AIBU to think that a lot of books are over-hyped?

[Notradespeopleareavailable]

In the past few days I've picked up 3 books which I bought on the strength of written reviews and soundbites on the covers from other authors.

Supposedly, these other authors have found time to read these books (really?) and offer lavish and fulsome praise for the contents within. I am also talking about a very much trending book which has Thursday in its title.

In all cases, I gave up on all three books as the stories were not that engaging. Across all 3 books, in common I think the characters were under-developed and not really like real people; all characters had involved and convoluted back stories; all plots were over-complicated and contrived and finally the authors chose to use both the 1st and 3rd person voice for narration.

But I wonder about these glowing reviews? I turned to reviews on Good Reads and found (gasp, horror) a lot of 1 and 2 * reviews. So I was relieved and comforted to find I was not the only person who had been let down by the lofty premises of these books.

I think there is an awful lot of back-scratching going on in the publishing industry and AIBU to think that a lot of reviewers (aka other famous authors) have not actually read the books?

To Kill a Mockingbird is the classic I dislike most. It’s a simplistic novel with a Year 6 vocabulary that was written at exactly the right time. A saintly white lawyer reinforces the white savior stereo type.

@alwayswithhope

Mad *@ShonkyCat* I love that book!

😂

Seriously, if she had just cut out all the endless clichés (they keep saying "merde" and adjusting their berets FFS) and not introduced a Scottish character called Jock McScotsman (possibly not his actual name) I might have been able to take it seriously. And she also kept going on about how beautiful the main character was! It was cheesier than a lump of camembert!

There were also loads of plotholes and inconsistencies that I didn't even notice because I was too annoyed by her rubbish attempts to evoke the atmosphere of wartime France. A Boden catalogue contains just as many bicycles, wide-legged trousers, and Breton shorts and is more entertaining.

A friendly of mint made a 👌 living for a while out of writing trashy sex novels. She was very, very highly rated- Amazon top ten for a bit- and she said about 25% of her time was spent writing the books, and the other 75% writing reviews for other writers signed to her publisher and managing her Facebook and Twitter accounts.

@ShonkyCat I don’t remember a lot of that. I will never read it again in case I also see the cheese! I loved it 😂

I quite liked The Thursday Murder club. I think I read he's working on a sequel, and I'll probably read that too. Was very disappointed by 'The book club' and tend to ignore whatever the big bookshop chain is pushing as I've found them to be rubbish in the past.

[quote alwayswithhope]@ShonkyCat I don’t remember a lot of that. I will never read it again in case I also see the cheese! I loved it 😂[/quote]
It's probably for the best because you won't be able to not see it!

It won't just be a cheese though. It will be "beaucoup de fromage"!

I do feel bad for panning Richard Osman's book, because he seems like a genuinely lovely guy, and he was very encouraging to writers in his interviews.

But the fact is, it's pants. The "twists and turns" were the detectives strolling up to each suspect in turn for the suspect to MONOLOGUE their back story until they hit the right one. That's not twisting and turning. It's plodding along a rather dull path that beats you over the head with the idea that OLD PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE TOO.

It's gutting as an unpublished author to out SO MUCH work into creating a nicely flowing plot and characters with sensible development etc just to see celebrities prance their way into publishing without actually having to pass those hurdles.

Oh lord, YES!

Midnight Library was patronising guff
Girl, Woman, Other was so self consciously try hard
Normal People was bleurgh
Thursday Murder Club was gently amusing but not as good as the Elly Griffths one
Crawdads was trite

I have so many more.

I always think I'm really out of tune with everyone else.

I do think there is a cult of celebrity with books. If you are a well-known name it appears to be so easy to a) get published and b) get a lot of publicity and exposure. Such celebrities appear very regularly on TV and radio chat shows to promote their wares and also quite a few newspapers will give advertorials for publications.

This is of course unfair to genuinely good writers who are relatively unknown and so don't get such free passes.

I read TMC on the back of going to hear Richard Osman speak, he seems a genuinely nice person, and clearly loved his characters, so thought I'd give it a go (unfortunately it had also been recommended to me by someone whose tastes don't really match mine - she also recommended Eleanor Oliphant which I thought was meh, and she loved Crawdads, again it did nothing for me). But meh. I found it quite patronising. There's due to be 3 more in the series BTW (from the horse's mouth)...

