Billie's Not So Secret Diary’s Comments (group member since Mar 03, 2022)

Billie's Not So Secret Diary’s comments from the NetGalley Addicts Support Group group.

A Night of Wings and Starlight was an okay of a read. I gave it two stars.

Moving on to Primitives

Didn't get to the book I planned, pub dates, you know. But I got Hummingbird read in a day! 4 Stars.

Now on to A Night of Wings and Starlight

Sue wrote: "Hi all, my name is Sue and I'm brand new to NetGalley - had never even heard of it until this week despite being active in the Instagram book world. Happy to meet you all and happy to add new frien..."

Welcome to your new addiction, lol. My advice: don't pick every book you see. Pace yourself. Read a few of the 'read now' books to get established. Sometimes it's hard at first to get approved for those books you requested, but when they come, it seems as if they do all at once. It's fun, but can be overwhelming when those pub dates are fast apporaching.

Sadly,
Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove, wasn't that great, the writing lacking descriptions. I almost DNF, and if it wasn't for the plot twist, that really helped the story, I wouldn't have finished.

Up next, The Valkyrie's Daughter

Val wrote: "Yes, just read 22 Seconds by James Patterson Great book, but all the ff and ffi's were all missing - Very annoying. Another thing that annoys me is when books finish early. This one stopped at 77% ..."

If I get a book and I can't read the ending, then I can't give it an honest review! Sometimes the best books end awfully. I would never knowingly request an incomplete book! And a surprise like that would go against the publisher/author/book.

Fictionophile wrote: "Great idea.
My Twitter handle is the same as my blog's name:

https://twitter.com/fictionophile"
following

Found my Twitter password after 3 years. https://twitter.com/BilliesDiary

I'm going with the thought they do it so nobody wants to buy it, and maybe they can track if you do. I don't know. I try not to let it bother me. I'm just happy I got the ARC.

One I just read had the book title, author's name, or page number in the middle of the text.

Sanda wrote: "used to review books on my personal IG, just started a separate bookstagram:

https://www.instagram.com/redheadbook..."

Following

I'm a little behind on my posting.... The Stardust Thief and The Limitless Sky were both 3 star reads for me.

Now reading Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove

PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Thanks to everyone who either links or writes out the titles of their books, since I can't read the covers."

But the covers are so pretty!!!
I'll try to remember the print!

My next book

Got to 30% WNF

Billie wrote: "Just got done with " by Theo Clare. It was a struggle to get through. I kind of wish I would've DNF it. Review in the next few days...


Just finished ! Another good book from Rollins and now going to read

Gemma wrote: "Here is my Bookstagram. I will follow back all bookish accounts.
https://www.instagram.com/gem_bookner..."
following

Jeanna wrote: "Here is my new bookstagram. Would love if you followed and I will follow back 😄

https://www.instagram.com/bookscoffee..."

following

Just got done with " by Theo Clare. It was a struggle to get through. I kind of wish I would've DNF it. Review in the next few days...

Up next, by James Rollins. Won this one through GoodReads but can't remove my NetGalley request. (Which is what I do if NetGalley gives me a book I submitted for a Giveaway so to give someone else the chance.)

("This is why I stopped reading/reviewing ARCs from authors in the indie romance genre. The amount of run ins I had with badly behaving snowflake authors...")

Yep. Same reason why I stopped reviewing under my author name. Sadly, there are some very dishonest and vindictive indie authors out there and they give the honest ones a VERY bad name.

When I first started self-publishing around ten years ago I found this out. There was a lot of 'you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours.' And if you wouldn't play the game, they'd run your name/books through whatever pile of poo-poo, they found or even made up. There was one who'd do the same if you were in her genre and getting better reviews than her, even if you never reviewed her books.

There was also the 'rumor' that authors were creating 'other' profiles just to review their books favorable and others not so much and having their friends and family do the same. Good reasons for Amazon to get stricter with their reviewing process, barring reviews if you didn't buy the book.

And no, I have NEVER reviewed the books I wrote under this name.

Diana wrote: "Yes. If I am having trouble reading a book especially a Netgalley one I check the reviews to see if others have the same issue. I hate DNFing Netgalley picks but I will do so on my own reads. At th..."

As a self-published author, I can understand the heartache when someone gives your book a low rating. I've had a few and I felt it like a stab in my chest, but I didn't go after the reviewer, I took what they said about what they didn't like and went back to the book and read it to see if I saw what they did. And yes, I did see what one said, another I just ignored because the reviewer was just nasty and anyone looking at it would question her real intentions. Authors should look at what the reviews are saying so they know what people like and dislike and make their next book better! You know the saying, "Learn from your mistakes." That's what I try to do.

But no respectable author, or person, should ask you to change your review. If an author, or even a fan of that author, did that to me, I would go back to my review and make a note of it so the world would know!

There are some very dishonest people out there! And I don't respect that.

Diana, Rock the boat as long as you do it honestly and respectfully! Don't call the author names and be rude, say what you did like and didn't. New and seasoned authors need to get that thick skin because not everyone is going to like what they write. And there are some very vicious people out there, and they know how badly words can hurt.

There are times that I'm leery about posting an unfavorable review of a popular book or author, but I'm honest. That is what the job of a reviewer is: to voice their honest opinion.

Everyone has an opinion and it's your right to express it, but always do it respectfully.

And to end my rambling, I hate DNFing all books, including NetGalleys, but I always try for at least 50-100 pages, but if it's that bad or if it's just not pulling me in, (having that problem at the present time) I'll DNF it and say why, but I always try to include some positive.

Thanks for the feedback!