A while ago, Romancing the Blog did a post on spoilers in reviews and DA followed that up with a poll for readers to vote on spoilers in reviews or no spoilers. The majority voted they liked spoilers but what caught my attention is that neither the blog post nor the poll really identified what they considered spoilers. They hinted this could be characterization points or perhaps plot points. At the time, I thought “I like spoilers, sure.” Yet when I read a recent review that had so many plot spoilers that it takes the fun right out of that book should anyone buy it after reading that review – I was pissed. I read the same book and knew that it would be hard to write a review. So, why write a review if you can’t keep the spoilers out?

I realize that review writing isn’t easy. Even with the plethora of uninformative reviews (personal opinion there), that doesn’t mean the writer put little to no effort into the review – even if it seems that way. So it stands to reason that the average book is hard to review: what to say, what’s unique, different, did the reader like it, etc. When a book appears with a twist, a mystery, clues, etc and it’s even harder to review, it’s no surprise the reviews tend to have spoilers. I’ve done spoiler reviews myself.

However, I do think it’s essential to keep spoilers out of reviews as much as possible. This benefits everyone. Those readers who use reviews to help choose their books can still enjoy the book without knowing the ending and the author doesn’t feel as those their book was just thrown up on a pirate site because now everyone know that Mrs. White did it with the candlestick.

Romance reviews are really easy. It’s a HEA and there is really no spoiler that despite the tense question of “will jack and tom end up together?!” the reader knows they will end up together and they’re not buying the book to answer that question. They’re buying the book to read how Jack and Tom end up together despite the problems the author has thrown between them. There the journey of the romance is the reason to read the book, not the actual outcome. That is a given – it’s why readers buy romance. Well one reason anyway.

So what about mystery or other elements? The rule of thumb I use is that anything I didn’t see coming is a clear spoiler (duh). Even elements clearly telegraphed, if the author obviously thinks they are clever or a twist, don’t explicitly tell them. If one of the main characters has a surprise prince albert that plays into the plot – leave it out. Usually books are told in such a way as it’s clear to see what the author thinks of as the twist or an important clue – even if it doesn’t work the way the author wants or it’s really not that clever. Still, the story uses it as so and other readers may enjoy it more.

It’s exceedingly difficult to review a book without spoilers. I have a hard time doing it and furthermore, I don’t enjoy writing those reviews. Especially so if the review is negative, as there is very little you can say beyond that element wasn’t clever/didn’t work/too obvious. You can’t really explain that it was too obvious because Jack killed Tom’s brother in the opening sequence thus Tom is bound to find out and so the argument was uh, predictable. Instead there is an inherent vague quality to the review with bland words and not much explanation. Yet the review is for the reader so they can make a judgment. They can decide if they are intrigued enough to read the book even knowing the twist isn’t that well done and as obvious as the proverbial smoking gun.

Giving too many clever details and synopsis points away hurts everyone. Although I personally like spoilers in a review when they are obvious such as Tom and Jack are going to live happily together – it’s a romance – I’d rather not be told that Tom and Jack kill each other in a bizarre Romeo and Juliet twist. You can simply say there is no happy ending due to a weird twist.

 

What do you think?

Too many spoilers in reviews? Or not enough?

 

 

I’m not sure about other readers but I have to say – I’m bored.  Is this a trend in m/m fiction that most of the books coming out are boring? I’m not sure what it is but I’m just sick of the same tropes without ANY invention.

Now granted, being that I am a fan of genre fiction that the same themes and ideas will pop up over and over. That is the inherent point of genre fiction and not only do I get that, I clearly enjoy it. What I enjoy about it is the author introducing a twist, a fun aspect, something new, or something interesting. I’m bored with the thing over and over.

KZ Snow mentioned how boring some of the blogs are lately with reviewing the same books ad nausea and since I’m bored with everything I read – I’m throwing this out there to my four dedicated (and blackmailed) readers.

What would YOU suggest for new books to read/review?

This can be anything within m/m fiction but it doesn’t have to be romance. Any subgenre, any author – basically anything at all.

 

A few weeks ago there was a great comment on Jessewave’s site from an “anonymous author” who claimed to be solely print published but found that reviews criticized authors more than the actual work they are reviewing. I remember reading the comment thinking that it was a great point and in typical fashion, something shiny flashed near me and I forgot about it.

I was reminded of the comment when reading the entire time wasting but OH SO fascinating debacle of the plagiarist Cassandra Clare (check it out here. It’s long but I couldn’t stop reading. Thank you sean kennedy by way of emmyjag). Anyway, somewhere along the way an author I respected posted on an amazon.com review of CC’s printed work that the reviewer was blasting the author when it should be the book.

This reminded me that I thought this was a great point and so I bring it here to my five readers (I gained one!). How often when either reviewing or even casually talking about books do we equate the book with the author?

