Book News

[andromeda331]

On 2/4/2022 at 1:40 PM, Annber03 said:

When I worked at a bookstore, I'd occasionally get customers who were really bothered by the fact we had books about Wicca and tarot cards and other things of that sort in the store. 

I remember in the late '90s, especially after Columbine, there was a huge backlash against anything goth/Wiccan/dark in general, because people assumed that that stuff was the reason we had all these school shootings going on and whatnot. 

I remember that too. Its right up there with violence in movies and TV causing kids to kill. Really, what caused that before movies and TV? Violence has been around since the beginning of time. Or for Christians since Cain killed Abel. Nothing "makes" people commit violence. 

[Tom Holmberg]

14 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Nothing "makes" people commit violence. 

What about reefer?

[peacheslatour]

8 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

What about reefer?

 There was never any violence before rock and roll music and video games!

[Tom Holmberg]

On 2/15/2022 at 8:24 PM, peacheslatour said:

 There was never any violence before rock and roll music and video games!

When I was a child my mother subscribed to the local weekly Catholic newspaper that included the ratings of movies by the group "The Legion of Decency" ((the legion would show up once a year at mass and make everyone swear they would only watch "decent" movies).  The list included those rated C- Condemned, objectionable for all.  I'd read that list thinking about those condemned movies (two titles I remember are "Sex Kittens Go to College", which I think has run on TCM, and "Every Frenchmen Has One", I didn't know what it was they had but I wanted one too).  One week our local theater was showing a double-feature and one of the movies was on the Condemned list, the other movie was "Around the World in 80 Days", I believe.  So my friend and I told our parents we were going to see ATWI80D, when really we wanted to see the Condemned film.  We sat through the whole condemned film. bored out of our minds.  The only reason we thought maybe the movie was condemned was that they drank champagne out of ladies shoes (the real reason went completely over our heads). What was the Condemned movie?  "Gigi."  So much for censorship.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Tom Holmberg

[peacheslatour]

Quote

What was the Condemned movie?  "Gigi."  So much for censorship.

Maybe it was this song?

[BlackberryJam]

Or maybe because Gigi is about training a young girl to be a prostitute. 

[peacheslatour]

4 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Or maybe because Gigi is about training a young girl to be a prostitute. 

Right? It was sold as this lighter than air musical and people bought it.

[BlackberryJam]

58 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Right? It was sold as this lighter than air musical and people bought it.

Exactly. Let’s take a young girl and make her the best prostitute ever! The whole premise of that film is disgusting. I’m not for banning it, but I wouldn’t encourage anyone to view it as some sort of romance.

[Blergh]

11 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Exactly. Let’s take a young girl and make her the best prostitute ever! The whole premise of that film is disgusting. I’m not for banning it, but I wouldn’t encourage anyone to view it as some sort of romance.

While at the end, it's a relief that she does NOT become one, it would have been FAR more of a satisfying end had her entire group of DNA Donors and their . ..clientele been arrested for Corrupting the Morals of a Youth (which WAS a legal crime).

[Tom Holmberg]

21 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Or maybe because Gigi is about training a young girl to be a prostitute. 

Right, but that went right over my 9-year-old head.

[BlackberryJam]

1 hour ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Right, but that went right over my 9-year-old head.

Sure, but even at that age, it’s another film promoting the idea that the value of women is in how they are presented to and later serve men. The message is there, on full display, for children to absorb, even if they don’t understand exactly what’s going on.

Again, I’m not for banning it. Not even a little. But I can understand why people find it offensive. Hells, I find it offensive. Being offensive isn’t a reason to ban something. Promoting a terrible message isn’t a reason to ban something. If a church organization wants to put it on a list of, “Films that have a terrible moral message that we condemn,” it absolutely makes sense. 

I’d like there to be fewer films that promote the role of “woman as prostitute/woman’s only value is to please a man,” especially if that film is promoted as a romance. 

[krankydoodle]

The Hugo Award finalists have been announced: https://www.tor.com/2022/04/07/announcing-the-2022-hugo-award-finalists/

I thought it was interesting that one of the nominated short stories was published as a Twitter thread.

[SusanM]

 

Beatle v mobster: the day John Lennon put paid to a shady record label boss

"In May, Bergen is publishing Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer: The Untold Story, which draws on thousands of pages of trial testimony and notes."

Definitely going to have to get my hands on this one!

