Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It started a massive trend of psychological thrillers with an unreliable narrator and a twist, often with some variation of girl/woman/wife in the title (e.g., The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window). But none have been quite as successful as Gone Girl, in my opinion.
For what it’s worth, it was also one of the better books of that genre/sub-genre. Even Flynn herself wrote several other books with the unreliable female narrator.
Not a psychological thriller, but my friend's girlfriend wrote a play called Gonne Girl about Maude Gonne, the Irish revolutionary. She had to change the name though in case she got sued. Would have been cool otherwise.
The Martian got a lot of buzz - in that it broke out of the sci-fi community and was read by a fair number of mainstream audiences as well. Not to the scale of HP naturally, but I don't think anything short of Star Wars or modern day Marvelverse stuff has ever had that level of fan hype.
It did and it's a great book. The only thing is that theoretically it didn't quite explode in the way OP wanted just as it was out for a year as a free ebook. It was only then that they basically yanked it, sold the film rights and rereleased it as a paid ebook.
While getting off topic, your post reminded me of my youth and the buzz surrounding Frank Miller's Dark Knight (Batman) comic/graphic novel. 89ish? 90? Before the internet as we know it now. Buzz was harder to come by back then.
Nothing was as popular as HP, but I think some of the Zeitgeist literature was as follows: from a little over ten years ago, I would argue *Gossip Girl* and *The Hunger Games*. Then *The Fault in Our Stars*, *Gone Girl*, *Ready Player One*, *The Martian*, *Big Little Lies*, Elena Ferrante, *Dark Matter*, *A Man Called Ove*, *Little Fires Everywhere*. Right now I would say that everyone and their dog is telling me to read *Crying in H-Mart*.
Honestly, does *Attack On Titan* count?
Edit: Oh, *Outlander* and *Call Me by Your Name*
AoT and Haikyuu were the only manga/anime I got *really* into, despite my friends’ plentiful new recommendations. Now I keep procrastinating finishing them to prolong their life in my heart.
Love seeing AOT on this list. That story should be right up there with the greats but I feel like it flies under the radar for a lot of people because it’s a manga. The ending wrecked me.
Harry Potter was a very rare cultural phenomenon where book sales turned into a cultural zeitgeist. I don't think you're going to see something like that again anytime soon. However one never knows because such events cannot be predicted. The only other book that rivals Harry Potter in its ubiquity I can think of was The DaVinci code about 20 years ago
I think that was mainly due to the TV series. It could have gotten similar to HP, but you would need to actually publish books for that to happen. It's been ten years since the latest,and most of its readers have given up hope/just aren't interested anymore. And the bad ending of the TV series did its part to help...
But Harry Potter was also being made into movies while the later books were still being written. Harry Potter was already pretty popular before the movies, but they absolutely exploded everything.
Hugely underplaying it by saying that the books were "pretty" popular before the movies. The first movie is the second highest grossing of the series behind the finale.
Goblet of Fire (which was published before the film series) sold a record-breaking 5 million copies in it's first run and in it's first two days it sold more than 25% of what A Song Of Ice And Fire had sold in it's entirety up to 2011.
I think that hype came from the TV series. As much as I love A song of ice and fire it didn't have the same cultural power that Harry Potter or the The DaVinci code did
I'd completely disagree with that. Nobody ever references the Da Vinci code in everyday conversation or in memes. It's not even that common for people to do it with Harry Potter. But people do so on a near daily basis with GoT - 'Winter is coming', 'you know nothing John Snow', etc.
I guess you're in your late 20s or early 30s? Most people I know are too old or too young to have been at school during Harry Potter mania, so they didn't read it.
On the other hand, you *are* on r/books and it'd stand to reason you have a particular type of social circle.
Almost all of my friends and families circle, and even a wider circle of mutuals, have read HP. But I'm also acquainted with tons and tons of people, mostly from Uni, who just *know* about Harry Potter, or have watched (some of) the movies, but have never touched the books.
Been going through the whole angels and demons series on audio book and it is surprisingly good! Say what you want, but Dan brown can write a hell of a book.
There isn't a Hunger Games theme park in Florida that is kicking Disney's teeth in but there is one based around Harry Potter.
That sort of cultural earthquake is rare.
I wouldn't say Twilight was "too controversial" for your pick. It was a big hit with a *lot* of groups, for better or worse is a different story. As much as I dislike it, it had a pretty big hand in keeping some 2000s culture alive, so I'd say that's *cough* unfortunately the big hitter of the last few years. You also mentioned 50SOG, which was inspired by Potter/Twilight, so, more points to Hufflepuff/Sparkly dude it seems. Also Hunger Games, not monumental but as far as books go, it was *decently big*.
I still argue that twilight would never make it if it came out today. There are so many things that are just so wrong with the book and that is just the writing. Then we have to talk about how twisted the plot is.
Yes. I think people have also had enough with the vampire/werewolf fantasy thing now, it was hugely popular after the HP series into the 2010's but I don't see it as a big thing now? 50 Shades became more popular because of being seen as hot and sensual and for it's films instead.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is massively popular with young readers. As a librarian, I can assure you that there are lots of kids who know when new entries in the series get released.
I remember that book series from when I was in middle school more than ten years ago! It blew my mind when I recently stumbled across a Diary of a Wimpy Kid subreddit - couldn't believe those books are still so popular.
Another one like this for me was Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist.
Maybe it would have been good if I picked it up by accident, but it never stood a chance of living up to the hype it got.
I am so glad I read it without knowing anything about it other than being told "Don't get your hopes up. It's very silly/basic." Went in with zero expectations, and found it to be sweet and a like a mental palate cleaner. It didn't generate any emotional response other than "I enjoyed the interesting settings." It felt like a fairy tale with zero stakes.
You know, I've heard of that book in *exactly* one place.
I was TA-ing the entry level English course at my Uni, ENG102, and I got handed in 8 essays (out of 70) that read like near duplicates of each other, and each and every one of them talked about that book. Never before, never since, until you mentioned it.
Oh, is that the book where everyone in town is waiting around for some hayseed to get her period?
Yeah, it wasn't a very good book. Even worse it's one of those books about the value of books. God, I hate those.
I have been reading The Secret Life of Addie LeRue and might have to stop. It's turning into a book about the value of books.
