Argylle book is branded 'disappointing' 'boring' as it's revealed its not been penned by Taylor Swift - so is the secrecy around real writer of book that caused a $200M bidding war all just a clever marketing ploy?

 Poor reviews for the book have left people wondering if it was a marketing stuntREAD MORE: Taylor Swift did NOT secretly write spy novel Argylle but has inspired the upcoming film according to director Matthew Vaughn

Persistent rumours that Taylor Swift penned a secret spy novel have turned out to be untrue – with reviews for the book so bad, some have questioned whether the whole situation was simply a marketing stunt.

Previously, fans of the 34-year-old musician believed she was the brains behind spy book Argylle, working under the psuedonym Elly Conway.

Despite not yet being released in book format, the tome has been made into a film  starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill, with Apple Original Films reportedly paying an eye-watering $200 million for it.

The film was first announced in June 2021, with Matthew Vaughn directing from a script by Jason Fuchs, adapted from a yet-to-be-published novel by a mysterious writer named Elly Conway.

But Matthew Vaughn denied claims that the hitmaker was the book’s creator. He argued that Taylor didn’t have time to put pen to paper and create the thriller in between her Eras tour and attending boyfriend Travis Kelce’s games.

MARKETING STUNT: The film stars Henry Cavill as the lead Agent Argylle opposite femme fatale Dua Lipa (both pictured). Rumours had spread that Taylor Swift had penned the novel the film is based on – but the reviews for the book are now so bad, some have questioned whether the rumours were a marketing stunt

Apple reportedly paid an eye-watering $200 million for the book – which has received less than stellar reviews (pictured: a promotional poster for the film)

However, he did say she was involved in one way in the project, confirming she indirectly inspired the upcoming movie, which is set to hit the big screen in February.

‘There is a real book … and it’s a really good book. And there is an Elly Conway who wrote the book, but it’s not Taylor Swift,’ he clarified in a new interview with Rolling Stone.

‘I did read the conspiracies and I was like, wow, they don’t leave a stone unturned! But it’s not Taylor Swift. She definitely didn’t write the book.’

‘And I say that because I imagine Taylor Swift has a load of people trying to jump on her bandwagon left, right, and center, and I don’t want to be a part of that club.’

Matthew did admit that the superstar inadvertently inspired the film.

Taylor is the proud owner of two Scottish Fold cats – the same breed of cat that is featured in the film.

Matthew revealed that the cat appeared in the movie because his family bought it after being inspired by Taylor’s pets.

‘I got home one day, it was Christmas, and I was like, “What the f**k is that noise?” And I’m running around the house and I hear a noise, and the kids had seen a Taylor Swift documentary [Miss Americana] and there was a Scottish Fold in that, and they’d persuaded my wife, Claudia [Schiffer], to get them the kitten for Christmas,’ he revealed.

Taylor Swift (pictured at the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills in January) was at one point rumoured to be the book’s author

The film’s director, Matthew Vaughn, denied that claim that the singer penned the book, though he did confirm she indirectly inspired the upcoming movie; He is pictured in 2023

‘It was bought without my permission and hidden from me.’

Matthew then clarified that they had originally cast another cat actor, but he simply didn’t work out, prompting him to ask his daughter whether he could borrow her cat, Chip, for the role.

‘That first day of filming with the cat we had — this actor cat — wasn’t really working out, and I literally went to my daughter’s bedroom, because the cat sleeps with her, and I said, “Look, I’m gonna borrow the cat.” And she went, “Fine.”

Now the rumours have been even further disputed following the release of book reviews, many of which have been less than positive.

Some are so bad, it has prompted people to question whether the rumours that Taylor penned the novel were just a marketing stunt to get people talking about the project.

Among the worst of the reviews on Goodreads (three per cent of the write-ups have given the book a single star), one reader simply wrote: ‘Nothing fresh. Nothing new.’

Many of the others addressed the marketing stunt rumours in their reviews.

According to one: ‘I started this only because of the Taylor swift rumors and couldn’t get through it. There’s no way she wrote this.’

Another added: ‘This book is bad. I finished it purely due to the Taylor Swift hype. I’ll admit that if she wrote the book it is an impressive feat.

‘The characters are the dumbest I’ve ever met. It seems like it was written by someone who does not know how people talk to each other or how humans interact and has never seen a spy movie.

‘Let’s hope the movie is better.’

A further (seemingly more angry reviewer), added: ‘This movie follows me like a shadow… f*** this marketing tactic to the moon.’

Meanwhile, another reviewer was so unimpressed they shared another theory about how the book may have been put together.

They wrote: ‘DNF at Chapter 5. I agree with others who have read this. It is not the movie plot. There is no author, no cat. How can someone “suck marrow through their eyeballs”? The writing is horrible. Sentences do not make any sense. The author’s note doesn’t make any sense, especially when compared to the back flap about the author blurb. I have a theory. This book was AI generated to promote the movie.’

Meanwhile on Amazon, while there were also some positive reviews, there too some readers felt they had been fed rumours.

The novel Argylle was released on January 9 by a pseudonymous author with the pen name Elly Conway, and has already been turned into a movie starring Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill

Some of the slightly more generous reviewers, among the 10 per cent who gave the. novel two stars, the conspiracy theory rumours were still rife.

One wrote: ‘”It’s a trash novel. You buy it in the airport, you take it on holiday.” – A Life Less Ordinary, 1997

‘I did buy this at the airport and took it on holiday with me, which may have some bearing on the result, but it’s not a particularly deep book. The reference to one of Matthew Vaughn’s previous films dropped with all the subtlety of an anvil.

‘I’m willing to reconsider my rating and review after watching the movie that this book ties into, but for now it’s two stars. (If this is written by Taylor Swift as rumoured, it’s her worst writing since the stuff titled album. And she was about twelve when she wrote that).’

While some reviewers still thought the book was bad, they were not convinced by the conspiracy theory

Another added: ‘If this truly is Taylor Swift then she’d better stick to her absolutely heart-wrenching songs that have been enthralling me since I was 9 because this book was just…bad.’

A number refused to believe the rumours from the beginning.

Among them was one who wrote: ‘I saw the movie preview awhile ago and thought it looked fun and silly. And then I heard the rumors that Taylor Swift had written it, which piqued my interest. I consider myself a somewhat Swiftie, as I love her music and am quite enjoying her romance with Travis Kelce, but I’m not huge into conspiracy theories or decoding hours of social media posts to cobble together Easter eggs, I could, however, believe that Swift would secretly publish a book, so when this popped up as a Libro FM ALC for this month, I was excited to give it a read.

‘BUT THIS IS MOST DEFINITELY NOT A TAYLOR SWIFT NOVEL, Y’ALL.’

In a similar vein, a further reviewer added: ‘There is no way that Taylor Swift wrote this. Whoever created that rumor did this author a favor and I am shook that such a big movie is being adapted from this book. Maybe they will fix the issues the book has…which was on the boring side and has awkward writing. I had to DNF and wished that I had gotten it from the library instead of buying it.’