Edited April 10, 2022 by SusanM

[Tom Holmberg]

For the fans of Greek myth novels:

Ithaca
Claire North
ISBN: 9780316422963

This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca's shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses—that will change the course of the world.
 
Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom.
 
Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. 
 
No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive.
 
On Ithaca, everyone watches, including the gods. And there is no corner of the land where intrigue does not reign. 

From the multi-award winning author Claire North comes a daring, powerful, and moving tale that breathes new life into ancient myth, and tells of the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men. It's time for the women of Ithaca to tell their story...

"Claire North brings a powerful, fresh, and unflinching voice to ancient myth—darkly fascinating, raw and breathtaking." —Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne

"Like Penelope at her loom, North weaves and unweaves, teasing out the threads of Homeric myth to recombine them into something unique, wonderful, and urgently contemporary." —M. R. Carey, author of The Girl With All the Gifts

[Spartan Girl]

4 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

For the fans of Greek myth novels:

Ithaca
Claire North
ISBN: 9780316422963

This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca's shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses—that will change the course of the world.
 
Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom.
 
Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. 
 
No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive.
 
On Ithaca, everyone watches, including the gods. And there is no corner of the land where intrigue does not reign. 

From the multi-award winning author Claire North comes a daring, powerful, and moving tale that breathes new life into ancient myth, and tells of the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men. It's time for the women of Ithaca to tell their story...

"Claire North brings a powerful, fresh, and unflinching voice to ancient myth—darkly fascinating, raw and breathtaking." —Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne

"Like Penelope at her loom, North weaves and unweaves, teasing out the threads of Homeric myth to recombine them into something unique, wonderful, and urgently contemporary." —M. R. Carey, author of The Girl With All the Gifts

I’m ready for this.

[andromeda331]

18 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

For the fans of Greek myth novels:

Ithaca
Claire North
ISBN: 9780316422963

This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca's shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses—that will change the course of the world.
 
Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom.
 
Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. 
 
No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive.
 
On Ithaca, everyone watches, including the gods. And there is no corner of the land where intrigue does not reign. 

From the multi-award winning author Claire North comes a daring, powerful, and moving tale that breathes new life into ancient myth, and tells of the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men. It's time for the women of Ithaca to tell their story...

"Claire North brings a powerful, fresh, and unflinching voice to ancient myth—darkly fascinating, raw and breathtaking." —Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne

"Like Penelope at her loom, North weaves and unweaves, teasing out the threads of Homeric myth to recombine them into something unique, wonderful, and urgently contemporary." —M. R. Carey, author of The Girl With All the Gifts

That sounds really interesting. I love stories told from a different point of view.

[Haleth]

Back in the day I named my minivan Penelope.  It was an Odyssey of course, named for the original stay at home mom.  (I thought it was quite clever.)  Looking forward to reading this book.

[Tom Holmberg]

Another novel based on The Iliad... (Probably banned in Texas and Florida)

Wrath Goddess Sing: A Novel
Maya Deane 
ISBN: 9780063161184

Drawing on ancient texts and modern archeology to reveal the trans woman’s story hidden underneath the well-known myths of The Iliad, Maya Deane’s Wrath Goddess Sing weaves a compelling, pitilessly beautiful vision of Achilles’ vanished world, perfect for fans of Song of Achilles and the Inheritance trilogy.

The gods wanted blood. She fought for love.

Achilles has fled her home and her vicious Myrmidon clan to live as a woman with the kallai, the transgender priestesses of Great Mother Aphrodite. When Odysseus comes to recruit the “prince” Achilles for a war against the Hittites, she prepares to die rather than fight as a man. However, her divine mother, Athena, intervenes, transforming her body into the woman’s body she always longed for, and promises her everything: glory, power, fame, victory in war, and, most importantly, a child born of her own body. Reunited with her beloved cousin, Patroklos, and his brilliant wife, the sorceress Meryapi, Achilles sets out to war with a vengeance. 

But the gods—a dysfunctional family of abusive immortals that have glutted on human sacrifices for centuries—have woven ancient schemes more blood-soaked and nightmarish than Achilles can imagine. At the center of it all is the cruel, immortal Helen, who sees Achilles as a worthy enemy after millennia of ennui and emptiness. In love with her newfound nemesis, Helen sets out to destroy everything and everyone Achilles cherishes, seeking a battle to the death. 

An innovative spin on a familiar tale, this is the Trojan War unlike anything ever told, and an Achilles whose vulnerability is revealed by the people she chooses to fight…and chooses to trust.

