Hi everyone! Welcome to the first EVER discussion post on Lekeisha The Booknerd. I’m sure someone has already discussed this in the past, but I am bringing it up again. A lot of things have been irking me lately around the book blogosphere; specifically, REVIEWING & RATING books. Now, I’m not trying to throw anyone under the bus. I just want to understand how you guys go about RATING a book with heavy subject matter. Are you afraid of being the one to hate the book, because everyone else loves it?
Whether it’s sex, drugs, shootings, mental illness…. Does any of these influence your ratings? Or more importantly, your opinions?
Do you feel the need to say that a book was great, just because it involves something so tragic? It’s okay to not like something that’s so heavily guarded. Sure, not everyone will love the same book. Lately, though, I’ve been reading lots of reviews of books with controversial topics, and the reviewers have been giving CONS like you wouldn’t believe, but then turn around and 5 STAR the book.
And then there are those books that are so freaking TABOO, that readers aren’t even getting the message. They only see that taboo subject and judge the WHOLE book based on it. State your pros & cons and give a proper rating. No one wants to bash a book, but you are making it hard for readers like me to trust your opinion if you insist on saying that book is “AMAZING”, when you actually felt the opposite. No one wants to admit this. Heck, I’ve done it back in 2012 on Goodreads. I didn’t want to hurt the author’s feelings, but the book wasn’t all that. It wasn’t a bad read either. I’m saying that I’d rather have an honest negative, than a dishonest positive. I’m sure other readers and PUBLISHERS want the same thing. I said that to say this………….
I could be wrong, but enlighten me. I see bloggers fearing to give negative reviews because they’re scared the ARCs will stop coming their way. Wait, what? YUP, I see posts on social media all the time.
Are you truly, 100% sure that you are giving your HONEST opinion? Don’t you want to be known as the reviewer, whose opinion readers value?
This post is not for bashing. It is just a simple question, that doesn’t require hateful answers. Have you embellished your reviews in the past? Do you know someone who has? Are you afraid to be the black sheep? Guess what? WE, meaning readers – authors – publishers, WANT YOUR HONEST OPINION!!
Lekeisha The Booknerd 
FANTASTIC TOPIC! This is one of the things I’m really worried about tbh.
Heavy subject matter is something that I will give high praise to, but only if it’s dealt with in a coherently, realistically and correctly. Furthermore, it has to be a part of the plot, or at least important in some way, and not just thrown in for the sake of being thrown in, to attract more readers/add diversity for the sake of diversity.
There is definitely lots of pressure to increase my rating when I’m reviewing a book with heavy subject matter that everyone else has liked, PARTICULARLY if the heavy subject matter is something that I’m not familiar with. If I’m not familiar with the subject matter, I’m more likely to go with the flow, because I feel less confident of my perception of the book being “correct” as such. For example, when reading a book about suicidality, I thought that the book was a bit unrealistic and didn’t depict suicidality well, but I was afraid to voice my opinion because I don’t know the topic well enough .
I HOPE THIS ALL MADE SENSE HAHA xD
Geraldine @ Corralling Books
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I think there is SO much pressure to like certain books (aka anything by John Green or Colleen Hoover) and certain pressure especially for books regarding certain subject matter. For example, if you didn’t like a book about someone with some sort of disability, there is a perception that you had something against the disability or the person rather than the book for any number of reasons (i.e. the story, how it was written, etc.)
Great post and welcome to the discussion realm (I just did my first, too!)
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Just because a book features a heavy topic doesn’t mean they handled it well… and in that case I really want to know before I put myself through it, you know? So honest reviews are so important. I don’t rate high unless I actually liked it, regardless of material, regardless if I might get hate or not. I couldn’t care less what of people’s opinion of my opinion… and I wish more people rated that way.
I’ve read books because of positive reviews only to be so disappointed, which prompted me to change how I look at reviews to get a more objective opinion. But it’d be so much easier if people were just honest.
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I totally agree!
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This is a really great discussion post! Certainly VERY thought provoking! I know what you mean though- there are so many times that you really can’t figure out why exactly a book is getting five stars, and it just leaves you scratching your head!
