The Dead Shadow has been out for barely a week and the first book reviews are in. Did we read them? Yes.
Do we wish we hadn’t? No. But we think we should now stop focusing on book reviews.
It is a weird feeling to put your story out there and have complete strangers read it and then post their opinions online. It does feel a little alien when you think about it.
As a writer, you spend a lot of time getting to know and to love your characters. So, of course, you wish for everyone to love them as much as you do yourself. Some people will, some won’t. At the end of the day, no story is for everyone. But what truly surprises you is what people see in your story. The book reviews mention things we didn’t even know we had (or more exactly, we didn’t even know stories shouldn’t have).
But perhaps, the most difficult thing about book reviews is that they are never part of a conversation. The writer shares their words with the reader, and individual readers talk about it to other people, all while the writer sits and has to watch in silence. I’ll never understand reviews!
Did The Dead Shadow Have Positive Book Reviews?
Yes, so far, book reviews have been predominantly positive, with a majority of 5- and 4-star reviews. This is very pleasing because, to us, it means The Dead Shadow has found its readers.
Ultimately, we knew that we couldn’t please everyone. We were simply trying to bring characters we loved to life. So, it’s been very rewarding to discover that a lot of people have also enjoyed their banters, their adventures, and their personalities.
Book reviews have repeatedly mentioned that the book made them laugh out loud, smile, or giggle throughout. Frankly, we’re not entirely surprised because we laughed in most scenes including Helena and the Shadow.
It Is Frustrating Not To Reply To Book Reviews
We’ve seen some wild things among the book reviews.
A reader, who specifically signed up to become an advanced reader for a fantasy book, stated that they don’t like reading fantasy books. I am not entirely sure why they’d ask to get a copy for free so they could review and confirm that they still don’t enjoy fantasy books… But who am I to try and understand the human mind? In comparison, Helena almost sounds like a reasonable and sensible character.
Or sometimes even positive book reviews say something so unexpected that you want to be able to reach out and ask for they meant by it. So, it is really weird to read and carry on with your day, even though your brain desperately wants to reply.
Sometimes, Book Reviews Follow Their Own Rating Systems
Most book reviews go from 1 to 5 stars. However, there aren’t a lot of explanations about the meaning behind each number of stars. We all assume that 1 star means appallingly bad and 5 stars means the exact opposite.
But what are 4 or 3-star reviews?
My general assumption would have been 4-star reviews indicate that something is missing, but the book is enjoyable.
According to the same logic, 3-star book reviews are probably for books that are just about tolerable. I certainly wouldn’t give a book 3 stars and then add that I can’t want to read the second book because I loved it so much. But one reviewer did, and this had me confused no end, because what would higher reviews mean then?
Some book reviews will stay stuck in the 4-star range because the reader has a favourite genre that already gets all the 5-star ratings, and nothing else is allowed to compete against it.
I’ve even come across an author who shared a screenshot of a 1-star review where the reader explained that they loved the book, but they hated the yellow colour used for the star ratings. I wish I were joking, but I am not.
Letting Go Of Book Reviews
Why carry on monitoring those when we can’t respond, and readers will do whatever they want, no matter how incomprehensible some decisions are?
We’ve decided not to check our book reviews. For a start, it is a lot of work. Book reviews can appear on a variety of platforms. The last thing you need is spending your entire day monitoring all the posts on relevant platforms.
But book reviews are beyond the scope of a writer’s job. We create the story and put it out there. We write the story in the hope it’ll find our readers. Then, readers write book reviews for other readers. They do not concern us.
So, I think this is the lesson. We are grateful for the positive book reviews we have received so far. But we will not read any again in a desperate effort to protect our sanity!
In the meantime, The Dead Shadow is available through Fable, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles, and many more. So, go and read, and make up your own opinion of it!