 

 

 

[proserpina65]

27 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Another novel based on The Iliad... (Probably banned in Texas and Florida)

Wrath Goddess Sing: A Novel
Maya Deane 
ISBN: 9780063161184

Drawing on ancient texts and modern archeology to reveal the trans woman’s story hidden underneath the well-known myths of The Iliad, Maya Deane’s Wrath Goddess Sing weaves a compelling, pitilessly beautiful vision of Achilles’ vanished world, perfect for fans of Song of Achilles and the Inheritance trilogy.

The gods wanted blood. She fought for love.

Achilles has fled her home and her vicious Myrmidon clan to live as a woman with the kallai, the transgender priestesses of Great Mother Aphrodite. When Odysseus comes to recruit the “prince” Achilles for a war against the Hittites, she prepares to die rather than fight as a man. However, her divine mother, Athena, intervenes, transforming her body into the woman’s body she always longed for, and promises her everything: glory, power, fame, victory in war, and, most importantly, a child born of her own body. Reunited with her beloved cousin, Patroklos, and his brilliant wife, the sorceress Meryapi, Achilles sets out to war with a vengeance. 

But the gods—a dysfunctional family of abusive immortals that have glutted on human sacrifices for centuries—have woven ancient schemes more blood-soaked and nightmarish than Achilles can imagine. At the center of it all is the cruel, immortal Helen, who sees Achilles as a worthy enemy after millennia of ennui and emptiness. In love with her newfound nemesis, Helen sets out to destroy everything and everyone Achilles cherishes, seeking a battle to the death. 

An innovative spin on a familiar tale, this is the Trojan War unlike anything ever told, and an Achilles whose vulnerability is revealed by the people she chooses to fight…and chooses to trust.

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but I hate writers who can't just make up their own stories but have to try and put twists on existing mythology.

[JustHereForFood]

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I'm sorry, but I hate writers who can't just make up their own stories but have to try and put twists on existing mythology.

But mythology is stuff made up by people across generations. I understand this take when it comes to real events, or boks written by a specific author (though a new take on those can still be good, like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or various Sherlock Holmes additional stories). But mythology? It usually already has several different retellings.

[scarynikki12]

The only mythology retellings I can't get behind are the ones doing stuff like writing Hades and Persephone as a love match. All the myths from ancient times were adjusted by the storytellers as they traveled around so is it possible that there was a version that had those two as unrelated age appropriate lovers? Sure but the versions that survived the oral tradition present him as the adult who kidnaps and rapes a child. Those are the versions that we know existed and they didn't shy away from the fact that Hades rapes Persephone. Yet there are a surprising number of modern retellings where they are an epic romance designed to make the reader swoon. It's disgusting. 

As long as the retelling isn't doing that shit I'm open to anything. I think Achilles is an annoying brat in The Iliad but I fucking love Song of Achilles so it can be done.

[proserpina65]

15 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

But mythology is stuff made up by people across generations. I understand this take when it comes to real events, or boks written by a specific author (though a new take on those can still be good, like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or various Sherlock Holmes additional stories). But mythology? It usually already has several different retellings.

There's a difference between variations in retellings and things like changing the sex of characters.

The Hades & Persephone thing, I'm more flexible on, but that is entirely do to having watched Hercules and Xena.  I'm capable of keeping tv characters separate from mythology.

Ultimately, it's all a personal preference, but I really dislike feminist re-writings of mythology.

[Tom Holmberg]

This looks funny ( kind of like Reclutter Your Life)

Rejected Books: The Most Unpublishable Books of All Time
Graham Johnson & Rob Hibbert
ISBN: 9780593235928

A collection of forty hilariously unrealistic, totally cringe-worthy covers for books that will never, ever be published--from the authors of Images You Should Not Masturbate To.

This collection of imagined book covers will have you scratching your head and guffawing with every page turn. Though Pranks with Sausages and Holy Bible II don't actually exist, Rejected Books offers up a professionally produced series of photos imagining just what these wacky ideas (and plenty more) couldlook like.

Rejected Books includes delightfully weird covers of imagined books like: 
  •The Sculptors Who Couldn't Do Hands
  •Cooking with Breast Milk
  •Possessed Toys: A Buying Guide
  •Unfortunate Gluing Accidents
  •Camel Toes Through History
 
Enjoy the worst book pitches of all time and rest assured that anyone can have a future in publishing...even if your ideas are totally horrible.

