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I Prithee Thee Lady Have a Better.
That subject header has absolutely nothing to do with today’s post. I happened to spot it in my spam box, and I confess that one caught my attention. Not enough to click on it, God knows, but it did catch my eye. Like…what the hell are these idiots selling?
Anyway, having emptied out the spam box, I was skimming through the in box this bright and early a.m., and I spotted an email from Sally Powers at I Love a Mystery. Sally is the editor and publisher of this little mystery newsletter — I’ve been reviewing for her for nearly a decade now (all the way back when the zine was in print — it’s now web only).
Anyway, Sally offered me Wendy Roberts’s latest: The Remains of the Dead
Sadie Novak has got the kind of job that kills cocktail chatter dead: She owns Scene-2-Clean, a crime scene cleanup company. And if wiping up after murders weren’t spooky enough, she can also see and talk to the ghosts of the victims.
Sounds sort of fun, doesn’t it? But I admit it gave me a moment’s pause. Wendy occasionally pops in here at GG HQ, so I’m curious to read the book. And while paranormal is not one of the things I actively hunt in reading material, I don’t actively hate it either. In fact, sometimes (providing no shapeshifting or vampires are involved) I actually enjoy it.
But I try to be honest in my reviewing, and so it also went through my mind…what if I don’t like this book?
Awkward!
I still vividly remember I.J. Parker’s public bout of hysterics on DorothyL when I gave one of her novels a qualified endorsement. I didn’t know Parker from a hole in the ground (don’t say it! I know what you’re thinking!) whereas I sort of know and like Wendy. So what happens if I just don’t like her book?
Good people write bad books — and good people write books that are perfectly good but just don’t appeal to this reader. And how do you handle that when it happens? Because, having been on the receiving end of less than flattering reviews (I mean, a few downright hostile, this-feels-personal reviews) I know that, while it’s all part of the writing gig, it’s no pleasure having to swallow tepid praise — let alone smile while being flayed alive in public.
That’s one reason why I stick to reviewing under the DL Browne nom. As cloaks of invisibility go, it’s not much, but it still feels warmer than nothing. But maybe the time has come to give up reviewing my peers. Maybe it’s too delicate a balance — trying to honestly and fairly review books of people who I know and like.
And of course the whole review thing is so…fraught anyway. I mean, really not everyone is good at reviewing. It’s its own art form and really does require something more than enthusiasm. And, awful as it sounds to say this, so many reviewers are frustrated writers — and it really does come through loud and clear — so you get these crazy reviews where the reviewer is fanatically focused on one obscure point or unable to separate her personal preferences from an objective analysis of the writing and overall work. I’m so tired of lame-ass reviews where the reviewer says something like “Of course I don’t like hardboiled mysteries so…blah, blah, blah.”
What does that have to do with anything? Did you agree to review or not? And if you did agree, then you have a duty to perform your assigned task. Are you able to think critically and dispassionately or not? Are you able to analyze whether the writer met the goals of the genre? Can you not judge pacing, structure and characterization unless you actually like the book? Didn’t you pay any attention in your 10th Grade Lit classes?
Yes, I know, I’m ranting.
And I actually don’t have a problem with readers who decline to review because they simply didn’t like something or don’t read those kinds of books — my problem is with those who review and yet excuse their lack of insight and meaningful analysis based on not liking or not understanding the genre. Do it or don’t, but don’t try to come up with excuses for a half-assed job.
Would I be this harsh if I didn’t review myself? Maybe not.
Anyway, your thoughts on reviews. Should writers review friends? Should writers review at all — how meaningful is a good review from writers who know and like each other. I mean, if I find it difficult to even think of giving Wendy a bad review how serious could anyone take my review of Tasha, Sara, Laura or Reggie? Do I just recuse myself from reviewing friends — but the mystery world is fairly small. Wouldn’t I eventually have to recuse myself from reviewing anyone?
And of course my all time favorite review-related question: do you read reviews and, if so, how seriously do you take them?
