Let’s Talk Bookish – Spoilers

Published on by Rukky @ Eternity Books

Good morning! Welcome back to another Let’s Talk Bookish post! Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by me, where we discuss chosen topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.

Today’s topic is: Is there a time limit on spoilers? (suggested by Megan @ Megabunny Reads)

Many thanks to Megan for suggesting this topic! In a nutshell, I don’t think that there is a time limit on spoilers.

A spoiler is something which ruins a major (or minor) twist before the person has gotten to that part. Basically, if I told you the ending of a book, that’s a spoiler, because you didn’t know that, and it ruins the suspense if you were to read the book.

Should there be a time limit on them? No, I don’t think so.

There are many books out there in the world, and people are still reading them. Sure, it’s been a few hundred years since they were published, but people still read and enjoy them. That experience of not knowing what will happen in a book shouldn’t be ruined for them, no matter how long ago the book was published.

I haven’t read any Harry Potter books the shock! the horror!! I honestly don’t really plan on ever reading them so I, personally, don’t mind reading spoilers. However, if I did want to read it, I’d be super annoyed that wherever there was something related to the HP books, people were leaving unmarked spoilers everywhere.

You enjoyed reading the book. And I’m sure you enjoyed it more because you didn’t know how it ended/or because you weren’t expecting some of the twists. It doesn’t matter how old or popular the book is, I don’t think it’s fair for other readers to stop marking spoilers, just because it’s been a while since it was published.

There’s always going to be someone who hasn’t read that book, be it now or in another 100 years, and so there shouldn’t be a time limit on spoilers because that reader should be able to enjoy the book, as much as everyone else has.

And this should apply to movies, TV shows, etc… as well.

This Week’s Participants:

Megan @ Megabunny Reads | Heran @ Be Frisky | Jane @ Blogger Books | Dani @ Literary Lion | Vicki @ Diverse Fantasy Reads

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That’s it for this Friday! How are you doing? Are you excited for the break, if you’re having one? What do you think about spoilers? Should there be a time limit? Have you had a book that you were looking forward to spoiled by an unmarked spoiler? Chat with me in the comments below!

26 thoughts on “Let’s Talk Bookish – Spoilers”

  1. I definitely agree with you that there shouldn’t be a time limit on spoilers as there are always going to be new people wanting to read books. There’s so much out all of the time that it’s impossible to keep up with it all too and everybody deserves the chance to pick up a book for the first time and be surprised by the plot twists it contains. I also agree that the same thing applies to TV & movies as well. Another wonderful post (:

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  4. this discussion was so well-written, and I totally agree with you! even if a book is super popular and has been out for years, I really don’t think it’s fair to spoil it. i mean, to this day, some people still haven’t read Harry Potter, and it would be so unfair to rob them of their reading experience.

    i do think that the amount of spoilers we censor can vary though! for me, revealing even a minor spoiler about a new release, especially one that isn’t even out yet, is not fair game. However, if we’re talking about books that are super popular and have already been out for a long time, like Harry Potter, I think that revealing minor spoilers about them is inevitable. I don’t think we need to use the same amount of caution with them, because they’ve already been out for so long. it’s not fair to make people censor every little thing they say about a classic when the vast majority of people HAVE already read it. for me, the only thing that people who haven’t read the book yet can expect is no major spoilers.

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    1. You are the sweetest Caitlin, thank you 💚💚💚

      Excellent point! I agree with that completely! Minor spoilers for books that have been out for several decades is fine, but anything major isn’t. If a major character dies, I DON’T want to know that before I read the book, but if it’s something minor, idk, maybe a smaller twist, then I can live with that. And if it’s a really old book, then feel free to talk about them openly, but maybe put a warning at the top saying “Spoiler Below” or something like that for those who do want to read them. I think that the most fun part of reading is not knowing what will happen at the end. Even if it’s not a mystery book. So it’s just polite/nice to include warnings if you’re going to spoil anything major (or the whole book).

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  5. think some books have become so ingrained in our culture that it would be sort of ridiculous to expect us to always mark spoilers. I feel like books like Harry Potter it’s okay to talk about “spoilers” or things that happen towards the later books because as this point they’re so well known and honestly they came out 20+ years ago…

    For example, you mentioned you think this should apply to movies, shows, etc, but especially with meme culture lmao everyone was quoting and referencing “mr stark I don’t feel so good” and the endings of infinity war and endgame months after they released because they were huge pop culture moments, and I think it’s a bit unfair to expect people to always double check spoiler tags before making these references and always be tiptoeing around cautiously instead of just talking freely.

    However, this is just in reference to casually talking, using social media, or mentioning these things in tags, discussions, etc. When writing reviews, I think spoilers should always be marked because people may use reviews to decide if they want to read the book or not!!

