Have You Ever Thought Have I Missed Something?

gothicangel

Toughen up.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2008
Messages
7,907
Reaction score
691
Location
North of the Wall
So, I've started to read this novel (which I won't name to save hassle) which I think is a bit blah (but keeping at it) but all the reviews I've found give it 4 to 5 * ratings.

The 'original plot' I've read at least in five other similar novels. The characters are cliches (especially the female ones) and I don't think much of the 'sparkling prose'.

I'm starting to wonder if something has gone over my head?
 

shortstorymachinist

The score is still Q to 12!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 22, 2015
Messages
2,169
Reaction score
1,293
Location
Japan
Sounds like the subjective nature of publishing to me, which I find comforting.
 

stephenf

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
1,199
Reaction score
335
So, I've started to read this novel (which I won't name to save hassle) which I think is a bit blah (but keeping at it) but all the reviews I've found give it 4 to 5 * ratings.

The 'original plot' I've read at least in five other similar novels. The characters are cliches (especially the female ones) and I don't think much of the 'sparkling prose'.

I'm starting to wonder if something has gone over my head?

Why don't you name the book . If your interested in discussing it , it would help.
 

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
12,977
Reaction score
4,512
Location
USA
Website
brightdreamersbookreviews.blogspot.com
I've had that reaction to several popular things...

We all have individual tastes. Don't worry too much about it. Maybe try writing down why you feel the way you do about it, and look at what other people have to say about why they feel the way they do. Could be you'll figure out what they see. Could be you're just on different planes and it's just not your thing.
 

PyriteFool

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
370
Reaction score
75
This is perfectly normal and inevitable. In order to write a book *someone* will love, you have to commit to certain choices, which always alienates someone else. That’s not a flaw. One reader will love an enemies to lovers story, another will find it trite. Doesn’t mean the author shouldn’t commit to their story. Assuming we’re not talking about problematic elements (I count those differently than matters of taste and they’re a different discussion).

If you haven’t finished the book, you may not have reached the stuff people like. Some stories build slow. Are you the target audience? If not, the elements designed to be appealing might not land. Or the book just isn’t to your tastes. If you want to try and figure out the appeal, feel free. I do this sometimes, and it can be a great exercise in empathy which in turn helps my own storytelling. If not, set it aside and go forth with no hard feelings.
 

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
10,643
Reaction score
14,867
Location
Massachusetts
Often. There’s been novels on multiple Best Of The Year lists, with many high-star reviews, that I thought had a nugget of plot wrapped in a whole lotta mediocrity.

I know that tastes are subjective. I also know that some reviews were bought, or were from friends & familly. I’ve learned to look for low reviews that explain in detail what they didn’t like, especially ones that compare & contrast with other books that I know. Those usually are more helpful to me.
 

gothicangel

Toughen up.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2008
Messages
7,907
Reaction score
691
Location
North of the Wall
Often. There’s been novels on multiple Best Of The Year lists, with many high-star reviews, that I thought had a nugget of plot wrapped in a whole lotta mediocrity.

I know that tastes are subjective. I also know that some reviews were bought, or were from friends & familly. I’ve learned to look for low reviews that explain in detail what they didn’t like, especially ones that compare & contrast with other books that I know. Those usually are more helpful to me.

That is the peculiar thing. It's very hard to find low reviews (definitely not found something lower than 3*).
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
Published by the Big 5? I would find that suspicious, but if it was a smaller publisher, you might have some supportive reviewing going on.
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,617
Reaction score
7,298
Location
Wash., D.C. area
I experience this on about 25% of the "OMG Amazing!!!" novels I'm "supposed" to love because they are "OMG Amazing!!!!" I used to, and still sometimes do, let this get me down that I'm a philistine who can't recognize good writing (and no wonder I can't get my stuff published unless it's in low-end free markets or fly-by-nighter scam publishers and sell literally 10 copies, and why are you even breathing other people's air, CHRISTOPHER?!?! :cry::cry:)

Okay, I'm back. When I think of books I consider OMG Amazing!!! much of the time it's because it's the first time I've encountered something the book contains or does. These same things might be trite old hat to others. Perhaps that book club best seller end of year highlight simply hit an audience who hadn't experienced some elements before, or did it in a new (to them) way. That is the same with classics, too. Sometimes the readers have read the imitators first, so that when the origin of whatever it is gets read it seems clunky. I dunno.

