*Shout after me* Don’t cringe away from hyped books…read them!

Posted on by Ashleigh

hyped-books

Hyped books. We see them everywhere – hence why they’re classed as being “hyped”. They’re not only confined to bookstores and people’s personal shelves. Now they live on social media too, taking over twitter, instagram (especially if they’re so aesthetically beautiful), YouTube and blogs.

They’re the books that people love. The ones that everyone raves about.

And yet, they can be the ones that are daunting. The ones you dare not tackle just in case you don’t absolutely adore it with all your heart and the book community will crash and burn from the unpopular opinion.

But you know what I say? READ THE HYPED BOOKS!

Of course, it’s absolutely great to read the not-so hyped books. To give them the love and attention they deserve. But sometimes, you want to read a book that other people have read too, just so you can have a good ol’ chat about it – am I right?

Yes I’m right and if I’m not then HOW THE HELL do you manage to keep all those thoughts on that book you just read to yourself? Like what?

If you see a book that has loads of hype and it actually sounds interesting to you – don’t be overwhelmed by the hype, join in!

A lot of the books I read were surrounded by hype at one point or another. It just happens to be that I love the same books as the majority of people in the YA bookish community do. That’s not to say I don’t read books that are unheard of – I do. Just take a look through my review index and you’ll see the variety there.

But I’m a huge believer in trying the hyped books too. 

For one, the book will have so much hype for a reason. There’s a good bet that the book is at least good, or even great. If you base your decisions on buying a book on the reviews you read, this is basically the same thing. You trust the general opinion and you go with it.

And I can honestly say, through reading books surrounded by hype, I’ve discovered genres I never even knew I liked. Historical Fiction is my second favourite genre, I absolutely adore it. And yet for so long, the only one I had read was The Book Thief. Thanks to people talking about historical fiction books more, I’ve discovered so many knew ones I love. Though I still haven’t read All The Light We Cannot See, and that’s the one with the most hype…hmmmm…Need to correct that.

I didn’t think I liked SciFi at all until I read The Lunar Chronicles and Illuminae. I wasn’t that keen on contemporary until I discovered Holly Bourne’s Spinster Club series. And despite fantasy being my favourite genre, there wasn’t a chance I’d tackle those 600+ paged books without the encouragement of hype. Now I’ve happily check the entire A Song of Ice and Fire series off my list, along with The Name of the Wind and the first two Outlander books.

That all sounds like I’m bragging. I promise I’m not. 

I’m just trying to show how reading hyped books has really helped me expand my reading tastes. How it’s encouraged me to try new genres, thrown huge chunks of books at me. Luckily not literally because that would hurt.

And what’s more, if you do end up loving it, you have so many people to talk about it with! No more are the silent struggles of a whirling mind after finishing a book. Social media is your friend, and you can always find *actual* bookish friends through it.

And don’t forget the fan art *drools*. Hyped books mean more talented people love it SO much they draw it. And we get to make heart-eyes at our screens in response.

But still, we haven’t gotten to my main reason for reading hyped books yet. Whatever could it be? Any guesses?

Is anyone actually guessing?

Probably not.

Okayy Ashleigh just stop you’re being lame.

Let me tell you.

Sheer curiousity. 

I’ve compared myself to Alice in Wonderland before on this blog – just recently in a review actually – but like her, I can’t stamp down my curiosity. If I keep seeing people hopping along in a crazed ramble about how much they love a book, I’m going to fall down that rabbit hole with them. Because even if it doesn’t sound like something I’d usually read, I simply want to have an opinion on it. I want to know what everyone’s talking about. I want to know if I agree with them, or if I’m on the unpopular opinions side. And no, I’m not afraid of being one of the unpopular opinions because the bookish community are so open and welcoming of that. We understand that no book is for everyone. If you don’t like the hyped book after giving it a try, that’s okayy. (we only riot when it turns into pure hate towards the author)

So what’ve you got to lose? Well, besides a bit of money and time. You could always borrow from a library to solve the money issue…time I can’t help you with I’m afraid. Not a time traveller (and I can’t go against the laws of magic).