Little story for you: My very first review book was completely outside of my genre, and I just said yes because well, someone had asked 😉 So I read the book, was confused as hell, bored like no other, and didn’t know WHAT to do. In truth, I never should have accepted it, but this was a long time ago, and I was dumb. Anyway, it came time to post the review, and I didn’t know what to do- add to it that it was a kind of blog tour situation. BUT I didn’t want to lie- I was NOT willing to lie. So I just didn’t rate it hahah. I listed the things I legitimately did like (and yes, I probably spent more time than I needed talking about them haha) and then the things I did not like. And then I didn’t ever accept random books like that again! Lesson learned!
I absolutely don’t just rate a book high because of the topic. BUT I will usually feel more emotions in that sort of book, which just naturally leads to a higher rating, I think. Actually, there have been a few “tragic”-storied books that I rated low. And some “taboo” ones that I loved! And I am FINE with being a black sheep 😉 I even have a graphic!
Oh, and I am with you- I don’t want to waste my time on someone’s post who you can TELL isn’t being honest. I don’t have time for that. And I think it’s super easy to tell, like you said. Do I like sending in negative reviews to authors or publishers? Of course not! But I feel like they appreciate that more than just saying what you think they want to hear!
FABULOUS post, can’t wait for your next discussion 😀
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Thanks for stopping by!
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I honestly don’t believe I do this. I think most of the time I end disliking popular books and saying so. I don’t think I’m necessarily popular enough for other readers of publishers to care enough if I think there book is crap. I don’t think if the book has a heavier subject I would rate it higher but I might, I will be on the lookout for that although I think it may be how the author presents the issues that sway my ratings more than anything else. Great discussion, can’t wait until the next one!
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Thanks!
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I always feel super awkward posting negative reviews of popular books but I do it anyway because (a) I haven’t gotten any angry comments (yet) and (b) I’m part of the minority but that doesn’t mean I’m the only who didn’t enjoy the book! Also, as bloggers it’s so important to be honest about our opinions. And when I first started blogging I actually never considered the fact that my negative reviews of books might prevent publishers from sending me ARCs..
I think rating/reviews books with controversial topics is especially difficult because I’m never sure how to address things without being offensive/etc. etc.. Sometimes I feel like certain books just have a ton of positive ratings because they’re diverse or deal with those taboo topics (and despite feeling this, I still feel nervous about writing a negative review because everyone is so busy celebrating the fact that this book exists!..and nobody seems to care whether it’s well-written..).
– Rachana @ Addicted to YA
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Dude, I was JUST thinking about this while reading This is the End. I wasn’t head over heels in love with the book, but I really appreciated that the author wrote a book about school shootings. I admit, I rated it a bit higher (like half star?), because she opened the table for discussion on a topic people are so torn about (which it…ridiculous).
I hope you do more discussion topics, love!
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Thanks! I wanted to talk about a few things that have been bothering me. I’m hoping to do at least one discussion per month. Thanks for stopping by!
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I always give my honest opinions. I have hated books most loved and loved books most hated. Doesn’t matter to me. We all have dif opinions and that’s okay.
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If I’m going to do a review, I do leave my honest opinion, and what other people think of the subject matter doesn’t really factor in. I do, however, almost always leave good reviews. I’m not a critical person at all. Sometimes small things bug me that I’ll mention, but I only post the review if I felt the book/film was an overall positive experience for me. If I hate something, I probably won’t be leaving a review.
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What a fantastic topic you have here!!! I think that its so important to be as honest as possible. Although I will say that I do try to be diplomatic and never say anything cruel or mean. But I try to get my point across yet be nice about it too. Many times what influences my enjoyment of the story….is not the conflict or certain issues that come into play, its the writing. Because if you have a talented author, they can write a story with difficult issues and make the book come out as fantastic. Some of my favorite books I have ever read, have been books with hard issues. So I always respect authors that can convey those and bring out a well balanced story.
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I’ve always wondered this about some reviews, especially when it looks like they talk more about negative than positives. Me… I am not bothered about being the black sheep when it comes to a book, no matter what the subject matter. If I don’t like something, I’m going to make sure people know it. Negative reviews are actually some of my favourite to write, it feels therapeutic in a way, to go through why I didn’t enjoy the book or it didn’t work for me. I am the same as you. I am happier giving a book an honest negative review, than a dishonest positive. I’ve never thought about the ARCs and no longer receiving them based on negative reviews. Most publishers make you well aware of the fact that they don’t expect for you to love every book that comes your way.
