I’m not sure how much I’m influenced by hype. I know that enough good hype can make me pick up a book that wasn’t on my radar. Case in point is Jennifer Ashley’s THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE. Prior to hearing lots of good buzz about it on Twitter, I’d never read or heard of Jennifer Ashley. But the buzz was so good, I had to buy the book and see what it was all about.
I was not disappointed. I truly enjoyed it, and I actually started reading it with an expectation that it wasn’t exactly my kind of book as the hero suffered from a disease that had people thinking he was mad. I was relieved to be happily surprised at the love story and the characters, both leading and supporting.
That hasn’t always been the case though. Books I was assured I would love because the general populous thought it the best thing slice bread, I’ve gone on to buy and read and been disappointed. No, I won’t name the books, but I wondered to myself and friends, whether my expectations were too high. Unfortunately for me, this happens more often than naught. Sure it could just be my very particular taste, because I know I’m very particular about my romances. But could it be that I have these vaunted expectations these books have no hope of meeting?
What I’ve discovered is the books I end up falling in love with, are the books in which I have zero–and I mean zero–expectations. Case in point would be Rachel Gibson’s NOTHING BUT TROUBLE. I’d never read Rachel before and didn’t know that I would like her book. I prayed it would be ‘good’ at best. I ended up loving it. I mean LOVING IT! I then went on to read her entire back list. In her back list I discovered my August Fantastic Find, NOT ANOTHER BAD DATE.
Another such book was Sarah MacLean’s NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE. Sadly, I went into reading this book with even less expectation of liking it. I thought I’d read maybe three chapters and end up putting it down. I have to say I was shocked when I couldn’t put the book down. I loved the hero and heroine, and the plot had this very fresh twist. Then I met the hero’s brother and just knew he needed his own book, so I’m champing at the bit to read TEN WAYS TO BE ADORED WHEN LANDING A LORD.
So what does that tell me about myself and buzz and hype? I think the only bad thing that can happen to me is I buy a book and don’t like it. What do I lose? Nothing really, except seven or eight bucks and the knowledge that such and such books are probably not my thing. The best thing it can do is obviously, get me to enjoy a book I’d never have read and discover a new author to add to my auto buy list.
But in the end, I try not to buy into hype. If people I trust and know my tastes recommend a book, and I like the premise, I will buy. 😀
How about you? Has hype (meaning good buzz, positive reviews from trusted review blogs, Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Romantic Times, Amazon etc) ever gotten you to buy a book? Were your expectations high? Did it meet, exceed or fall below your expectations?
I find myself shying away from books that have too much hype surrounding them because I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed. Like you, I’ve picked up books because of hype and couldn’t get through some of them. Yet others (including the Sarah MacLean book you mentioned) more than lived up to the hype for me. I try to rely on friends who have my same reading taste (which is why I need to pick up the Jennifer Ashley book because a reading buddy has encouraged me to read it more than once).
Also, I loved, loved, loved RG’s Nothing But Trouble, too. It’s one of my favorites of hers.
I admit hype has occasionally lead me to purchase a book that I was on the fence about (or even not aware of so much). For the hype to influence me, the book has to have something that sounds of interest to me to start with. If it doesn’t sound like “my kind of book” (cause yes I can be pretty picky too at times), no matter how it’s raved about, I won’t buy. I try to take all reviews with some grain of salt for the simple fact that tastes do differ.
Sometimes I’ve been really pleased (such as with Sarah’s book) but other times not so much. Few months back, there was a book that I was debating purchasing and saw lots of great reviews so decided to get it. Just got to reading it a couple weeks ago and was really disappointed. I had trouble getting through the book so I don’t know why others thought it was fantastic. I actually went and pulled an old fave stand by out to read to get the “sour taste out of my mouth” so to speak. Luckily, the real disappointment in the hyped book seems to be a rarity. Most often I end up with a book that I’ve enjoyed reading at minimum on on the occasion one I love and a new author to track.
I try not to go for hype. Generally my expectations are then too high and I’m a picky reader anyway. Not to say some books haven’t lived up to the hype. But over all… I’d say I only trust hype if certain readers pimp a book and I know we have similar taste/I can trust [her].
Hype might make me look at book more closely than I might have otherwise, but unless it really sounds like something I’d like, hype won’t make me buy it. The hyped books are the ones I tend to borrow from someone who’s recommending it. Case in point–everyone just raved and raved and raved about The Bridges of Madison County. I read it, but I didn’t love it.
However, your recommendations, Bev, have led me to some definite keepers. Nine Rules is one perfect example. LOVED it! 🙂
I like most have found excellant books and books I still wonder shy I bought from the hype. I like site like yours Bev to keep up to date on new releases. If I am interested in a book because of the hype I will look further into the authors website for the excerpt and even the publisher websites as they normally have a little better than and excerpt, Avon is real good for the browse inside feature, this will help me make up my mind if I will purchase a book.
I have to say hype has gotten me to buy a book before. Hence my recent addition of “Love in the Afternoon” by Lisa Kelyps. Luckily it met my expectations and beyond. I do have to admit i am wearier of buying hyped books by authors i’m unfamiliar with than ones i am. I’m unemployed and on a tight budget so i’m really careful about what i buy. Therefore i usually wait a few weeks after a hyped book is out before i get it. That way i can read reviews from all sides of the fence. Sometimes when i’m still not sure i’ll get the book used or from bookswamp instead. Mostly because i have had books that were hyped to be good that i didn’t like. You mentioned “Lord Ian” and that was one of them. I liked Ian, but loathed Beth. I also wasn’t thrilled with the plot. Therefore i’m not eager to buy Ashley’s next book.
