7 Arguments for Assessment

I totally stole this from Janna at Rarely Dusty Books, because it's just such an amazingly good summary of what to look for in a book. I found this after I started reviewing, and it really made me think, and I hope it made me review better.

The seven arguments:

1.Realistic argument -- A book is good (or bad) when it’s projecting the world (un)realistically, when the story’s reality is (un)believable.

2. Moral argument -- A book is good (or bad) when it contains certain ideas about sex, religion, morals or politics.

3. Structural argument -- A book is good (or bad) when its structure is (not) solid, when the story is (not) built/paced well, when there’s (no) consistency.

4. Stylistic argument -- A book is written in a good (or poor) writing style.

5. Innovation argument -- You can learn something from the story. The book contains original ideas and provocative thoughts.

6. Emotivistic argument -- A book has to touch you emotionally. It has to entertain you, move you and captivate you.

7. Intentional argument -- The reader/reviewer assumes that the writer has a certain purpose/intention with his story and assesses whether the author has managed to achieve that goal.

It's probably not possible to touch on every argument in every review, and some of them just don't apply all that much. #5 isn't nearly as big a reason for reading a romance as #6. But still, who wants to read the same sort of take on Subject X from 32 authors?

If #1 isn't on, I'll notice it. Usually that's what I notice first when something isn't working for me. Consistency matters, continuity matters. Adherence to the laws of physics, or at least the laws of that world, matter.

#3 is important to me too, but I can be a little more flexible there if #6 and 1 are working. And if #3 is working really well, I can be flexible even on that highly important #1. # 2 usually isn't an issue in my romance reading unless an issue pops up to beat me over the head: it's happened. And for some reason, #7 is usually an accident for me, and I notice it when some happy author says I noticed it. I guess I figure if #1-6 are humming along, #7 will come automatically. Maybe that isn't a good assumption.

#6 is kind of a given for a romance, but do any of the others especially matter for you?

Trainwreck

I just came away from the sort of trainwreck that I said once would make me point and snicker. I'm not doing either, I'm more sad than anything. This has to be the worst mess of this kind that I've seen. A reviewer gave what looked like an even handed review to a self-pubbed book, and the author disintegrated. The link is here, if you must, but you might want to skip it. Suffice to say that the author went outside without putting on her big girl pants.

And everyone knows about it now. I found out because a friend passed on a newsletter from a writing course that used it for a cautionary tale.

It's been said before that reviews are for readers. Writers get some benefit too, it's publicity if the review is good and hopefully a way to improve if it isn't so good. But the review isn't meant for ego stroking, it's a map to readers and sometimes it's marked 'here be dragons.'

I try not to forget that writers are people. Low-rated reviews are hard to write. In fact, if I don't review frequently some weeks, it's most likely because I'm struggling to review something that didn't work so well. There's no way to keep it from hurting sometimes without abandoning honesty. And I'm not going to do that. Not everything written is the most deathless prose since the Iliad.

I'm sure I've hurt some feelings already, or maybe no one ever read, but either way, no one has gone off on me, and for that, thank you authors. It could happen one day, and if it does, I just hope I can keep as calm as Big Al did.

Losing my marbles again

A reviewer is going to have some biases. We're people, our likes and dislikes are going to show. Sometimes you can get past the issues, sometimes you can't. It isn't reasonable to expect total objectivity when your big squick button has just been pressed. Sometimes all you can do is back away slowly. I just read a remark from another reviewer about how the treatment of race in a particular book made her decide against reviewing it, because she didn't trust herself to be objective. It made sense to me.

I should tell you what my problem issues are and how I plan to handle this.

First off, I will tell you in a review if one of those issues crops up. I won't let you guess if it's the theme or if it's the writing. In a recent review, I've had to identify one story that I couldn't finish and why, and it had nothing to do with the quality of the writing. In another, I had to admit that the entire setting (BDSM) makes me uncomfortable. And I liked the story after all. I do try to be fair, and if I can't be fair, I'll be honest.