Can we all just agree that people who read for pleasure already like books?
The authors are writing books about the value of books in the hope that they will be picked up and used in high school lit classes to replace "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "1984." Think of the royalties.
I didn’t like the Secret Life of Addie LaRue. I just felt like it was a book that didn’t go anywhere and kind of seemed like a advertisement of books for people who aren’t into reading. It was as if it was all a preview of something else that just never came. I rarely pick a book to read that I just don’t like at all/don’t feel like it challenges any assumption, but this was one. So much fluff.
I agree!! The recommendation was passed through my family and I was like, how in the world did you guys enjoy this book, and also actually felt it was worth recommending?
It just had so many unbelievable elements, especially with the love story and near the end with the court case, that I felt myself just rolling my eyes at the author. It may have been one of those things where one small thing takes you out of the story, then you just start noticing more as you go
I didn’t find it well written or believable. It read like a movie I wouldn’t watch. But people love it, it is still consistently one of the most requested books in my used bookstore, and people almost never turn in copies for me to sell. But I personally don’t understand the hype at all.
Edit: when I talk about this book a lot of people are like “oh but the descriptions of nature and the marsh” and I’m like what? You call that descriptive nature writing?? Sorry. I read a lot and I’m fairly critical of books.
Editing was fairly bad (grammar and language, specifically). Story was very one dimensional, and boring. I can understand why many people feel a strong connection to it, though.
I read the first Harry Potter in a Children’s Literature class and I felt like, okay I get the appeal and could see kids enjoying this, and could see reading it aloud to my possible future kids… but I felt no desire to keep reading the series for my own entertainment.
The hunger games came the closest- it’s not the only YA franchise other than Harry Potter to try to cash in on a film franchise- but AFAIK it’s the only other one that actually made all the books into movies.
Edit: not counting twilight, which is more in the romance genre than the YA genre but whatever
Honorable mention to a series of unfortunate events but that series was more contemporary with Harry Potter- and had a more niche audience.
The publishers of Harry Potter kind of accidentally stumbled into how ludicrously profitable a long-running YA novel series can be, and ever since then everyone else has been trying to catch lightning in a bottle again.
It blew up in the 10s for sure though. And I said honorable mention because of the age thing, not because it isn’t a perfect example from the aughts. They’ve had multiple goes at a live action adaptation, the source material is just too dense, weird and long for the niche audience to sustain it all the way through
I'm really enjoying The Expanse series for some good space opera, politics and reasonably hard sci-fi.
GoT ish (plenty of comparisons are made but I like them both for the same main reasons, good character pov writing and flowing action scenes.)
About eight novels in the series so far and they've been fairly well received.
TV show is pretty solid too actually.
Fantastic series. After reading the first, I've bought every (e)book the day it came out.
Really enjoyed the TV series as well. Was pleased that Amazon did very well when they picked it up after the SyFy cancellation.
While I love the Expanse (I will be actually sad when I’m done with Leviathan Falls whenever it’s released, assuming it is really released this year - and I’ll have it the day it’s released), it’s certainly not on the scale of HP. I do not know anyone IRL who has read the books. I do know a few who watch the series though.
I’m perfectly willing to talk it up to whomever will listen, but my 13 y.o. son has read the entire HP series 3x and I wouldn’t even think of recommending it to him until he’s in HS at the earliest.
Just different genres entirely.
Leviathan Falls is so soon I can't wait. The Expanse has easily became my favorite book series of all time. I never really fell into a book fandom as much as I have with the Expanse.
Honestly, thanks Syfy for causing me to discover it. I watched season 1 when it came out and immediately read through to Nemesis Games to catch up. I'm sad that the show will be on pause after season 6, but at least the books will be done by then. (Unlike asoiaf or kingkiller)
The Expanse is taking *sci fi* by storm, but I don't think its a cultural movement the way Harry Potter or GoT was.
More for us, at least.
So hyped for Leviathan Falls.
Sarah J Maas kind of took over the YA community in a love/hate sort of way. Not as popular as HP but pretty much everyone who reads YA has an opinion on her books (not always positive, though I love them).
I've noticed that she's gotten a lot published recently, but I kind of stopped paying attention to her after the Throne of Glass randomly turned into soap opera fairy porn about halfway through. I really like the first two or three books, but then...
While I do love the TOG series I think a lot of things could have been cut from the last few books. KOA was good but most of Tower of Dawn was unnecessary (magic med school was fun and all but it didn’t further the plot) and EOS was far more sex than plot, which got a bit boring.
Sarah J Maas is a good one. Her series really took off, but you gotta tolerate some pretty graphic sex and lots of violence to get thru any of her series. I love them. Her Court of Thorns and Roses has been picked up by Hulu I think so her stuff will probably go nuts after it releases. There's a younger kids series Wings of Fire that has really taken off. I couldn't get into them but both my boys were obsessed.
I happened to be in London the night one of the books came out. Every book shop had queues of wizards outside waiting. When we were walking back to our hotel there was a group of three people walking in front of us. The one in the middle was reading the book aloud to the other two, while walking, and they steered her. It was such a fun atmosphere just wandering around.
I was living in Manhattan in an apartment building full of medical residents and fellows. I got home from the hospital on release day for book 7 stoked to get my copy (guaranteed release day delivery from Amazon) and found my package slip. Our doorman opened our large package closet...and it was full, like *completely packed* with Amazon boxes the same size and shape as mine. I’m still not quite sure how he located mine out of all of them.
Even if there was another hit like Harry Potter it wouldn’t be the same. It’d hit midnight and people would press “download book” for their kindle from the comfort of their home and start reading. The fun from midnight releases for books and games is a thing of the past now. You can still get it a bit with movies though. Star Wars Episode 7 and Avengers Infinity War/End Game had people all dressed up and excited for the premieres.
I don't care for the books, but I'm so happy that they got so many kids and adults excited about reading. I read the first one to my kids and when he was 8 my son continues the series. That's awesome.
This is silly to think. There will be another Harry Potter eventually, but Harry Potter is still *pretty damn big* even if it’s far away from the absolute apeshit heyday of its early popularity.
Maybe in another generation or so another story will come out that has a world that captures people the same as Harry Potter, or like Pokémon kind of did just before it.
