A little Bookish Banter to get us through. Bookish Banter is a little bit of banter about our bookish thoughts as we have a friendly discussion over a nice cup of tea.
For this bookish banter we're talking about over-hyped books.
Jenn-
This is a good subject I always like to discuss. I have a love/hate relationship with hyped books. There are some that I for sure get the hype. There are others I read and scratch my head. Then there are those that I will not read because the hype worries me. I sometimes wish I didn't see all the hype. If I see it I am not sure I want to read the book. I don't want to get my hopes up and not love it... then feel ashamed I didn't love it... like with Divergent. I just didn't get it. I read it and I just didn't like it... at all. I didn't finish the series. The movie I enjoyed... the book I didn't and I hate to admit that as those Divergent lovers may think I am crazy.... and as much as I would love to say all of us readers are not judgmental towards other readers' tastes.... we all know there are some out there that judge.
Here are some I just didn't get the hype. I read them and didn't feel it at all.
There are some books that do deserve all the hype in my opinion but I know not everyone likes the same thing. I am okay with that. There are some books I love that get no hype but I still love them. So I try not to pay attention to the hype... I don't want to be disappointed, I want to be surprised. I don't want the hype to affect my opinion before I even go into the book. Which can happen. I have notice there has been times that I was so ready to love the book that I was disappointed when I finished the read. Not because it wasn't good, but because I expected so much more. If I had not of seen the hype before hand and got all worked up for the book, I might have enjoyed it more.
Hype can be good for a book though too. Gets it into hands of maybe those that don't read that much. The more the word gets out about a book, the more people will read it or if its bad juju then the less people will read it. I mean I guess hype is our job on the blogs. So hype isn't a bad thing really, I just don't want it to sway my opinion or make me feel awkward when I shrug my shoulders and wonder what all the fuss was about.
Here are some I just didn't get the hype. I read them and didn't feel it at all.
There are some books that do deserve all the hype in my opinion but I know not everyone likes the same thing. I am okay with that. There are some books I love that get no hype but I still love them. So I try not to pay attention to the hype... I don't want to be disappointed, I want to be surprised. I don't want the hype to affect my opinion before I even go into the book. Which can happen. I have notice there has been times that I was so ready to love the book that I was disappointed when I finished the read. Not because it wasn't good, but because I expected so much more. If I had not of seen the hype before hand and got all worked up for the book, I might have enjoyed it more.
Hype can be good for a book though too. Gets it into hands of maybe those that don't read that much. The more the word gets out about a book, the more people will read it or if its bad juju then the less people will read it. I mean I guess hype is our job on the blogs. So hype isn't a bad thing really, I just don't want it to sway my opinion or make me feel awkward when I shrug my shoulders and wonder what all the fuss was about.
Ash-
I feel like there is so many books that I have yet to read that are over-hyped. We had done a bookish banter a few weeks (Months?) ago about books that we're ashamed we have yet to read, and I feel like so many books on that one were just over-hyped.
I haven't read too many books that I just didn't understand the hype of, so this was a bit difficult for me.
The first one that comes to mind is the 50 shades series. I HATED that book with a passion. It was badly written, completely unrealistic, and kind of gross.
A Long Way Down... So many people loved this book. I actually had quite a few people completely surprised I didn't like it. But I honestly 100% did not enjoy it. At all.
Most of Stephen King's books. I've read 3 books by him now, and Pet Sematary was the only one I actually liked. And even that one was just a bit slow.
And here is just a few more books that a lot of people loved and I just didn't understand the hype.
So what do you think? To hype or not to hype? Does the hype get to you, sway you, discourage you? Let's Banter!
I always avoid hyped books until 5 years later because of these reasons.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time, if a book has a lot of hype, that means people like it, and I probably will too. At the same time, it partially depends on the book's subject or even the source of the hype. Some hype is generated primarily by publishers spending a lot of money on it, which doesn't necessarily mean it's good. Some books might be hyped, but the subject really isn't something that interests you.
ReplyDeleteIt's kinda fun to read 1-star reviews of your favorite books. Just shows you not everybody likes everything.
I fee like too much hype makes me want to read a book less! IDK, maybe there is a bit of rebel in me that doesn't want to read what everyone else is reading. And more often than not, I end up disliking hyped books - Six of Crows, Red Rising, things like that.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely wary of hyped books. I try to go into them with lower expectations, just in case. But on the other hand it's hard not to get swept up in the hype at times!
ReplyDeleteI think hype sometimes gives me unrealistic expectations, so I usually wait for the hype to die down before I buy the book. People might be excited about a book now, but in 6 months, they’ll say, “I remember nothing about that book except for the hype.” I’m more likely to buy a book if people have been talking about it for years.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!