About my Book Reviews
S
o I love to read and I love a good story, that being said, I am NOT very picky unless sheer idiocracy and terrible writing get in the way. I can forgive some grammatical errors, especially if self-published. I am all about people with good stories getting out there by any means possible. I can forgive some character stupidity, if the stupidity matches the their ARC, and it works. I can forgive stories by separate authors that are very similar, again, as long as the stories are compelling. I just like a good story!
What I cannot forgive is sheer stupidity by a character that is completely out of character for them. Why WHY WHY did they do that??. If the author cannot somehow explain why a beloved character is so stupid, then I cannot forgive the author (Veronica Roth). I cannot forgive bad writing (this does not include grammatical errors or some misspellings), this includes lack of diversity in words/descriptions and poorly written scenes (E.L. James - pick up a thesaurus), lack of character development or repeated stupidity (Stephanie Meyer), or book series that just need to end, even though I loved them (Janet Evanovich). Oh and LOVE TRIANGLES! I ABSOLUTELY hate them. Here is actually a link to a great blog, Love is Not a Triangle, that describes the severity of love triangles in many YA books. I have turned to her for many a book review. Now, I can do a small love triangle, if - in my heart - there really is no question who the right pair is, and the 3rd person is thrown in there to just slightly annoy us or because they are imperative to the story (Jennifer Armentrout and the Covenant Series was ok, because the 3rd in the Triangle was very important to the story, and he ended up getting his own book series anyway, and the best pairing ended up together).
Upon writing this, I know it sounds like I am pickier than I am, but I assure you, I am not. Most books do not fall into the criteria listed above (maybe that’s actually because I never ended up finishing them?...Hmmmm, I should look into that)
One thing I will include of each of my reviews is Protagonist Bad-ass Scale. Since I run a fitness site, predominantly, I want a way to tie in these characters with being a bad-ass/fit/healthy/etc. How afraid of the protagonist would I be if I ran into them in a dark alley? Would they be able to kick my booty? Or would I dominate them in a fight?
For Example:
Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games) - 5/5 on the PBAS. She didn't even need the hunger games training to beat everyone in the Arena, she was a survivor.
Bella Swan: Pre-transition (Twilight): 1/5. A cool breeze would knock her over, however she can stand on two feet and has some mental fortitude to not be scared on Vampires (but lets be real, these are Twilight vamps....) and a good portion of physical strength is dependent on mental strength.
