Discussion: Why Hyping Books Because of Content Can Be a Good Thing

The lovely and wonderful Cait of Paper Fury started off the year with a great discussion, asking Is Book Hype Trully All That Bad? It's a really great post full of Cait's usual humour, but it also makes some really great points, especially about how everyone is different and we should read what we want, but not to necessarily ignore the hype. However, there was one point Cait made that I would like to look at in more detail. In her post, Cait makes a list of pros and cons for hyped books, and one the cons is:

"It’s NOT being hyped because it’s a “good book”…it’s being hyped because it fills a hole in the book world. I think this is monstrously unfair. And I’ve definitely seen it happen! Oh this book features a blind, asexual, ethnic protagonist? HYPE IT. IT MUST BE GOOD. Um, excuse me but: not necessarily. It bugs me when a book gets hyped because of content, not good storytelling!"
(All emphasis in the quote is Cait's, not mine.)

Now, as Cait pointed out, not all books are going to be liked by everyone. So just because a book is hyped doesn't mean you'll like it. But I do think this kind of hype is important.

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Review: What We Left Behind by Robin Talley

What We Left Behind by Robin Talley (proof) - From the critically acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves comes an emotional, empowering story of what happens when love isn't enough to conquer all.

Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They're deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college—Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU—they're sure they'll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, their relationship will surely thrive.

The reality of being apart, however, is a lot different than they expected. As Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, falls in with a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship.

While Toni worries that Gretchen, who is not trans, just won't understand what is going on, Gretchen begins to wonder where she fits in Toni's life. As distance and Toni's shifting gender identity begins to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide—have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together? From Goodreads.

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