Soul mates -- this one hits the gag reflex, no matter what the writing looks like. It screeches me to a stop 99 times out of a hundred, and the hundredth one is probably involving a non-human. Apologies to writers who use it and readers who like it, but it strikes me as a stupid, cheap plot device, and I hate it in real life, too, where it was definitely a stupid, cheap device. You may never see a soul mate story mentioned in this blog unless it would be leaving out one story in a collection. And then I will say why it was a DNF.

A more general kind of "mates" I can enjoy, if it's personalities first, then the bonding. But the whole "you are fated to be with this person and this person only" thing will get a fast exit. Or whining if it got sprung on me late.

Rape/incest  -- rape doesn't usually turn up in romances except as some past trauma, which is fine, I can do without that altogether. Even then, the bunglings in fanfiction have left me jumpy -- it's usually not handled well and if it's not, I WILL mark it against the story. Count on it.

Incest- also a problem. I buy my reading material and so most of this is won't get past at the cash register, but if you hear some faint voice shrieking, "oh hell no!" it's probably me reading a blurb with identical twins.

BDSM -- this one is trickier because I'm not a fan of the kink and mostly just find it sad or upsetting, but every now and then there's a story that I like, which isn't to say that I read all the way through. It doesn't come up often, because of that cash register thing, but it could, and I will remind you that I have issues, and then you can grind as much salt on my words as you need to. But I won't mark down a story just for being BDSM -- all the other stuff has to work

Crap editing: sometimes this is hard to tell from crap storytelling, because not every house out there edits as much, but I'll notice. Sentences that lie there on the page like a nest of garter snakes get noticed too. Sometimes out loud. Some lapses in line editing I can overlook, but it's sloppy and makes me wonder. This isn't exactly a "have to flag thing", but it can cost a story half a marble if there's a lot because it interferes with reading

I WILL notice logic-fail out loud. And if I can't find the plot beyond "hawt guys fuck" you can call me Cryssy Crankypants.

Losing my marbles by the numbers

So how does this Cryselle chick decide how many marbles to lose?

Here's what I'm working from. The lowest ranks are around mostly because teenager who photoshopped my marbles did a whole suite, not because I expect to use them. ACKs will probably be DNF and you're unlikely to hear about it. I am drawn to trainwrecks, though, so it could happen.

A three marble review isn't a bad review. It's "I liked it." May not have gotten excited about it, but there was something to like there, and I did. Fives rock my socks all the way off.  Editing is not what I'm looking at most, but a lot of goobers may cost half a marble, because it detracts from the reading experience. I have the world's fussiest beta and it's rubbing off.

WOW
Loved this
Really liked this
Liked this a lot
Liked this
Okay, but...
Meh
Didn't work for me
Really didn't work for me
Ack

The online behavior of authors will influence a review, but mostly because they won't get reviewed. I won't knowingly spend money on someone who flips out on the readers. If my baser instincts get loose I might laugh and point, though.

Crossposting to Goodreads is a problem, because it's whole numbers only over there. Rounding up or down is going to have to be a judgment call, and if the number isn't round over here, I'll note it there.


This is all still evolving for me -- changes will get announced.

Disclaimer

I guess I should mention that I buy the books I'm reviewing here. No one likes my opinions well enough to ask for them on purpose, so you nice readers get what you get because I liked the blurbs or someone recommended it or... Something attracted me.

I'm kind of a butterfly when when it comes to buying, although I spend a little more money at Torquere because some of my buddies from a writing site publish there. Some Dreamspinner cause I like their website, and the other publishers' things I get from Fictionwise because I'm too lazy to set up accounts all over the internet.

What does attract me, aside from a juicy review or a rec from a friend? Sometimes it's a new story from a known name, sometimes the blurb (gotta love a well written blurb, it's like a quick condensation of the first quarter of the story and you HAVE to read more) or the setting. That isn't quite the blurb to me, that's just where I find out about the setting. If the setting doesn't sound like every other story in the genre, or a character sounds like he's got an interesting hook or a flaw, that will make me want to read.

If all of that stuff works out, I'll read most anything. I don't go looking for BDSM, but I've read stories with that that really worked for me, and others that were DNF. Paranormal, sometimes, we're back to that blurb thing, urban fantasy, science fiction, all good, contemporary, sure, bring it on.

