Book terms, explained
Reading comes with a lot of shorthand. Here’s what 50 of the most common terms mean, explained in plain English and without spoilers.
Reading life
The words that turn up in every bookish group chat, from what goes on your shelves to where readers talk about books.
- ARCAn ARC is an advance reader copy, an early version of a book sent out before release so reviewers can read it and spread the word.Also: Advance reader copy, Advance review copy
- BacklistA publisher’s backlist is everything it published before the current season. The frontlist is what’s new.Also: Frontlist
- Book clubA book club is a group that reads the same book on a schedule and meets up to talk about it.
- Book hangoverA book hangover is that flat, restless feeling after finishing a book you loved so much that nothing else appeals yet.
- BookstagramBookstagram is the book community on Instagram, built around photos of books, bookshelves and cosy reading corners.
- BookTokBookTok is the book side of TikTok, and right now it’s the biggest source of word-of-mouth book sales.
- Buddy readA buddy read is when two or more people read the same book at the same time and stop at agreed points to talk about it.
- DNFDNF means “did not finish”, a book you stopped reading partway through and don’t plan to go back to.Also: Did not finish
- ReadathonA readathon is a reading challenge with a set time limit, often with prompts, where a group tries to read as much as they can.Also: Read-a-thon
- Reading goalA reading goal is a target you set for the year, usually a number of books, pages or minutes, and often tracked in an app.Also: Reading challenge
- Reading slumpA reading slump is a stretch of time when nothing holds your attention and you read much less than usual, or not at all.
- TBRTBR means “to be read”: the pile, list or shelf of books you’re planning to get to next.Also: To be read, TBR pile
Spoilers and suspense
What counts as a spoiler, how books set up their surprises, and the unwritten rules about giving them away.
- Chekhov’s gunChekhov’s gun is the idea that anything a story makes a point of showing should matter later. If there’s a rifle on the wall in act one, it has to go off.Also: Chekhovs gun, Chekhov gun
- CliffhangerA cliffhanger ends a chapter or book at a tense, unresolved moment, so you have to keep reading to find out what happens.
- Dramatic ironyDramatic irony is when you know something a character doesn’t, and you watch them carry on without it.
- ForeshadowingForeshadowing is a hint early in a story that only fully makes sense once something later has happened.
- Plot twistA plot twist is a turn in the story that changes what you thought was going on and makes you see earlier scenes differently.Also: Twist ending, Twist
- Red herringA red herring is a clue or character put in a story on purpose to lead you to the wrong conclusion.
- SpoilerA spoiler is any detail about a story that gives away something the reader hasn’t reached yet.
- Spoiler-free reviewA spoiler-free review tells you how a book feels and who’ll enjoy it, without giving away anything you haven’t read yet.
Story craft
What’s going on underneath a novel: who’s telling it, how it’s put together, and why some endings land and others don’t.
- AntagonistThe antagonist is whoever or whatever stands in the protagonist’s way. Often that’s a person, but it can be a system, nature, or the protagonist themselves.
- Character arcA character arc is how a character changes over a story: what they believe at the start compared with what they believe at the end.
- Character foilA foil is a character who contrasts with another, making that character’s traits stand out more clearly.Also: Foil
- DenouementThe denouement is the part after the climax where loose ends get tied up and things settle into their new normal.Also: Falling action, Resolution
- Deus ex machinaA deus ex machina is a sudden, unearned fix that gets characters out of a problem the story never set up a way out of.
- EpilogueAn epilogue is a final section after the main story ends that shows what happened afterwards.
- Hero’s journeyThe hero’s journey is a common story shape where an ordinary person leaves home, faces trials and a big ordeal, and comes back changed.Also: Monomyth, Heros journey
- In medias resIn medias res means starting a story in the middle of the action and filling in how things got there later.
- MacGuffinA MacGuffin is the object everyone in the story is after, even though what it actually is barely matters.Also: McGuffin
- MotifA motif is an image, object or idea that keeps coming back in a story and picks up more meaning each time.
- Point of viewPoint of view is the angle a story is told from: whose head you’re in, and how much they can see.Also: POV, Narrative perspective
- PrologueA prologue is a scene that comes before chapter one, usually set at a different time or place, or told from another character’s point of view.
- ProtagonistThe protagonist is the main character, the one whose choices drive the story and whose goal the plot is built around.Also: Main character, MC
- Unreliable narratorAn unreliable narrator is a narrator you slowly realise you can’t fully trust.
Genres and tropes
How readers describe what they’re in the mood for, from romantasy and slow burn to grimdark.
- CanonCanon is the official material that counts as part of a fictional world, and so decides what “really happened” in it.Also: Headcanon, Fanon
- Cozy fantasyCozy fantasy is low-stakes fantasy about everyday life in a magical world, like running a shop, making tea or looking after a community.Also: Cosy fantasy
- Dark academiaDark academia is a genre and aesthetic built around elite schools, obsessive studying, and a secret or crime at the heart of a tight-knit group.
- Enemies to loversEnemies to lovers is a romance trope where two characters start out on opposite sides and end up together.
- GrimdarkGrimdark is fantasy with a bleak moral world, where characters are flawed or worse, actions have real consequences, and good doesn’t always win.
- HEAHEA stands for “happily ever after”, the guaranteed happy ending that defines the romance genre.Also: Happily ever after, HFN
- High fantasyHigh fantasy is set in a completely invented world, with its own history, geography and rules, rather than in our own.Also: Epic fantasy, Secondary-world fantasy
- LoreLore is all the background of a fictional world: the myths, histories, family lines and events that happened before the story begins.
- Love triangleA love triangle is a romance setup where one character has to choose between two others.
- Magic systemA magic system is the set of rules for how magic works in a story: where it comes from, what it can’t do, and what it costs.
- RomantasyRomantasy is fantasy where the central romance matters just as much to the story as the magic and the plot.Also: Romantic fantasy, Fantasy romance
- Slow burnA slow burn is a romance that builds gradually over a long stretch of the story, sometimes across several books.
- Spice levelSpice level is a casual way of saying how explicit a book’s sex scenes are, usually rated from zero to five chilli peppers.Also: Spice, Heat level
- StandaloneA standalone is a book that tells a complete story on its own, with no sequel needed.Also: Stand-alone, Standalone novel
- TropeA trope is a familiar story pattern, a setup, dynamic or moment readers have seen before and often go looking for.
- WorldbuildingWorldbuilding is creating a story’s setting: its geography, history, politics, languages, religions and everyday details.
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Common questions
What is a book term glossary for?
Reading has a lot of shorthand, like TBR, DNF, ARC, HEA, slow burn and grimdark. A glossary tells you what each one means, so reviews and recommendations make sense the first time you read them.
What does TBR mean?
To be read. It’s the list or pile of books you plan to read next, and probably the most common abbreviation in the reading world.
What does DNF mean in books?
Did not finish. It’s a book you stopped reading partway through.
Are these entries spoiler-free?
Yes. Each entry explains the term itself. When an example helps, we use well-known classics or describe the idea in general terms, so no current books get spoiled.