Okay, this is probably the first discussion post that I’ve done in a while (actually, have I ever done a discussion post before?), but it’s something that’s been bothering me for a while, so I felt the need to vent about it.
My rant today is on the topic of spoilers, not just in reviews, but when others comment on blogs and give out information that is vital to the plot.
First off, I am a firm believer in letting others discover twists and turns in the plot for themselves, unless they otherwise want to look them up. I appreciate the fact that Goodreads has the ability to allow reviewers hide anything they might find to be a spoiler, and that readers have to click on the link to show it. This is so awesome (and to be honest, I never click to show the spoilers), and I’m sure that everyone else appreciates that feature, too. I also appreciate when bloggers note at the top of their post that that particular review or discussion will have spoilers in it – that way readers can check out the post at their own discretion, and is in depth as they would like, depending on whether or not they actually want to see something that could be potentially spoiler-y. Some bloggers even create two versions of reviews – one with spoilers, and one without. Again, I find this to be incredibly helpful for those who have already read the book, or those who are just gaining insight to whether or not that particular book is for them.
Personally, I’m really not a fan of spoilers. If you’ve been following my reviews for a while or you’ve just started reading, you’ve probably noticed that in a lot of my reviews, I tend to be a bit vague. For instance, if a book I’m reviewing is a part of a series, I might leave out a lot of the plot in my review in case others haven’t gotten to it yet, or even started the series. I instead talk about the novel overall – sure, I’ll discuss the plot and how I feel it fit in with the rest of the books, but I don’t give away details or anything. I’ll discuss the characters, the tone, etc., but I steer away from anything that could ruin it for someone else.
The same goes with books that have a really drastic plot twist that affects the novel as a whole. This is the case in some books, especially thrillers, such as We Were Liars, Genuine Fraud, or There’s Someone Inside Your House. I’m not being lazy by making this reviews short, and you’ll find that I will discuss other things in depth, such as how I felt about the characters, the narration, etc., but I do keep them short, because I don’t want to let anything slip that might give away vital plot information that can ruin the book for other readers.
Another thing that I just noticed today was the fact that someone posted a comment on my review for We Were Liars asking about the plot twist. Since this wasn’t a regular commenter on my blog, it did require moderation before it would post, but unfortunately, I had to delete it because it gave the entire story away. I felt really bad about it, but I didn’t think approving that comment would have been the way to go, as it completely spoiled the whole book (I know, it’s an older book that almost everyone has read already anyway, but it’s the whole idea behind it). I always approve comments, but this one time I just couldn’t.
16 Responses to Discussion: Book Spoilers in Reviews