 

[Tom Holmberg]

For anyone familiar with the Doc Savage pulp novels, now James Patterson is coming out with a new Doc Savage novel (well, the son of Doc Savage, actually).

The Perfect Assassin: A Doc Savage Thriller
ISBN: 9781538721841

 

Prof. Brandt Savage—grandson of the legendary action hero Doc Savage—is forced into a top-secret training program where he discovers his true calling...as the perfect assassin.

 

I think James Patterson's "The Bible" is probably going to be next.

[Tom Holmberg]

5 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

For anyone familiar with the Doc Savage pulp novels, now James Patterson is coming out with a new Doc Savage novel (well, the son of Doc Savage, actually).

The Perfect Assassin: A Doc Savage Thriller
ISBN: 9781538721841

 

Prof. Brandt Savage—grandson of the legendary action hero Doc Savage—is forced into a top-secret training program where he discovers his true calling...as the perfect assassin.

 

I think James Patterson's "The Bible" is probably going to be next.

I was unaware that he previously put out a "The Shadow" book, based on another pulp character..

[Tom Holmberg]

On 5/14/2022 at 1:53 PM, Tom Holmberg said:

I was unaware that he previously put out a "The Shadow" book, based on another pulp character..

 I've never read a James Patterson book, so I tried this one (even though I doubt he had much to do with the writing, not that he appears to have much to do with most of the books with his name on it).  I enjoyed the original Shadow pulp stories from the 1930s, but this one really stunk.  The book was basically a YA dystopian future story (like there aren't enough of those already) with a dim shadow of the Shadow as a secondary character.  Why not just write an updated Shadow story set in the noir 1930s?

[dubbel zout]

I know your questions were mostly rhetorical, but there might be copyright/IP issues with using the Shadow.

[Tom Holmberg]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I know your questions were mostly rhetorical, but there might be copyright/IP issues with using the Shadow.

I don't think that's the case, There's a character "Lamont Cranston" (The Shadow's alter-ego), "Margo Lane" (The Shadow's girlfriend), "The Shadow" (himself), and "Shiwan Khan" (the best known Shadow villain).  They talk about the Shadow magazines and the Shadow radio program. Can't get more specific than that.

[dubbel zout]

So it's Patterson being lazy, perhaps.

[Tom Holmberg]

20 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

So it's Patterson being lazy, perhaps.

I don't think he writes many, if any, of the books with his name on them, esp. those with a second author.  I'd like to know who wrote the books he "wrote" with the Clintons.

[Mondrianyone]

2 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I don't think he writes many, if any, of the books with his name on them, esp. those with a second author.

This is correct. I worked on several books written by one of his coauthors after the coauthor went solo. To Patterson's credit, though, this is hardly a secret, and he does a staggering amount of charitable work on behalf of libraries, independent bookstores, kids in underserved areas, and young writers. So I'm good with whatever he's come up with that works for him.

[sugarbaker design]

19 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I'd like to know who wrote the books he "wrote" with the Clintons.

Clinton singular.  Patterson never co-wrote anything with HRC.

[Tom Holmberg]

5 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

Clinton singular.  Patterson never co-wrote anything with HRC.

You're correct.  It was Louise Penny.

[sugarbaker design]

13 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

You're correct.  It was Louise Penny.

And I would imagine LP did all the heavy lifting in that collaboration!

[krankydoodle]

Barnes & Noble Being Sued in Virginia Beach Over GENDER QUEER, COURT OF MIST AND FURY

Quote

Virginia Beach attorney and State Delegate Tim Anderson, posted on Facebook that he and his client Tommy Altman–a right-wing republican running for Congress in the district housing Virginia Beach–saw the Virginia Beach Circuit Court find “probable cause that the books Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and Fury are obscene to unrestricted viewing by minors.”

Altman has now directed Anderson to pursue litigation against Barnes & Noble for making the material available to minors.

“My client, Tommy Altman, has now directed my office to seek a restraining order against Barnes and Noble and Virginia Beach Schools to enjoin them from selling or loaning these books to minors without parent consent,” reads Anderson’s post.

[Annber03]

Boy, I'm sure glad this Altman guy is focusing on the REAL issues that matter here. *Rolls eyes*

I hope Barnes & Noble laugh those two out of the courtroom. Idiots. 

[dubbel zout]

Who will hear the suit, the Virginia Beach Circuit Court system? Because it gave the okay for the suit to proceed. 

[Haleth]

Nothing promotes book sales like an attempt to ban them.

