Decisions, Decisions....

A few days ago I posted my first book review on this site and to be honest, I was terrified.  Not because I've never done a review before, I've done many over the last 12 years, but the bulk of them were written on tiny throw away review cards, temporary dumpbin or table headers or posted on our ever changing website.  Nothing seemed very permanent and while I do see many people squinting to read through my tiny bite sized reviews each day and pick up the corresponding titles to purchase, I never felt like I've ever said enough to do justice to the wonderful stories that sometimes need that extra push into willing hands.

Don't get me wrong, there is an art to writing review cards.  Making them interesting enough to engage and hold the reader's attention, reveal a bit about the book or what to expect while reading the book and then the ability to comprise it in a way that sounds passionate;  not gimmicky and a sincere recommendation; not a sales pitch.  All that in 4 sentences or less, depending on how small you can write and if you're using a biro vs a sharpie.  No small feat.  

And while I do make that extra effort to put my honest opinion of the book on the every card I write, I am constantly aware that I am a bookSELLER.  It's my job to sell books and being positive about the books I'm promoting is a key factor in being a good bookseller.  I try never lying about liking or having read a book to a customer, because I'd like to think that most people can see through those type of insincere comments, but I won't intentionally rip apart a book when I think a customer might honestly enjoy reading it.  Maybe I'm an idealist, but I think every book has its audience. Big or small, niche or mainstream, serious or smut, literary or silly throwaway holiday read, they all have their place in our shop and who am I to judge? At least people are reading. That's what matters. 

I think that was part of the problem I was confronted with while writing my review for 'Days of Blood and Starlight'.  I think too much like a bookseller.  Even though I absolutely adored the novel, I was constantly nagged by the fact that the publication date is a few months off and I didn't want to give away too much of the plot beforehand.  If I had summarized too much of the previous book it would have spoiled the devastating revelations that are revealed in the closing moments of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone and that contributes so much to the absolute brilliance of it and the compulsive need for the next instalment.  It's the difference between a day one must have hardback and a wait for paperback release and I'm aware of that fact. I want the book to do well on its initial hardback release, because I believe it's one that deserves to do so, but I know in reality that paperbacks tend to be the easier sell when it comes to hand selling unknown/ unestablished authors.  

So what is a reputable reviewer to do then?  Be good and wait until the book is nearly or already released before reviewing it thoroughly and honestly?  Spoilers and all? And what's the etiquette regarding sequels?  Pretend that the readers have already read the previous titles in the series and jump right into the review without the added history? Or do you have to give the necessary background information just in case and then keep calm and carry on with the awareness that new and old fans might be reading your words?       

  

Maybe I'm putting too much thought into all of this.  This is after all something new I'm trying out and hopefully as I gain a bit more experience I'll come up with a style or set of guidelines that I'm comfortable with.  My own code of book reviewing conduct.  Right now I'll settle for rambling away my exhausting thoughts on such matters to whoever will listen to or willingly read them and write up another more extensive review for 'Days of Blood and Starlight' for posting on its November release date.  I'll post a link back to the original review for those who don't want too know too much about the plot, but hopefully this new critique will give me free reign to gush about all the lush things I had to skimp out on previously like character development, the dynamics of the parallel world Eretz and my hopes for what may lie in the upcoming final chapter of this enchanting trilogy.  I'm not sure if I want to carry on with writing one non-spoilerific review and a spoiler laden one for each book I come across in the future, but I think I owe it to this book.

What are your thoughts on the matter?  Have any of my fellow booksellers or blog reviewers tackled this conundrum before and have any advice to pass on? Or am I asking too much since this is my fourth post on an otherwise relatively unread blog?

So here I am... left here eagerly awaiting some kind of response, but expecting none.  A good excuse to do some reading. :)