Perhaps all I've missed is the target audience's perspective. There's no expectation that I am going to have the same reaction or engagement.
 

starrystorm

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 9, 2018
Messages
2,987
Reaction score
605
Age
24
Everyone has their own opinion about things. It's not that you can help it. It's just not your thing. And maybe you've read this plot a thousand times, but others haven't and are giving it fantastic reviews because of that.

Or maybe because it's so popular you had higher expectations.

Who knows?
 

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
10,643
Reaction score
14,867
Location
Massachusetts
That is the peculiar thing. It's very hard to find low reviews (definitely not found something lower than 3*).

Are the reviews consistent that way across sites? Amazon and GoodReads both, for example? Many dozens or hundreds of reviews, or just a few?

I dunno. I know that my tastes have changed. I’ve got probably 1,500 paperbacks in boxes in our basement, some I bought in high school. Most I haven’t read in decades. No space to display them. So, why keep them? Am starting to unbox, with intent to toss out the ones with cracked spines, and sell the ones in better condition on eBay.

The thing is, some of these I remember LOVING thirty, forty years ago. Read ‘em multiple times. It’s bittersweet to try to reread some of them now — like, OMG, I really liked this?! Thirty years, I’dve left high star reviews. Now, can’t finish ‘em. Sometimes, I recognize that what I thought was inventive plotting was only new to me. Or, the characters just don’t work — don’t feel like authentic people.

Different things for different people I guess.
 

lizmonster

Possibly A Mermaid Queen
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
14,537
Reaction score
24,109
Location
Massachusetts
Website
elizabethbonesteel.com
That is the peculiar thing. It's very hard to find low reviews (definitely not found something lower than 3*).

There are a whole lot of books adored by people in general that I absolutely loathe. Some of them are older; some of them are more recent books that put me off on the first page. They span all genres. Many of these books have won awards.

Sometimes I can recognize it's subjective, and there's just something in a particular title that doesn't resonate with me. Other times I'm completely baffled by how a thing got popular.

Maybe my taste is weird, but it's mine, so there you go. :)
 
Last edited:

The Black Prince

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 1, 2014
Messages
311
Reaction score
37
Location
Australia
Website
www.adriandeans.com
There is nothing more common than books that some people love and other people hate - and probably just as well. How boring would it be if we all liked and disliked the same things?

Some of these books have been discussed many times, like Pillars of the Earth for example. So many people just adore it but I think it was repetitious and predictable. Another one is The Celestine Prophecy - sold by the millions, yet for me pretty close to the worst book ever written. Inferno by Dan Brown - gets millions of 5 star ratings on goodreads but I absolutely savaged it.

As William Goldman said: No-one knows anything.
 

SAWeiner

Super Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Messages
370
Reaction score
89
Location
NYC
What I have seen is that established writers can get a huge amount of leeway and deference from publishers. For instance, I am currently reading a mystery/suspense novel by David Baldacci--One Good Deed. His descriptions of people and places are often too long, tedious, and unnecessary. Also, Baldacci has his detective enlist a suspect who is a convicted felon as his assistant. I was told emphatically by a writing coach that this is a huge no-no in a mystery novel! Nevertheless, because the author has had best sellers before, this book has been published.
 

lizmonster

Possibly A Mermaid Queen
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
14,537
Reaction score
24,109
Location
Massachusetts
Website
elizabethbonesteel.com
What I have seen is that established writers can get a huge amount of leeway and deference from publishers.

