Lauren Dane (who’s written paranormal fiction for Ellora’s Cave and Samhain Publishing) mentioned something interesting on her blog recently: “Saw a Harriet Klausner review of Vegas where she called my character an exotic dancer and pretty much made it look like she was turning tricks on the side. That’s so the opposite of the storyline I’m appalled. Sigh. Ah well, such is life.”
The basics: Harriet Klausner is the #1 reviewer on Amazon.com. I remember seeing one of her blurbs on a Keri Arthur novel. Ms Klausner reads a lot of paranormal fiction, rumoured to read and review anywhere from 2-5 books every day. Word on the street is that she never gives anything less than four stars, and her reviews are upbeat and positive, even though (like in Lauren Dane’s example above) she gets details wrong, and the bulk of each review is stuff you could find out by reading the back cover (or jacket) of the book in question.
Thank you to B, who commented on Ms Lauren’s post with some helpful links that provided some interesting reading: Here, here and here. In short, the basic conclusion is that Ms Klausner seems sincere,
but comes across as more of a scanner (or speed-reader: see Kath Day-Knight in the TV series Kath & Kim, the original Aussie version).
I used to read about 15 books a month, give or take. Nowadays, due to other interests and activities (such as reading your lovely blogs 
), my book-reading is now about 10 books a month, if that. And I’m the first to admit that my moods can affect my perception of what I read. ie If I’m in a good mood, I’m much more likely to like what I read. You might have noticed that my early reviews at Urban Fantasy Land were quite cheerful in comparison to my more recent ones – not necessarily the books’ fault, but more my mood. But it’s a very powerful writer indeed who can make their novel so interesting that I forget about my numerous troubles, and thus am less likely to find problems with what I’m reading. Could it be that Ms Klausner is happy all day, every day? That’s certainly enviable.
A few months ago, I asked a bunch of authors whether they’d prefer what Lucy Liu in a certain episode of Futurama would call “kiss-ass articles in People magazine”, or a less-than-gushing review. The authors seemed to agree that while they’d love positive reviews, less-than-gushing reviews are actually more…helpful, perhaps, for aiding their improvement as writers. If you don’t know what’s broken, then how can you fix it, and therefore better things?
So what do you like to read in reviews? And who are your favourite reviewers? My personal favourites are Hermit Witch, for openly admitting when a certain book doesn’t really work for her, and Hannah Wolf Bowen, for digging deep and fully explaining why things don’t work for her (her review of Patricia Briggs’s Iron Kissed really made me respect and admire Ms Hannah). I also fully respect the honesty of Smart Bitches Trashy Books and Dear Author, who give bad grades when bad grades are due.
So when you read reviews, think about who’s writing them, and if you trust their judgement. You may even find your ideal
Have a lovely day! 
Tez Miller
who probably won’t review the book she’s currently reading, as she’s struggling to remember its first half (my bad)
14 responses so far ↓
Lauren Dane // 7 April 2008 at 10:22 PM
I want to be careful to say that as annoyed as I am with the way this particular mess up makes my story look, I am really not down with the generalized beatdown on HK at Amazon. I really don’t like the way people show up to attack her in the comments of many of her reviews. I generally tend to ignore her stuff because I don’t think she reads a lot of the books she reviews past a skim – when leads to incorrect recaps or in the case of another review she gave a story of mine, spoilers of the end. But I don’t think she’s malicious or has bad intent.
I used to read at least one book a day, I think it can be done and I think people can retain. I also think some people don’t review books they didn’t like. I don’t either because I don’t have the time to review the ones I do like a lot of the time and I want to steer folks toward stuff I dig. But that’s my personal preference.
Anyway, I like the reviews at Joyfully Reviewed quite a bit – sometimes reviews without number designation are more comprehensive. Lori over at I Just Finished Reading is good too. I also like the reviews at RRT (Sinclair is a reviewer who comes to mind) and Chrissy Dionne at Romance Junkies is a favorite although I’ll say up front she usually gives me good reviews so that could be my own bias. My friends often give me great book recommendations as well, in fact many of the books in my gigantic TBR pile are those rec’d to me by friends.
Who doesn’t like a good review? At the same time, I like to hear what works and what doesn’t work. To me that’s more helpful than a simple plot recap (esp if it’s not correct, LOL). Bad reviews happen, by the way. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone loved my stuff? Sure, but it’s certainly not realistic to expect it.
Tia // 8 April 2008 at 5:12 AM
Very interesting post. Guaranteed to attract a lot of attention, I think.
