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Tried reading a thriller backwards during book club and it blew up
Our group picked 'Gone Girl' for last month and I suggested we read it from the final chapter to the start just to see what would happen. Half the members loved the fresh angle, but three people walked out saying it ruined the twist for them. Has anyone else done a backwards read and dealt with the drama?
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the_max1mo ago
Man that's actually kind of a wild experiment. I'm surprised more people didn't bail honestly since half the point of a thriller is letting the tension build the normal way. But if you're gonna do it you gotta warn people first so nobody feels blindsided.
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nguyen.angela1mo ago
My buddy tried this with "The Girl on the Train" and his book club actually had a full on screaming match about it. Two people didn't speak for like a month afterward because one guy kept spoiling the reveals out of order on purpose.
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carter.joseph1mo ago
Totally agree with you... we did a backwards read of 'Shutter Island' once and it was a mess. Some people loved seeing how the clues were planted, but others were legit mad about missing the slow burn. You really gotta set ground rules before anyone opens the book.
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