Let’s Talk Bookish – Do Tropes Count as Spoiilers?

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March 22: Do Tropes Count As Spoilers?

Prompts: A lot of the time, books will be promoted on social media books with their tropes. For example, a book might be advertised as being enemies to lovers, having found family, or starring a ‘chosen one’. Can those tropes be spoilers, giving away parts of the plot? What do you think about marketing books based on tropes?

Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH, everyone! Today’s topic is about common tropes, and whether they are basically spoilers. This is an interesting topic that I hadn’t thought about specifically in this perspective. I do consider the tropes of a book a lot as advertised before choosing to read it, but do you all ever see it as a spoiler?

In order to get people interested in a book, it must be promoted and advertised by their tropes. It could one or a combination of the many many romantic tropes, or it could be classic tale retold, or a combination of classic tales retold. Even on the back cover, a lot of other writers will often describe books…using other books! Are these spoilers in some way?

I personally don’t mind spoilers too much, as I have read a lot of synopses over the years, and at some point it’s hard to keep them all apart. When I start reading a book, and especially if the author can really bring me into the text, honestly most of the time I am not thinking about the synopsis unless someone asks me in the middle of the book what I predict will happen. Sure, I do think about what is coming up next in the book while reading, but I don’t often sit there and just ponder it—I just go ahead and read quicker!

I think tropes could be spoilers for sure. If you really follow a trope, especially something like enemies to lovers, is just really easy to see coming. That being said, I think most people who like and want to read that trope will be choosing exactly that book to read. In that case, it may be a spoiler, but it’s also exactly what the reader wants. I’m not sure if readers necessarily want to be surprised by what trope the author ends up following.

Even if the main trope is given away though, sometimes there are surprising tropes for side characters. This can also provide interest and intrigue, even when the main trope is given away through the synopsis. Personally, the romantic tropes are secondary for me, and I often anticipate more of the plot itself, and whether it’s a hero’s journey, or someone overcoming their struggles, where there is a lot more flexibility in the trope.

I personally find that tropes can be really good in mysteries and thrillers. We always expect that the butler did it, or that the very very innocent person is most likely implicated. There are just so many classic expectations that the author can play with in so many ways. Good authors will use these tropes and expectations as part of the writing, and use it to weave suspense, and essentially adds “foreshadowing” without really having to add it explicitly. I think the same thing also works with regular tropes in other genres, and often this subtle leading of the reader is what I find really successful and intriguing in books.

What about you all? Are tropes spoilers? Or is it an opportunity to surprise you? Or maybe you don’t care about spoilers at all? Let me know in the comments below!