We have been asked why very few books reviewed on the site get poor marks and if we are biased in any way… well basically, yes. There are a number of very simple reasons for this and I have tried to explain them below.

Firstly, reviewers generally only offer opinions on books they themselves have chosen to read in their preferred genre; whether this is through previous knowledge of the author, a friend's recommendation or just reading a good cover blurb. This tends to produce reviews that are 'good' simple by the fact that the subject matter is what the reviewer already likes.

Secondly, books that are sent in by authors or publishers are given to reviewers who have expressed an interest in the particular genre (this sometimes doesn't happen we will admit)… Chrissi gets romances and murder mysteries, I get black humour and Science Fiction and Victim tends to get the weird stuff (another word was going to be used here but we are a semi-clean site:). Now, if I were to review a romance I may accept the high quality of the writing but I'm more likely to score it lower than Chrissi simply because I didn't really enjoy the storyline. However, this said, none of the unsolicited books we review is given a false mark (or any other book for that matter). If in our opinion it is poor we will say so… check out the recycle bin for example.

Thirdly, if any reviewer finds they have read a book they didn't particularly like they tend to be less than enthusiastic about doing a review, as it all takes up time, whereas they want to shout about one they have enjoyed. Of all the reasons this is the one I personally would like to change. It would be nice to review all the books sent in or requested, but everyone is unpaid and we appreciate that reviewers use their time as they see fit (and we are very grateful:).

Hope this has helped dispel any doubts as to the candour of the reviews as the one thing we promise is an honest opinion… whether you agree or not is another matter entirely:)

Nigel - 1st November 2003