Honestly, this is a subject that truly gets my goat when it comes to reading reviews to find out if perhaps I will fancy reading a book or not. Is that not the POINT of reviews? Its gives other readers the opportunity to see what you thought, get a reasonable idea of the subject matter and decide whether or not it is for them. Now, thinking about that – ARE you going to read a book after you have read a review with comments such as (made up not a real book!) “The author put a brilliant twist in the middle. You thought that Barry was a man but ACTUALLY he is an ALIEN. So I was very surprised. And of course that explained why Barry couldnt eat eggs and by the end of the book, he had developed a stomach and he could eat the eggs!” I mean really. Would you? No you wouldnt. You know where its going and where it will end up and all the information inbetween so you would forget that book and move on to the next. Probably while throwing shoes at stuff. Sorry thats my thing. When I’m annoyed – I throw shoes. So WHY do people do it? Several authors that I know about have suffered this issue lately. If you look at my review of “The Burning Air” by Erin Kelly – Yes there is a twist. Ok? There IS one..and some people are looking specifically for a twisted tale.. But…a reviewer on another site not only said there IS one but told you what it is! I mean REALLY? REALLY? I’m reaching for those shoes right now. Sophie Hannah, Mark Edwards and S J Bolton among others have also suffered this issue. Reviews telling you “whodunnit” sometimes even WHY they did it. Some reviews I’ve read lately just basically tell you the whole story in little bites. Literally. Start to end. Why do people do it? Does it not compute? Other people want to have the surprise. In murder mysteries they like to try and work it out for themselves. Me, I’m inordinately pleased with myself when I’ve beaten the author at their own game. If I read a review that reveals the truth, I’m not even going to bother reading it. And it MIGHT be a great book. A hell of a read. But no. I’ve missed out. Anyone who has read “Gone Girl” …would you have read it if you knew exactly what happened to Amy and why? Of COURSE not. That was the whole point of the book in the first place. So PLEASE reviewers – whether you be book bloggers, professionals, or just someone who enjoys sticking the odd review up on Amazon and Goodreads – STOP. THINK. Would YOU have enjoyed the book had you had all the information you are about to put into your review?Β Personally I re-read all my reviews at least twice before posting – because of course, if a book excites you and you have had fun with it, sometimes you can be over enthusiastic in trying to get your point across. The need is sometimes huge to say WHY its such a great read. Why you were on the floor going “Nooooooooo never!”, But its important. You want other people to have that moment…Don’t you?
Ok, so STOP with the spoilers already….
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Well put. If only there was a way to get this out to all the sites that allow reviews. I feel for authors who have been working on a book for months only too have it ruined by somebody revealing the ending.
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This is a brilliant post and something that got me thinking about how authors themselves have to be careful what they reveal about books that follow on in a series. It’s a tough call to decide how much information is too much and it’s easy to see how lines get crossed. But as Steph says, a sometimes unintended spoiler can ruin in seconds what took months to create.
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