I agree with you that I like reviewers who are willing to criticize. I hope I am. I also like reviewers who are able to engage me with their own writing. Not all reviewers can do it. Some reviewers I just find naturally more compelling than others.
Jo // 8 April 2008 at 5:33 AM
I wouldn’t want to read glowing reviews all the time – because we all know that every book has its faults (and yet we love most of them anyway). I try to review a book a week on my blog (I read more than that) – and trust me, I have given less than favourable reviews – and/or pointed out inconsistencies as I have found them. I guess the bottom line is that I want to know if something is worth my time and I like to think I could trust the reviews to give that to me.
Tez Miller // 8 April 2008 at 5:58 AM
Many thanks for commenting, Tia and Jo. I hope it didn’t seem like I only want to read bad reviews…I think I just need to see that reviewers don’t like everything, so when they do like something then it actually means something.
And you’re right, you do need to be able to trust reviewers, if you’re going to find out what’s the right book for you. With so many released and so few spending money (in my case
), we can’t buy everything, and we don’t want to make regrettable purchases.
I’ll definitely be checking out your blogs, so don’t be surprised if I show up.
Thanks, and have a lovely day!
Harry~DayDream // 8 April 2008 at 7:22 AM
I have very recently engaged myself into giving out reviews and what I’d like to see in reviews is honesty. If something didn’t really work out well and it gets mentioned, it has to be stated so without it being fluffed for the author or anybody else.
PS: You mention you read 10 books a month. Being a bit slow in the brain department, I asked myself, how the hell do you manage to do you know other stuff like um work or um sleeping? I am simply curious.
Tez Miller // 8 April 2008 at 7:25 AM
I think my count for March was 8. And just today I finished my first book for April. Definitely slowing down.
Thing is, I’m not employed and I’m not currently pursuing further education, so I stay at home most days. And thus reading takes place
Have a lovely day!
Jo // 8 April 2008 at 8:06 AM
And I just have a messy house.
Lisa Trevethan // 8 April 2008 at 9:02 AM
I don’t care much for nothing but glowing reviews either. I think part of what influences me is that I buy almost all of the books I review. I spend my money on authors and books I like. But if they disappointed me or wrote something that wasn’t on par with their previous work, I would not hesitate to say so.
I also work full time, write and do what I do to contribute here. That has cut into my reading time considerably. I used to read a couple of books a week and now I’m lucky if I do that in a month.
So far this year, I’ve been pretty lucky with what I have read.
Jo // 8 April 2008 at 11:18 AM
Wait, wait – I work full-time, too – and have a 5 year old. My house is cozy. A bit cluttered. Certainly not dirty
hermitwitch // 8 April 2008 at 1:16 PM
Harriet Klausner, oh no. Don’t get me going on That Woman (and there are a few others like her). She also posts the same driveling reviews on Barnes & Noble, and in her Midwest Cowpatty Review, of whatever it is. Grr! Anyway…years ago I reviewed nonfiction for Library Journal. From the reviewer’s stand point, there is always this sort of dread feeling when you give a book a poor review. Like you’re wrecking the writer’s career or, at the very least, really hurting their feelings. However, now that I’ve moved to my cave in the woods and can be as much of a grumpy bitch as I please, I find I worry less about that.
I’ll just be careful who I tell if I ever manage to get published…
Sara J. // 8 April 2008 at 1:44 PM
I wouldn’t even really consider Harriet Klausner to be a reviewer, personally. She does far more in the way of synopsis than anything else, and when I’m looking for reviews that’s what I want: opinion and analysis more than summary.
Sometimes I find that I don’t have much to say about a book, but it’s far harder to extole virtues meaningfully than anything else!
But when I read a review that is purely only positives without anything backing it up, I find it difficult to believe it…
Jan // 9 April 2008 at 5:01 PM
Interesting post. I ignore Klausner reviews, but find lots of great books at Dear Author, Avidbookreader, AAR, and others.
I’ve been blogging and reviewing books since January. It’s been great fun, but also a challenge and I’m still learning and trying to improve. I usually don’t finish books I don’t like. Thus I’m mostly reviewing books I like.
Tez Miller // 9 April 2008 at 7:13 PM
Hi Jan. What’s the link to your blog, may I ask?
Thanks, and have a lovely day!
Jan // 14 April 2008 at 6:11 PM
Sorry, I didn’t see your question until today. (I was out of town for a long weekend!) My blog is http://readingetc.wordpress.com. I don’t know why that doesn’t show up when I comment.