That $45 book from a BookTok recommendation that was basically a pamphlet

I fell for a BookTok hype last month about this 'life changing' novel everyone was raving about. Paid $45 for a hardcover that turned out to be 150 pages with huge font and margins. The story itself was fine but it felt like a short story stretched into a book. Learned my lesson to check page counts before buying. Anybody else get burned by overhyped book club picks that cost too much for what you get?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthonymurray1mo ago

Last year I got burned on a $38 cookbook that was trending on BookTok and it ended up having like 60 recipes max with huge photos taking up half each page lol. What worked for me was I started checking the actual page count and dimensions on Amazon before buying anything expensive now. Also I look for reviews that mention how long it took to read or if people felt it was too short. I got sick of paying premium prices for what felt like a pamphlet with a fancy cover. Now I just wait a few weeks after the hype dies down and see if people are still talking about it before I pull the trigger. Saved me a ton of money that way.

julia_miller241mo ago

Ugh, that hurts so much. I grabbed a BookTok recommended historical fiction last spring that was like 200 pages with 14 point font and it cost me almost $40. The story was okay but it felt like a really long short story and I finished it in one sitting. Now I always flip to the copyright page on any hyped book to check the actual page count and font size before I buy.