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

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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?

Gosh, yes. My DH said The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was brilliant. I struggled through until the halfway point, gave up and looked up the ending.

I usually just read Kindle Unlimited thrillers so I can stop if they're awful.

@TrickyD

On FB there was heavy promotion of ‘the funniest book of 2021’, Dad struggling with kids etc during lockdown, Free with Kindle Unlimited.

Unfunny predictable rubbish, yet lots of reviews saying how brilliant it was.

I added a negative review, it was removed. I tried again, saying it was a pity that no criticism was allowed.

I got a PM from the author. He was just trying to provide for his family, I was unkind etc and, ( this is what surprised me), it cost him a lot of money to get it promoted in FB.

Maybe I was naive and everyone knows this is how it works.

But I had no idea that those book promotions on FB were paid for by the authors.

I am now sceptical whenever I see a book praised there.

.

That must be a self-published book. Book promotions on FB aren't paid for by authors if they have a traditional publisher. He's crazy if he can't accept a bad review - every writer who reads their reviews will feel bad if they get a bad review, but they wouldn't argue the toss with the reviewer! If a publisher realised what they were doing they would make them stop that.

@StyleAndLasers @DrManhattan I enjoyed it too. I listened to the audiobook which really brought it to life.

It's subjective and I won't judge others' reading choices.

In terms of reviewers I take endorsements from Stephen King with a pinch of salt, and I ignore bloggers who post gushing reviews of ARCs as I think most just want to curry favour with the publishers so they get more freebies.

@DrManhattan

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

I loved The Milkman.

Sometimes a book gets into my head so much it's like watching a film, and this was one of those books. Full of low-key menace and tension, with people just trying to live normal lives in really abnormal circumstances... I want to read it again now!

@MareofBeasttown

Love Jane Harper. Her debut "The Dry" was so very good.

I agree!

"The Lost Man" is good, too.

I could not finish The Milkman. The only other book I have given up on was Captain Corelli's Mandolin. I tend towards non fiction nowadays, but my fiction book choices are largely driven by the cover illustration- i always feel (wrongly probably) that if someone cares enough to have a great cover, the book will be readable at least. An unpeelable "Richard and Judy" sticker is automatically a no.
After The Secret History I would have walked over hot coals for Donna Tartt's subsequent novels,but I found both utterly dreary.
I have a current list i want to read from the Sara Cox book show, which I really enjoy.

I actually really enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club. But then I was looking firm a break from the grittier Crime books I usually read.

In fact I chose it as a "cosy crime" book for a Sunday afternoon read. I also love watching Miss Marple and Murder She Wrote on. Sunday afternoons. Tea. Biscuits. TV. Bliss. It's nice and simple and there are no twisted serial killers etc.

I think with any book. It depends on the reader and what you want to get out of the book. If I want serial killers / complicated investigations etc. I will read someone like M W Craven. For cosy, Agatha Christie or TMC works.

I get most recommendations from a Facebook Crime bookclub group. Loads of readers and authors so you get a variety of books being recommended. I'm sure there are probably groups for other genres but I mostly read Murder Mysteries / Crime.

Can I recommend the Backlisted podcast as a way of finding books to read?

They talk about old books, and I’ve found some absolute corkers that I’d never have found in a million years through listening to it. There’s a little section in newer stuff too, and the same goes for that. Seriously good.

I agree Sanatorium was pretty bad. I normally avoid any hyped up books so don't know why I got sucked into that one.

Beartown was the worst, I am still absolutely baffled at how anyone found it anyway good:) each to their own. Kindle is great for trying loads of books. Shame so many are just churning out mediocre novels. So many great Authors not getting a chance

@LunaNorth

Can I recommend the Backlisted podcast as a way of finding books to read?

They talk about old books, and I’ve found some absolute corkers that I’d never have found in a million years through listening to it. There’s a little section in newer stuff too, and the same goes for that. Seriously good.

I must look into that! Anything in particular you can recommend?

