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?

Persistent rumors that Taylor Swift has written a secret spy novel have been proven untrue – the reviews for the book have been so bad that some have wondered if the whole situation was just a marketing stunt.

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

Despite not yet being released in book form, it has been made into a movie starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Dua Lipa and Henry Cavill, with Apple Original Films reportedly paying a whopping $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 mystery writer named Elly Conway.

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

Apple reportedly paid a whopping $200 million for the book, which has received less than stellar reviews (Photo: A promotional poster for the film)

However, he did say that she was involved in the project in one way, confirming that she was indirectly the inspiration for the upcoming film, which will hit the big screen in February.

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

“I read the conspiracies and I thought, wow, they’re leaving no 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 lot of people trying to jump on her bandwagon left, right and center, and I don’t want to be part of that club.”

Matthew did admit that the superstar unintentionally inspired the film.

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

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

‘I came home one day, it was Christmas, and I thought, “What is that noise?” And I’m running through 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 it, and they had talked my wife, Claudia (Schiffer), into giving it to them kitten for Christmas,” he revealed.

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

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

“It was purchased without my permission and hidden from me.”

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

Argylle: the plot behind the mysterious thriller

A promotional poster for Argylle the film

Despite not being released yet, Elly Conway’s Argylle has already been adapted into a film by Matthew Vaughn, set for release in February.

The plot follows introverted spy writer Elly Conway (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) who gets sucked into the real world of espionage when the plots of her books get a little too close to the activities of a sinister underground syndicate.

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 mystery writer named Elly Conway.

‘When I read this early draft manuscript, I felt that it was the most incredible and original spy franchise since Ian Fleming’s books of the 1950s. This is going to reinvent the spy genre,” Vaughn, the mastermind behind Kingmens gushed.

But surprisingly little has been shared about Elly, whose name is spelled interchangeably as Ellie and Elly in promotional materials.

On the Penguin website, Elly’s biography simply reads: “She lives in the United States and is currently working on the next installment in the series.”

“That first day of filming with the cat we had – this actor cat – didn’t really work, and I literally went into my daughter’s bedroom, because the cat sleeps with her, and I said, ‘Look, I’m going to borrow the cat.’ And she said, “Good.”

Now the rumors have been further disputed following the publication of book reviews, many of which were less than positive.

Some are so bad that people are wondering if the rumors that Taylor wrote the novel were just a marketing stunt to get people talking about the project.

Among the worst reviews on Goodreads (three percent of articles gave the book one star), one reader simply wrote, “Nothing new. Nothing new.’

Many of the others addressed the rumors of marketing stunts in their reviews.

According to one person, “I only started this because of Taylor’s 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 because of the Taylor Swift hype. I agree that if she wrote the book, it is an impressive achievement.

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

“Let’s hope the movie is better.”

Another (apparently angrier reviewer) added: ‘This movie follows me like a shadow… f*** this marketing tactic to the moon.’

Meanwhile, another reviewer was so unimpressed that he shared another theory about how the book came together.

They wrote: “DNF on Chapter 5. I agree with others who have read this. It’s not the plot of the movie. There is no author, no cat. How can someone “suck marrow through his eyeballs”? The writing is terrible. Sentences have no meaning whatsoever. The author’s comment makes no sense, especially when you compare it to the back cover of the author’s text. I have a theory. This book was AI-generated to promote the film.”

While there were also some positive reviews on Amazon, some readers also felt like they had been fed rumors.

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

Some of the slightly more generous reviewers, among the 10 percent who the. novel two stars, rumors of the conspiracy theory were still rife.

One wrote: ‘It’s a rubbish novel. You buy it at the airport and take it with you on holiday.’ – A life less ordinary, 1997

‘I bought this at the airport and took it with me on holiday, which may have some influence on the outcome, but it’s not a particularly in-depth book. The reference to one of Matthew Vaughn’s earlier films dropped with the subtlety of an anvil.

‘I’m willing to reconsider my rating and review after seeing the film this book is associated with, but for now it’s two stars. (If this was written by Taylor Swift, as rumored, it’s her worst writing since the album that titled it. And she was about 12 when she wrote that).”

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

Another added: “If this is really Taylor Swift she better stick to her absolutely heartbreaking songs that have captivated me since I was 9 because this book was just… bad.”

Some refused to believe the rumors from the start.

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

“BUT THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT A TAYLOR SWIFT NOVEL, AT ALL.”

In a similar vein, another reviewer added, “There’s no way Taylor Swift wrote this. Whoever created that rumor did this author a favor and I’m shocked that such a major motion picture is being adapted from this book. Maybe they will fix the problems the book has…which was on the boring side and clumsily written. I couldn’t remember and wished I had gotten it from the library instead of buying it.’