The Review without Room for Review

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By Julie

You might (or might not) find it interesting to learn that I read reviews for lots of books besides Calling Me Home. Yes, I read reviews of my own book, too. I freely admit that authors with the fortitude to avoid their own reviews are far stronger—and maybe smarter—than I am. But I do often read whole strings of reviews on Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Goodreads about other people's books. Why? Well, I'm curious what readers are looking for in stories—what they love, what they dislike or even hate, what causes them to want to run out and tell their entire contingent of friends and family to read the book they just finished, or what causes them to close a book, throw it against a wall, and say, "I could never recommend this."

I think these are all fair reactions. I honestly do. After being a human being for what feels like an unreasonably big number when I look at it in years, I've learned that it takes all kinds to reach all kinds. Some books are just not for me. Some books are just not for you. Heck,  my book may not be for you. Good thing there are so many books out there to please all our personal preferences, right?

But I've noticed an interesting and somewhat disturbing trend lately when reading reviews—sometimes for my book, but just as often, for other people's books. (In fact, what inspired me to write this post was a recent review of someone else's book, so no need to go hunting anything or anyone down on my behalf--ha!) It goes something like this: "This book was terrible. I can't believe all the good reviews here. I wouldn't have picked it up except for all the blurbs saying how wonderful it was. These people were so wrong. You can't trust blurbs (or good reviews or word-of-mouth recommendations or … fill in the blank) anymore. I'll be suspicious of them from now on."

Huh?

What it boils down to is this person has single-handedly decided the book was terrible and didn't warrant any positive reviews from readers or positive blurbs from other authors simply because, well ... they didn't like it.

I sometimes take negative reviews of Calling Me Home very much to heart. Sure, I know that the book I set out to write is written and published and there's nothing I can do to change it. It's done. But sometimes people make astute observations that I file away for future use. I'm not a perfect writer by any stretch of the imagination. Who is? There's nearly always room for improvement, and anyone who believes otherwise about their own work is delusional. One of the hardest decisions a writer makes before sending a manuscript to an agent or editor is, "Can I let go of this? Even if I know it's not perfect and never will be? Is it the best I could do with the resources at hand?" (And again, if you're not asking yourself this question, you might be delusional, and chances are, it's really not ready—just sayin'.)

But it's still interesting, after the fact, even when it's too late to change anything, to see what people were bugged by. What made them stop reading at certain points? What made them rate the book less stars than the full number available? Sometimes the reasons are simply personal preference, but sometimes they are valid points. Sometimes they are things that make me think, "Yeah. That's good stuff. Next time, I'll want to think harder about that kind of thing." And sometimes I look at the same kind of critique of other people's books with interest, considering it a free continuing education in writing lesson.

But when I read a review of the type I've mentioned earlier—the review that leaves no room for any argument, that pronounces a book terrible, period, and calls all good reviews wrong—I shrug. If it's my book, it has nothing for me. If it's not my book, it has nothing for the other author. And most of all, it has nothing for the prospective reader who may come along and peruse the reviews to decide whether to read the book. My biggest question is, why does the person bother to post a review like this at all if there's no room for any other opinion? Is it some sense of feeling vindicated? Is it that they were able to have their feeling of being wronged somehow reversed by writing this type of review?

Sadly, I think it's a sign of our times, and it's an attitude that prevails in many, many arenas. "I'm right. You're wrong. Discussion over."

Noticing this has made me more conscientious of situations in which I have made similar pronouncements. "Oh my gosh, that movie was horrendous … what on earth did anyone SEE in it? Why would they even bother? Why are all these critics calling it genius?" It makes me take a step back and think, what is it about this movie or song or book or new kind of food that has people so excited? What am I missing? If I study it from all angles and still come up short, I have to think, "It's just not for me." In which case, it's probably better to shrug and go about my business than try to build a case of Julie Versus The World.

I have better ways to spend my time, don't you?

The Light Between Oceans

by Joan

There’s something otherworldly and enduring about lighthouses. From snug lookouts, weather-ravaged men communicated with ships while stirred-up oceans slapped the shore. What type of man lived and breathed the ocean this way? When I saw this cover, I knew I must read this book.

In The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman draws the reader into the personal world of one such man. Tom Sherbourne is a medaled veteran of The Great War, a man of principle and character who dragged men to safety and always followed the rules. He’s grateful for a job manning the lighthouse on Janus Rock, a remote peninsula off Australia’s coast, where he can methodically work and live his days in order and sameness.

On a trip to the mainland, he meets the lovely, spirited Isabel, and returns to Janus Rock with her to carve a life. There she loves and cares for him, explores the small island, and longs for children. She miscarries twice and Tom would do anything to see her happy again. One day, mere weeks after delivering a stillborn child, a small boat washes onto shore. Inside is a dead man—and a live baby. Isabel views this as a sign from God.

Despite Tom’s insistence that they report the man and baby, Isabel protests. The mother is surely dead, the baby has no one but them. Tom loves her beyond measure and agrees to wait. The gravity of their decision weighs on him, but the problem is, he falls in love with the little Lucy, too. 

Two years later, when visiting the mainland, they learn someone has never stopped looking for the little one, whose name is not Lucy at all.

Rarely does a novel come along that is so perfectly crafted, so packed with flawed, believable characters. Every word, every scene, has a purpose. The plot twists and bends to unexpected places, thrusting the characters into situations as rough as the raging ocean. Ms. Stedman is a masterful storyteller, has a keen eye and knows how to portray raw emotion on the page.

I listened to the book on audio, read by the wonderful Noah Taylor, who truly brought the characters to life.

What a stunning debut. Highly recommend!