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A very relevant discussion topic. I think more necessarily it is how well you can politely convey how less you liked the book that matters. It is true that many bloggers over hype book. I have had instances of buying such books only to realise its all hype and no substance
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Nice topic，I’m not afraid to give a negative teview but I’m trying to be respectful of the author. For example my review for F*ck love was hard to write because I have a lot to say and I was really disappointed. And for the Heavy subject if you don’t like the book.I don’t understand why you put 5 stars. I’m honest with my review，I’m thi.king that I will be less nice this year with my rating because last year was my first complete year and my rating was very high and.sometimes disproportionned.
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I always try to be 100% honest in my reviews and go where my heart takes me – and yes sometimes it does take me against the grain. If you look my Goodreads ratings, sometimes you might come across a book everyone loved but I hated, or vice versa I loved something everyone else hated 🙂 True, it doesn’t happen often, when it does, yes it tears me up inside and make me wonder if something is “wrong” with me! Thankfully I’ve never felt the pressure from the blogging community to like/dislike a book just because of subject matter, and for the most part folks are very respectful of differing opinions. I’m a big believer of honesty and constructive criticism – as long as it’s respectful and civil – and every blogger should feel safe to express their true feelings. I know not everyone has been so lucky though, and I’ve heard some horror stories of some bloggers catching heat just for stating their honest opinion. So if some people are wary, I really can’t blame them. Which is why this post has given me a lot of food for thought. Great topic, thanks for sharing!
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I actually feel like I am pretty tough when rating a book. I honestly feel like 3 stars is a good rating. I don’t give out a lot of 5 stars either. I see some reviewers that seem to give every book 5 stars and I just wonder how that could be. I will leave bad reviews and I don’t even worry about it affecting the number of ARCs that I receive. There are times that I wonder if I could have possibly read the same book as the other readers but I do know that 2 people can look at a book very differently.
I don’t think that the subject matter would really have an influence on my rating. I rate books completely on how much I enjoyed reading them. I don’t think that I choose many books written about controversial subjects because they just don’t appeal to me all that much.
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“I’d rather have an honest negative, than a dishonest positive. ” <<< perfectly put. Main reason why a few indie authors have dropped me on their list because I dare dislike one of their books. Gasp!
I'm not afraid… anymore. LOL
I have to admit, my concern was more for the self=published/indie authors who reached out to me personally. There's not "wall" to pad a negative review unlike with traditionally published authors. I don't want to hurt their feelings because some of them take things so personal. Not that I blame them, but I don't want to get into a discussion about objectivity and creative interpretation.
I'm a firm believer that once we made something public, be it a creation, an opinion, it stops being a personal thing. It's out there to be interpreted and scrutinized therefore you should be ready for the good and bad that is bound to come your way. Facebook should've taught this to all of us by now.
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Yay for discussion posts! I would honestly love to see more in the future as well ❤ I know what you mean about this topic and I have seen this done too. I know sometimes it can be hard but when it comes to ratings and reviews I always try to be honest as possible and put aside how lovely the publisher, author or how much hype the book has. I think you probably already know this about me because the average rating on goodreads from me is a 3.5 ish (somewhere like that) and it is pretty rare for me to give a book the full five stars! I might be harsh, but that means that when readers see me giving a book five stars it is the real deal. And I think honest opinions will always outdo those done under pressure.
Again, this argument also makes me understand what the bloggers who don't give ratings are doing. Some of them just write the review and mention the pros and cons, and then leave it up to the reader to decide where they stand on wanting to read it or not.
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Lekeisha, I am so sorry that author tried to pressure you to take your review down and made that horribly bigoted remark. There is really no excuse for that.
As for your question … no. In fact, if a book takes on a heavy subject matter (mental illness, suicide, a school shooting) I hold it to a higher standard. I feel so disappointed when a book seems to take on a topic like that just for drama or shock value. As for the fear of rejection, all I can do is be honest. But I do think there’s constructive honesty and brutal honesty and I try for the former.
Great topic – I love discussion posts!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics
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I actually don’t look at reviews and ratings before I post my own review and rating, Lekeisha. And while my average rating is quite high, I like to think it’s because I’m good at choosing the books I want to read 😀 I also really read a lot of books every year by authors I love – and like Kim above, I think some authors would have to write something really, really horrific (not in the subject matter, but bad writing, or a character suddenly changing without explanation or something like that).