It takes me a while now to choose books, and I'm a bit wary of hyped new books. So I use Goodreads a lot, am part of a bookclub with VERY varied tastes, but there is a voracious reader who tends to have similar opinions to me on the books we've read, so I trust her, book awards (although accept that these can be disappointing for other reasons). I also like the book threads on MN for ideas. I find too many bestsellers are bestsellers because they're a bit unsophisticated, and sometimes loved by those who don't really read much.

And don't get me started on people who publish books and use their platforms to give it free publicity (rather than paying for it). I'm thinking of James O'Brien on LBC who regularly dropped the title of his latest book into his talk show. I did feel this was an abuse of his privilege.

I’ve followed quite a few bookstagram accounts and over time trimmed it down to a few accounts that consistently seem to like the same books as me and I trust their recommendations.
As the bigger accounts get proofs in advance of publication, for me it’s been a more reliable way of getting an idea of what’s coming out I might like.
I am a cosy crime fan and have the Richard osman to read for book club, so I have high hopes! I enjoyed the marlow murder club book by Robert Thorogood which seems a similar vibe.

@shumway

Yes and it's often books by celebrities. Mel Giedroyc's new novel is meant to be funny and enjoyable according to Graham Norton and Marian Keyes but I found it rubbish.

I came on to say Mel giedroyc's book. I was really disappointed with it and gave up after a couple of chapters.

I love Marian Keyes' books and thought it would be similar.

Elinor Oldhant came highly recommended too from friends and colleagues but I thought it was terrible.

I like to read all sorts of books, it I've struggled recently to get my teeth into anything. Motherwell, the auto biog by Deborah Orr was really good.

I agree, OP. I've bought various books based on glowing reviews, and then found the books to be adequate (mainly) but not good, and certainly not deserving of the reviews.

In every case, when I look into it, the writer has either worked in publishing for years, or is the wife or grandchild of a successful author, or is an arts reviewer for the Telegraph, etc etc. Basically their chums have waxed enthusiastic, which is natural, but a waste of my time and money.

I am more careful now to weigh up reviews, and I prefer a recommendation from a friend who has reliably good judgement.

Anything as bad as the Milkman ?
Wt actual was that about. ????

I blurb books for other authors because it's bloody awkward to tell a peer (and often a friend) that you didn't enjoy their work. I've only refused once because the book was that bad, and I still feel terrible.

It's not true that you need to be a celebrity or have publishing connections to get a book deal. But you need to write a very good book and be tenacious. And yep, having a known name definitely helps sales.

I found the Thursday murder one ok, a bit fluffy, like watching miss marple on a Sunday afternoon.
I liked the crawdads quite a lot but didn’t love it. It was too unrealistic towards the end.
Eleanor Oliphant really stuck with me though. I’m not sure why but I rooted for her so so much after the early chapters (which I found compelling but uncomfortable).

All three at least are memorable. Nine perfect strangers on the other hand - my kindle says I read it but I can’t remember anything about it at all. Most of these “twisty” “thrillers” are the same…

Two words: Eleanor Oliphant.

Biggest bag of overrated shite I've ever had the misfortune to waste my time on.

I wouldn't be surprised. I feel the same way about the media, the symbiotic relationship between artists and interviewers/reviewers whether that's through film or music on the TV or on radio. I feel like I'm heavily sold a lie.

@DrManhattan

Anything as bad as the Milkman ? Wt actual was that about. ????

I really liked that book!

The Thursday murder club seemed to try and develop too many characters rather than having main protagonists. I found myself forgetting the characters and mixing them up. The opening page of most books is a good indicator of whether you'll enjoy it.

I have experience of the publishing world. Believe me, well known authors are often asked by their publishers to write ‘puffs’ for other people’s books. And they don’t like to say no, so although any praise may be genuine, it’s not remotely guaranteed to be.
I’ve known one well-known author who admitted to writing a puff for a book she privately thought was dire.

Essex serpent - tedious.
Mirror and the light - outstanding, as the other two were. But I’ve not enjoyed all mantel books. Struggled to get to the end of a place of greater safety.
I’m waiting for paperback of the last Cornwall The last kingdom. I love those.

I just add all these hyped books to by library list and wait for it to be mine.

I did quite enjoy the Thursday murder club, the pensioner thing made it a bit different.

I thought The Thursday Murder Club was ok but nothing special - if it had been by a non celeb it wouldn't have been published. I actually feel sorry for the lack of good authors coming through in both adult and kids books because of the focus on celeb books as publishers know the name sells.