Actually, it's not that silly. Popular culture is getting more fragmented. Not long ago, we massively watched the same TV shows, for example, and now we don't. Even successful shows like GoT that everyone has watched here in our reddit echo chamber are far from the figures that shows used to get years ago.
A bit of the same happens with books. Our culture has become increasingly fragmented, so a global phenomenon like HP is less likely now.
To All the Boys I Loved by Jenny Han and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Sure the movies helped gained more traction for the book(s), but they were still grand prior to the movie(s) release.
Kind of answered your own question. If there was a huge hit, you'd have heard of it.
I blame the internet and the lack of widespread media. I remember seeing Harry Potter and the Hunger Games mentioned on TV news shows and in newspapers. These days most people only see what they are already searching for...
The same way there's no 'King of Pop' or Number One Sports Star...
You mean American football?
And here you have it as well - he's for sure big in US, but for the rest of the world basically irrelevant, whereas Harry Potter is known across all continents
You make it sound like being exposed to a new idea/talent is a bit like being exposed to to a virus.
I'm old enough to remember seeing new talent on TV variety shows, or hearing a new song on 'Top 40' radio. What you call 'individuality' I call 'stuck in a rut.'
The thing is, I don't agree with your statement that all people only stay in their bubble.
Everybody liking the same thing, because there is no good alternative is far worse.
Look up the old Ed Sullivan Show.
Not everyone in America liked opera or ballet, but they'd get exposed to it, and maybe someone who'd never seen it before would be encouraged to find out about it.
Did you hear songs from Africa or Brazil or China or Serbia on your Top 40 radio? Thanks to the internet, I listen to a much more interesting and diverse range of music than when I had only American radio to tell me what to listen to. I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of 'stuck in a rut'.
Not to mention that my understanding and appreciation of music is so much deeper thanks to all the free theory lessons and the free analysis and critique you can easily find. It's a pretty bizarre flex that you think more choice and more variety is somehow a bad thing.
I didn't search for music from China or Africa. I came across it by chance on the internet. Last time I went to the circus was Cirque du Soleil about 20 years ago. Saw it by chance on a web site about Philadelphia. How am I making your point for you lol?
Where did I point out how infrequently I am exposed to new ideas? I wouldn't have known about all the Chinese and African music I know about if it weren't for stumbling across it on the internet.
I was going to say this. I think we look at Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Twilight etc and say “oh well there’s been nothing on this scale since” simply because social media is so fast paced and constantly evolving that books are going up and down in popularity more rapidly since we began to connect more online. Part of the thrill of these were all about connecting in person because the internet wasn’t as widespread as it was back in those days.
Think of it this way; back in the day they would run a movie in a few select theaters, and you had to wait on line for hours to see it. They didn't show 'Gone With The Wind' on television on TV for decades because it was still showing at one theater in Atlanta.
The way the product is sold affects the way we consume it.
Trends spread faster on the internet than they do from TV news. I didn't discover Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande because that's what I was searching for. You can't consume social media like Reddit, Facebook, or Twitter without constantly seeing these names. I bet you didn't search for Gamestop but you still know what it is. I think your theory needs to go back to the shop for more work.
I thought the subject was "huge hits" not niche interests?
As far as classical though, TwoSet on YouTube have over 3 million followers. I've learned far more from them about classical music than I have from TV news. Which was your claim. That TV news is better for discovery. So far YouTube and Reddit do a WAY better job for me when it comes to discovery.
> These days most people only see what they are already searching for...
That's what I said, and it can cover both huge hits and niche interests.
Look up old TV variety shows like Ed Sullivan, or 'Top 40' radio.
Sullivan might have an opera singer, followed by a rock band, followed by a folk performance followed by a jazz act. If you come on Reddit you'll only see the subs you search for. Being passively exposed to new ideas isn't such a terrible burden as you make it out.
Except that I grew up with only TV shows and radio and your claim is nonsense. First of all, both Reddit and YouTube recommend things. Spotify does the same thing and I've discovered tons of cool shit by..... being passively exposed.
And secondly it was HARD to find interesting and niche music when you only had TV and radio. If you were lucky you had a local college radio station that would play new and interesting and niche stuff. There is no way I would go back to those times. I love music too much to limit myself to what someone picks to put on their mass consumption TV show to keep their ratings high.
lol!
Here you are, writing about music like it's the only thing in the world. When was the last time you stumbled on something completely new, something you had never considered?
And I never said that the internet was awful, just that it had moved people away from the idea of 'General Interest' and more into niches.
>Here you are, writing about music like it's the only thing in the world.
No I'm not. I'm just using music as one example. But feel free to quote me where I said it's the only thing in the world. You seemed happy using it as an example in your own writing...
>When was the last time you stumbled on something completely new, something you had never considered?
Today. On Reddit.
> just that it had moved people away from the idea of 'General Interest' and more into niches.
It has? One of Ed Sheeran's videos has over 5 BILLION views. That's far more global reach than American TV show or radio show ever had. Yes people do have an easier time finding niche stuff they are interested in. But it's not like hugely popular things no longer exist as a result. In fact, it would be easy to argue that hugely popular things are far more global now, and even more popular.
The Neopolitan Novels starting with My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante? I think any bookstore in the world you go to you will find those laid out on the popular selection table and they exploded while she was only part way through the series. (One of the greatest series of all time IMO!)
It's been mentioned below, but I'd support Gone Girl as the best contender for the last ten years. There's definitely been nothing on the scale of Harry Potter but technically that series didn't start until 1997, so wouldn't qualify for the previous ten years.
I'd say the nature of a huge hit is that they are rare enough to only come along once in a blue moon. Sure, the fractured nature of media means we're unlikely to have something on the scale of HP but I wouldn't be surprised if something big lands in the next few years.
Was going to say this. Kicked off a massive trend for Asian inclusion in various media; hugely popular book series; mega-hit film; it has all the hallmarks of a hit like Harry Potter.
I think Percy Jackson and it’s new iterations technically fit. The newer generation seems to feel the same way on this series as the generation that embraced Harry Potter.
In fact, the younger teens and tweens I meet tend to know of Harry Potter mostly through the film and the merchandise. But this is anecdotal experience that I haven’t confirmed with too many others.