[dubbel zout]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

Nothing promotes book sales like an attempt to ban them.

I don't understand why potential banners don't understand this. When Maus was banned, it instantly sold out across the country. My brother couldn't check out a copy from the library, as all of those copies had waiting lists a mile long. 

This happens nearly every time, to varying degrees. These bozos who want to ban a book would be much better off just not allowing their kids to read them. I also want them to realize they aren't the boss of me. UGH.

[JustHereForFood]

Holy shit!

Novelist Salman Rushdie in surgery after on-stage stabbing

Quote

State police have confirmed that Salman Rushdie has suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck

He was flown by helicopter to a local hospital, police said

A suspect has been taken into custody after he ran onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer, who has also sustained a minor head injury

A receptionist at the Chautauqua Institution has confirmed to the BBC that an "emergency" is taking place at the venue

Rushdie was on stage at the not-for-profit Chautauqua Institution in western New York when he was attacked

The event, billed as Salman Rushdie & Henry Reese, was part of a series looking at "redefining the American home" in the 21st Century and was set to feature a "discussion of the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression"

I don't think I've ever heard about him or his books before. This is just horrible. And he was apparently supposed to speak about the US being a safe haven for writers and freedom of speech. I hope he will be ok.

What the fuck is wrong with some people?!!!

[OtterMommy]

52 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

Holy shit!

Novelist Salman Rushdie in surgery after on-stage stabbing

I don't think I've ever heard about him or his books before. This is just horrible. And he was apparently supposed to speak about the US being a safe haven for writers and freedom of speech. I hope he will be ok.

What the fuck is wrong with some people?!!!

In 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini put a bounty on his head for his book The Satanic Verses.  For quite some time, he was big news over these death threats.  Then he went on Goodreads and didn't make his profile public and outraged many by saying he didn't really like To Kill a Mockingbird. (Okay, maybe that wasn't BIG news, but it was the first time I remember him being in the news and it not having to do with the death threats).  

He wasn't exactly hiding in the years following the fatwa.  I mean, he was on Goodreads.  He also made an appearance in the first Bridget Jones movie.  He has also published many books since then.

I can only guess that this attack was stemming from the fatwa, which everyone seems to have forgotten about.  I've never been a fan of Rushdie's books, but I hope that he recovers quickly from this attack.

[OtterMommy]

Here is a good article that talks about the issues around The Satanic Verses and Salman Rushdie.

[sugarbaker design]

On 8/12/2022 at 5:00 PM, JustHereForFood said:

Holy shit!

Novelist Salman Rushdie in surgery after on-stage stabbing

I don't think I've ever heard about him or his books before. 

I feel faint.

[proserpina65]

On 8/12/2022 at 5:59 PM, OtterMommy said:

He wasn't exactly hiding in the years following the fatwa.

Rushdie was in hiding for years after the fatwa was issued but after Iran sorta started ignoring it (although they never actually rescinded it), he slowly started returning to a more public life.  I imagine he thought that after the time which had passed, he was safe enough.  Assuming of course that this attack had anything to do with the fatwa.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 8/15/2022 at 3:44 PM, proserpina65 said:

Rushdie was in hiding for years after the fatwa was issued but after Iran sorta started ignoring it (although they never actually rescinded it), he slowly started returning to a more public life.  I imagine he thought that after the time which had passed, he was safe enough.  Assuming of course that this attack had anything to do with the fatwa.

Today I saw a news story where the attacker directly blamed Rushdie’s “disrespect for Islam.”  
In the late 90s I saw Rushdie out enjoying a normal life. He was in the audience at a Broadway show with then-fiancé Padma Lakshmi and comedian Steve Martin!  it was the Ricky Jay one-man show. 

[Minneapple]

Has anyone seen the drama involving the upcoming YA fantasy called Lightlark? This is a novel that is coming out of BookTok. The author has done a ton of TikToks to hype up the novel, talking about the tropes and whatnot in the book. The book has been optioned for a movie before publication and all of this. So there was a ton of hype around this book. Well, they sent out some ARCs and people read it and…apparently it sucks, plus it doesn’t include half of the stuff the author said it includes. The book is getting review bombed on Goodreads and the author is getting a lot of hate on social media. She’s talked about how she has struggled with rejection for “years,” but she’s only 27 and apparently her family is wealthy. I had the book marked on my Goodreads and the rating tanked from like a 4.5 to 2.4 almost overnight. I’ve never seen anything like that.

