Home Life Style Waterstones criticized for naming mystery novel ‘book of 2024’ as outraged users claim it’s simply ‘food porn’ and ‘they couldn’t get past 50 pages’

Waterstones criticized for naming mystery novel ‘book of 2024’ as outraged users claim it’s simply ‘food porn’ and ‘they couldn’t get past 50 pages’

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Pictured: Annabel, who has 24,000 followers on TikTok, said Butter should have been

Waterstones has been criticized for naming a “boring” Japanese murder mystery as its “Book of the Year” for 2024.

The British bookstore, founded in London in 1982, announced last week that Asako Yuzuki’s Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder had earned its coveted title.

The crime thriller was originally released in Japan in 2017, where it became an instant bestseller, before being released in the UK in February.

In addition to winning the Breakthrough Author award at the Books Are My Bag Awards earlier this year, the novel is also among the 20 most translated fiction titles of 2024, according to the guardian.

However, Waterstones’ Book of the Year selection, which follows the lengths to which a reporter goes to secure an exclusive interview with a suspected serial killer with a taste for fine dining, has received mixed reactions from avid readers. .

Following the announcement, several UK-based ‘BookTok’ users posted TikTok videos complaining about the decision.

Yesterday, TikToker Annabel, who has 24,000 followers, said Butter, which Waterstones says is “packed with searing ideas about sexism, obsession and pleasure”, should have been “so up her alley” but “avoided” her “fuck”. * Ruined theme.

talking in it review videothe TikToker said: ‘He gets close to the line so many times (…) but he always backs away each time in a way that was very disappointing and quite deflating for a reading.

Pictured: Annabel, who has 24,000 followers on TikTok, said Butter should have been “so popular on her street” but “avoided” her “fucked up” track.

In the comments, Annabel's viewers praised her critique

In the comments, Annabel viewers praised her “spot-on” review of the novel, which they also considered “lukewarm.”

“It’s full of really interesting comments, but some of them are very clumsy.”

“It just goes over the same points over and over again, where I feel like I’m being punished for paying attention.”

Annabel ended her video by saying that it’s a “lie” to call Butter the “best book of the year”; instead, he argued that “it was fine.”

In the comments, Annabel viewers praised her “spot-on” review of the novel, which they also considered “lukewarm.”

One replied: ‘It won Waterstones Book of the Year and I was SO CONFUSED! He’s earned a LOT of other amazing books and I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT.’

Another added: ‘Butter is the only book I (didn’t finish) this year. I couldn’t do it. I was also very excited about it.”

Meanwhile, a third said: “It’s like the best premise of a book of the year, but the book itself is very tepid and timid about its potential to be weird.” It’s a shame.’

Last night Kirsty from Scotland posted a video where he said: ‘Butter – Book of the year Sorry, what?

Last night, BookTok creator Kirsty from Scotland said she couldn't finish reading Butter and

Last night, BookTok creator Kirsty from Scotland said she couldn’t finish reading Butter and “doesn’t know a single person who enjoyed it.”

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Pictured: Members of the BookTok community on TikTok were furious about Waterstones being chosen as Book of the Year.

Pictured: Members of the BookTok community on TikTok were furious about Waterstones being chosen as Book of the Year.

‘I (didn’t finish) this book (and put it down) after the first 50 pages. I don’t know a single person who has read it and enjoyed it.’

Disagreeing with Waterstones’ description of the novel, Kirsty continued: “It’s not a murder mystery.

‘It’s not gripping, dark or twisted. It’s food porn. It was 50 pages long and she had made butter noodles about 500 times.

The furious social media user concluded her video by adding: “Waterstones, I think you need to rethink your dashboard.”

In his excellent review of the novel, the guardianJosh Weeks wrote in March: “Part of Butter’s brilliance is its framing of individual eating habits as a mystery to be solved, which in the case of both Rika (the journalist) and Kajii (the serial killer) leads us to their education, particularly their relationships with their respective parents.’

In the book, alleged serial killer Manako Kaji, an amateur chef with a taste for luxury, tells her interviewer:

In the book, alleged serial killer Manako Kaji, an amateur chef with a taste for luxury, tells her interviewer: “There are two things I simply cannot tolerate: feminists and margarine.”

Pictured: Butter author Asako Yuzuki, who won the Breakthrough Author award at the Books Are My Bag Awards earlier this year.

Pictured: Butter author Asako Yuzuki, who won the Breakthrough Author award at the Books Are My Bag Awards earlier this year.

Although The timesCritic Laura Hackett had problems with some of the “cringeworthy” prose, the critic praising the “Dickensian cast of meaty characters.”

They gushed: “Butter is a complete Michelin-starred delight that moves seamlessly between an Angry Young Woman narrative and a gripping detective drama and back again.”

Following the announcement, Waterstones books director Bea Carvalho said: “Butter is the ultimate word-of-mouth sensation, a deliciously rich treat from a novel that quickly established itself as the most talked-about book of the year.”

‘Weaving a tense mystery with searing social commentary and cutting through the media’s obsession with true crime, fiction fans of all stripes will devour Butter.

‘In addition to its brilliant storytelling and elegant translation, Butter is a true editorial masterclass that raises the bar in book design. “We are delighted to name Butter our Book of the Year.”

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