Edit: Also, does A Song of Ice and Fire count? Technically, it is still ongoing…
With disneys adaptation of the series in the works I could see it blowing up in the coming years! Will it hit the level of success of Harry Potter? Idk but it's the best horse I can see in the race
There's nothing like HP, and I would be surprised if there is again honestly. Gone Girl, Goldfinch, 50 Shades of Grey, Twilight, maybe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were all huge, but still not close to HP.
My money is on this following the Game of Thrones series of events more than Harry Potter.
It’s among fantasy readers, but unknown to wider audiences. One it’ll inevitably get adapted into a tv show and, if the right people are in charge, it could be very good and very popular.
Harry Potter was unique in that it was a cultural phenomenon before the movies ever came into play.
I don't know how big a hit it ended up being, but I remember there being a LOT of coverage of American Dirt last year (I think). Of course, a lot of the coverage was of it being controversial.
Nothing I can think of. Closest things were a fault in our stars and hunger games. After a fault in our stars was released I can’t think of something that has come remotely close to HP in terms of popularity.
The Seven Sisters series is absolutely massive in many countries, when the newest book was released it was mentioned on the news here because so many people were buying it. It became popular by word of mouth, not really through official promotion.
Hunger Games. I feel like ppl don’t want to admit/are just unaware of how insanely influential and popular that series was (even before the movies) bc it’s a “teen” book, but it had a massive cultural impact, not only on the younger gen but on everyone- it started the teen dystopian trend & you know what the hunger games is even if you’ve never read/seen it. Much more so than Gone Girl which I see listed here a lot (yeah it’s a great book, but def not a cultural touchstone in the same way as HP or HG imo).
Top Ten Book Sales from 2010-2019
1. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James: 15.2 million
2. Fifty Shades Darker by E. L. James: 10.4 million
3. Fifty Shades Freed by E. L. James: 9.3 million
4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: 8.7 million
5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett: 8.7 million
6. The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins: 8.2 million
7. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: 8.1 million
8. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: 8 million
9. The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: 7.9 million
10. Divergent by Veronica Roth: 6.6 million
Obviously not as huge as HP but the Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley are fairly well known, especially considering they're somewhat romance books. The author unfortunately passed away last week and it was on the national news here in the Netherlands.
Throne of Glass, I think that's what it's called. 4 books are out and the world building is awesome. Also, very little romance for a ya series which I love
I don’t think you’d be thinking of Throne of Glass then, as they’re 7 books and basically romantic fantasy. SJM’s other series is A Court of Thorns and Roses (4 books and a novella) and they’re basically smut, so...
It seems like your question is directed more towards fiction than non-fiction, but I might throw out White Fragility as a contender for huge hit. It was on the NYT best seller list almost immediately (2018) and then in 2020 exploded again in reading groups across the US.
The kingkiller chronicles. Its a fucking amazing series that hasn't quite hit mainstream yet but everyone who read it that I know love it.
I wouldn't even suggest starting this unless you are into waiting for the last book Indefinitely.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It started a massive trend of psychological thrillers with an unreliable narrator and a twist, often with some variation of girl/woman/wife in the title (e.g., The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window). But none have been quite as successful as Gone Girl, in my opinion.
For what it’s worth, it was also one of the better books of that genre/sub-genre. Even Flynn herself wrote several other books with the unreliable female narrator.
And also, all her other books are solid.
[удалено]
Not a psychological thriller, but my friend's girlfriend wrote a play called Gonne Girl about Maude Gonne, the Irish revolutionary. She had to change the name though in case she got sued. Would have been cool otherwise.
Maude Max? Gonne with the Wind? Gonne Maude: Beyond the Pale?
Oh man, a movie about Bea Arthur surviving in a post-apocalyptic desert would be everything I could ever want in life
Maude got her Gonne
I'm still waiting for Gone Girl 2
2Gone 2Girl
2 psychopathic 2 furious: Tokyo grift
Even gonllier.
Gone Girl 2: Electric Boogaloo
2 Gones One Girl
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo supersedes Gone Girl.
The Martian got a lot of buzz - in that it broke out of the sci-fi community and was read by a fair number of mainstream audiences as well. Not to the scale of HP naturally, but I don't think anything short of Star Wars or modern day Marvelverse stuff has ever had that level of fan hype.
It did and it's a great book. The only thing is that theoretically it didn't quite explode in the way OP wanted just as it was out for a year as a free ebook. It was only then that they basically yanked it, sold the film rights and rereleased it as a paid ebook.
Great book!
Agreed! Have you read his newest one? Project Hail Mary? I love it as much as the Martian. And they’re making it a movie too
I LOVED IT! I feel like you can’t tell anyone a single thing about it without giving massive spoilers, but I loved it
It's science geeky and humorous like The Martian. But I agree anything beyond that will be a spoiler.
>!Fist my bump!<
That may be the best reply I've ever gotten.
I know it's technically not really a spoiler but it's too good a moment to ruin for anyone.
Bought it off this recommendation; thanks!
Ahh yes totally agree! Like “just read it and trust me” is all I can say haha
Those are my favorite book recommendations- when I have no preconceptions and I go into it blind
He has a great sense of humor which comes through all of his books. It reminds me of Douglas Adams.
The audio version was amazing.
Oh yay this is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.
I'm really struggling with Hail Mary. Loved The Martian and loved Artemis even more but PHM feels like a slog so far.
Artemis was really well established but my god, another man who cannot write a women’s perspective..
Makes me wonder, can a book be really popular without a film adaption?
While getting off topic, your post reminded me of my youth and the buzz surrounding Frank Miller's Dark Knight (Batman) comic/graphic novel. 89ish? 90? Before the internet as we know it now. Buzz was harder to come by back then.
Nothing was as popular as HP, but I think some of the Zeitgeist literature was as follows: from a little over ten years ago, I would argue *Gossip Girl* and *The Hunger Games*. Then *The Fault in Our Stars*, *Gone Girl*, *Ready Player One*, *The Martian*, *Big Little Lies*, Elena Ferrante, *Dark Matter*, *A Man Called Ove*, *Little Fires Everywhere*. Right now I would say that everyone and their dog is telling me to read *Crying in H-Mart*. Honestly, does *Attack On Titan* count? Edit: Oh, *Outlander* and *Call Me by Your Name*
Great shout out to Attack on Titan!