It’s an excellent point that I think we, as readers in general, before even getting into reviewing, need to separate the work from the author. The book can be total crap but that means nothing about the author. If the mystery is bad, that doesn’t mean the author is lazy or ignorant. It means they poorly wrote that aspect. Perhaps the ending is ridiculous and stupid, but that’s the –story- not the author. I tend to use the two synonymously in both casual conversation and reviews. It’s a habit I try to break unless I’m specifically addressing the author or referring to them for a reason, but I admit, it’s an ongoing vice I must actively remind myself not to do.

Now, I can say to any authors I’ve done this to – I apologize and meant the work! But how often do readers do this? Does a bad book really affect how you view the author? Does the book itself change your view of an author?

On that note, I remember reading a book and although it was a m/m romance, I had the distinct impression the author is homophobic. How can I infer that? I guess I didn’t find the “jokes” funny or the comments amusing, but instead purposefully insulting. I definitely equated the book with the author. Right or wrong, I had that strong impression.

What about other readers?
Do you tend to make assumptions and judgments of authors based on their work?
As reviewers, do you review the author as much as the book?

Since this is my blog and my three readers occasionally don’t mind me speaking random thoughts I’m going to post some ideas, thoughts, and opinions that I’ve been discussing in MSN with some people. You, lucky readers, can feel free to ignore at your will.

I was given a link to a new review site that will soon be posting reviews from an editorial point of view. Cerebral Reviews – check it out. Looks interesting, however, I get the feeling that this will be another Dear Author type review site that is bitchy and entertaining, yet informative. Really, I like some of the reviewers on Dear Author and find their reviews thorough, informative, and intelligent. It may be snarky and funny but most don’t seem to mind and in fact, enjoy the snark. So this new site should be interesting as the new Editor point of view reviews.

I really like the idea of an editor review as I make no claims to knowing what is great editing. I focus on the story itself and less about the composition so when I have to mention negative aspects about head hoping, spelling, or editing errors? You know it’s bad if even I can see it. I, like most reviewers, am reviewing from a reader perspective on what worked and what didn’t for me based on a context of being a voracious reader of numerous genres.  This is true for almost every single reviewer within the e-book world from small sites to even online publications that all base their reviews on reaction. This goes into the fact that there is no training or qualifications to be a reviewer, all that matters is you like to read and have an opinion. So the idea of a quasi-professional review site that focuses on how the book is presented is good and I think very necessary in this swamp land of emotional reaction reviews.

I worry some that this bunch has an agenda as the site claims to offer honest reviews but seems to equate honest with bitchiness and cutting remarks instead of simply laying out the mistakes. I hope that the point of staying anonymous is not to further any sort of grievances, favorites or hated books. I do believe most review sites start out honestly wanting to give an opinion but then morph into something else due to the attitude, climate, or purpose of those within. The fact that they will review other’s reviews is unfortunate and setting them up to be some authority on the situation, which is unattainable given the lack of credentials due to the inherent anonymous tag. I can only hope this doesn’t come to fruition as no matter what you, I, or the readers think of a review it’s in no way acceptable to publically step by step critique another review.

Not going off on too much of a tangent but let’s focus on this point for just a second because I was slightly shocked and appalled at the audacity of a site to criticize other reviews. Now, there are no doubt problems with spelling, grammar, editing, and word verbiage within my reviews. Did you know I LOVE commas? That the more commas in a review mean the more stars? But beyond my reviews which I stand by, reviews that I loathe are there for a purpose. They offer a reader perspective and it’s not up to me, the author, or anyone else to criticize how that person expressed an opinion by tearing apart their review. If you want to say it was poorly written or snarky or uneducated, all of those may be true, but how does that invalidate someone’s opinion? You can disagree with an opinion, point out facts why it’s wrong, show how the person is a hypocrite—but it’s an opinion. You can’t invalidate a review by tearing it apart so the exercise is simply meant to embarrass and thus has no point to exist. It takes some arrogance and cruelty to tear apart someone’s work for entertainment purposes. I feel the same way for authors and books.

The more I read about this new site, the more I worry that it’s an exercise in criticizing others, whether they’re readers, reviewers, authors, or publishers. When your sole purpose is to point out how terrible others are in the name of honesty, why hide behind an anonymous tag to stay impartial? Just by your purpose you’re not impartial and considering the fact that online is largely made up of pseudonyms, even making a new one doesn’t change the factors that may influence a person. Changing to a new anonymous name just gives you another outlet to say things without consequence or care and considering these editors likely already have anonymous online names, the need for another sparks concern.

I hope this site actually offers honest and thoughtful introspection. However, they’ve set themselves up already with the following line: “They are irreverent, honest, and willing to do something very few reviewers will do… tell the truth about a book.”

Snarky doesn’t equal truth so here’s to hoping.

 

*Just as I was going to post this on my blog today, I noticed that the site has it’s first review up which is a m/f romance from Amber Quill reviewed. I found the review decent without any snark at all and covered the basics, heavy on the editing portion. While it seems overall the reviewer mostly enjoyed the book reviewed and the review intelligent and thorough from the grammar portion, it wasn’t anything that hasn’t been done before in reviews. Interesting. Be sure to judge for yourself.