That being said, I should probably take a moment to explain how I review and rate the books that I review. Reviewing books is something new to me, well kinda anyway. I did some in high school, but that doesn't really count. I wasn't able to pick and choose which books.
But
I digress. When someone recommends a book to me (thanks, Tisha for
getting me hooked!) I will read it at least a couple of times. You
(meaning people in general, including myself) always miss something the
first time through. After that, I will look for other works by the same
author and read everything I can. The very first story I ever read was Tim and Hank by Rob Colton (posting as robcub32) on Nifty. I had never read a M/M story before and I was hooked.
Choosing
to review a book usually stems from how much I liked it. I wish I had
the time to write a review on every M/M story I've read, because I've
loved them all but I don't. Someday I will.
Okay,
so. I've read the book a couple (or couple of dozen) times. Do I write a
review? Not immediately (with the exception of When Will I See You
Again by Julie Lynn Hayes). I write the review when my Muse tells me
it's time. How long it actually takes me to write the review again
depends on my Muse.
Now
that that's out of the way, onto the review process itself. Once it's
time to review a *published* book (not everything I review will be
published...some will be online stories) I will go to the usual sites
(amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, the author's website, gayauthors.org,
etc.) and read the intros/blurbs/excerpts/reviews/etc. and compare them
with other books in the same genre. I would not compare Be My Alien (Julie Lynn Hayes and MA Church) with Timber Pack Chronicles (Rob Colton) or Double Full (Kindle Alexander). Am I making sense, or am I just rambling?
Anyway,
after reading the intros/blurbs/excerpts/reviews/etc., I develop
expectations for the story and that is how I rate it. If, after the
first few chapters, I find the story to be boring (slow beginning does
not equal boring) or it doesn't hold my interest, then obviously it does
not meet my expectations. Therefore it gets a rating of 1-5.
Now, whenever I rate a book I will keep it within the 1 to 10 scale, for M/M stories where 6 or 7 will mean a good book, 8 a great book, 9 an exceptional book and 10 a blew-my-socks-off book; and 1-5 for non-M/M stories.
I have to state that even if I give a particular story a higher rating than another, it doesn't necessarily mean that I like it better than another (so far, nothing I've read can replace The Harvest as my favorite, although there are quite a few that come very close).
Now, whenever I rate a book I will keep it within the 1 to 10 scale, for M/M stories where 6 or 7 will mean a good book, 8 a great book, 9 an exceptional book and 10 a blew-my-socks-off book; and 1-5 for non-M/M stories.
I have to state that even if I give a particular story a higher rating than another, it doesn't necessarily mean that I like it better than another (so far, nothing I've read can replace The Harvest as my favorite, although there are quite a few that come very close).
I
should also mention that holding my interest or meeting my expectations
alone do not determine the rating. I also consider plot development,
character development, how likable are the characters (I'd love to hang
out with Keyno and the gang (although Ti and Colt scare the shit out of
me) or Reed and Fabrintazo (decaffeinated, of course), or even the
Shermin Heights gang), how plausible are the story elements, etc.
So that's my story, and I'm sticking to it! :) Questions/comments are welcome.
If
anyone has any suggestions, I encourage (and get down on my knees and
beg (minds out of the gutter!) if I have to) you to leave the title and
author in the comments section.
Here's
a list of the reviews so far. If clicking on the title does not work,
that simply means that the review is in the works and will be posted
shortly.
The Harvest: Taken by MA Church
Shermin Heights shorts by Night Tempest
Galactic Conspiracies: The Degan Incident, The Cassini Mission, and The Degan Paradox by Rob Colton *updated*
The Demon Rolmar by A.V. Griffin (not a slash fic)
Double Full by Kindle Alexander (A Nice Guys Novel book 1)
Full Disclosure by Kindle Alexander (A Nice Guys Novel book 2)
Pricolici by Alicia Nordwell
Project X by Nephylim
Curiosity Killed Shaney by J. C. Wallace
Godsend by Sloan Johnson
Circling Back by Amanda Young