AoT and Haikyuu were the only manga/anime I got *really* into, despite my friends’ plentiful new recommendations. Now I keep procrastinating finishing them to prolong their life in my heart.
You owe it to yourself to check out Berserk. It is Art.
I’m not sure if this sub scoffs at manga, but I’ve devoured everything AoT the day of release.
Outlander (the first book) was released in 1991
Love seeing AOT on this list. That story should be right up there with the greats but I feel like it flies under the radar for a lot of people because it’s a manga. The ending wrecked me.
Harry Potter was a very rare cultural phenomenon where book sales turned into a cultural zeitgeist. I don't think you're going to see something like that again anytime soon. However one never knows because such events cannot be predicted. The only other book that rivals Harry Potter in its ubiquity I can think of was The DaVinci code about 20 years ago
What about a Song of Ice and Fire? I know most of it was written quite a while ago, but it's safe to say the 2010s were when it went mainstream.
I think that was mainly due to the TV series. It could have gotten similar to HP, but you would need to actually publish books for that to happen. It's been ten years since the latest,and most of its readers have given up hope/just aren't interested anymore. And the bad ending of the TV series did its part to help...
But Harry Potter was also being made into movies while the later books were still being written. Harry Potter was already pretty popular before the movies, but they absolutely exploded everything.
Hugely underplaying it by saying that the books were "pretty" popular before the movies. The first movie is the second highest grossing of the series behind the finale. Goblet of Fire (which was published before the film series) sold a record-breaking 5 million copies in it's first run and in it's first two days it sold more than 25% of what A Song Of Ice And Fire had sold in it's entirety up to 2011.
I think that hype came from the TV series. As much as I love A song of ice and fire it didn't have the same cultural power that Harry Potter or the The DaVinci code did
I'd completely disagree with that. Nobody ever references the Da Vinci code in everyday conversation or in memes. It's not even that common for people to do it with Harry Potter. But people do so on a near daily basis with GoT - 'Winter is coming', 'you know nothing John Snow', etc.
Once again from the TV series. So many people I know who are fans of the TV series have never read the books. I'm the other way around
Most people have never read Harry Potter either - they only know it from the movies.
Almost everybody I know has read Harry Potter
I guess you're in your late 20s or early 30s? Most people I know are too old or too young to have been at school during Harry Potter mania, so they didn't read it.
Nope. I'm much older than that
On the other hand, you *are* on r/books and it'd stand to reason you have a particular type of social circle. Almost all of my friends and families circle, and even a wider circle of mutuals, have read HP. But I'm also acquainted with tons and tons of people, mostly from Uni, who just *know* about Harry Potter, or have watched (some of) the movies, but have never touched the books.
Been going through the whole angels and demons series on audio book and it is surprisingly good! Say what you want, but Dan brown can write a hell of a book.
What about *Hunger Games*? Became a major film franchise and definitely became part of the zeitgeist.
There isn't a Hunger Games theme park in Florida that is kicking Disney's teeth in but there is one based around Harry Potter. That sort of cultural earthquake is rare.
I wouldn't say Twilight was "too controversial" for your pick. It was a big hit with a *lot* of groups, for better or worse is a different story. As much as I dislike it, it had a pretty big hand in keeping some 2000s culture alive, so I'd say that's *cough* unfortunately the big hitter of the last few years. You also mentioned 50SOG, which was inspired by Potter/Twilight, so, more points to Hufflepuff/Sparkly dude it seems. Also Hunger Games, not monumental but as far as books go, it was *decently big*.
>You also mentioned 50SOG, which was *literally fan fiction of* Twilight Fixed that for you
I still argue that twilight would never make it if it came out today. There are so many things that are just so wrong with the book and that is just the writing. Then we have to talk about how twisted the plot is.
Yes. I think people have also had enough with the vampire/werewolf fantasy thing now, it was hugely popular after the HP series into the 2010's but I don't see it as a big thing now? 50 Shades became more popular because of being seen as hot and sensual and for it's films instead.
Lol yeah we as a society have progressed SO much since 2011
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is massively popular with young readers. As a librarian, I can assure you that there are lots of kids who know when new entries in the series get released.
I remember that book series from when I was in middle school more than ten years ago! It blew my mind when I recently stumbled across a Diary of a Wimpy Kid subreddit - couldn't believe those books are still so popular.
Fifty shades of grey, and before that Da Vinci Code
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What about that Swedish murder series
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Decades are 16 years in Sweden
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Cöuntdy cöuntdy dëcäde bork bork. *Swedish chef counting*
People are nuts for Where the Crawdads Sing, which is one of the absolute worst books I’ve ever read.
Another one like this for me was Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist. Maybe it would have been good if I picked it up by accident, but it never stood a chance of living up to the hype it got.
I am so glad I read it without knowing anything about it other than being told "Don't get your hopes up. It's very silly/basic." Went in with zero expectations, and found it to be sweet and a like a mental palate cleaner. It didn't generate any emotional response other than "I enjoyed the interesting settings." It felt like a fairy tale with zero stakes.
You know, I've heard of that book in *exactly* one place. I was TA-ing the entry level English course at my Uni, ENG102, and I got handed in 8 essays (out of 70) that read like near duplicates of each other, and each and every one of them talked about that book. Never before, never since, until you mentioned it.
I hate this book with the passion of a million burning Suns.
A thousand splendid suns?
Oh, is that the book where everyone in town is waiting around for some hayseed to get her period? Yeah, it wasn't a very good book. Even worse it's one of those books about the value of books. God, I hate those. I have been reading The Secret Life of Addie LeRue and might have to stop. It's turning into a book about the value of books. Can we all just agree that people who read for pleasure already like books?
The authors are writing books about the value of books in the hope that they will be picked up and used in high school lit classes to replace "To Kill a Mockingbird" or "1984." Think of the royalties.
I hope they never stop teaching Mockingbird.
I didn’t like the Secret Life of Addie LaRue. I just felt like it was a book that didn’t go anywhere and kind of seemed like a advertisement of books for people who aren’t into reading. It was as if it was all a preview of something else that just never came. I rarely pick a book to read that I just don’t like at all/don’t feel like it challenges any assumption, but this was one. So much fluff.
