—Why every “gripping, twisty, unputdownable” thriller sounds the same
Let’s talk about a quiet crime happening across Kindle shelves. No, not the murders inside your favourite psychological thrillers. I mean the titles themselves—bloated, desperate, and gasping for attention.
This Summer’s Most Gripping, Twisty, Unputdownable Read!
The Heartbreaking, Uplifting, Absolutely Stunning Book of the Year!
So emotional you’ll sob into your cat!
What happened to dignity?
We used to title books like Beloved, The Road, High Fidelity, or The Secret History. Now it’s like publishers are terrified you won’t know how to feel unless they spell it out in all caps with adjectives lined up like a conga line of clickbait.
Here’s a thought: if your book is actually gripping, readers will say so.
If it’s twisty, the plot will reveal that.
If it’s unputdownable, people will not put it down.
You don’t need to wedge it into the title like a toddler cramming peas into a USB port.
And no, this isn’t a swipe at authors struggling to be seen—we’re all battling the algorithm gods. But it’s worth asking: do we really want every book to sound like a Tesco Value version of a Netflix true crime series?
Because here’s what happens:
- Every book title starts sounding the same.
- Readers stop trusting the words.
- And the genuine gems? Lost in the landfill of “You Won’t Believe What Happens Next!”
So if you’re writing a book—or marketing one—maybe leave some mystery.
Let the title breathe. Let it whisper instead of scream.
Trust the story to speak louder than the hype.
And please… let’s stop acting like “twisty” is a literary genre.