One pastime I have enjoyed the most lately is reading the 1 star and 2 star reviews of some of the books offered on “Bookbub.” Honestly, the reviews are often more intriguing than the books they portend to explain. Here are some samples:
“I’ve seen puppet shows that were more realistic than this book. Police detectives breaking the rules to catch a killer is standard fare in mystery novels, but in this one every officer did it, even those who had been with the department a day. The characters weren’t flawed, they were crushed by the author’s poor plotting.”
Now, you have to give this reviewer credit for originality. “Puppet shows that were more realistic” is quite good prose. “The characters were crushed.” I love it! These are things that “I wish I had said” or perhaps used in some work of fiction. Come to think of it, I might just steal that “puppet” line. It is too good to go to waste!
“The back flap of this book reads, “Inger Ash Wolfe is the pseudonym for a North American Literary novelist.” Thus, the publisher and author set up a mystery inside a mystery. Whoever Inger Ash Wolfe is, he or she is not a mystery author…or even a good writer.”
There is a reviewer who pulls no punches. He or she calls out the author for publishing something that they are ashamed to even put their real name to.
I was required to enter a star but the rating system should include negative ratings. This book was so poorly written it seems that the author needs to return to an English 101 class”.
Here is a criticism that I see a lot. The poor grammar, the lousy spelling, the inappropriate use of language – it is all too common these days and I believe it is a reflection on our public school system even at the college level. Students are just not learning proper use of English. And it shows.
So sometime when you want a few genuine laughs go to the offers of “free” or “cheap” books that you get from Bookbub or one of the other book hustling venues and pull up the 1 and 2 star book reviews. I have found them to be some of the best writing available these days.
johnbeckmanbooks 