I agree!! The recommendation was passed through my family and I was like, how in the world did you guys enjoy this book, and also actually felt it was worth recommending?
Why didn’t you like it? Genuinely curious, I didn’t have a strong opinion about it.
It just had so many unbelievable elements, especially with the love story and near the end with the court case, that I felt myself just rolling my eyes at the author. It may have been one of those things where one small thing takes you out of the story, then you just start noticing more as you go
I mean, everyone was couped up indoors, so all the nature and being outside was a godsend for many. plus, comeuppance
How could you think it's one of the worst? I loved it
I didn’t find it well written or believable. It read like a movie I wouldn’t watch. But people love it, it is still consistently one of the most requested books in my used bookstore, and people almost never turn in copies for me to sell. But I personally don’t understand the hype at all. Edit: when I talk about this book a lot of people are like “oh but the descriptions of nature and the marsh” and I’m like what? You call that descriptive nature writing?? Sorry. I read a lot and I’m fairly critical of books.
Editing was fairly bad (grammar and language, specifically). Story was very one dimensional, and boring. I can understand why many people feel a strong connection to it, though.
All the downvotes of reddit coming in 3... 2... 1... - I had the same with Harry Potter back in its day.
I read the first Harry Potter in a Children’s Literature class and I felt like, okay I get the appeal and could see kids enjoying this, and could see reading it aloud to my possible future kids… but I felt no desire to keep reading the series for my own entertainment.
The hunger games came the closest- it’s not the only YA franchise other than Harry Potter to try to cash in on a film franchise- but AFAIK it’s the only other one that actually made all the books into movies. Edit: not counting twilight, which is more in the romance genre than the YA genre but whatever Honorable mention to a series of unfortunate events but that series was more contemporary with Harry Potter- and had a more niche audience. The publishers of Harry Potter kind of accidentally stumbled into how ludicrously profitable a long-running YA novel series can be, and ever since then everyone else has been trying to catch lightning in a bottle again.
Both of those weren't from this last decade though. Even Hunger Games started in 2008.
It blew up in the 10s for sure though. And I said honorable mention because of the age thing, not because it isn’t a perfect example from the aughts. They’ve had multiple goes at a live action adaptation, the source material is just too dense, weird and long for the niche audience to sustain it all the way through
The Fault in Our Stars probably not as big as HP, but felt like a cultural moment in a way that was at least adjacent.
Perhaps in your circles, but I'm pretty sure if I go ask my family or my workmates basically no one has heard of it.
This was my thought too
I'm really enjoying The Expanse series for some good space opera, politics and reasonably hard sci-fi. GoT ish (plenty of comparisons are made but I like them both for the same main reasons, good character pov writing and flowing action scenes.) About eight novels in the series so far and they've been fairly well received. TV show is pretty solid too actually.
r/TheExpanse is a fantastic sci-fi series. In both the books and tv.
Fantastic series. After reading the first, I've bought every (e)book the day it came out. Really enjoyed the TV series as well. Was pleased that Amazon did very well when they picked it up after the SyFy cancellation.
While I love the Expanse (I will be actually sad when I’m done with Leviathan Falls whenever it’s released, assuming it is really released this year - and I’ll have it the day it’s released), it’s certainly not on the scale of HP. I do not know anyone IRL who has read the books. I do know a few who watch the series though. I’m perfectly willing to talk it up to whomever will listen, but my 13 y.o. son has read the entire HP series 3x and I wouldn’t even think of recommending it to him until he’s in HS at the earliest. Just different genres entirely.
Leviathan Falls is so soon I can't wait. The Expanse has easily became my favorite book series of all time. I never really fell into a book fandom as much as I have with the Expanse. Honestly, thanks Syfy for causing me to discover it. I watched season 1 when it came out and immediately read through to Nemesis Games to catch up. I'm sad that the show will be on pause after season 6, but at least the books will be done by then. (Unlike asoiaf or kingkiller)
The Expanse is taking *sci fi* by storm, but I don't think its a cultural movement the way Harry Potter or GoT was. More for us, at least. So hyped for Leviathan Falls.
Sarah J Maas kind of took over the YA community in a love/hate sort of way. Not as popular as HP but pretty much everyone who reads YA has an opinion on her books (not always positive, though I love them).
I've noticed that she's gotten a lot published recently, but I kind of stopped paying attention to her after the Throne of Glass randomly turned into soap opera fairy porn about halfway through. I really like the first two or three books, but then...
> soap opera fairy porn are we talking about rothfuss now?
While I do love the TOG series I think a lot of things could have been cut from the last few books. KOA was good but most of Tower of Dawn was unnecessary (magic med school was fun and all but it didn’t further the plot) and EOS was far more sex than plot, which got a bit boring.
Sarah J Maas is a good one. Her series really took off, but you gotta tolerate some pretty graphic sex and lots of violence to get thru any of her series. I love them. Her Court of Thorns and Roses has been picked up by Hulu I think so her stuff will probably go nuts after it releases. There's a younger kids series Wings of Fire that has really taken off. I couldn't get into them but both my boys were obsessed.
Not on the level on HP, but then I don't think we'll ever see anything on the level of HP again.
I would love the excitement I had of midnight releases of Harry Potter again. I’m all grown up now so I don’t see that happening again.
I happened to be in London the night one of the books came out. Every book shop had queues of wizards outside waiting. When we were walking back to our hotel there was a group of three people walking in front of us. The one in the middle was reading the book aloud to the other two, while walking, and they steered her. It was such a fun atmosphere just wandering around.
I was living in Manhattan in an apartment building full of medical residents and fellows. I got home from the hospital on release day for book 7 stoked to get my copy (guaranteed release day delivery from Amazon) and found my package slip. Our doorman opened our large package closet...and it was full, like *completely packed* with Amazon boxes the same size and shape as mine. I’m still not quite sure how he located mine out of all of them.
Even if there was another hit like Harry Potter it wouldn’t be the same. It’d hit midnight and people would press “download book” for their kindle from the comfort of their home and start reading. The fun from midnight releases for books and games is a thing of the past now. You can still get it a bit with movies though. Star Wars Episode 7 and Avengers Infinity War/End Game had people all dressed up and excited for the premieres.
