Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books. This week’s topic is ‘The Hype Train’!

Every year there are some books that end up getting so hyped, it’s really hard not to get sucked in. I try not to be swayed too much by what’s getting hyped, and focus on what I think I’ll enjoy reading. But with social media and blogging, it’s hard to avoid noticing what’s getting a lot of attention.

I don’t buy books because there’s a lot of hype around them (most of the time…). If there’s a book that sounds like its right up my street and it’s been hyped a lot, I am quite likely to pick it up. The problem with these books is that sometimes the books live up to the hype and sometimes they don’t. If everyone is gushing about a book, sometimes I end up liking it less than I might have done if they hadn’t been because I had such high expectations. It might have been really good book, but I was expecting the most amazing book ever written because it had been hyped so much. It’s really hard for books to live up to their hype. 

The other issue is that everyone has different tastes. Not everyone is going to love the same book. So while loads of people might love it, not everyone will. But I do feel there’s a bit of pressure to like a book that’s been hyped, because everyone else seems to love it, you feel like you must be missing something if you don’t.

A hyped book I read recently was A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. The fact it was hyped actually put me off this book for a long time because I really wasn’t sure if it would be for me. But I’m really glad I did read it because I ended up loving it. Another one getting a lot of attention is Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin which I also really liked.

When picking up a hyped book, I try really hard not to think of it as a hyped book. I try to push aside all of that and just go into it like any non-hyped book. Because it’s really easy to be disappointed by books that have been given so much praise.

Do you get sucked along with the hype train? What hyped books did you like or dislike? Let me know what you think in the comments!