The Real Value of Reviews

Every writer knows the value of good reviews: they can help sell a book.

The reviews are coming in for MAD DOG HOUSE. I’m very pleased at how favorable they are. Some appear on Goodreads. Many more are on Amazon.

While I wrote the novel simply wanting to tell a rocket-propelled story, many reviews have given me something more than a marketing tool.

Thoughtful reviews--without spoilers—explore the characters and storyline in depth. Frankly, they give me insights about the novel and my writing.

Yes, I was aware that the story deals with how the past affects our present and future. I also knew I was writing about whether we’re completely formed by our genetic predispositions, or if circumstances help define us—the nature/nurture controversy.

But some reviews made me aware of other layers in the novel--ones lurking in some mental recess, which emerged through the characters and situations.

Reading these reviews revealed I’d raised questions about good versus evil; right and wrong; and whether the ends justify the means in extremely dire circumstances. Other reviewers pointed out that MAD DOG HOUSE asks questions about friendship, loyalty, bonds from the past, the effects of chance in our lives; the roles of family, and questions about love, revenge, and personal growth in tough times.

I admit I wasn’t fully cognizant of these issues as I created the characters and wrote the story. And in reading some reviews, I learned far more about my own novel (and myself) than I knew when I conceived and wrote it.

In other words, reading reviews is a personal learning experience. It gives me insight about myself and the issues lurking in my own mind. In a strange way, the reviews are a form of psychotherapy.

Maybe that’s the real value to be obtained from thoughtful reviews.

Mark Rubinstein,
Author, MAD DOG HOUSE