Spoilers

I know we all get excited when we discuss the books we read and review. But for goodness sakes. We post reviews to help writers, voice our opinions and overall give a critical response to what we just read. But some folks just have no filter and throw all the guts of the story into the review. Now of course....there is no way to police this but...I am sure there will be someone will be facetious and smarmy who may respond to this. But that is fine.

Reviews are for other readers. NOT for writers.
If you want to help the writer, email them through their agent.

And what defines a spoiler? And how long is it considered a spoiler?

Let's take one of the biggest reveals in cinematic history. Do you still need to mark the reveal from Star Wars as a spoiler after 47 years?
Or lets go newer and talk about the Divergent series. They have a big twist but do we need to mark them as spoilers still?

What one person considers a spoiler, others see as just a plot point.

From a writer - I had a professional reviewer reveal a large plot twist in their review. It didn't completely help, but didn't really hurt either. And honestly, I know many MANY writers who refuse to read reviews because there are frequently individuals who don't understand satire, metaphor, similie, or even fantasy versus real life.

ETA: You'll also notice that there have been running discussions on how to deal with spoilers in reviews since 2007:
https://www.librarything.com/search.php?search=spoiler&searchtype=4&sort...

>2 gilroy: Reviews help writers. The whole purpose of the early review program. But the purpose of this topic really has nothing to do with them. I have posted early reviews for new writers and developed quite the dialogue with them and been thanked profusely. Many do appreciate it. Common sense should tell someone that going beyond the plot in a review does a disservice to readers who simply want to get another readers opinion. I have never read Divergent, have no clue what it is about. But if I did develop an interest in it I would not want to know if a particular character died or how the book ends etc.

>2 gilroy: Actually, many, if not most reviewers on LT write reviews for themselves, neither for the author or for other readers. That they can be useful for other readers is a plus point that is not always the main point.

A review should not say, "The butler did it!" on the other hand it can be difficult to write a review that doesn't reveal some plot points and is still useful. People vary a lot in where they would draw the line.

We have the ability to mark parts of our reviews as spoilers, and it is good manners to do this for major reveals. On the other hand, if you are super sensitive, and don't want to read any plot points in advance, you should probably skip the reviews until after reading the book.

Plot points mentioned on the cover or in the descriptions can't be considered spoilers, even if you only learn who the gay guy mentioned in the blurb is after half way through the book.

>4 Joligula: You are fortunate to talk with new writers willing to listen then. It's rare for writers to listen to reviewers. Perhaps modern times are shifting the attitude toward reviewers as they are seen more as a sales tool rather than just a person who read the book and spouted their opinion.

"Common sense." Do you really believe the world has ANY of that any more?

>5 MarthaJeanne: That just amplifies my point. The review is not meant for a writer. I honestly don't read reviews, but see the same argument over and over and over. It always boils down to "What is a spoiler and what isn't" and "How long do you have to wait for it to still be a spoiler."

>7 gilroy: The amazing thing is that Mousetrap has been running since 1952, and to name the guilty person would still be a spoiler. (Don't ask me. I haven't seen it.)

>2 gilroy:
Let's take one of the biggest reveals in cinematic history. Do you still need to mark the reveal from Star Wars as a spoiler after 47 years? Or lets go newer and talk about the Divergent series. They have a big twist but do we need to mark them as spoilers still?

We should remember that every second of our lives, someone is being born. And that someone will be experiencing everything for the very first time. Why should we ruin something for them just because we should have already read/seen/watched/experienced it by now.

Some people mind spoilers, some don't.
Knowing ahead of time that the Titanic sinks because we are familiar with the history already does not make the movie any less enjoyable.

But we should always be considerate of others when we can.

>9 lilisin: But people can't avoid the constant references to those twists. Since in the last 30 years, at least, the reference to the twist in Star Wars has been everywhere.
Divergent has been less so, thankfully, but could come out sooner or later.

Some spoilers have entered the culture, but I personally try to avoid sharing them. Particularly for murder mysteries, where guessing the whodunnit is almost the entire point of reading. But even for other literature all the way back to the classics, I try not to give away things I wouldn't have wanted to know in advance myself. I can only go by my own barometer, but it's the same 'do unto others as you would have done unto you' practice that works in other fields.