I don’t know about subject matter changing the way I view a book. I think there are two things that are really important to me, personally, when I read a book – one is that there is at least some character development – that the character(s) evolve in some way, it can be either positive or negative, based on their experiences throughout the story – and I need to feel something. Sad, angry, happy, squirmy… an author that is able to make me feel already has some mad skills in my opinion 🙂
I don’t think I’ve seen the reviews you are talking about… because I don’t think I’ve seen any reviews that are very negative in what is written but then give a high rating – or the opposite.
Great topic, Lekeisha!
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I know exactly what you mean. I’ve seen some reviews I just don’t think are truthful. I mean who 4 & 5 stars EVERY book they read? I just rate and review honestly and of other bloggers or whoever doesn’t like it then oh well. Great discussion post!!
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I SO agree with you! I’ve actually done this myself once or twice but then I’ve had to take a step back and really evaluate what I was doing. I want to be honest, but at the same time I don’t want to just bash the book so sometimes this DOES play a part in it, you know? It’s sad, but it’s the truth. Now, I’ve decided to take a step back, talk about the things I didn’t like, the things I did like and then go from there. Of course we’re not going to like EVERY SINGLE THING in the book and there are going to be things that we HATE, but in the end, it’s for the benefit of the reader to tell the truth.
I LOVE YOUR DISCUSSION POST SO HARD GIRL! PLEASEEEEE DO MOREEE! ❤ XOXOXO
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You bring up some valid and honest points, Lekeisha. I am into my fifth year of blogging, and I am happy to say that I no longer feel pressured to bump up a review because I am worried about author’s responses or publishers not sending me ARCS. I know early on, I felt like this, but I have always tried to be honest in my reviews. I am not afraid to give a book a lower rating if it doesn’t work no matter the topic. Once you get over the ARC bug, you will feel so much more freedom in blogging. ARCS aren’t all that, once you have slogged through several hundred that are just average reads, you will be longing for something else.
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Great discussion Lekisha. I try to be very honest and sometimes my thoughts are very different from others who have read the book. I know what you are talking about, I have read some of those reviews. Am I sometimes biased? Perhaps. There are a few series I love so dang much that maybe I am blind to any flaws..such as Ilona Andrews and their books or Pierce Brown’s Red Rising trilogy and The Others by Anne Bishop..but my fangirling comes from love of the series not out of obligation. I am a VA for an author whose books I love, but I have yet to give her a five star..because I need that book high in a romance where I cannot set it down and lose myself so completely and that rarely happens in contemporary romance for me..so bottom line..I try to give my honest thoughts and opinions and would treat any work the same.
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This is an excellent topic. I always try to be honest in my reviews. If I read something where I think a difficult subject is mishandled I’ll do my best to express that in my review while laying out why I thought it wasn’t done well.
There’s only time I can remember being worried about others’ reaction to my thoughts and trying to soften the blow in my review. It was with my review of Night Broken by Patricia Briggs. When I read this one I really disliked how Mercy Thompson’s sexual assault from one of the previous books was being handled and found Adam to be a problematic hero. While I still gave the book a D and discussed why I found these aspects worrying, I was much more gentle in how I discussed it than I would have been with a less popular author. While I’ve received some of Briggs’ books as ARC’s in the past, fear of not being selected in the future for an ARC wasn’t my motivation for doing that. It was that I know Briggs has an avid fanbase and posting negative reviews of books with a die hard fanbase is always slightly nerve-wrecking.
Sometimes though I think readers suffer under the impression that because a book is tackling a difficult subject that it automatically makes that work important. So, even though the novel may not work for them or the subject may not be handled all that well, they tend to blame themselves more than how it was written. Also, there might be some fear of being negatively labeled if they say they didn’t like a book being praised for handling a difficult subject. The same goes for a taboo subject. I’m sure there’s some worry about people believing that you are on board with something, just because you like a book that tackles a taboo subject.
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Nicely said! It’s different and scary because you fear trolls attacking because you didn’t like it. Heck, I gave a book 3.5 stars and stated what I liked/disliked, and still got trolled. Very popular author who has an old fanbase, and she came at me hard. Stating that the author is great and if I didn’t like such and such, it’s because I didn’t understand it, blah blah blah. It was crazy. I finally blocked her. I get it, you have to think about what to say without offending the author’s hard work. Thanks!
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Exactly! It drives me crazy when someone goes onto a review and tells the reader that they don’t understand a book or subject just because their opinion is different. Sorry you got trolled on that one. I hate when it happens.