The accidental life of a book reviewer

By Julie

When the six of us started What Women Write, we had no idea what new directions the blog might take us at times.

Little did I know that when I jumped on the chance to interview Quinn Cummings for our first author interview and subsequently, several other authors, whose publicists then kindly sent me copies of books to read before interviews or offer as prizes for drawings that I'd end up on the mystery list.

Now, as a member of that mysterious list, it's not unusual for my doorbell to ring, and when I answer it or send one of the kids, there's nobody there. But it's not a neighborhood trickster playing Devil on the Doorstep, or as my kids call it, Ding Dong Ditch. No, it usually means a package has been dropped by the door by the friendly UPS, FedEx, or U.S. Postal Service delivery person.

"Did you order anything?" my husband asks, a semi-worried look on his face due to my mostly-in-control book-buying habit.

"No, did you?" I respond, more thrilled than worried about the book-buying habit he's recently acquired.

We look at the kids, and of course, they have no money, so they didn't order anything either. I search my brain, trying to remember if anybody's publicist promised me an advance review copy to read before I do an author interview. Nope.

"Must be one of your mystery books," my husband says. And it usually is.

Sometimes I eagerly rip into the package to see what the book fairies sent me. Sometimes I'm busy and set it aside, only to discover it a few days later waiting patiently to be noticed on the kitchen counter. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised to find a book that looks interesting and engaging. Sometimes I'm completely baffled at why such a book might have been sent my direction.

But in general, I've enjoyed reading several books that might not otherwise have registered on my radar. Even a few of those baffling ones.

I don't usually have time to read every one, much less review them or interview the author, but I thought I'd give a shout out today about several I've enjoyed recently.

I've seen Laura Moriarty's name many times over the last few years, thinking how compelling her covers are, reminding myself I should grab a copy of one of her novels and give her a try. A few months ago, the newly released paperback of While I'm Falling showed up on my doorstep.

The upside-down girl on the cover caught my eye. I read the book fairly soon. I ended up really liking this story that was a bit reminiscent of Lorrie Moore's A Gate at the Stairs, alternately loving and being downright annoyed with Moriarty's characters, usually because I saw myself in them one way or the other. I'll definitely read more by Moriarty.

Nearly a year ago, I received a copy of The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan. Coincidentally, a few days later, Kim was drawn in by the cover at the bookstore and raved about it after she read it. I'm not sure why it took a year for me to pick it up and read it, but I took it along on my vacation to Colorado in August. I was fairly mesmerized in the reading moments I was able to steal by this sad, yet hopeful story. If you're interested in historical fiction set in the last century or so, you'll probably enjoy Buchanan's novel about a family whose life centers around the history of man's attempts to harness the power of Niagara Falls.

Now, if you know me well at all you would have laughed, too, when the book fairies dropped off a copy of Make it Fast, Make it Slow. Yes, it's a cook book. I'm not completely opposed to cooking, but I'd be a lot happier about cooking if it came complete with a staff to shop ahead of time and clean up for me after I make a big mess. But it's also true I have to cook for my family on a regular basis.

We've ended up using quite a few of Stephanie O'Dea's slow cooker recipes, and the majority of them have been pretty tasty and usually quite simple. I have to hand it to the author. There are only so many ways to stack ingredients in a crock pot, and she's done a nice job of coming up with some new and interesting recipes that pleased my family's adventurous palates. Check out O'Dea's blog, A Year of Slow Cooking, to get an idea of how things work, and her website for more recent news. Looks like she has her eye on my clutter habit now. Uh oh.

Most recently, I picked up Open Country, the second installment in Kaki Warner's Blood Rose Trilogy. Now here's an interesting tale. I rarely read series books. And on the rare occasion I do, I NEVER, EVER, NO NEVER read them out of order. So I wasn't thrilled to receive book two of a series.

And if that hadn't sealed the complimentary copy's fate of being forever consigned to the very bottom of my TBR (to-be-read, in reader/writer jargon) pile, the fact that it's western romance should have. I have nothing against this genre at all, it's just not my usual thing unless I have a really good reason to read it. Like my BFF just had her first western romance novel published. Or, as actually happened to me a few years back at my very first writer's conference, Linda Lael Miller made a lasting personal impression on me with her generous encouragement of a rookie aspiring writer, and I rushed to get an autographed copy of one of her novels at the conference's book signing event.

Sometimes, though, timing highjacks us and turns us in new directions. In the midst of my recent illness, I needed to read something besides my ordinary fare, which tends to the darker exploration of families caught in circumstances beyond their control. I plucked Warner's book from the bottom of the pile a few nights ago. I've been pleased to discover I was able to jump right into book two though I'd never seen or heard of book one.

Warner does an excellent job of bringing the reader up to date quickly without spoiling the first book. I'll likely keep an eye out for Pieces of Sky. And though Open Country follows the unbreakable rule of good fiction – get your characters into trouble fast and lots of it – it's written with humor and spunk. I'm finding it to be a relaxing and enjoyable read. Just what the doctor ordered.

A few duds have made their way onto my doorstep. We won't talk about those. Dear book fairies, let my silence speak volumes about a: my utter and complete disdain for the product, or b: my lack of time to even crack open the cover. You choose.

And as long as the benefits of being on this mystery list outweigh the negatives (for example, I start getting so many books, I can't see the forest for the trees, as I learned sometimes happens to those us on this mystery list), I'll get a little twitter in my heart when the doorbell rings and I find a little surprise on the front porch and hope for the best.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received copies of these book from the publishers in the hope that I would review them on What Women Write. I was under no obligation to review them, let alone give a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 225: "Guidelines Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."