I find myself trying to stay clear of books I’ve heard were “amazing” or “you just have to read you’ll love it” only because I do hate to be dissapointed. On the occasion I feel like venturing out of my safe zone, I’ll pick up a book I think will capture my attention and sometimes I’ll fall madly in-love with the authors voice. The next day I’ll rush out to pick up any if not all the stories on his/her back list. It’s rare though that I won’t finish a book. I usually find something I enjoy about it… no matter how long it takes me to read it.
It takes me awhile before I consider reading books that are getting a lot of hype. I’m not exactly sure why. I suppose it’s because I’m reluctant to spend my hard-earned money on a book I’m not sure I’ll like that much. If the book is in the genre I normally read, then I’m more willing to give it a try.
I have to agree with you that I’ve sometimes been disappointed in books that were over-hyped. I’ll close the last page and wonder what some readers were raving about. One exception is Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas. I kept hearing about the book and when I read it, I loved it. Like you, I had never read anything by Jennifer Ashley. I tried Lord Ian and was surprised that liked it. Finally, Courney Milan’s Proof By Seduction was another hyped book that I enjoyed. I have Sarah Maclean’s book in my TBR pile.
I try to stay away from books that have too much hype. If I do read those books, I normally fall into the I love it too category or the WTH?!? category. What I do is read a few reviews, see if any of my trusted (in the sense, they like what I like) friends and when all else fails I go to the library and pick it up.
I have bought books that had excellent reveiws, only to be left wondering if the reviewer actually read the book! I have also bought books with rave reviews and fell in love with a new to me author. I guess everyone has different reading tastes and what may be good to me may not be some one elses cup of tea.
Yes, hype and great reviews have gotten me to buy many books. Some lived up to the “hype” like “Dreaming of You” by Lisa Kleypas and others didn’t. It’s wonderful when I buy a random book I haven’t heard much about and it ends up being a keeper. One such book was “The Bride Finder” by Susan Carroll. I read this book some years after it came out and I didn’t hear much about it and was pleasantly surprised at what an enjoyable book it was.
Yes hype has gotten me to buy books. I don’t really rely on it much though. I have been disappointed in books that were highly praised. Conversely, I have really enjoyed books that no one else seemed to like. I read the reviews, read the book blurb, and then decide if I might like it. There are authors I know I’ll like, but I have never let not being familiar with an author’s work stop me from trying them. More than anything, I go with my gut reaction to the book blurb.
In Regencies there are certain plots that I just don’t like. No matter how much a book is hyped if it includes one of my plot no-n0’s I generally won’t pick it up. Also, since I have a Kindle, I sample just about every book I’m thinking about getting before I buy it. If the sample doesn’t grab me, no matter how much the book has been hyped, I won’t get it.
On the other hand, Nine Rules was one that I sampled on-line at Harper Collins before it was released, and I immediately placed a pre-order (which I normally never do) because the sample was THAT good.
I’m one of those who definitely have very often too high expectations. I regret it because it’s rare a book can live up to it and I’m almost always disappointed. Now as for The Madness of Lord Mackenzie. Well I read it because of ALL the raving reviews and my expectations then were pretty high. It turned out I didn’t enjoy the book all that much (gave 3stars/5).
Now I picked up Lady Isabella’s marriage and decided to give this author another chance. I didn’t expect anything, just a good time you know. Well turned out I loved it, really really loved it.
I try to work on that and not expect anything from a book or an author as a rule.
I definitely brought books because of the hype but they were very disappointing. A big example is the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R Ward..man was I so disappointed with this series. I was expecting them to fantastic but all I felt about them was they are okay. I like reading books that has no expectation/hype around it so when I read I’m not expecting to wow/amazed by it.
Like someone else here said. I may be drawn to inspect a book because of so much Hype but if after reading the book blurb and front inside jacket it doesn’t pull me in, I don’t buy it. The one book that I had heard so much about that I bought was Outlander and the rest is History for me. I fell in love with Jamie Fraser and have since read every book Diana Gabaldon has written. I’d love to share here a little Hype about 2 book that are by 2 different Authors that I considered to be 2 of the best stories I’ve read so far this year. Deidre Knight’s Butterfly Tattoo–LOVE-LOVE this story. The second was Sandra Brown’s Rainwater.
Carol L.
Lucky4750@aol.com
I guess it’s worked both ways with me. There have been some disappointments but overall I think it’s usually been a good thing. I think I have more problems with movies than books lol. And speaking of Outlander – I’ve yet to read it. I started collecting them when there were 3 or 4 books thinking it would be finished but she’s still writing so I haven’t even started!!!
Great topic. Yes, hype on a forum last year got me so excited to buy a new book. The hero was supposed to be soooo different. Well, to me, he seemed no different than any other hero and I was so disappointed in the novel. I took it as a lesson learned and will never buy a book that gets that much hype.
I might look at a book I haven’t heard of before if I hear lots of talk about it. But I’d much rather discover a new to me author on my own, it feels like an exciting find and then the hunt if on for the backlist!
What I’ve noticed is that when a book in a subgenre that I don’t normally read (such as paranormal/urban fantasy) gets a lot of hype, I’m tempted to pick it up and try something outside of my comfort zone. I still haven’t found a lot of UF books that work for me. Usually I borrow them from the library so I haven’t really lost anything. I have to say that I enjoyed Rachel Gibson’s Nothing but Trouble and several other sports-themed romances (by Erin McCarthy and Jill Shalvis) and what I know about sports is barely enough to fill a thimble 🙂