OH and just imagine in the future when all the popular books we’re reading now are considered “modern classics”. We all know Harry Potter will be one eventually. How intellectual will we all look then for our excessive knowledge and love for these books, when really we’re all just fangirling? What a great time that will be…

I’ve rambled on enough now. I think we can all agree on that.

But obviously my message is –

Read the hyped books. You’ve got nothing to lose!

Besides some time and possibly a bit of money. But that’s totally your call.

 

Do you read hyped books? Or do you prefer discovering books that are mostly unheard of?

Are there any particular genres you’ve discovered through reading a hyped book?

Or maybe you’ve been more encouraged to read bigger books like me?

Do you have any other reasons for reading hyped books?

Let me know in the comments!

Until next time…

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39 thoughts on “*Shout after me* Don’t cringe away from hyped books…read them!”

  1. Oh my gosh, you have to read All the Light we Cannot See, I’m telling you, it’s aamaazing, the writing, the plot, the perspectives, it’s so worth it 😀

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  2. Great post! I find hyped books to be a bit hit and miss personally – I’m either going to reallyyyy love them, or dislike them. Hyped books I love include The Girl on the Train, All the Bright Places, Me Before You and The Girl in the Red Coat!

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  3. I completely agree! Even if you don’t like a hyped book, working out why can be beneficial to discovering more about what you like to read and what you don’t. I find it incredibly helpful within my own writing to read hyped books and spotting where the cliches are (not that all hyped books are cliche, but they usually contain similar concepts) and what I can do to move away from them.

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  4. Love this post! I do read hyped books, but am usually late to the game. I tend to genre hop and read a lot of older material, so the hype may have died down some by the time I pick a book up. I love how you tackle this though, because I try not to but deep inside I always fear disappointment with hyped books haha. But I still read them 🙂

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    1. I tend to be late to the game too really ahaha 😆 Like, I’ll get to them eventually, but while everyone’s raving? Nahh I’ll wait a bit. I genre hop like you 🙂 But oh well – at least by the time we get to them we’ll have plenty of people to talk about them with if we wish!

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  5. I actually tend to read hyped books more often than not 🙈 It’s like you said, they’re everywhere and I wanna know what all the fuss is about and I know I can talk to other people about it haha. Plus if it’s so hyped it’s probably good haha

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  6. Great post! I usually only get around to reading hyped books long after the fuss has died down, but mostly I find that I end up enjoying them. I think hype sometimes creates unrealistic expectations.

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    1. Thank you!
      I take a while to get to the hyped books too, but it’s not like they’re going anywhere! They’ll wait for us 🙂 But yeah it can definitely give unrealistic expectations. Though I do feel like a lot of us sort of know that when it comes to hype, so we’ll be more cautious.

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  7. Awesome post, Ashleigh! I’ve actually grown a bit hesitant about hyped books because it seems as if I’ve been let down and disappointed a lot. But I’ve also been trying to get out of that because there are many hyped books that I did enjoy, like Six of Crows for example. I was hesitant about it, but ended up really enjoying it and am actually reading book two now. I discovered a love for Historical Fiction as well thru hyped books. It’s also my second fave genre 😊

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    1. Thank you!!
      It can be hard to get back into them once you’ve been disappointed a fair few times. There’s so many books though, it’s hard not to at least try a few. I was really late to the game with reading Six of Crows (literally read it about a month ago) and by then the hype was just overwhelming. I ended up really liking it too though! And I’m glad to hear you love historical fiction just as much as I do 😀 I don’t see enough people reading it ❤

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      1. I agree! It is a good thing to try at least a few hyped books. They’re not always a disappointment lol. And yes, not many people are into HF. Well, the people I know anyway. I have been reading a lot of fantasy lately and hoping to get back into some good HF books soon. Any recommendations? (Other than The Book Thief, because I’ve read that one)

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        1. I like Ruta Sepetys’ books (Salt to the Sea & Between Shades of Gray are the ones I’ve read), Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blackman, Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin, which is a parallel universe sort of historical fiction where Hitler won. They’re the one’s that spring to mind 🙂

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          1. Thank you! I’ve read Salt to the Sea, but not the others. Although I do own PoNaF and Wolf by Wolf so I’ll try to get to them soon!

