You're all excited. An author
you've read before released another book. You plunk down your hard
earned money and wait by your mailbos or open your Kindle.
The first half of the book pulls
you in and you're on a wild ride. Oh, there are a few troublesome things, but
you think to yourself the author didn't mean it THAT way.
And then, it gets weirder and weirder.
The author crosses a line you've
drawn in the sand - your, "I-can't-read-this-type-of-book" line. What
do you do?
1. Hope it will get better?
2. Finish the book to see how the author
justifies a foray into forbidden territory?
3. Walk away and never look back?
4. Write a scathing review?
5. Try to find some redeeming lesson in the
story?
This happened to me recently. I
know how it feels to be so disappointed and upset after investing so much time
reading a book.
I chose Option 3 - Walking away
and never looking back. Options 1 and 2 didn't work for me since I'd already
been trying to justify the storyline. Option 4 - I don't write this type of
review - ever. Why?
1. I don't want to bring attention to a book I
feel might be detrimental to another person.
2. Negative reviews sometimes have a positive
effect on sales. Go figure.
3. As an author myself, I understand the hard
work that goes into writing a book. This tale was outside my normal genre. It
was better to pray for the author than tearing the story to shreds (a strong
temptation - let me tell you).
The last option didn't work
either. The story was on such a downward slide that I doubted it could be
rescued.
And, no, I'm not naming names or
titles!
Writers and Readers: What are
your thoughts on this subject?
Photo Credit: DaVinciS
Photo Credit: DaVinciS
1 comment:
I sometimes review books for a publisher. One of the publishers I used to review for told me I
qualified for a "bonus" book. It was a PDF. (I am not a fan of PDFs.) I got into it and decided I could NOT continue reading it, let alone write a decent review. I emailed the publisher through the review email address and expressed my thoughts. They let me NOT review that book. I did NOT feel bad about backing out of that review. I am a conservative Christian. I have learned what moves a story along. That book, as I remember, was more or less the author complaining about how she had been treated badly by life. I don't remember the name of the book or the name of the author.
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