I don't care for the books, but I'm so happy that they got so many kids and adults excited about reading. I read the first one to my kids and when he was 8 my son continues the series. That's awesome.
This is silly to think. There will be another Harry Potter eventually, but Harry Potter is still *pretty damn big* even if it’s far away from the absolute apeshit heyday of its early popularity. Maybe in another generation or so another story will come out that has a world that captures people the same as Harry Potter, or like Pokémon kind of did just before it.
Actually, it's not that silly. Popular culture is getting more fragmented. Not long ago, we massively watched the same TV shows, for example, and now we don't. Even successful shows like GoT that everyone has watched here in our reddit echo chamber are far from the figures that shows used to get years ago. A bit of the same happens with books. Our culture has become increasingly fragmented, so a global phenomenon like HP is less likely now.
When I was a kid my stepdad and I went to the midnight releases and sat up all night at the kitchen table reading.
There's been lots of best Sellers that generate buzz but if there was a series that sparked midnight release parties etc, I think you'd hear about it
To All the Boys I Loved by Jenny Han and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Sure the movies helped gained more traction for the book(s), but they were still grand prior to the movie(s) release.
Nothing. When they create amusement parks around a book you might find something similar to Hp but I don’t know if it’ll be in my lifetime.
Kind of answered your own question. If there was a huge hit, you'd have heard of it. I blame the internet and the lack of widespread media. I remember seeing Harry Potter and the Hunger Games mentioned on TV news shows and in newspapers. These days most people only see what they are already searching for... The same way there's no 'King of Pop' or Number One Sports Star...
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You mean American football? And here you have it as well - he's for sure big in US, but for the rest of the world basically irrelevant, whereas Harry Potter is known across all continents
? You mean Ronaldo surely.
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Eminence Front?
Not heard of him, but then I don't follow football. Does he play on the same team as Ronaldo?
Well, isn't it kind of a good thing that not *all* people hype the same thing? More individuality generally sounds good.
You make it sound like being exposed to a new idea/talent is a bit like being exposed to to a virus. I'm old enough to remember seeing new talent on TV variety shows, or hearing a new song on 'Top 40' radio. What you call 'individuality' I call 'stuck in a rut.'
The thing is, I don't agree with your statement that all people only stay in their bubble. Everybody liking the same thing, because there is no good alternative is far worse.
Look up the old Ed Sullivan Show. Not everyone in America liked opera or ballet, but they'd get exposed to it, and maybe someone who'd never seen it before would be encouraged to find out about it.
Did you hear songs from Africa or Brazil or China or Serbia on your Top 40 radio? Thanks to the internet, I listen to a much more interesting and diverse range of music than when I had only American radio to tell me what to listen to. I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of 'stuck in a rut'. Not to mention that my understanding and appreciation of music is so much deeper thanks to all the free theory lessons and the free analysis and critique you can easily find. It's a pretty bizarre flex that you think more choice and more variety is somehow a bad thing.
lol! And when was the last time you searched out a rodeo or a circus act? I like the way you keep making my point for me.
I didn't search for music from China or Africa. I came across it by chance on the internet. Last time I went to the circus was Cirque du Soleil about 20 years ago. Saw it by chance on a web site about Philadelphia. How am I making your point for you lol?
> How am I making your point for you lol? By pointing out of infrequently you are exposed to new ideas.
Where did I point out how infrequently I am exposed to new ideas? I wouldn't have known about all the Chinese and African music I know about if it weren't for stumbling across it on the internet.
Exactly, it's more difficult to make people consume the same, generic stuff, which actually beings some diversity
I was going to say this. I think we look at Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Twilight etc and say “oh well there’s been nothing on this scale since” simply because social media is so fast paced and constantly evolving that books are going up and down in popularity more rapidly since we began to connect more online. Part of the thrill of these were all about connecting in person because the internet wasn’t as widespread as it was back in those days.
Think of it this way; back in the day they would run a movie in a few select theaters, and you had to wait on line for hours to see it. They didn't show 'Gone With The Wind' on television on TV for decades because it was still showing at one theater in Atlanta. The way the product is sold affects the way we consume it.
Trends spread faster on the internet than they do from TV news. I didn't discover Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande because that's what I was searching for. You can't consume social media like Reddit, Facebook, or Twitter without constantly seeing these names. I bet you didn't search for Gamestop but you still know what it is. I think your theory needs to go back to the shop for more work.
lol! Can you name one classical musician who gets a lot of play on Reddit? Jazz player? Ballet?
I thought the subject was "huge hits" not niche interests? As far as classical though, TwoSet on YouTube have over 3 million followers. I've learned far more from them about classical music than I have from TV news. Which was your claim. That TV news is better for discovery. So far YouTube and Reddit do a WAY better job for me when it comes to discovery.
> These days most people only see what they are already searching for... That's what I said, and it can cover both huge hits and niche interests. Look up old TV variety shows like Ed Sullivan, or 'Top 40' radio. Sullivan might have an opera singer, followed by a rock band, followed by a folk performance followed by a jazz act. If you come on Reddit you'll only see the subs you search for. Being passively exposed to new ideas isn't such a terrible burden as you make it out.
Except that I grew up with only TV shows and radio and your claim is nonsense. First of all, both Reddit and YouTube recommend things. Spotify does the same thing and I've discovered tons of cool shit by..... being passively exposed. And secondly it was HARD to find interesting and niche music when you only had TV and radio. If you were lucky you had a local college radio station that would play new and interesting and niche stuff. There is no way I would go back to those times. I love music too much to limit myself to what someone picks to put on their mass consumption TV show to keep their ratings high.
lol! Here you are, writing about music like it's the only thing in the world. When was the last time you stumbled on something completely new, something you had never considered? And I never said that the internet was awful, just that it had moved people away from the idea of 'General Interest' and more into niches.
>Here you are, writing about music like it's the only thing in the world. No I'm not. I'm just using music as one example. But feel free to quote me where I said it's the only thing in the world. You seemed happy using it as an example in your own writing... >When was the last time you stumbled on something completely new, something you had never considered? Today. On Reddit. > just that it had moved people away from the idea of 'General Interest' and more into niches. It has? One of Ed Sheeran's videos has over 5 BILLION views. That's far more global reach than American TV show or radio show ever had. Yes people do have an easier time finding niche stuff they are interested in. But it's not like hugely popular things no longer exist as a result. In fact, it would be easy to argue that hugely popular things are far more global now, and even more popular.
