The Blog On The Web: Book Reviews

I might have a problem.

(Or two, but we can talk about those a different time).

And that problem is that I more often than not review all the books I read as 4 stars and above. And I say this is a problem only because a part of this blog is for me to review the books I end up reading, and well, how fun would that be if I give out all five stars?

Though if I am honest, its because I'm usually good at choosing books I know I am going to enjoy reading, and thus I almost always end up with a happy experience with the story. There have been a few exceptions though, including a recent from last year called Supermarket. Y'all when I say I did not like that book I am 100% being honest. I think I even gave it a 1 star on GoodReads because at one point I was so over reading the book and wanting it to be over that it gave me nightmares. I'll probably review the book for this blog at some point just to add a variation to what I give books, and I think I have a lot to say about it (good and bad). I'll probably end up skimming through the book just to get a refresher on all the reasons why I disliked it so much. All for the blogs

That brings me to the other note for this post. I also have a problem reviewing books because I don't look for literary devices like tone, voice, syntax, etc. that I feel more professional and reputable book reviews look for. If the plot and writing are good and I like it then that's that. This usually translates to my "reviews" as basically me saying "Its a good book! The plot is blah blah blah.. it was interesting/boring throughout,, and ~spoilers~" (lots of them because I don't know if I can review a book without spoiling some parts of it- so be warned. It's going to be very, very subjective.

But aren't all reviews of anything subjective to our own tastes? Art is art after all, and we all have our likes and dislikes.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm reading for my own taste and own amusement, not to be intellectually engaged and looking for deeper meanings (at least most of the time). I'm literally just watching a movie in my head; vibing. If the book does a good job of doing that then in my judgment it deserves at least 4 stars.

...except for Supermarket, that can go in the trash. (sorry Bobby Hall)

Jk, I still have the book, only because it cost me 8 freaking dollars and I'm too petty to let 8 dollars go to waste even more than it did on that book. That one book was just so not my thing that I found myself criticizing even the most mundane things like choice of font and book cover, and names, and even those literary devices that I usually don't pay attention to.

So what do I usually look for in how to review a book? Well, it depends on how emotionally invested I get into the story and how emotionally drained it leaves me afterward. Do I spend the next 2 weeks just obsessively thinking about it? How quickly do I get over it? How did I connect with the characters? How fast does it make me jump onto Tumblr and Twitter to look for fanart and other people discussing the book as soon as I finish? How fast do I look up the author and see if it's going to be a sequel/series because I need more content from this book universe specifically?

See how I will probably approach these reviews?

So I guess now the thing left to say is lookout for the first review I post on The Blog on The Web? It'll probably be Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas because it's October and Hispanic Heritage Month and LGBTQ+ History Month and the book just covers all of those things: Spooky, Latinx, and Queer.

And also because I've been wanting to read that book since it came out last month.

I just have to find the time to read the book in the middle of doing all my assignments for class.

happy friday and until next time,

selena

(I should probably stop using so many gifs..)