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    1. I agree, there are so many books that are now just classics-pretty much everybody has read them, everybody talks about them, if you don’t know them you’ve probably been living under a rock etc. And it’s fine to talk about them freely. I just think at the very least, mention that there might be spoilers for those who haven’t read it? You don’t have to put it in spoiler tags and all that, but a simple “Spoilers Below” at the top of the post/comment/whatever is at least a fair warning for those who maybe still want to read it.

      It’s also the reader’s duty to steer clear of everything related to that book if they know they want to read it, and it’s super popular. When TQoN came out and everyone started reviewing it, I stayed clear, even if they were spoiler-free, because I didn’t want even a seed planted in my mind about anything lol. But you know, for those accidental moments where you come across a spoiler, it’d be nice if there was some sort of warning.

      I think that movies and shows and all that, pretty much have their own unwritten rules. They are a lot more widespread, and there are millions of people who’ve already watched it, so yeah, it is kind of ridiculous for them to be putting spoiler tags everywhere. Tbh, I haven’t watched them either (I know 😂😂) but I know that if I search them now, I’ll probably just be reading a lot of spoilers since they are so popular and widespread. Everybody knows that, and if they get spoiled, that’s their own fault.

      Anyway, that’s what I think, but I totally understand and partly agree with your argument too 🙂

      Happy reading Kay 💖

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  6. Eeek I haven’t read Harry Potter and I don’t plan on reading it either 😬🙈

    Yes I totally agree. I tend to pick up old and random books and when I’m going through reviews, I really appreciate people who mark spoilers 🙌

    However, I see both points of view 💁‍♀️

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  8. I think your viewpoint is interesting but this is something we definitely don’t agree on. After a certain point in time I think people should be allowed to talk about books/series/movies etc. they love without marking everything as a spoiler because there are things you simply CAN’T talk about without spoilers. Do people talking about the end of Romeo & Juliet need to mark spoilers? Is the big reveal from the original Star Wars trilogy doomed to forever be behind a spoiler tag?

    I understand the value of marking spoilers when you’re just talked about the spoiler, but even some Harry Potter or Star Wars merch is a spoiler at this point. I think if you want to go into something entirely blind you HAVE to read it before it becomes so big that everyone is chatting. I definitely wouldn’t spoil you intentionally knowing that you haven’t read the HP books yet, but I think it’s a huge request to expect people to not mention any big event without spoiler tags when the books came out a decade ago.

    My LTB: http://literarylion.ca/is-there-a-time-limit-on-spoilers-lets-talk-bookish/

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    1. It’s great to disagree! It makes discussions more interesting 🙂

      Well in that case, maybe they could just say at the top “Spoilers below”? Or something like that? I mean, if it’s a place where everyone knows that you’ll find spoilers, then sure, they don’t need to warn anybody because it’s widely known that there are spoilers on that site or wherever.

      Yeah, I guess it is a huge request. But you can’t blame someone who wasn’t born when the book originally came out for not reading the book then, and they should still be able to read it and love it as much as everyone else did. And people probably loved it because they didn’t know what would happen.

      Minor spoilers I guess, are fair game for books that are that old. But I think it would be nice if major spoilers were marked anyway.

      Loved hearing your side of the argument Dani 💚

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      1. Yup! I think it’s a pretty complicated issue because I can understand not wanting to be spoiled, especially for something that you really want to read blind. I would have been devastated if I hadn’t been able to read Harry Potter without knowing the twists.

        I suppose part of my view is also that I know people won’t keep posting spoiler warnings years on. People spoil huge twists for series like Harry Potter and Star Wars casually and I can agree it would be nice if they wouldn’t, but I just don’t see it changing.

        Your opinion was really interesting though and I was glad to read it!

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  9. This is an interesting discussion and I can kinda see both sides of it. I agree that spoilers are unfair and that it is courteous to tag spoilers, but I can also see why people don’t once the material has been out a long time. Personally, I wouldn’t even think to tag Harry Potter spoilers because the series is so old now.

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    1. Yeah, I understand why some people don’t too, but I think that even if it’s old, people may still want to read it, and still want to experience not knowing what will happen. You don’t always have to hide spoilers, but just mentioning that there may be some, or something like, that would be really helpful. That’s how I see it anyway 🙂

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  10. Great post! I totally agree with you! I mean, I bet almost everyone who read Harry Potter as a child didn’t know the ending (me included) and that was the major reason I loved it! So I totally get you – spoilers are just something that ruin the books, no matter when they were written… Happy reading!

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  13. I agree with you on this one. Spoilers should never be allowed, no matter how long it’s been since a book was published. And, by the way, I’ve never read any Harry Potter books, but I may some day.

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