Have you every clicked on a Booktube link because a book looked interesting only to have every plot twist, character nuance and even the ending revealed? Well, I hate that! It really burns my buscuits so I won’t be doing that! When reading a romance novel only one thing should be a giveaway and that is the story ends in a happily ever after or at least a happily for now.
Maybe this trend started when movie trailers began giving away the ENTIRE movie, like they forgot that teaser doesn’t mean see if you can give away the whole movie in three minutes or less. Maybe the old folks are right and young people these days need everything at the speed of instant gratification, like TikTok and microwaves and high speed internet. I don’t know and I don’t frankly care. What matters to me is reading is a hobby that means it’s something I do for fun. Someone else basically regurgitating a book back at me in thirty minutes or less is like sitting through an unedited and unsatisfying bootleg audio book–Hard Pass, y’all!
So now that I’ve shown you the extent to which I absolutely hate spoiler reviews, let me tell you what I do put in my reviews:
- Trigger warnings- Guys trauma is a living nightmare and I firmly believe in the idea that until I walk a mile in someone’s shoes I can’t just tell them to suck up whatever traumatic events they’ve been through. For that reason Trigger warnings will be a part of every book review I give because life is too short to waste time making life harder that it has to be.
- Subgenre- Let’s face it, sometimes a cover or blurb doesn’t accurately give the reader the picture of what’s inside, then what’s a reader supposed to do?
- Trope- Sometimes you’ve never heard of this author or this book before and my review is coming out of a previously undiscovered part of the deepest reaches of Amazon’s book listings, but not to worry, I’m going to give you the run down.
- Writing style- I personally don’t get bothered by first person or third person books but other readers seem to be really triggered by this. They get pro one side or the other like one of them were running for president, so it’s going to be mentioned in the reviews just so you (and you know who you are) want to avoid having to pick up a book that’s going to give you a headache.
- Overall Score- When I decide if I like a book I like to break it down into what I consider the trifecta of a good book (I’ll blog a more detailed explanation later on this). First I need some good character chemistry. If the dialogue doesn’t show me the characters vibing, the story becomes stale and flat really quickly. Second I want an interesting plot. If your enemies to lovers conflict is someone stole the other’s doughnut three years ago, it’s going to cost you some serious points. I’m going to pull out my tiny violin and think pretty awful thoughts about the pettiness of the characters throughout the book. Third the author has to stick the ending! Nothing pisses me off more than when a book ends where the wronged character just forgives the other character for some unforgivable sin with no cause, no groveling and no suitable resolution to the conflict. I’m normally screaming “WTF! Somewhere there is woodshed with that *&#’s name on it!”
So now that I’ve shown you my inner book rage, know this: if you’re looking for a podcast that doesn’t give away the book then you’ve come to the right place. The Romance & Carrying On Podcast begins February 1, 2022.
