Saturday, February 2, 2008

How the heck did this get published?!?!?!

I am reading a book right now which is driving me CRAZY. I will not divulge the author or title, as I would never publicly humiliate another author. All I will leave you with is the genre and the reasons why I HATE this book.

1. Genre: It is a historical romance.

2. Reasons to throw it against the wall: I usually finish a book in one to two days, unless it is very heady - then I can give it at least a week. Well, after three weeks I am only half way through. I fall asleep reading. I get so bored that I day dream whilst reading. I get so frustrated with the characters, I throw it across the room. The main conflict was resolved by then end of Chapter 3. The Hero and Heroine Happily married each other and have a relationship so sweet, they make the "Waltons" look like serial killers. She head-hops so much I am forced to reread passages to figure out what the hell is going on. POV has even switched mid paragraph! And the worst crime is her "info dumps". I LOVE HISTORY, but when you give me 50 years worth in one character's two page dialog and expect me to believe this is casual conversation, it will not work for me. This is oft repeated offense in this book.

So, "Why," do you ask, "are you still reading it?". Good Question. Because this writer has published over thirty books. Because millions of her books are in print. Because I want to find out what she is doing right, what has made her so successful. Perhaps her readers have not read anyone else. I will let you know if something changes, for now I am headed back to doldrums between the covers.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If it's the same author you emailed about, I tried reading the book I have by her, too, and yep, awful. I won't finish it.

However, I'm liking Poison Study (the book club choice) more and more with each chapter. Will you be at the book club discussion next Sunday (2/10)?

Anonymous said...

Hi Macy! Yes, I will be there. I am reading it on line as I could not get it here in time. Not sure that I like reading a whole book on a computer, but that is alright.
Glad you agree with me about this Author. She now is head hopping so much I am having to read things two and three times a piece. Also the info dumps are horrendous! I think I will just have to pack this up and donate it.

Anonymous said...

My biggest issue was the terms she used to describe body parts and sex. Talk about purple prose. I had to laugh.

Anonymous said...

I have counted at least 10 "please F*@k me" or "I want to F@*k you"'s by page 110. Her purple prose is pretty bad.