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This is an ongoing debate among traditionally-published authors. There’s a networking aspect to it. I could trash a fellow author’s books and find myself seated next to her at an event…awkward! So I personally only review books I like. If I don’t have anything nice to say, I don’t say anything at all. There are a few exceptions–the how-to-write book I mentioned last week got a negative review from me on Amazon but she’s a very successful author and won’t care about my review! I don’t want anyone to look at my reviews as gospel on books and I’m not a professional reviewer, so that’s a huge part of it! But I also don’t really get ARCs. My reviews are of books I buy except the ones I get on Edelweiss for my fellow Simon & Schuster authors.
Stephanie
http://stephie5741.blogspot.com
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There’s a way to write a positive negative review without bashing the author. I don’t get down that way, but I will state what I didn’t like about it. There has to be negative reviews written; to only right positives defeats the purpose. I’m not a pro reviewer and neither are a lot of us bloggers, but to write a glowing review on a book that you hated is wrong. I guess it’s different for everyone. I just don’t like what this whole book blogging thing has become. Even before I became one, there were maybe 50 bloggers that I looked forward to reading reviews from because that’s what made me go out and buy a book. I either buy my own books or go to the library – I’ve won quite a few too, but if I get ARCs, they come from NG and EW or the occasional physical one for a blog tour or something. I’m talking about the bloggers who don’t want to offend a publisher just so they can keep getting book mail. If that’s the only reason they’re blogging, they need to stop.
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I really do believe I review every book honestly but this is a good reminder about why we should regardless of the messages and hype. Do I rate a book higher if it has a harder message to it? Maybe, it depends on if that message reaches me or not and how many emotions it brings out because of it.
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Thanks for dropping in. I just want to know how you guys feel about any of this. I saddens me when i feel lied to, or how bloggers just seem to want ARCs but feel as if they rate them all high, the more that will come their way.
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GIRL! First off, I absolutely loathe people that lie on reviews. Why? Because it’s not truly helpful for a reader. I mean isn’t that the point? To get an honest opinion on a book. Is a review law? No. But I would like to think what I’m reading is honest. This is why I don’t often like to do tours. They often tell you if a book is three stars or less don’t post your review. I have a big problem with that.
As far as books with heavy subject matter, if it’s not handled well or written well I’ll say that. It’s no sweat off my back. I don’t have anyone to impress. You don’t like my opinion? Don’t ask for it, you know what i mean? Great post!
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Yeah, I’ve done tours where I hated the book but opted to just do an excerpt. After the tour is over, I post my review.
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I have a similar discussion post coming up, but I’m looking at the community as a whole and not just when it comes to heavy/taboo subject matter.
Anyways, this is all very interesting. The fear that ARCs won’t come their way is a little bit ridiculous, because it also comes across as greedy. In an essence when someone says that, they are saying that they are blogging/reviewing to get ARCs and not for their readers/themselves.
I’m not generally a fan of heavy subject matter books so I’ve never really come across that kind of dilemma. I did read that Cynthia Hand contemporary novel and felt NOTHING throughout the book and ended up rating it pretty low. I posted my review but there were times I felt like I was heartless bitch for not crying and feeling as much as other readers did.
I’m with you though. Honesty is so important when it comes to this community!
Very interesting post, Lekeisha!
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A lot of bloggers rate their blogs success on getting physical ARCs, when it shouldn’t even be about that. I almost rolled my eyes out of my head reading a tweet last week. The person stated that they are scared to DNF or give negative reviews because the publisher may cut them off. Ridiculous!
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I’ve received a couple of ARCs lately so I’ve thought about this topic. My very first ARC review was After the Crash by Michel Bussi. I thought it was just okay but overall lackluster. I said so in the title and listed out everything I liked and did NOT like about the book in my review. After that I saw other people’s reviews and everyone else praised it, giving it high star ratings. The publisher featured these positive reviews and expressed their love to bloggers who praised the book. I know people like different things but can I really be the only one? I really think people, maybe even subconciously, make themselves like ARCs because they are afraid the publisher wont want to work with them in the future. I just can’t lie and say I liked a book or that it was great when it was not. I am not so obsessed with getting free stuff that I will lead my blog viewers toward books I know are bad.
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Exactly my point. I am not the one for false advertisement. And publishers hype certain books over others, which I think is not right. That’s why I say tell the truth. Sure, there is always the case of a reader actually liking a book more than the next person. I am just not into lying to sale something. I don’t care what it is.
