jmc_bks

I don't think any book lives or dies by execution. But as a reader, when I go through a review that gives a book a low grade because it wasn't romantic enough, or because the hero or heroine did such and such, that's just not helpful to me in my own evaluation process of "should I try this book?" But if the reviewer says that she didn't like Heroine X or Plot Device Y and then explains how the book handled those things (e.g. did a good job anyway or bungled it and made the hatred worse), then that helps me as a reader decide whether the book in question is going to be something I want to pick up or not. Because I have a better understanding of how the reviewer reads, and whether or not she/he reads in a way that feels familiar to me. Does the reviewer offer me any insight into the book or just tell me he/she did/didn't like it? The difference matters to me if I haven't read the book yet.

I have much lower expectations for reader *opinions* than full on review sites like AAR, though. IMO, the more formal the review, the more I want some conscious treatment of the book's craftsmanship, not just whether it worked as a Romance for the reader. It may not make the review objective, but it definitely gives me more information, since what's romantic is *completely* subjective, IMO.

Robin