Discussion: Spoilers




A discussion with P.E. and Mari.

The last discussion post we did about Bloggers' Reviewing Etiquette resulted in many comments about spoilers in reviews. It seems to be that many people don't like them, but there's a reason they keep being mentioned. They still exist. So let's begin with a general idea of how we feel about spoilers. Like them, hate them?

For me it really depends on the situation. I hate them when it's a book I'm looking forward to reading and the reviewer gives away something important. A very memorable one happened a few years ago and I was spoiled about all the major occurrence in Mockingjay. It turned me off enough that I still haven't picked up the book and probably never will. Still, I sometimes actively seek out spoilers for many reasons; sometimes I need that little push to read a book. I know after Dear John by Nicholas Sparks I was so unhappy with the ending that when I wanted to read The Last Song, I googled to see if it had a happy ending. (I'm not into the depressing endings, life's hard enough as it is).

I was actually cringing as I was reading your response, Mari. I can't stand spoilers. I never want to be spoiled. Never. Ever. No exceptions. We have a mutual friend that reads the last page of a book before reading the actual book and it drives me a little crazy because I need to do stuff linearly. I feel like half the fun  in reading is in the discovery of the events. Guessing what will happen, and how it will unfold is awesome. I'm always looking for something new, which means I almost never reread, just because I've already experienced the book. So if you spoil me, I will do my best to brain bleach it out, or just not read it. That's why spoilers in reviews tend to annoy me. Aren't reviews for people before they read the book? Why would they want to know what happens?

You evidently have a strong opinion on spoilers and I agree, it is unfair to be spoiled therefore they shouldn't be present in reviews unless indicated. But, in the end it comes down to the reader and his/her tastes. Some people, like me, sometimes need more information to convince them that a book is worth the read. The only spoilers I pursue are the ones that reveal in one word if it is a happy/sad ending with no further details. Yet there are people, like our friend, who prefer to know what happens beforehand and it has a lot to do with their personality. Just like there are people who like surprise birthday parties and those who despise them. I'm a middle person, I'll be happy there is a birthday party. But there people like you, who likes them (at least in the book scenario) and those like our friends, who hate them. It all comes down to the person.

Meh. I appreciate people are different. As long as they don't spoil me, I'm okay with them researching their own spoilers. The one case where I accept spoilers is when you're doing a review for a series (not the first book). Series build on what's already happened, so I feel like there's an implication that if you read the review, you've already read the other books in the series and it won't spoil the predecessors. 

That's also understandable. I think what a lot of people including myself despise is the spoilers in the comments. I don't find many spoilers in reviews, in fact the majority (at least in my experience) are in the comments. So do you think there should be something telling the commentors to not discuss spoilers?

Good point. Um... no? Blogs are a discussion about books, and debating plot points is such a huge part to why you enjoy the book. I mean, the review is for before you read so there should be no spoilers. The comments is for some discussion and personally, I've never dealt with too many spoilers there. I think most people will do a *spoiler* alert or something to notify potential people that may be spoiled. And at some point, it's hard to keep the spoilers away because the sequel to most books have spoilers in their synopsis. I've gotten pretty badly spoiled by a book synopsis. 

P.E. and Mari seem to have some differing opinions when it comes to spoilers. What do you think?

12 comments:

  1. Eh, I'll admit it - I love spoilers, but mostly for books I can't wait to read. Or if they're sequels. Sometimes I'm so frustrated that the wait for the book is long, that I go to Goodreads, read early reviews and search for any spoilers I can find :D I'm never frustrated, but it does take a little from my enjoyment of finding out for myself. *sigh* I've been trying to let go of that habit, but it's hard.

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    1. I can't understand liking spoilers, but if it works for you, I don't think you should stop seeking them out if you like them.

      -P.E.

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  2. I'm one of those last page first readers *ducks head*. I also will look up general spoilers before reading a book if I'm undecided. I don't want a full recap of the book though.

    They don't ruin the book for me at ALL although I can see how that's hard to understand.

    Having said that I NEVER EVER spoil a book in my reviews. That's up to the individual reader to decide if they want to be spoiled or not and I wouldn't want to ruin a book for someone. I prefer using something like Goodreads where you can clearly mark a spoiler but even there I won't spoil a book.

    I did host a series discussion on my blog once that would obviously contain spoilers but I marked the heck out of that post with warnings and you had to click to a separate post if you wanted to continue.

    I'm seeing a lot more spoilers in comments these days rather than in reviews. That's a good point about maybe mentioning that in the comment note that some bloggers have.

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    1. It really does depend on your taste and if you like spoilers than you shouldn't stop, but as reviewers I feel it's our responsibility to warn readers about spoilers in our writing. You made a great point with Goodreads, I like that too.

      -Mari

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  3. I live my life in fear of spoilers! I hate them! I usually only skim-read a review of a book I'm planning to read soon and look at the overal rating just in case. And I never read reviews for series books if I haven't started the series yet. I like to be surprised!

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    1. I get that, after all most if not all the fun is figuring everything out by yourself.

      -Mari

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  4. I probably agree more with Mari :D If I read or hear a spoiler about a book I'm looking forward to, I'll never pick it up like Mari did with Mockingjay. It'll go untouched because I'll feel like there's no point. It's kind of ruined by then. But I actively seek out spoilers for books I know I'm not going to read. Even tv shows -- like the Bachelor. I hit up Reality Steve for answers to the winner because I can't stand not knowing for so long.

    As far as reviews go, I think people should indicate with a SPOILER ALERT before they say anything that would give away major plot points or twists. But I tend to stay away from Goodreads reviews until I read the book. I'll read blogger reviews that I know won't spoil anything though. Great discussion! I haven't seen this topic discussed before.

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    1. *High five!* Exactly, most of the anticipation one has towards a book comes from our curiousity. What going to happen? etc. Spoilers take away the curiousity therefore taking away the need to read it.

      From your comments, I'm coming to the conclusion that it really depends on the type of spoiler: Involuntary/Voluntary.

      -Mari

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  5. Within the group of 4 of us, we're split on spoilers. 1 hates them; 1 prefer not to be spoiled; 1 is fairly indifferent either way; and 1 loves them (she reads the last page first, haha). So yeah, it's all dependent on personality.

    That said, out of courtesy, because there ARE so many people who dislike them, we try not to include any on our site.

    (THAT said, there's actually a scientific study that found that people actually end up enjoying books/movies/etc MORE when they have been spoiled, even if they are certain that they won't. So... {shrug} It's kind of like John Green said in that brilliant -- if over-simplified -- Tumblr post of his: We know the sun is going to rise and set every day, but that doesn't make us enjoy sunrises or sunsets any less.)

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    1. Haha, greatly put. I completely agree, we can all have our own opinions but as bloggers and reviewers we should keep spoilers out of our reviews or indicate them.

      That's very interesting, I didn't know about that study. What I do know though, is that John Green is a very smart man :) Great quote.

      -Mari

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  6. I actively seek out spoilers for some books but I try to be good about marking when there are spoilers in my own reviews so that the spoiler-averse like you can skip.

    Oddly there are some books where a spoiler is so integral to my reaction to the book that I *have* to discuss it while others I can easily avoid mentioning-I wonder why that is?

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    1. Maybe it has something to do with the arrangement of the plot. If it's early on and the entire story is a reaction to it, it's probably hard not to spoil. If it's near the end and the result of a massive build up, it's easier not to spoil.

      As a spoiler averse person, I appreciate what you do. :p

      -P.E.

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What do you think?