I’m working on my review for Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold. I’m having a difficult time with it, because it’s one of those so-so books that are so-so to write about. And sometimes, when I’m feeling stuck, I like to look at other reviews, especially on Amazon.com. Seeing what a bunch of other people have found noteworthy can often jar loose unarticulated thoughts in my head and provide me with some much-needed focus. But … Continue reading On bad reviews, redux
Edit: Assume, for this article, that I’m talking in particular about well-written, entertaining reviews by people with a better-than-tenuous grasp on English and logic, and not poorly-written hack reviews, either positive or negative. Via Paperback Writer, Cynthia Harrison quotes author and literary critic James Atlas on why we love negative reviews. “Why is a stern critical denunciation so invigorating? It appeals, I think, to the punitive, grudging, envious impulses we generally suppress in our daily … Continue reading Why Evil Reviews Are So Much More Fun Than Nice Reviews
Sarah posted her grading standards, so what the hell, I figured I’ll post mine. Some things I want to make clear: When I read a romance novel, I’m not looking for absolute realism. If I wanted something realistic, I’ll pick up some non-fiction. What I do look for is a sort of believable internal consistency. In the immortal words of Mark Twain: “(T)he man who talks corrupt English six days in the week must and … Continue reading Candy’s Grading System
There, I hope that title just upped our ranking on Google when people search for “romance novel reviews.” I looked in our referrer log and just about died laughing because here’s what people were Googling for when they stumbled on us: – Sarah Paoletti – Smart bitches – Trashy bitches – Dominican bitches I’m going to say Romance Novel Review several more times throughout this entry because maybe Google will pick up on the key … Continue reading Romance Novels Romance Novel Reviews Romance Reviews