That would be a good subject for a thread, authors we love but not in fashion.

@Ellpellwood

Gosh, yes. My DH said The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was brilliant. I struggled through until the halfway point, gave up and looked up the ending.

I usually just read Kindle Unlimited thrillers so I can stop if they're awful.

Does your husband read much? I've found people who don't read think TSDoEH is great. Those who read a lot think it's terrible.

@PiccalilliChilli

The Crawdads one: boring Midnight Library: patronising Eleanor Oliphant: noting spectacular West With Giraffes: just get on with the plot! Too much background! Hamlet: Meh

The last good book I read was Tears of Amber by Sofia Segovia.

I also find I'm wading through a lot of Amazon Self Published crap that any established publishing house is wise to steer clear of. I don't have the room for books so I read using a Kindle but phew! Some of them are real stinkers! 💩

@PiccalilliChilli I'm glad you found The Crawdads one boring. Everybody raves about it and I've never met anybody who disliked it. I found it very hard to read so didn't even finish it!

I think it’s a bit unfair to say authors don’t read the books they are put on the cover, all authors are readers and everyone else who reads find the time why not authors. Also majority of books especially series are finished sometimes before the first book has even come out, it can take a year/18 months from everything finished to being in the shops and authors get an advanced copy of the book a few months before the book comes out.

I actually loved the Thursday murder club and have three different copies of it, not every book is for every person, it would be boring if we loved the same.

However you do have to watch some authors promotion of other books because sometimes you find that they have the same agent hence the promotion, but this tends to be more on social media.

I used to review books for Amazon which was great in that it gave me access to a lot of books for no money.

But I found that very many bear no resemblance to the frantic hyping the books had from recognised authors.

After a while this made me angry as it is almost fraud! The publishers are getting people to buy books that will only be disappointing.

I always gave harsh reviews to books that are a let down.
While there is an amount of personal choice it is mostly books that are either badly written or simply don't have much of a plot.

The publishers will tag the books to ones that were genuinely good. I now tend to try books from the Library if I can until I know I can trust the author's writing.
This is not foolproof though.

The most recent Marion Keyes I bought on Audible and was getting very confused. Turns out a lot of reviews also mentioned confused and I felt better knowing it was the novel, not just me.
In the print and Kindle versions there was a Timeline of the characters and Family Tree but on Audible there was guide to the time hopping.
Hence my confusion

@HeyDemonsItsYaGirl Yes he does - loads!

Oh well, there goes my theory! We read it in one of my book clubs and every one of us hated it.

@goldfinchfan

I used to review books for Amazon which was great in that it gave me access to a lot of books for no money.

But I found that very many bear no resemblance to the frantic hyping the books had from recognised authors.

After a while this made me angry as it is almost fraud! The publishers are getting people to buy books that will only be disappointing.

I always gave harsh reviews to books that are a let down.
While there is an amount of personal choice it is mostly books that are either badly written or simply don't have much of a plot.

The publishers will tag the books to ones that were genuinely good. I now tend to try books from the Library if I can until I know I can trust the author's writing.
This is not foolproof though.

The most recent Marion Keyes I bought on Audible and was getting very confused. Turns out a lot of reviews also mentioned confused and I felt better knowing it was the novel, not just me.
In the print and Kindle versions there was a Timeline of the characters and Family Tree but on Audible there was guide to the time hopping.
Hence my confusion

Same @goldfinchfan with the MK book. I read it on Kindle and the family tree was too small to read and you couldn’t zoom in, so frustrating. I eventually figured out the characters but it meant I didn’t enjoy the first half of the book,

Does your husband read much? I've found people who don't read think TSDoEH is great. Those who read a lot think it's terrible

I read loads and loved it (wasn't too struck on the ending, but I enjoyed the journey to get there immensely). Didn't like his next book anywhere near as much, although the premise was intriguing. Again, I felt the ending let it down.

For anyone who did enjoy Evelyn Hardcastle, Netflix are making it into a series.