Be a Fan or Give it the Can? by Gerri Brousseau

Hello readers and Happy New Year.  Hope you all enjoyed the holidays.  I really did, but two days after Christmas, I came down with the flu and was sick for two weeks.  Since I was sick, I spent a lot of time resting and reading.  First of all, in the telling of this tale I must say I think I'm just about the only person I know who does not own an e-reader, so all the books I read are actual printed books.  While I was overcoming the flu, I had the opportunity to read several books, and, I have to say, there was one in particular that made me really wonder how on earth it came to be published.  (As a side note, it was not written by anyone I know)

From the beginning, this story kept jumping around from character to character, from present to past and back to present, and was so confusing I actually found myself looking back to see which character I was actually reading about.  My frustration mounted and I asked myself, is it my fevered brain? No, it was not.  I looked to see who the publisher was, and found it was one I had had dealings with in the past.  One who gave the impression they were extremely picky and quite strict about the quality of writing they published.  I wondered how this publisher had come to print something that had the reader so confused and distanced from the story.  Did I finish the book?  Yes.  I had made an investment, and wanted to give the writer the benefit of the doubt, so, I forged on.

As I pressed on, the book got better.  By the time I was a little more than half way through, the book started to get good.  Hmm … a glimmer of hope rose in me that I had made the right decision in sticking with it.  I finally finished the book.  Was it great? No. Would I run out and recommend it to all my friends?  No.  But, was it good? Yes.  It turned out to be a good book, despite the horrible first half.  But, two thoughts came to me.  Where were the editors and why hadn't they helping this author?  And, with a publisher who gives the impression they are so persnickety about the work they print, how did this book make it into my hand?  I know a lot of readers who would never suffer through a rough beginning and would merely toss the book aside, never to be picked up again.

Are you the type of reader who would forge through in hopes of finding some redeeming quality in the book, or are you the type of reader who would cast the book aside, never to be picked up again?  Would you give the book the old deep six?  Do you feel you have a vested interest in a book?  Do you feel you owe it to the characters to find out what happened?  Or, do you wonder what the heck the publisher was thinking?

Filed under: romance