Welcome author Cara Bristol back to the blog. Cara is the author of Secret Desires and Intimate Submission both published by Black Velvet Seductions. Today she’s sharing something she relearned recently.
I relearned an important lesson recently: you can’t judge a book by its cover – or its reputation. Likes and dislikes are so personal, one person’s two or one star rating is another person’s five. I already knew this of course, but what made it stand out was the book that everyone is talking about — Fifty Shades of Grey.
I’d heard so much negativity — it’s poorly written, it’s just a fan fiction piece based on the Twilight series, other books are better, etc. — I’d actually started to believe the “bad press.” Many of the naysayers were other authors whose work I respect. But after the Fifty Shades trilogy sold 10 million copies, I realized it was a force to be reckoned with and decided to see what the fuss was about. I was prepared to dislike the book.
I loved it. For me, the concept/story and the chemistry of the engaging characters make it a five-star read. Twilight may have inspired it, but Fifty Shades is fresh and unique – including much of the writing. Is the writing perfect? No. But in my opinion, the writing is actually pretty good – it’s the revision and editing that falls short. (My review of 50 Shades of Grey is here: http://carabristol.com/2012/05/weighing-in-on-fifty-shades-of-grey/).
Shortly after finishing Fifty Shades, I read two books that have gotten much better reviews that were far less captivating to me. But other readers obviously liked them. It stands as a reminder not to judge a book based what other people say – good or bad.
How much are you affected by publicity surrounding a book? Have you ever disliked a book that received rave reviews or loved one that was panned?
I agree with your post, only I wanted to read it despite the bad reviews. The writing wasn’t great, but the story and characters make up for all of that. I have to say this book touched a part of me that hasn’t been moved by a book in a long time. I thought it was a great story and would recommend it to anyone. Don’t judge this book by it’s reviews or cover (even though I like the cover it has meaning in the book). So for anyone who hasn’t read it go ahead, I think you’ll like it.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience of the book Debbie. I JUST started reading the book in audio this morning. I’m not far enough into it to have a solid opinion on it yet.
There are some things that I find awkward with it so far…the first person point of view and the present tense verbs just for starters.
Even so…if it touches me emotionally in a way that other books don’t it will probably be a winner for me.
There was so much hype and everyone seemed to love these books but I could not get into them. I wanted to see if they were as good as they are claimed to be in the media but I had a hard time with the way that it is written and could not get into the characters.
As I just mentioned to Debbie, I just started reading it in audio this morning. Like you I’m having a hard time with the way it’s written. I really don’t like first person point of view in romance. It tends to limit the story to one point of view most of the time…and I tend to like both points of view in romance novels. I’m finding the present tense verbs…distracting to say the least. Still…I’m reading on.
The heroine seems VERY young. This is aided a lot by the audio narrator who has a very young sounding voice.
I don’t know…the jury is still out for me. I’ve not read enough to decide whether I like it in spite of the things I don’t like.
I purchased it in audio format from Audible as soon as it came out in audio format. To be honest, I’ve sort of been putting off starting it because of the negative feedback it’s received in a lot of places.
It’s one of those books that, good or bad, I feel like I should read simply because it has gained so much hype and sold so well…but it has the feel of being homework rather than a pleasure read. I do HOPE the reviews are wrong and, like you Cara, I end up enjoying it.
I do agree that you can’t really judge a book by the coverage and reviews it receives. We all like different things…and sometimes a book will have both strikingly good reviews and strikingly bad ones…which can sometimes say more about the variety of readers than the book itself.
There have been times when a review has been really good for a book that I’ve wondered whether the reviewer and I read the same book. There have also been times when the review has been really bad that I’ve wondered the same thing. Much depends on what we like in books…what we think is important in books.
Personally…I like strong characters…deep point of view…lots of internal conflict…so a book that has those things will rate high with me while a book that is maybe stronger in plot, pace, excitement and weaker in character and conflict will get a lower rating.
It is subjective…but still…negative reviews can really diminish the excitement level.
I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, the waiting list at the library is too long. I’ve heard a lot of bad hype about it, but that doesn’t always make it bad.
There has been a LOT of hype for this book. Ive heard good & not so good things about it. I am yet to read it & decide for myself.