Comments on: Reviews or puff?

By: gav

gav — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:14:57 +0000

Thanks for all the replies. Still mulling it over and thinking about how I might refine future reviews.

By: Tia

Tia — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 01:27:41 +0000

I thought of the same thing. I have not worked from many ARCs, but they all have carried this disclaimer.

I have not quoted much from the books that I cover, and I actually don’t recall many others quoting from the book, either. If I have a specific critique about a specific thing, I will quote. But it has been the exception.

By: SQT

SQT — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:19:03 +0000

John, that’s the same point I made in my post on Blog of the Fallen’s site. I don’t use quotes because I don’t have the time to get approval for them.

Frankly, since I don’t get paid to do reviews I don’t feel an obligation to be super detailed about it. I’ve talked to publishers directly and they don’t care if the review could be printed up in the Washington Post or not. They’re just looking for some good press for the book. To me, blogging is an informal format and most readers are not looking for a full dissertation on a book. They just want a quick, overall impression.

By: John(GraspingfortheWind)

John(GraspingfortheWind) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:35:03 +0000

This commentary on OF doesn’t really take into account something that I thought of. Most ARC’s come with a disclaimer that before a review may quote it, it must be fact-checked against the published edition. That is all well and good, but what if the publisher wants the review out before the book is published? The reviewer therefore cannot quote the book directly and is forced to use only general opinions and descriptions.

I actually avoid quoting for the reasons you mentioned and the above.

Additionally, instead of quoting, I might summarize a scene instead of quoting it, that lets me describe the event I am critiquing without having to quote it.

By: jem

jem — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:09:00 +0000

Interesting points. I’ve pondered a fair bit about what I like from reviews, and also what I want to do with my own. When I read a review I’d like to get a taste of whether I might like to get the book - in part this will be influenced by whether I like the reviewer - how they write, the kind of books they read and how they talk about them. For myself, on my blog, I dont want to review like a professional, I dont want to have to tick all the necessary boxes. I want to write passionately about the book I just read and share how it was for me. If that offers anyone else an insight then great, if it doesnt, no loss. As such I dont always include all the essentials like plot summary etc.