Saturday 27 September 2014

Bookish Musings - Searching Out Spoilers

Bookish Musings is a feature here at Beautiful Bookish Butterflies that allows one of us to share our thoughts and opinions, talk and discuss things happening in the book and blogging community or share a personal book related issue we have. Today, Amanda is talking about the dreded bane of readers lives.. spoilers. You may need preparing, you may need to gather yourself, because this post and it's content may shock even the most indelicate of readers.


I think in comparison to many other readers in the blogging community, I'm a little bit abnormal. If having patience in waiting for sequels or treating my connection to books as a relationship wasn't weird enough, I actually quite like knowing what happens in books before I read them, and I don't mean getting a good look at the premise or a look into the characters, I mean I enjoy looking up information about plot devices, character developments, plot twists and even spoilers.

Just take a moment to let that sink in. I like looking for and reading spoilers. It's shocking, almost worthy of being kicked out of the community, I know, but personally, spoilers don't bother me much. In fact, what even equates to being a spoiler? A relationship dynamic being changed, is that really something worthy of keeping quiet, especially if it plays an unimportant part of the plot? A piece of a character's past, is that really a spoiler or is a reveal of information that people might appreciate knowing while reading the review? The whole idea surrounding spoilers confuses me to no end, but personally, I like knowing specific pieces of information in specific series before I continue them, and in order to actually go into detail about why I continue to indulge these little weird quirks, I'm going to need to include what could be interpreted as 'spoilers' for Skulduggery Pleasant, Vampire Academy, Throne of Glass and Clockwork Princess, so if you haven't read these books and want to avoid some facts, then this post might not be for you, if not, take a seat, get yourself some popcorn and prepare.



I will first start with Vampire Academy. I started the series because it was heavily recommended to me by Stacie from Books Galore and in doing so, I fell instantly in love with the world, the characters and found some scenes heartbreaking. When I told Stacie about those 'heartbreaking scenes' she proceeded to tell me that the ending of Shadow Kiss would tear me apart. Did I therefore I decide that stewing for the weeks between reading Vampire Academy and Shadow Kiss in fear of what was coming would be my course of action? No, of course not. I researched the series, found the cliff-hanging, heartbreaking moment was in fact Dimitri going from mysterious, alluring and a little off-kilter to 'I want to eat your soul, lol.' Has this ruined the series for me? No. In fact, it actually made me more excited to continue the series because I knew what was coming. It's almost my own re-enactment of Romeo and Juliet - I know things are going to end badly, but I want to see the story play out in front of me, I want to get attached to these characters and relate to the feelings they have, and I want maximum heart-break when the scene does come along and ruin my feels. Did searching out those spoilers affect my experience, yes, a little, but overall, searching them didn't change how I probably would have felt had I not.

Skulduggery Pleasant next. So there's this person, Darquese, she's going to come along and ruin everybody's wonderful plans for the world because she wants to burn the thing to dust, including herself. She's a little weird, sometimes psychotic, but we can deal with that. Book #3 of #9, the big ending reveal. Valkyrie, (also Stephanie, who needs that many names really?) has just woken up, she goes to her dream-catcher and recalls what it was she was just dreaming of. The evil sorceress Darquese was in her dream and she looked like Valkyrie - no, she was Valkyrie - DUN DUN DUH. No. See, because of my little weird habit of researching characters and plot devices before I'd read the book, I already knew this fact. You could say it was one of the biggest reveals in the entire series. Did it affect my enjoyment of that installment at all? Actually, yes, but not because I knew what was coming, more because I wasn't impressed by how it was revealed.

Moving onto Throne of Glass. I had read Throne of Glass and I had my own theories on the series, on Celaena, on Chaol and on most everything about the series so far. Did I want to wait and see whether those theories were right? Did I heck as like, it's a 6 book series, I wanted to know as soon as possible, (it's a pride thing, if you're right, you want to know asap. It's also a British thing..) so I found the Throne of Glass Wiki page, and I searched my way through Celaena's character profile and found the answers I needed. Yes, I was right about her heritage, (lets be honest here guys, it was near enough spelt out to you in Book #1, but still-) I was right about her having a different name and I was right about her inherited talents, but there were still questions that I had left unanswered and this is where I get frustrated with my habit. When I have theories or when I know facts, I kind of want all the answers right there and then, and I mean, all of them. I want to know exactly where a big series like Throne of Glass is headed, I want to know whether my certainty at Celaena being with Chaol in the end, despite all the obstacles that are bound to appear along the way, I want to know what badass magic skills she secretly has, I want answers, yet I don't always get them when I go searching, which sucks.

Clockwork Princess next, the big baddy of the list. Clockwork Angel is the book that really got me back into reading and introduced me to a whole world of young adult books and authors and I marathoned Clockwork Prince straight afterwards, however, this was over 2 years ago and even though I've owned Clockwork Princess since last Christmas, I still haven't finished the series. Why? Because I know how it ends - I found out via the internet, and this time, through no fault of my own. I know Tessa chooses Will and when he eventually dies (yano, since she canny die) she then chooses to travel with Jem, (which to me is terribly convenient and really a cheats option out of a situation you created). Of course, this means that they defeat the bad person they're fighting against, (I've forgotten his name, it's been so long) and of course, many of the characters from that series decided to have broads who then had broads who then had broads who then had the characters from The Mortal Instruments series. (which is essentially a walking spoiler in itself!) There literally feels like there's no point to reading Clockwork Princess anymore now that I know how it ends and this is a perfect example of why I choose what I want to know carefully. I didn't want to know the ending to this series, one, because it was THE END, seriously, who spoils the END OF A SERIES?! - two, because the series meant a lot to me and I was truly invested in that love triangle, and three, because for some unknown reason, I just didn't want to know yet. You may have though that my weird indulging in spoilers was my way of saying I enjoy ruining things for people, but I don't. I've been ruined, ruined for one my my precious series on my shelves, so I know it feels, which is why I avoid spilling any secrets without a fair amount of warning.

