200.

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  9. Harry Potter was the same for me too - I managed to get through the second book and had to give up!

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  10. The Selection over here, and Beautiful Disaster (seriously, what the heck?!).
    Fun topic :)

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  11. I was a little disappointed with The Fault in Our Stars, but wasn't with The Book Thief (book version), both of which I read because of the hype.

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  12. I know what you mean about the Outlander series. I've heard so many people raving about it but I just couldn't get into it at all. It wasn't the hype that put me off either though. I just didn't like the style of it - as a Scottish person, sometimes the stereotypical portrayal of the rough but passionate Highlander just bugs me!

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