page-turner

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a noun and informal critical term describing a book characterised by such compelling narrative momentum that the reader is driven to turn each page quickly in the desire to reach the next revelation, development, or resolution; a page-turner achieves its effect through the strategic management of suspense — ending chapters on moments of tension or unanswered questions, alternating periods of action with brief respites, and constantly rewarding the reader's forward movement with new information that creates fresh desire to continue; the term is applied most readily to genre fiction — thrillers, mysteries, horror, and romance — but can describe any book, regardless of literary ambition, that achieves the quality of narrative urgency; the page-turner's critics argue that the form prioritises event over language and character depth over surface excitement, but its defenders note that the ability to sustain a reader's compulsive engagement across hundreds of pages is itself a considerable artistic achievement