This is just my view, and it is undoubtedly a contentious issue. You are more than welcome to disagree entirely.
I'm slowly starting to feel disgruntled at trying to find new books I'd enjoy. I read most genres, with my favorite being fantasy/sci-fi and thrillers. I love going into a bookstore and getting recommendations from the staff there, and oftentimes they are good. But I've increasingly experienced not loving the books I've bought. The problem is, in my experience, the marketing of romance books. Contemporary romance is one of the only genres I don't find any personal enjoyment in, and therefore try to steer away from. I'll pull on my most recent experience to highlight the problem, but know this has happened several times.
Kaliane Bradley – The Ministry of Time
I recently picked up this book, as I saw it was voted best sci-fi book of 2024 in the Goodreads Choice Awards. I've also seen it several times in the sci-fi section of my local bookstore. I thought I'd give it a shot, seeing as it seems to be widely liked.
Safe to say – I found it very much not to my personal liking. It's basically a romance book with sci-fi elements. When looking at reviews online, those who shared a dislike for the book, for the same reasons as my own, they were often met with the comment, "you should've done more research before picking it up". I've thought about this a whole lot. I don't use the internet in regard to figuring out my next book purchase a whole lot (which I'll be changing now). Why is it my job, as someone who loves sci-fi, to figure out if it's a romance novel before picking it up? It doesn't appear in the romance section of any bookstores I've been to. Why isn't it the romance reader's job to figure out if it contains sci-fi elements before picking it up? Why does it feel like this responsibility to do research beforehand is only thrust upon the non-romance reader, and not the non-sci-fi reader? Especially considering this isn't a sci-fi book that contains romance, but a romance book that contains sci-fi. It feels like there is a slight double-morality when it comes to doing your due diligence before picking up a book.
I just want to mention that my edition of the book doesn't have a blurb on the backcover, and only contains praise/reviews from several websites calling it a great debut, with two reviews out of ten mentioning romance. The first 10 pages of this book, which is all i surveyed before buying, also contain no romance.
by Rude-Acanthisitta287