New Page: Book Reviews

I've officially created a new page is for my reviews on books. Bear in mind, dear Reader, that the majority of the books I will be reviewing/summarizing are YA - young adult fiction. This is fiction aimed at readers between the ages of 12 and 20. That's a wide gap and covers quite a range of literature, but that range covers primarily fantasy, adventure, the occasional sci-fi, and a great deal of standard fiction. Some of it is fluff, some of it is really profound. All of it is honest. At least, the review part. Here, I can be a little blunter than I can be at work. Not that I have to be extremely censored at work, I just try to lighten my opinion a little and be a little more... open-minded. Here, I can be as blunt and as opinionated as is professional. Which sometimes comes off a little ... mean? Cynical. Critical, even. But I do so with the utmost respect to each author and each book I review (with the sole exception of Twilight) because if your work is being published in the mainstream, that alone deserves respect.

Please bear in mind that I am not what is typically considered a professional reviewer. I'm an almost-professional at this. I work in a children's bookstore so I'm almost constantly exposed to literature aimed at people under the age of 16. I'm almost 21 (kid at heart much?). But I approach books as a fellow writer, as someone who understands and respects the crafting that goes into great literature. As I state previously, I have a great deal of respect for authors, and will endeavor to have that reflect in each review I post. Please understand that my opinion is based on having read countless titles in children's and YA fiction over the years, from classics to the latest craze, and therefore I may, at times, seem a bit jaded. This is not intentional, this is me being realistic about how good something is in comparison, versus how good something is just at face value. As time passes, I will continue evolving my format for reviewing into something hopefully more accessible than my miscellaneous jumbled thoughts spewed onto pages.

But be excited! SO many books I've been aching to write about, to share my opinions on! Plus, I feel like great writers are great readers, and if you don't read, how can one possibly hope to write?


"We do not write because we want to, we write because we have to." ~ W. Somerset Maugham.

Write on,

~Willow