Buying books: words or phrases that can turn a 'yes' into a 'no'?

[Dr. Drib]

So good "you can't put it down."

So scary "you have to have the lights on."

"Guaranteed to scare you."

"Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel."

I'll decide if I want to put it down, and I'll decide to turn the lights on or off, and I'll decide if something is scary to me, and I'll decide what the best novel is - FOR ME. And then I'll read it. And if it's boring, I'll toss it out the window, but only after I've de-registered my ebook reader.

"I'm just saying."

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by meeera

Any SF with a blurb/reviews suggesting that it's ammosexual guff.

Books where all the female characters are described as breasting boobily into the room.

Anything where the very first page contains a dozen or more unpronounceable invented proper nouns.

Anything proclaiming itself to be the Great American Novel.

Plotless Literary fiction where nothing happens except a person examining their terrible life (which is not terrible) and their failed relationships (which only failed because of their own actions).

What if it's titled "The Great American Novel"? [Philip Roth]

[Ekaros]

Bestseller

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

'Saga' usually tells me the person is taking it too seriously.

I realized just now that I'm reading/re-reading three series with the word saga in them. Tbh I think the word was added to those series later on, not by the authors; but who knows.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Multi-generational (spanning generations) doesn't work for me.

Then you won't be partaking in the thread asking for such books.

[JSWolf]

I agree that advertising it as some award winning book is a good turn off.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by meeera

Books where all the female characters are described as breasting boobily into the room.

Which books are these? They sound fun.

[barryem]

I guess you guys take descriptions more seriously than I do. I look to them as a source of information to help me decide if a book interests me but I know most descriptions are hype and not to be treated as honest descriptions. I'm bothered by certain kinds of blatant dishonesty such as "perfect for readers of ___", as I said, but even then I might get past that and find that the book interests me.

I'm more influenced by what I learn about the book than I am by it's description. If I don't find anything useful in the description I might stop reading it and look at reviews or other information sources. But I don't worry too much about it. There are a LOT more good books than I'll be able to read in a lifetime so missing a few isn't a problem as long as I find enough, and I do.

Barry

[rkomar]

I'll read the description to see if the story is about something I might be interested in, but I reserve judgement until I open up the book at a random page and read some dialogue. Nothing in the description is going to overturn any strong impression I get from that.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Books under 200 pages (that goes for individual books) will not be bought by me.

Originally Posted by rkomar

Why not? That used to be the norm 50 years ago. Or are you only referring to new books under 200 pages?

On the flip side, books that have telegraphed their ending by page 60, but go on for another 600 pages with unnecessary and artificial plot complications so the book can be sold as a full-fledged novel and often the beginning of an "epic" series. Even worse, a series that should be over in one or two books that goes on for five to seven (again with artificial and contrived plot complications). And yet I end up reading all seven books if I start one of these.

[haertig]

If I see the word "serial" I will run away as fast as I can. Similar reaction if it says "part 1" or anything to that effect. I don't buy books that the author can't bother to finish. There are too many good books out there to bother with detritus like that.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by issybird

I know everyone’s got their no-go areas, goodness knows I have tons, but we go down that road at intervals and I like the original premise of this thread. What are the specific words or phrases that tip you off to a book’s true nature? I think the key words are both useful and revealing.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by barryem

I guess you guys take descriptions more seriously than I do. I look to them as a source of information to help me decide if a book interests me but I know most descriptions are hype and not to be treated as honest descriptions.

I'm more influenced by what I learn about the book than I am by it's description. If I don't find anything useful in the description I might stop reading it and look at reviews or other information sources. But I don't worry too much about it.

I often discover new books/authors via links from BookBub emails, links from other book pages or things like that. So when I see something new that may be from a small press or self published, a description is often what I have to go by.

Reviews are nice, but then I also often suspect they are friends of the author or people with low standards. Books that look like absolute garbage to me get rave reviews.

Don't get me wrong. Reviews aren't worthless. But if a book has too many of my pet peeves, it likely isn't for me.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Plucky.

And those plucky heroes with snarky attitudes? Forget it!

[MarjaE]

"Paranormal," "Thriller," "Technothriller."

I mostly read history, science fiction, speculative fiction, sometimes historical fiction, sometimes make exceptions for fantasy and superhero when people specifically recommend the book.

With ancient history, I try to check population estimates. This can give a clue whether the author tries to address these issues, throws out impressive-sounding but unlikely numbers, or ignores these issues.

[issybird]

I pulled up a review of a highly rated Goodreads book that sounded positively dire to me, and here are some of the trigger words and phrases in the blurb:

• Soul
• Noble student
• Profound spiritual insight
• Finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world
• Somber backdrop
• Unusual story
• Soulmate

There are more, but you catch the drift. Some of these would make the all-time list, notably “soulmate” and “spiritual insight,” but others, less specific, still add up to not being able to hit the back button fast enough. And mostly because the author or whoever was responsible for this drivel tips her hand. I don’t mind a soulmate or spiritual insight in theory, but if you’ve got to label it, you’ve got serious problems. You clearly don’t trust your narrative to do the job.