(no subject)

[fadeaccompli]

I've been trying to actually put reviews on Amazon, lately. And post them here. I don't read as fast as I used to, but since I get most of my book recommendations from reviews--either by friends or on places like Tor.com--it seems like I ought to return the favor somewhat.

But...it's a little awkward, after a point, when I realize I'm only really posting five-star reviews on Amazon and hearty recommendations. Because it feels a bit insincere if I'm only ever talking about the stuff I really, really liked. It kinda makes it look like I'm just indiscriminately highly recommending everything I read. I wouldn't particularly trust a reviewer who only posted unqualified chipper reviews all the time.

...and yet, I have such limited time and brainpower these days, I pretty much only finish books if I really, really like them. (And even those sometimes take a few attempts, just because I lack the energy necessary to follow the complex plots I enjoy.) I'm reading a book right now that's probably a 3-4 star one, depending on how it ends--"I liked a lot of stuff in here, but it had some issues"--and, well. I haven't touched it in a few weeks, because there are all these other truly amazing books hanging around waiting for me.

Not quite sure what to do about that. (And it seems unfair to review books I didn't finish, even if I didn't finish them because I didn't like them. Especially since a lot of the time I didn't like them because they weren't to my taste, not because they were objectively Low Quality or anything.)

Comments

[archangelbeth]

It is fair to review books you didn't finish, I think -- though I'd be perfectly open about saying, "I didn't finish this one." Then you go on and add, "...because I didn't like [whatever]. If [whatever] doesn't bother you or you even like that sort of plot element, then the book may be worth looking at! Tastes do differ." If you can find one or two good things to say about it, such as, "the universe was well-realized even though I thought the protagonist was a milksop" or "characterization seemed good though I hated the setting," then hey, the author should have no complaints, and neither should people reading the reviews.

[fadeaccompli]

I'm not sure if "This was a great idea that was horribly butchered by this hackwork" counts as a positive, but I may go for it at some point.

[archangelbeth]

*laugh* Well, if you want to be gentle(r), you say, "This is a great idea, but I felt it was [poorly executed] / [crippled by typos] / [stabbed through the heart with simplistic "run, dick, run. see dick run" sentences]. If the idea really grabs you by the id, you may be able to overlook the issues, but download a sample first if you can."

...and you don't have to be positive, really. Some of the more entertaining reviews are chock-fulla-SNARK!

[fadeaccompli]

Alas, I don't think I'm particularly good at snark. Bad books just tend to...disappoint, really. And disappointment isn't very entertaining.

[archangelbeth]

Alas!

Hm. More legal classes, if you want to do snark. Lawyers seem to do good snark... O;> (Teasing, teasing!)