Why do I enjoy searching for information that could be portrayed as being a spoiler? Sometimes I want to be prepared, sometimes I want to be proven right or wrong, sometimes I just want more background on the series, the world or the items and characters involved in the story and sometimes, I just want to know because I won't ever finish the series. I think people get to bothered by spoilers sometimes. I have a super memory, (yes, I'm being over-confident, deal with it) and that means that the likeliness of me forgetting something vital to a book is slim, but many people have a memory worse than mine, so reading about that one guy being a tool and ruining your ship, or finding out that one character dies that you really didn't give a toss about them anyway, it doesn't have to change everything so dramatically. Yes, people are more bothered by them than others. I know bloggers who systematically power their way through Twitter and other blogs, avoiding spoilers and information like it will burn them alive, but I know other bloggers who genuinely lap up information and like to be more in the know about certain plot points and I think, in truth, I'm on the latter side of the community. I appreciate that you can spoil something for someone very easily, that's why I go to the effort of making people aware that they're coming, why I do my utmost best to avoid giving away too much in reviews, but I love being showered with facts and information about subjects I love, and most of all, books I love. It's a strange little habit, it's not going to be understood by everyone in the slightest, but it's what I do, and I love it.

How do you feel about spoilers or my weird habit? Do you like going in blind, or do you enjoy knowing a bit about it beforehand? Let me know yours thoughts down below and don't be afraid to hold back, I'm really interested.

11 comments:

  1. I'm kind of weird. Sometimes I like to know what I'm heading into so I will type in a question like "Does The Last Song have a happy ending" (because I distrust Nicholas Sparks) and all I'm looking for is "yes". Other times, I despise it, please don't tell me who died and who ended up with who. Shh.

    -Mari

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    1. I never divulge secrets unless people ask or without warning, you're safe there ;)

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  2. OHOHOHO I LOVE SPOILERS BUT only when I seek them out on my own accord. I don't particularly like having a spoiler shoved down my throat. What a double standard, right? You're not alone, girl! I've sought out some plot defining moments. To be honest, I even tried to search up who was endgame in the Throne of Glass series. That search yielded no results LOL

    Jess @ My Reading Dress

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    1. Oh no, me neither, it's horrible when that happens! We all seem to be after ToG answers, I can understand that!

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  3. I almost see everything as a spoiler and I try to avoid them at all costs. I've only once looked up a spoiler, but that was an exception. I actually spoiled myself about what happened after Shadow Kiss, because I didn't want to continue the series after that cliffhanger ending.
    I think I liked being surprised in books and having the story develop in front of my eyes and see what happens, when I re-read a book though I don't mind knowing how it ends and what will happen. In fact some books I've been able to enjoy more when re-reading, but still I rather read the book first then search for spoilers firts and then read the book. If I don't plan on finishing the series the I don't mind spoilers as much.

    I do find it important to be clear when your review has spoilers in it, the people who want to knbow can read it and those who don't can avoid it. It's just nice to make that clear. I don't like accidently reading a spoiler because someone didn't warn me. I think it's good that you let people know when to expect spoilers!

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    1. I kind of read up on the whole series beforehand and while I've forgotten pieces, it hasn't hindered me that much, it's helped in please because I know things now, so that's not all that bad. I also state when reviews have spoilers in and I think that's really important, like with this post, I warned, so I agree, warn people people! :)

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  4. Once, an author was at my local library the week the final book in her series came out. I'd just gotten back from being overseas for two years. I'd just finished reading my copy of the first book (Which I'd bought right before I'd gone abroad), and hadn't had time to read the rest of the series yet. A child in the audience asked why a particular character was killed, and the whole audience groaned. The author didn't have an immediate response, either. In the first book, at least, this character is secondary; I don't know if that changes by the final book or not because, years later, I still remember this moment and I still can't bring myself to read the rest of the books, even though I want to!

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    1. Oh no, that's a terrible thing, there should be rules that you can't ask those kind of questions without addressing that some people won't have read that far, oh that's such a shame Bonnie. I'm sorry that happened to you, but I hope one day you get to read the series more again :)

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  5. Oh thank god, and thank you Rachel! I admit, after I was spoiled I did look up the family tree and follow it to The Mortal Instruments and while I will read it eventually, it's just hard when you know what happens really.. thank you! :D

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  6. I hate spoilers, but I guess everyone has their own preferences how they go into the book. For me, knowing as little as possible adds to the excitement. I'm going in for the journey and the mysterious ending, so when I know parts of the story or the big climax at the ending, reading the book feel useless to me. The only time I go look for spoilers is when I DNF a book or series, because I'm still curious how it ends.

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    1. I can see why people dislike them though, there is a level of disappointment if you're not used to searching for them.
      I tend to go looking at spoilers after I've DNF'd too, especially in other people's reviews, to see what I would have thought of it, and sometimes it makes me feel loads better about it knowing that it wouldn't have been worth, I get that :)

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