This Week's Topic
Happy Friday! I will never forget seeing Gayle Forman on a panel at BookCon where she declared, "I love all the tropes!" I have to say, I agree with her wholeheartedly. When I saw this Let's Talk Bookish topic a while back, I knew I wanted to chime in because as much as I love tropes, I hate spoilers.
I had done a whole post about spoilers a while back, and I still find it stressful when I am writing reviews. I stick by my assessment that if it's mentioned in the synopsis, it's fair game, even if in my heart I feel it's a major reveal. Tropes seem like a great thing to mention in a review, but I think they can sometimes reveal too much.
So, what do I think? Sometimes. Sometimes a trope can give away a major plot point. I primarily read romance and (women's) fiction, and therefore, many of the tropes I encounter are related to the coupling. I believe that saying there is a love triangle is fine, but if I add that it's a friends-to-lovers romance, I could possible spoil the surprise of which romantic interest was chosen.
I can think of other scenarios, but one I struggled with was accidental pregnancy. I read a FANTASTIC accidental pregnancy romance, and I was so eager to talk about it. But when I reread the synopsis, I realized the pregnancy was not mentioned explicitly. I struggled with it and did talk about it in my review. Part of me worried, but the author introduction mentioned it and many reviews did as well, so I was able to sleep at night. But I do feel that describing the book as an accidental pregnancy romance kind of reveals a lot about the story.
On the flip side, knowing which tropes are in a story can help you avoid ones you are not a fan of or find stories which employ your favorites. How do you feel about tropes? Do you like knowing about them ahead of time? Do you think they reveal too much?
Now it's your turn!
Let us know in the comments!
I feel like I don't focus on tropes too much. I don't actively seek certain ones out or really use them to decide if I want to read a book or not. If a synopsis sounds good to me, I'll want to read the book. But I do think that, especially for romance, tropes are what are used to help market the book, so going in, you know what to expect. They can be spoiler-y, though, especially when they get really specific like "one bed" or "forced proximity," and I kind of think, don't give away everything!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say I actively seek them out, but there are some I avoid. I am not a fan of taboo, bully, mafia romance. I struggle with teacher-student in some situations, too.
DeleteI think that tropes definitely can be spoilers. I very rarely include spoilers in my reviews, and I always label them very clearly (with a STOP READING HERE and a FEEL FREE TO START READING HERE, or something along those lines). With so many reviewers/bookish people promoting books with just the tropes, I think spoilers can get a little messy. But some readers just really are in the mood for one particular trope, whether it is a spoiler or not. So, I guess to each their own!
ReplyDeleteThe thing about spoilers is that there are the obvious things and then some are subjective. I know someone who hides all their reviews warning of spoilers on Goodreads, though I have read them and really didn't find them spoilery. I agree that tropes can be something that makes me want to pick up a story, so I like knowing them, but yeah, they can be be spoilers in my opinion.
DeleteI like knowing which tropes are in a book. I might be more likely to read it if it's a trope that I really like.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I sort of like knowing them, too. So, I guess it comes down to what ranks higher for someone?
DeleteI do like the mention of tropes. I also like to know which character will end up as the romantic lead because I've had books where I was thinking the romance was going to end up with another character and set my wishes on that relationship, only to be disappointed in the end. I hate that! If I know then I can set my expectations accordingly. I agree, anything mentioned in the book description is fair game. I think trigger warnings can be spoilery too, but I know that when I was more sensitive about cancer stories after losing my mom, I appreciated the warning that cancer is part of the character's story. I just couldn't read about it for a while. I read a story that I had no idea it was part of the story and I was not happy. I'm not sensitive about it anymore. There are so many different triggers for readers that could be upsetting if they didn't know about it in advance.
ReplyDeleteWow! You like to have the answers up front. I have also been tricked with the romantic interest, but I am not sure if that's something I have to know though I understand the disappointment. I have been there! Trigger warnings can totally be spoilers, but again, I can see their usefulness.
DeleteHonestly, yeah, a lot of times I do think they spoil! Especially like in the example you gave- if it isn't in the synopsis, I don't want to know about it (even if it IS in there I don't often want to know, heh). Now, I do understand that people like to avoid certain things, so I understand why they're labeled, but I avoid them until after I have read the thing. I try to avoid mentioning them too, or at least putting it under a spoiler tag, because I do loathe a spoiler!
ReplyDeleteReading everyone's comments shows how complicated it could be. There are people with certain sensitivities who like to know a lot up front and other readers who want to be totally surprised.