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  8. Great post! I make myself a deal when I go into reading any book, but especially hyped up ones: I wipe the slate and forget everything I’ve heard about it. That way I don’t have ridiculously high expectations and am disappointed if it doesn’t meet them 🙂 I find most of them do though lol

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    1. Thank you!
      That’s a great mindset to have 😀 I have a similar approach – though I wouldn’t be able to just forget everything I’d heard. I just remember that everyone’s tastes are different and just because a lot of people like a book, doesn’t mean I will! Like you said though, a lot of the time I end up loving them just as much as everyone else ahaha 😆

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  10. I completely, 100% agree with you on this. I admit, hyped books make me nervous because it’s more disappointing when it doesn’t meet my expectation. But just like you said, there must be a good reason why they get the hype! I also read Illuminae because of the hype. I usually don’t read outer space sci-fi but Illuminae was so so gread and I’m so glad I fell into the hype 😛 also like you, I read mostly popular YA fantasy and occasionally contemporary, but all the hype in the bookish community has made fall even more in love with contemporary ❤

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  11. I do read the hyped books! I mean, I figure there must be SOmething that makes them so great right? I was a bit let down by some *cough cough* Illuminae *cough cough* – sorry about that, but overall I love reading the hyped books. If everyone has read it, you get a larger audience of people to talk about it with. Talking about books is always more fun when you’re not alone! Not uh, that I talk to myself or anything like that.
    Fleur @ FranklyBooks just posted ABSOLUTELY FLABBERGASTED | THE DIABOLIC BY S.J. KINCAID

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    1. Ahahaha oh no, we DEFINITELY don’t just ramble on to ourselves about books…not at all *cough cough* *looks away shiftily* 😆
      No need to apologise for not liking Illuminae! No book is for everyone 🙂 At least now you know!

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    1. Oh my gosh same to be honest ahaha! 😆 I don’t even realise I’m collecting books and adding them to my TBR half the time, I just pick things up because I see other bloggers talk about them. I’m so easily won over when it comes to books ahaha

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  13. I tend to pick up my fair share of hyped books, although I’m usually a bit late to the party due to the fact that some new releases only comw out in South Africa a month or two later 🙈 I also have big hits or misses with hyped books – either I really, really love it or I hate it! But it definitely creates a sense of community and togetherness when everyone is so excited about a new release and I love being a part of that and having tons of people to discuss my thoughts with 😊

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  14. Hyped books have always been hit or miss for me. Honestly. I’d say about 50% of the time I read a hyped book and I think it wasn’t worth my time at all. It’s really frustrating. So, what I tend to do is I wait on a hyped book. I wait until the reviews are starting to appear less frequently blogs/BookTube, and I wait until the chatter has died down but isn’t completely gone. Then I read the hyped book.

    I struggle with posting 1-2 star reviews for hyped books. I haven’t gotten any hate for it yet, but I am still new to the blogopshere. Honestly, I’d love to debate the merits of a book with someone– but I feel like a blog is a terrible place to do that. So, yeah. I read them… just… later than most.

    Oh! I also like to binge read series. I try not to read any books in a series until the final book has a release date within 6 months. I just tend to forget everything! Re-reading is great if I love a series, but if I don’t? Back to the first point on my hype concerns.

    Example: Six of Crows I just picked up my copy of it. I hope to read it AND Crooked Kingdom

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    1. I get what you mean! I wait a while to read hyped books too, and usually by then you’ll see more varied reviews too so you ca sort of break through the hype. I actually have no problem with posting bad reviews for hyped books if I didn’t like it – no book is for everyone!

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