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About that Book (Review)

Posted on by TeAnne Chennault

I won! An author that I follow held a contest the other day and the prize was an advanced reader copy (ARC) of her soon-to-be released book. When I got the lovely white bubble envelope in my mailbox, I was sooo excited. I mean, like thrilled. I read the book in 10 hours – quite an accomplishment with kids, work, cooking and that annoying thing called sleep.

It took me until the end of the entire book , after all the anticipation had turned into reality, to recognize that the book didn’t resonate with me as much as I had hoped. I mean, it was a good book – but it wasn’t GREAT. Huh. Now what? If you know anything about ARCs it’s assumed that you write a review and post to Amazon, Goodreads or your blog to spread the word. And I felt at odds with not being able to give a glowing review when I had done so before with other books.

In the end, I wrote what I felt to be true and others wrote along the same thread as well. It was a surprise to know I wasn’t alone with my opinion, but it goes back to being authentic.

Readers have to be honest to keep writers honest.

If you want to read the review, it can be found on Amazon.

Reader Beware: This Book is Part of a Series

Posted on by TeAnne Chennault

The other day I was in the book store and I picked up book #2 in a series. From page #1, I was lost. It wasn’t because the action was confusing or even the concept, it was the multitude of characters that boggled my mind.  They shared history, they shared jokes, they shared angst. What they didn’t share was who they were and why should I care about them.  If I had read the first book, I think I definitely would’ve been excited about the second book – as it was, I didn’t even look for it.

Have you ever entered a room where a bunch of long-time friends are chatting away?You know you’ve been brought into something special, with special people – but you feel awkward and kind of clueless? That’s how I felt when I opened up that book.

So, this leaves me with the question – can you really jump into the middle of a series and slip right into the universe the author has created?

I say…it depends.

Some writers write stories that are loosely connected, and the publisher wants to clump them together in a “series” in order to brand and sell more books. Those I can deal with, because essentially, they are standalone books – until the last few novels when it seems like authors want to reaffirm how each heroine – and hero – in the books are connected through friendship, kinship or friend-enemyism (I made that word up, but you get the gist). The gilded group always seem to be at a ball or  a tea and someone is always pregnant (historical romance is my thing) and keeping it a secret, but that magic is slightly tarnished if the author is trying to bring new readers into into the proverbial fold.

So what is an author supposed to do? I dunno.

Maybe it’s more of a reader thing. I know sometimes in reviews it states very clearly “make sure you read the previous book first” or “no need to read the first book, jump right in!” Could it be reviews are sometimes more helpful than we think? Seems like it!

#AmReading