DeleteOh this is such an interesting discussion! I'm not sure I'd consider tropes as spoilers, most of the time they're mentioned either in the synopsis (or you can guess them) and A LOT of the time they're used to promote the book, so for me they should be fair game. Depending on the trope, it can spoil the story a little bit, I guess, but for me, it helps me figure out and seek out the kind of books I like. For instance I stay far from accidental pregnancy, but I see friends to lovers and I'm running there ahah! :)
ReplyDeleteI have favorite tropes, and they could influence my book selection. I just feel some tropes can reveal too much. Even calling something friends-to-lovers. What if there is a love triangle? That could tell us who gets the HEA, you know.
Delete"So, what do I think? Sometimes. Sometimes a trope can give away a major plot point."
ReplyDeleteI agree...but then again, I'm not sure it's possible to review a book - let alone blurb it - without giving away one major detail or another. Potential readers need a reason for choosing (or avoiding) it, after all...and tropes can be useful that way.
It really does make it difficult to talk about a book. I feel like all my reviews would be just about the same if I totally avoided things like tropes and whatnot.
DeleteThat's an excellent point Sam! On the one hand yes, tropes can be spoilers if nothing mentions them in the synopsis. On the other hand, it's also helpful to mention them for people looking for certain tropes in books. So what to do really? Avoiding everything that is not in the synopsis can sometimes be very tricky too and make for very short reviews. Who knew our job is so difficult? LOL
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those very complicated things. No black or white in my opinion. HA! As it is I feel like I cannot talk about so many things in a review. I couldn't imagine limiting myself even more.
DeleteI enjoyed writing my post about this topic but as with reading, it's so subjective. Some people like going into books not knowing anything about it so mentioning tropes will be considered a spoiler. However, that does make marketing and writing reviews very difficult especially since tropes are so heavily relied upon to sell books, especially these days. I still don't consider them spoilers, especially if you can tell what the story will be about from the synopsis—but such as with your example of the accidental pregnancy, if it's not mentioned in the synopsis then I would count it as a spoiler. That said, since it's not a trope I always enjoy, I don't mind being "spoiled" in this case.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly the entire issue in a nutshell. Every reader has unique needs with respect to what information they would like to guide their reading decisions.I rank tropes up there with trigger warnings which can also be very revealing but very important for some readers. I tend to read reviews after I read a book unless I am on the fence. There were very few that spoiled a book for me. I think it's because I don't really read genres that can be to shocking. I feel mystery/thrillers rank the highest for massive spoilers or sequels. Contemporary romance, not so much.
DeleteInteresting topic! And unfortunately there's no one size fits all answer. I try not to include things that I would consider spoilers in my review, but I always know that for some they will consider my reviews spoilery while others will wish I included more info to see if they want to read a book. Now, if I'm the one reading a review, I tend to read them if I am looking to see if the contains something or doesn't. If I don't want to be spoiled then I stay away from reviews for the book. So, I just try to write reviews that include the info I'd be looking for. Now with triangle specifically, most of time I think it's very clear who the author intends to pair up. But, if that's not the case and it's truly a toss up on who the MC will end up with, then I try not to spoil it in the review.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I think anything related to spoilers is very subjective. And like you said, people read reviews looking for certain things. You will never be able to satisfy everyone. HA! I usually can figure out who the winner of the love triangle will be and it does often seem obvious to me.
DeleteI often mention tropes in my reviews and really didn't think of them as spoilers, but your comment makes perfect sense. I will have to think about that for each book to see if that is the case. I guess seeing what is in the synopsis or what others have already shared would help. Great topic and thoughts, Sam.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is a one size fits all situation. Evaluating case by case seems the best bet from all the input everyone has given.
DeleteFun discussion, Sam! I'm a trope girl and I almost always enjoy knowing what tropes a book has ahead of time. For me, tropes are not spoilers are instead are an easy way for me to weed through which books are most suited to my personal preferences. I do agree, though, that if it's something that is not mentioned in the synopsis... then it's tricky. When it comes to reviewing, I wouldn't give away something that wasn't shared in synopsis.
ReplyDeleteKind of related: I feel a bit differently when it comes to trigger/content warnings. While I can understand they may be necessary and appreciated by some reasons, I don't really have triggers. And for me, the content warnings are very spoilery as they spell out aspects of the story. So I love to see a list of tropes but I avoid all the content warnings.
I do think for people who have trope-aversions, it's great for them to know what tropes are part of the story ahead of time. I also feel that trigger warnings can be spoilers. I am pushing for them to be featured in those front pages nobody reads with all the publisher stuff. If it becomes industry standard, then people will know where to look or where to avoid.
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