Review Spoilers-Where and when to draw the line

The Reading Café has been a labor of love, and when I say labor, it has on occasion felt more like a job than a hobby. But like many hobbies, they seem to gather a life of their own, and 8 months later, The Reading Café has over 2050 members and a secure base with which we promote new and established authors and books. And our members and contributing reviewers are a major part of our success. We do not get paid: we have full time jobs: we have families: we have lives. We write reviews because of our love of books. But there are occasions when reviewers are questioned about a presumed spoiler. Let’s discuss the effect of a spoiler in a review and what truly constitutes a spoiler.

Writing a review takes time unless the review is only a few sentences long. We must first read the book, make notes and then write an overview of the book, all the while, remembering that many authors do not like spoilers. A spoiler is a major faux pas in the review world, and yet sometimes it is difficult NOT to reveal some important aspect of the storyline premise otherwise the review is nothing but a character critique or love fest of the author. The books we review come from various sources: self-purchase, ARCs, giveaways, publishers, publicist, assistants, authors and recommendations from friends.

Sometimes a reviewer is taken to task for a review that supposedly contains a spoiler. The admonisher could be a fellow reviewer, a site member, someone from Amazon or Goodreads or an author. At times, the book blurbs contain more of a premise spoiler than the review, but in the end, someone is not happy. Some reviewers write a quick, no fuss review-yes/no, good/bad, end of story. Others like to give a premise outline with some character description and a wrap-up of their opinion and what’s new. Some reviewers basically re-write the entire storyline-lock, stock and barrel, while others write a glowing overview about the author, and barely scratch the surface of the book. Where do you draw the line? What do you want to see in a review?

Now, here is a conundrum. What if the book/novel has been on the market for close to one year or longer? When should spoilers be allowed? At 6 months? 1 year? Over 1 year? At this point, if you are a fan of the series, you have already read the novel therefore the information in the review is old news. But what if the series or book is new to you? Do you want to know something about the storyline? If the book in question is older (6 months or more) is the reviewer still responsible for placing a-SPOILER ALERT-READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION?

On occasion the reviewer will be admonished for a presumed spoiler, when the actual excerpt or the part (spoiler) in question is taken directly from the book blurb or website.


I am not talking about telling the entire tale of twists, secrets, villains and death, but perhaps a path not usually travelled that may reveal a little too much of the story.

We want to know: Where do you think the line should be drawn as it pertains to reviews and spoilers? 6months? 1 year or longer? And how much information should the review contain? Many back cover blurbs or website promotions basically present themselves as a miniature version of the book premise, therefore all that is required of a reviewer is whether the storyline is good, bad or indifferent. When do you think a review has revealed too much of the story? What do you consider a spoiler? If you are an author, what do you want to see in a review?

Sandy