Reviewers, the unsong heroes

This weekend in Texas the weather was horrible. It was cold and wet. We had quite a storm. I spent the weekend catching up on some reading which I hoped to be able to post a review, but there really isn’t much to recommend. That got me thinking about reviewing and reviewers, the unsong heroes who finish books which most of us would throw against the wall or those that post discreet reviews, hinting that a book is not a good read.

I’ve been a reviewer. I have gushed about books that have touched me, spoken about books that were so genuinely fresh and creative, they were completely apart of the pack. I have also given low ratings when a book deserved it without destroying the author with that same review.

I don’t review anymore. Now I look for review sites that I trust will guide me for new authors or books that I’m undecided about. For ebooks, I go to JERR. For print, I go to All about Romance. These sites have trustworthy reviewers which review the books without giving spoilers (which pisses me off when they do). They also critique THE BOOK without targetting the author if it is a dissapointing book read.

I believe that the first responsibility of a reviewer is the reader. They trust the reviewer to guide them to get value for what they are purchasing. And you have to admire reviewers who can create a sincere review without denigrating an author if it is a dissapointing read. Authors are people too…

I was going to post a review of the three books that I read: The Spymaster’s Lady, Sizzle and Burn and DragonFire (1).  I will post a review of the Spymaster’s Lady. It is a pretty good read. Sizzle and Burn was dissapointing and Dragon Fire I couldn’t even finish, that last one is going quickly to Half-Price books.