Is the book title misleading?

Use this forum to discuss the January 2018 Book of the Month, "And Then I Met Margaret" by Rob White
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freakkshowx
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Re: Is the book title misleading?

Post by freakkshowx »

I agree with a lot of the other posters. The title And Then I Met Margaret is definitely misleading. Throughout the book, I assumed the buildup would lead to Margaret, a child wise beyond her years, imparting miraculous wisdom upon Rob, but when we all met Margaret, it was rather disappointing to only hear, "Do you like my red dress?"
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Post by Lipscombpc »

I agree-but I do think it is more of a “catchy” title and flows well. I would imagine the intent is for it to pull readers in and to pick up the book. Another positive is that it’s gotten a lot of conversation as to why he chose the title he did so that’s another ‘sneaky’ way to get readers to think more deeply about the novel. Intentional or not, I think it has a benefit.
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Post by ashpres12 »

Sahani Nimandra wrote: 02 Jan 2018, 02:02 Actually a big NO! The author pushed my "curiosity" button, like "why did he name the book after her?" But after he justified his reasons, I was very pleased with his answer. For me the author seemed to have used a continuous approach "... and then I met Margaret". The "and then" this expressed to me out of all people this particular person is "special", that he knew she had "hit him on the right spot" which as a result he dedicated the book to her. Actually yes she taught him a very important lesson for life.
I agree that the title peaks the curiosity scale for me. It leads to asking a bunch of questions like who is Margaret, what events occurred with her, why is she important. I have not read this book but from my readings it sounds like although her impact was great, the story around her was not. I am on the fence about reading this so maybe one day I will read it.
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Post by madis0nmaley »

I personally think the title is fitting of the book because, although Margaret's story was lackluster, his meeting her was revealed to be an incredibly important part in his "transformation". As readers we may not feel as strongly towards her as the author does, but considering it is his story this title makes perfect sense upon completion of the book.
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Post by ktom »

Indeed it is! Or, is it? We might be lead to think this title has a romantic connotation, yet why are we conditioned to believe this? Does every encounter have to be romantic? Of course not, but that´s directly where our minds go. I have to say I was both disappointed and pleased by the contents of this book. I wasn't prepared for the story the author had written, yet it was exactly what I needed to read.
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Post by dphelps1113 »

The book title was alluring for me and made me want to dive into the pages!
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Post by ASB_1 »

I don’t think that the title gives any hint of a romance novel. But I agree on the point that Margaret’s story wasn’t the centre at all although the title suggests otherwise. To me, the title appeared some kind of inspirational and motivational venture. I’m still reading it and I don’t think it was a great disappointment.
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Post by Emmanae »

I thought the title wasn't misleading, but maybe that's because I went into the book without any idea of what it would be. From the cover it didn't look like a romance novel to me, I guesssss I could see how the title could make it sound that way but I didn't get that vibe at all.
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Post by Arrigo_Lupori »

The title did throw me off when I thought about the content, but as I learned more about the book it started to grow on me.
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Post by Mekkinism »

I think the title quite nicely does what titles should do. Namely, catch the eye. "And Then I Met Margaret" has a lyrical quality from the alliteration that is extremely catchy. The "And then" implies a state previous to having met Margaret and by doing so, introduces a mystery, or hook. What was happening before? How does Margaret change things? I'm guessing he chose the name, not because she was maybe the most important, but because it flows nicely, has alliteration and even rhymes a little bit.

I will admit, from the title I did think it would be more akin to one of those books like Stargirl or 500 Days of Summer where the focus is on one manic pixie dream girl who breezes into the main character or author's life.
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Post by Katiemhardy813 »

I really thought this was going to be a historical fiction novel. In that sense, I don't think the title prepped me. I bet a lot of people passed this book by just because of the title. (Perhaps we shouldn't judge a book by a cover, but we DO, and a big part of that is the sound of the title!) In that sense I do think it was misleading.

As far as the stories go, I thought the Margaret story was no better, or no worse than the others. I wanted a big firecracker of a story and instead it was kind of vanilla. Because of the title, I thought the Margaret chapter would be explosive and definitive. Not sure if that's the title's fault or something I brought into the equation.
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Post by DustinPBrown »

Katiemhardy813 wrote: 20 Feb 2018, 13:31 I really thought this was going to be a historical fiction novel. In that sense, I don't think the title prepped me. I bet a lot of people passed this book by just because of the title. (Perhaps we shouldn't judge a book by a cover, but we DO, and a big part of that is the sound of the title!) In that sense I do think it was misleading.

As far as the stories go, I thought the Margaret story was no better, or no worse than the others. I wanted a big firecracker of a story and instead it was kind of vanilla. Because of the title, I thought the Margaret chapter would be explosive and definitive. Not sure if that's the title's fault or something I brought into the equation.
I thought that too about the Margaret chapter. I expected Margaret to be his wife or a very important person in his life, but she's a one-off acquaintance. The title definitely prepped us for her to have more weight in the story.
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Post by V_bansal2912 »

The title of the book is the first thing that will attract you towards it. If the title is not good and does not convey the feelings in the book properly, then it feels like a cheating to the readers. The book's title in this case says something romantic or related to friendships...but the book was not what I expected.
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Post by Hheaton »

I think that the title is super commercial. It grabs a potential reader's attention, which is sort of the point. I could see it being misleading with the whole romance thing. But I wouldn't know that before reading it. I'd grab the book off of the shelf with a title like "And Then I Met Margaret" and see if it was something I'd be interested in. I'd read the description and still be intrigued. Then once I read the book, perhaps I would feel as you did... But I am not sure I'd care.

Sometimes it's nice to be wrong about a book. It can mean that it surprised you and made you think differently. Predictable can be boring. And no writer, or publisher for that matter, wants to produce boring.
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Post by Emmanuel Michael »

The book title didn't, at all reflect what was inside the book, it only kept me wondering what kind of nonfiction book it was. Although I enjoyed reading the book and the lessons which it imparted but if a person who is a reader of romance would see the book he would purchase it thinking its of the genre he presumed
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