The Sticky Review

[sartorias]

Here's a question I've been asking in person, where I can see the answerer and where I tend to get a blunter answer. Only the answers I keep getting have so many other hands on it, it's pretty much got universal tentacles

Comments

[rosefox]

A spoilery one!

[sartorias]

I love spoilery reviews (actually, discussions or critical analysis) too, but that's not optimal right before a book comes out.

Or . . . maybe it is, with all kinds of posted warnings "beware, spoiler territory ahead"?

[rosefox]

Sure! Why not? I figure spoilers shouldn't get in the way of doing a great interview.

[rachelmanija]

Why not simply write a non-spoilery review in part of the post, then do an lj-cut with a spoiler warning, and discuss spoilers below the cut?

The thing is, some people don't mind spoilers, or don't mind them in certain cases. I was startled by the number of people who commented to my review of Demon's Lexicon, which was structured as I suggest above, to say, "I wasn't going to read this, but then I went ahead and read the spoilers, and now I will!"

"If you liked XYZ, then..."

[zornhau]

We're all very specific in our tastes these days, and many of us are time-poor. So we need to know (a) a book is well written and not annoying, and (b) that it's the kind of book we'll like.

For example, "Imagine Conan, but in 21st century Central Asia, with more sex. A brilliantly written, fast paced and gloriously un-PC romp."

Re: "If you liked XYZ, then..."

[sartorias]

Sow hat you're saying is, logline reviews get your attention, then?

Re: "If you liked XYZ, then..."

[zornhau]

Yes. In general, good writing (plot, characterisation pace etc) are things I take for granted - barriers to entry, if you like, rather than selling points. The only exception is if the lyricism and quirky characters *are* the selling point

Re: "If you liked XYZ, then..."

[sartorias]

Keywords, then. Yeah, that makes sense.

It also occurs to me that loglines that do justice to the book are damned hard to come up with. (at least for me.)

[affreca]

My first thought, is that I respond to a review that tells me how this book is different. What issues it responding to, and say something interesting about. If genre is a conversation, a review catches me if it discusses where this book fits into the conversation. Something like that.

[sartorias]

How is it different--that's a good one. (I respond to that, too.)

[hfnuala]

I ordered Jo's Lifelode from NESFA[1] because I read several reviews which talked about it doing something different in fantasy and also mentioning the medieval English family's archives which had inspired some of it. And I started on the Crown of Stars books by Kate Elliot after seeing it mentioned a few times on lj and being intrigued by the world building. But those are so that book specific, it is hard to know how to generalise into what makes we buy based on reviews. Leaving aside my personal interest in books which foreground women, I would say reviews which get across the impression the reviewer loved this book and in person would be offering their copy to all their friends.

[1]I live in the UK which sadly seems to mean we don't get Jo's books published here.

[sartorias]

Geez I hope there is going to be some beyong NorthAm publishing plans on this one.

Yeah, "interesting women" has become important to me in that it can be a deal breaker.

[pnh]

I wouldn't normally suggest this, but given the total inability of UK publishers to figure out how to publish Jo Walton, one of the best writers currently going, I don't think there would by anything wrong with going to the US web site of a retailer like Amazon or B&N and just ordering copies to be shipped to you in Britain. The retailers will oblige you. I live in the US and I buy UK books from Amazon UK all the time.

[hfnuala]

Oh, I do, I do. I've read all of Jo's books to date, I just wish she had a British publisher. For various reasons, but mostly so I could recommend her to friends and acquaintances who are much less likely to do so. Also, so her books would be in libraries here, which would help her reach the people who don't like to buy new authors.

[mayakda]

Reviews that make me seek out a book:
Goodreads reviews by sources I trust (I know how their likes/dislikes align with mine)
A few sites that offer detailed reviews but keep spoilers either under a cut or in invisible font. For romances I like checking out dearauthor.
For fantasy it is hard to find an equivalent site because a lot of reviewers seem to like things I don't care about that much anymore. Bittenbybooks is iffy -- sometimes it leads me to good UF books and sometimes to real stinkers. Mysteries are another that I don't have a good review source for either.

[sartorias]

Yep, yep, yep, and yep.