Bestselling writers can get a huge amount of deference from publishers because their name on a book is a guaranteed income stream. A Stephen King book that doesn't do well in relation to all his others is still likely to turn a good profit.

In theory (and, IMHO, in practice) this allows them to take on riskier projects that aren't going to have the same rate of return. Publishing is, bottom line, a business, but a large percentage of the folks who work in it truly love books.
 

starrystorm

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 9, 2018
Messages
2,987
Reaction score
605
Age
24
Bestselling writers can get a huge amount of deference from publishers because their name on a book is a guaranteed income stream.

Reminds me of an article I read about a famous author who was tired of how his publishers treated him now that he was famous because he said they wouldn't do much to change it or make it better. The publishers would just think: It's by him, so it's got to be great.
 

WriteMinded

Derailed
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 16, 2010
Messages
6,209
Reaction score
775
Location
Paradise Lost
In answer to the OP's question: Of course. It's especially disappointing if you've geared yourself up for a great read. I have also had the experience of not expecting much from a book with decent but not drooling reviews only to find I loved it. I chalk that up to personal preferences. There are several well-known, beloved authors whose works I don't care for. I'm not complaining about their skill. Skill, they have, but I can't get immersed in their stories, and I don't care about their characters. That's just the way it is. :Shrug:
 

lizmonster

Possibly A Mermaid Queen
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
14,537
Reaction score
24,109
Location
Massachusetts
Website
elizabethbonesteel.com
Reminds me of an article I read about a famous author who was tired of how his publishers treated him now that he was famous because he said they wouldn't do much to change it or make it better. The publishers would just think: It's by him, so it's got to be great.

Eh, I suspect it was less "it's got to be great" than "we can make enough money from this book without taking up our editor's limited time." (Which isn't to say his work wasn't great. :)) I've read a lot of bestselling books that could have used an editor, and I used to blame the author's ego. Now I blame limited resources and insane production schedules.
 

Nerdilydone

Banned
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
618
Reaction score
67
Location
...
Eh, it's not necessarily about quality, but also about saleability. That, and people really don't like being negative. Most people tend to avoid criticize things too hard, because they don't want to be mean. And sometimes it's the comfort of a story that people know more or less how it's going to end, and they like that.

I dunno. Psychology can go in many directions.
 

indianroads

Wherever I go, there I am.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Messages
2,372
Reaction score
230
Location
Colorado
Website
indianroads.net
Readers have preferences. I've read a number of "Bestseller", "Award Winning", "Acclaimed" books by extremely successful authors that I absolutely hated.

Reviews - and even feedback from beta readers that aren't into your genre or don't like the kind of story or character you're writing can throw you off course. For now, I suggest you just write your book - some people will love it and others will hate it no matter what you do.
 

The Black Prince

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 1, 2014
Messages
311
Reaction score
37
Location
Australia
Website
www.adriandeans.com
One thing I learned years ago was not to ask for feedback from people whose taste I knew to be different from my own.

When you're just starting out you crave feedback like some unholy addiction (as opposed to all those very holy addictions...) but you have to get over that and ask only people likely to be interested in your genre to take a look.

Even then, I gradually learned not to ask unless the relevant person had initiated strong enough interest to suggest they would actually read it.

Reading back over this, it seems I've strayed from the topic. I was responding to an indian roads comment above and... so erm, yeah...different people like different things.
 

mccardey

Self-Ban
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
Messages
19,213
Reaction score
15,827
Location
Australia.
When you're just starting out you crave feedback like some unholy addiction (as opposed to all those very holy addictions...) but you have to get over that
<<snip>>
so erm, yeah...different people like different things.

I've never wanted feedback (except editorial). I hate talking about my books - partly because I can barely remember them once they're done, but mostly because of, I dunno - embarrassment? Shyness?

Different people, different things again ;)
 
Last edited:

mccardey

Self-Ban
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
Messages
19,213
Reaction score
15,827
Location
Australia.
oops - just ignore this post. It was meant to be somewhere else...