The covers don't matter so much: the writers don't have a lot of control over that, although I click past some covers REAL fast. It's the words I want. Pick a good excerpt if there's going to be an excerpt, 'cause that tells me style and content. I read those before plunking my money down.

Beautiful C*cksucker II What a Good Boy

For too many years, career obligations and cultural expectations cost Mikisaburo Nabeshima the possibility of love.

Now older, wiser, and infinitely more alone, personal business takes Miki back to New York where another chance encounter with another handsome policeman rouses suppressed desires.

David Kirkland is a brash young cop who grew up on New York’s meanest streets. When the man he believes killed his foster mother is set free, Dave vows revenge. If he needs to leave the country and go undercover with a sexy but infuriating older man then so be it, though he never expected the business arrangement to turn personal.

As Dave confronts a deep-seated need he’s never fully acknowledged, the killer they're after proves more deadly than they anticipate.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few too many headdesk moments to really enjoy this. Why does an administrative level Japanese policeman on holiday, out of uniform, and WAY out of jurisdiction, not to mention in a time and location where you have to pass through a metal detector, have handcuffs with him? Why does a woman get killed in a way highly specific to the role of the other victims of this method when she has absolutely no connection to the reasons for the others, except to draw the other protag into the story? Why is it a good idea to rely on the judgment of someone who's getting extreme mindgames played with him? Why is all of a sudden it's a good idea to make what has been a big and career-breaking secret part of the investigation on home turf? When the Churchlady invades a story saying, "because it's conveeeeeenient!" it kind of spoils the read.

The sex was hot and plentiful, but plot is not the dull stuff between sex scenes.

Buy here.

Rated 2 of 5 on Goodreads

Pyke's Peak by Chris Owen

Reading menage is new to me: so far I've found some I like and some I don't. The relationships between three people have pretty much been too simple -- let's everyone boink! So, finding something as doubts and complexity was good.

Pyke's Peak, a m/m/f novella, had nice interaction between Shea and Pyke, who were long term lovers, and Laurel, who had to decide where she fit. The novella had some lovely back-away-closer interactions, some mega-hot sex scenes, some with two, some with three, and some tantalizing hints of something very odd about the eccentric house that the newly-rich Pyke bought with an eye to providing a home and also space for his sweeties.

Laurel's vacillations were the main plot driver, because nothing else really provided a lot of conflict. The mystery about the house didn't really go anywhere, being only partially solved and without a great deal at stake except for curiosity. Pyke's music was character color more than a source of conflict, and Shea and Laurel's lives didn't have a lot of conflict to add either.

The best thing for me here was the loving and tender interactions between the three, and particularly Laurel, whom both men appreciated from top to toe and not just for her willingness to be the audience for them, something I find annoying. She appreciated the hotness of them together, but she wasn't just the clap-and-cheer-play-with-herself-cuz-the-boiz-are-so-hawt section.

But I would have liked more plot.

Buy it here

Hey, look! I figured out how to add a cover! And marbles!

Jobless in January by Mara Ismine

I just read a nice little m/m story, which was delightful in almost every way. One stylistic niggle, but the good stuff first. "Jobless in January" from Mara Ismine was a lovely afternoon read, with a recently laid-off restaurant manager (or recently made redundant; Mara is a British author) as the first person POV character. He's sad over his life, his job prospects, his absent love life and a recent less than stellar encounter, and goes to soothe himself with a walk on a winter beach. A storm blows in, chasing him into a small restaurant that is open despite the season, and things begin to change for him.

This is short, only 21 pages, and sweet, maybe a little too much so, as *lurve happens* right off the bat, but fun, though I would have been a little more convinced by a slower blooming. Still, there is chemistry, and sizzle, on the grill and off.

My niggle - Mara, please, next time, more variation! On some pages, half the paragraphs start with the letter 'I', usually as 'I' but sometime as 'It' or 'It's' and on one or two, every last par, or all but 1 or 2 start that way. Very distracting, and I had to make myself not notice it any more to get back into the story.

Get Jobless in January at Torquere.

(Okay, I'm still working on a ratings system, but I did like this.) edited in later,4 marbles!