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Great discussion, Lekeisha! I tend to steer clear of books with a heavy subject matter just because I like to read for fun, not to end up being depressed in the end, ya know?! That being said, I am always 100% honest in my reviews. Do I bash a book if I don’t like it? Absolutely not… But I do explain why I didn’t like it, and I may rant a little if it upset me, but I’ll still recommend it to people who I think would like it 🙂
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That’s how I am too. I don’t rant, but sometimes it seems that way if I am listing all the things I disliked. About 4 years ago, an author asked me to take my review down from Amazon because she said, and I quote, “your negative review and 2 star rating doesn’t help my book sales.” It hurt me so badly because she took an even worse turn and said “black people don’t know what a good book is”. I have been reading since I was 7, and I know what I like. That was so mean, after I took the time to read her book.
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This is a great topic to discuss! I always tyr to give my 100% honest opinion, but I’m afraid it doesn’t always work. Sometimes I take other thigns into account: other people’s opinions, for example. If I scroll down the reviews on Goodreads first, this might influence my rating, although it shouldn’t. I do this sometimes when I’m not sure what I thought about a book, or how to rate it. Sometimes seeing other people write out my thoughts might help me clear my mind about it. Also, when I have a publisher I really really really like I’m more reluctant to give out bad ratings. I will do it if the book is really bad, but it is something I take into account, yes. I wish I could say it isn’t so, but you can get influenced by so many things without even wanting to, and sometimes without realizing it.
Majanka @ I Heart Reading
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Thank you for being honest! See, this is what I want to know; the reasons behind the reviews and ratings. I can’t judge anyone, because I am guilty of it myself. Thank you for stopping by sweetie!
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This is a good series of questions, Lekeisha. I have to consider these occasionally when I step back and evaluate my own reviewing process.
There is the temptation to sugar coat a review book particularly if its part of a tour commitment. I have re-written reviews a few days later and toned down a response, but that is generally because I went off and had time to cool down. I might rework my actual words, but my impressions and ratings rarely change.
When all is said and done, my honest opinion is there even if its ‘meh’ or ‘dislike’ for some element/s of the story.
Do I try very hard to not rant and be unprofessional? Yes. But I do say what I like and what I don’t like. Usually with the tours, I do the courtesy of posting a less than positive review on a different day.
For reviews where I don’t really say bad things, it’s either because there aren’t any that come to mind. Many times if a rating is average, I don’t have something negative to say, but I can’t come up with overwhelming positives, either. And I usually don’t have really low ratings because at that point, its a DNF.
I’ve DNF’d or had less than positive reviews on books acquired from publishers over the years, but I’ve never been afraid of them pulling ARCs. I figure if they do that, then its their professional ethics in question not mine. No publishers have ever stopped sending me ARCs or questioned a negative review. I’ve had authors do this when I gave less than favorable opinions about a book, but not promoters.
As to shocking, taboo, or touchy topics, there aren’t many that make me squirm at this point in my reading career. I can be shocked still, but its usually by a twist in the plot or the way the topic is handled. I’ve yet to rate a story low b/c of the topic. That’s on me if it makes me uncomfortable and not the writing which is what I’m reviewing. Although there was one time I made it clear that I wasn’t happy that a non-consent dark erotic romance was listed as a contemporary romance and the blurb was also pretty ambiguous so no hints there, either. That was not cool. Warn a gal!
But anywho, back to the subject of these type of topics, I’ve had author upset at me b/c they wrote about a sensitive topic that I felt didn’t strike a right tone with that topic and said so. I didn’t connect emotionally with the characters so I didn’t buy into their situation. Had nothing to do with how I felt about the topic. I also need a real story plot going on and not just a titillating taboo to wow me.
Well there you go. 🙂 Thanks for offering a discussion, Lekeisha!
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I agree with your process. I have just seen a lot of reviews that seem so fake, yet the reviewer still tries to convince you that the book is awesome. I hate this: “the pacing is slow and the characters are underdeveloped, etc…….. I really never felt connected, but I can tell the author took the time to write this. 5 stars!” Seriously? You want me to believe that after all the negatives? I just don’t comment, and keep going. I can understand 3 or 3.5 maybe 4, but not 5 stars. Anyhoo, that’s just an example of what I read last week. Thanks for stopping by Sophia! I just felt the need to ask. I have done it myself in the past.
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