[DearEvette]

Yeah, I saw the Lightlark drama play out on twitter over the past couple of days.

The only time I have seen book rating tank so hard on GR in such a short time was the Faleena Hopkins mess when she tried to trademark the word 'cocky' in romance titles and sent cease and desist letters to other authors (and even succeeded in getting one author's books removed from Amazon) who had the work 'cocky' in their titles. 

Man, she got roasted and flambeed all up and down twitter and then a bunch of big name authors put out an Anthology with 'COCKY' in the title.  Ah, good times.

Anyway, yeah so there were legit readers who read it and a lot had the consensus that it was just bad,  Badly written, no world building, a rip off of better books, etc.  And yeah, falsely advertised.   But then add to the author bragging on tik tok about her connections with big names, her cover reveal was a big jumbo tron on Time Square, she comes from big $$$ and has access to movers and shakers... I can see why she got side eyed. But yeah, no reason to review bomb.

The thing that gets me though, is there is all this pearl clutching over 'How dare people give 1-stars for books they haven't even read yet!!!' but nobody is mad when a lot of people are giving 5-stars when they haven't read the book yet either.

In looking at the reviews before all the shit hit the fan, if you averaged the legit people who read it and rated it 5 and the legit people who read it and rated it 1, you would never reach the 4.56 stars it started out as. 

A fair number of the 5-stars she got are from fans who liked her pitch on tik tok but hadn't read the book and  authors who blurbed the book  (they'd never rate anything less than five star on GR because it is considered bad form).  Her rating was pretty high because there were so few ratings on GR in the first place and ratings during the arc phase are always inflated, from my anecdotal experience.  Back in July there were something 90 ratings compared to the 1469 now.

Like I said, sure it sucks she it getting review bombed, and it sounds like if this hadn't taken the turn it has, left to it's own devices it would have probably settled someone in the mid 3-star range.  But the YA bookworld has always been super, super messy.  Remember The Handbook For Mortals? Taught everyone how to game the NYT bestseller list. And that is just a rather recent example.

[Ohiopirate02]

16 hours ago, DearEvette said:

A fair number of the 5-stars she got are from fans who liked her pitch on tik tok but hadn't read the book and  authors who blurbed the book  (they'd never rate anything less than five star on GR because it is considered bad form).  Her rating was pretty high because there were so few ratings on GR in the first place and ratings during the arc phase are always inflated, from my anecdotal experience.  Back in July there were something 90 ratings compared to the 1469 now.

I've never heard of it being considered bad form for an author to give less that 5 stars on Goodreads.  Roxane Gay routinely gives books 3 and 4 star ratings over there.  It really depends on the individual author and how he/she/they choose to use the platform.  I will say though, if an author like Chloe Gong is willing to blurb your books, then their GR rating is automatically going to be positive.  She chose to blurb the book and will (hopefully) stand by it.  I do take issue with any author who chooses to renege on a review after any form of social media pile on.  If an author chooses to read an ARC without researching the author (which is a perfectly valid choice authors are human and read ARCs and give blurbs in their free time), then they can only judge the book by it.  Lightlark may be a perfectly good book if you have zero knowledge about the author's Tik-Toks and the promises the author gave.  

[proserpina65]

On 8/19/2022 at 9:25 PM, EtheltoTillie said:

In the late 90s I saw Rushdie out enjoying a normal life. He was in the audience at a Broadway show with then-fiancé Padma Lakshmi and comedian Steve Martin!  it was the Ricky Jay one-man show. 

Yeah, by then the fatwa was about 10 years old and Rushdie had started going out in public.  All rather cuckoo, isn't it.

[DearEvette]

4 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I've never heard of it being considered bad form for an author to give less that 5 stars on Goodreads. 

Yeah, I probably should have said "many consider it bad form"  There has been discussion about it and a lot of authors have said that if they didn't like a book they simply wouldn't rate it at all. 

I also think it is a difference between a book you are reading for your own pleasure vs. a book you are blurbing.  It would seem weird to give a 3-star (which many authors see as 'meh' but in GR terms actually means you liked it) review on something you wrote about glowingly on the cover.

And from what I saw the legitimate reviews go into a lot of detail about what they liked/didn't like so the negative reviews -- at least the ones that came out a week or two ago based on ARCs -- are very detailed.  My takeway from the ones I've read is that the writing itself was problematic.  The one thing that seemed common was less a complaint about the trope expectations and more about the prose and it felt like it needed a few more drafts and some story construction.