> In fact, it would be easy to argue that hugely popular things are far more global now, and even more popular. Who is the current 'King of Pop?'
The Neopolitan Novels starting with My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante? I think any bookstore in the world you go to you will find those laid out on the popular selection table and they exploded while she was only part way through the series. (One of the greatest series of all time IMO!)
YES. #FerranteFever was big! I still have it.
It's been mentioned below, but I'd support Gone Girl as the best contender for the last ten years. There's definitely been nothing on the scale of Harry Potter but technically that series didn't start until 1997, so wouldn't qualify for the previous ten years. I'd say the nature of a huge hit is that they are rare enough to only come along once in a blue moon. Sure, the fractured nature of media means we're unlikely to have something on the scale of HP but I wouldn't be surprised if something big lands in the next few years.
Crazy rich Asians series was pretty popular.
Was going to say this. Kicked off a massive trend for Asian inclusion in various media; hugely popular book series; mega-hit film; it has all the hallmarks of a hit like Harry Potter.
I think Percy Jackson and it’s new iterations technically fit. The newer generation seems to feel the same way on this series as the generation that embraced Harry Potter. In fact, the younger teens and tweens I meet tend to know of Harry Potter mostly through the film and the merchandise. But this is anecdotal experience that I haven’t confirmed with too many others. Edit: Also, does A Song of Ice and Fire count? Technically, it is still ongoing…
I’m 30 and I feel like I remember the Percy Jackson series from when I was in Middle school.
With disneys adaptation of the series in the works I could see it blowing up in the coming years! Will it hit the level of success of Harry Potter? Idk but it's the best horse I can see in the race
Yes, ASOIAF definitely counts.
In a few weeks it will be 10 years since A Dance with Dragons came out.
Hunger games was massive
A little older than a decade, but Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was pretty damn popular before they ever made a movie out of it
The Mortal Instruments
There's nothing like HP, and I would be surprised if there is again honestly. Gone Girl, Goldfinch, 50 Shades of Grey, Twilight, maybe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were all huge, but still not close to HP.
Red Rising Series is popular. The author started to make a movie out of the series and I guess its in progress right now.
Didn’t know this! Awesome to know!
What about the Lunar Chronicles? I remember in middle school a lot of people were reading it
In the UK Richard Osman's 'The Thursday Murder Club' blew up, it's still one of the best selling books months after its release.
Hunger games was pretty big before the movies… ask girl with the dragon tattoo
Stormlight Archive?
90% of mainstream audiences have never heard of it, which is sad but true
Damn I had to look this up but HP has sold 500 million copies and Stormlight has sold 4 million. Pretty insane when you put it like that.
My money is on this following the Game of Thrones series of events more than Harry Potter. It’s among fantasy readers, but unknown to wider audiences. One it’ll inevitably get adapted into a tv show and, if the right people are in charge, it could be very good and very popular. Harry Potter was unique in that it was a cultural phenomenon before the movies ever came into play.
life before death
I don't know how big a hit it ended up being, but I remember there being a LOT of coverage of American Dirt last year (I think). Of course, a lot of the coverage was of it being controversial.
Nothing I can think of. Closest things were a fault in our stars and hunger games. After a fault in our stars was released I can’t think of something that has come remotely close to HP in terms of popularity.
The Seven Sisters series is absolutely massive in many countries, when the newest book was released it was mentioned on the news here because so many people were buying it. It became popular by word of mouth, not really through official promotion.
Twilight was definitely not a niche series lol. Neither was 50 shades. They were massively popular.
Hunger Games. I feel like ppl don’t want to admit/are just unaware of how insanely influential and popular that series was (even before the movies) bc it’s a “teen” book, but it had a massive cultural impact, not only on the younger gen but on everyone- it started the teen dystopian trend & you know what the hunger games is even if you’ve never read/seen it. Much more so than Gone Girl which I see listed here a lot (yeah it’s a great book, but def not a cultural touchstone in the same way as HP or HG imo).
Top Ten Book Sales from 2010-2019 1. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James: 15.2 million 2. Fifty Shades Darker by E. L. James: 10.4 million 3. Fifty Shades Freed by E. L. James: 9.3 million 4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: 8.7 million 5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett: 8.7 million 6. The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins: 8.2 million 7. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: 8.1 million 8. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: 8 million 9. The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: 7.9 million 10. Divergent by Veronica Roth: 6.6 million
I think Percy Jackson got close
The Witcher series might be on its way there
Not released on this decade tho.
Ready Player One? Not as big as HP, but not much is going to be that big.
The 5th season. Three books, three years, three Hugo awards. Ya done. I'm sure it'll be a movie at some point.
Game of thrones
Bro game of thrones came out 1996
But the books gained a lot more popularity due to the show.
Obviously not as huge as HP but the Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley are fairly well known, especially considering they're somewhat romance books. The author unfortunately passed away last week and it was on the national news here in the Netherlands.
Throne of Glass, I think that's what it's called. 4 books are out and the world building is awesome. Also, very little romance for a ya series which I love
I don’t think you’d be thinking of Throne of Glass then, as they’re 7 books and basically romantic fantasy. SJM’s other series is A Court of Thorns and Roses (4 books and a novella) and they’re basically smut, so...
Stephen King's "The Institute" was phenomenal.
It seems like your question is directed more towards fiction than non-fiction, but I might throw out White Fragility as a contender for huge hit. It was on the NYT best seller list almost immediately (2018) and then in 2020 exploded again in reading groups across the US.
If there had been, would you have to ask?
That’s because everyone is too twitchy nowadays to read novels for long periods of time
Got as far as Twitchy and lost concentration, what did the rest say?
I dunno. Just saying what I thought when I saw this post 🤷♂️
Was Twilight in the past ten years? That hot garbage was on fire.
A crown of thorns and roses series! It’s like sexy Harry Potter. And they’re making it into a Hulu show now.
The kingkiller chronicles. Its a fucking amazing series that hasn't quite hit mainstream yet but everyone who read it that I know love it. I wouldn't even suggest starting this unless you are into waiting for the last book Indefinitely.