My little vent….

(….in the real world, it doesn’t make an iota of difference, really. So, ignore me if you want. No solving world hunger, or saving lives or deciding on future world leaders)

But it’s bugging me, nonetheless. The other day, I was able to read an ARC. An Advanced Readers Copy of a new novel, the 14^th in the series. (Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum Novels, for those who care) It’s unpublished till next month; there will possibly be only some modest changes between now and then, based solely on the fact that it’s due to hit the stores on June 17^th.

Suffice it to say, with much certainty, I read the book as it will be published. And honestly? It stank. I wanted to like it. I love the characters, and have invested much of my free time writing about them, giving them my own endings, in something called Fan Fiction. It’s been an amazing opportunity for me to hone my writing skills, learn about developing characters, creating plots—all that fun literary stuff.

Yet this book fell short on just in just about every category. I’ve written a letter and sent it to the publisher and the author, so it’s not like I’m making you have to listen to me whine ineffectually. But what is bothering me is this. I and a number of others who have read the advanced copy of the book have posted reviews on the book selling sites, as they allow and ask. And after a short time, the book went from 5 stars, with peoples’ reviews being along the lines of—“I love this series and can’t wait to read the newest installment”—- (Not by any stretch a REVIEW, by the way) to— “Fell asleep trying to make it through. Not the author’s best work, sloppily written…..etc.”

In other words, poor reviews by people who have READ the book. It seems however, that Barnes and Nobles.com isn’t really interested in REVIEWS. The third day after the ARC was available the book went from 5 stars to 2.5 stars.

And then something miraculous happened. All the bad reviews DISAPPEARED. There are currently about a dozen ‘reviews’…all singing the praises of PAST books.

And you know what, it just agrravates me.