Readers and authors sharing great edgy fiction that inspires...
WARNING: Getting a Review from Bookreview.com
Okay, Bookreview.com promises unbiased literary reviews that...
"BookReview.com has a staff of qualified reviewers in each genre. Our reviewers are skilled at producing well-written, objective reviews in their respective fields. Our reputation was built on honest, straightforward reviews and we will not compromise our integrity by posting false reviews. Please use our Express Review service only if you believe deeply in your work. Express Review guarantees a review within 15 business days of receiving your book. A copy of the review will be emailed to you."
An express review costs $125.00.
Now, I'll be honest. This sounded a bit fishy to me. Spending money for a review. However, I've learned that many large publishing houses do this, but no one's going to hurt the piggy bank of a large business paying for bulk reviews. My distributor advised me to do this, so I did.
So, Sons of God was listed as speculative fiction, and very pro-God. Really it is very edgy Christian fiction.
It was reviewed by a reviewer under the genre "romance" who I believe is either an agnostic or atheist. And this is what she wrote.
Romance
Title: Sons of God
Author: Rebecca Ellen Kurtz
Rating: Poor
Publisher: Ephesus Books
Web Page: ephesusmedia.com
Reviewed by: Kym Markowitz
Author Rebecca Ellen Kurtz attempts to weave an imaginative tale out of the ancient mythologies of many cultures in her novel “Sons of God.� She uses old legends, especially those of angels and vampires are the basis of her story. The concept has promise, however the execution is flawed.
The main character is an arrogant, brooding whiner who couldn’t bear to believe that she has been deceived by evil, and so she blames her god. Rather than proactively solve her problems, she frequently waxes obnoxious about her abandonment by her god. Kurtz also appears to be excessively biased against science and rationality, squeezing several tirades against both into her main character’s internal monologue. She frequently and absurdly refers to atheism as a religion. As the saying goes, atheism is a religion like bald is a hair color. She also compares skeptics' demand for irrefutable proof of god to the court system's demand for irrefutable proof of rape. Can this get any more offensive? All that is missing is a reference to Hitler.
If the reader wishes to induce a migraine or increase their blood pressure, this may be the book for them. Otherwise, they may wish to pass on “Sons of God.�
-End of Review
What surprises me is that this reviewer has focused primarily on one paragraph in chapter 2 and makes me wonder if this is where she stopped reading because the protagonist does proactively solve her problem by the end of the book which the review states that she doesn't.
Does this sound like a Christian reviewer? Sounds more like an atheist to me who has a vendetta. The bulk of the review is based on one paragraph in the novel. I was like.... do they send erotica to pastors for reviews? Children's books to gore fans?
When I spoke with the editor of the site, she told me that the review stood and that she personally knew the reviewer and didn't think she was an atheist. She offered to let me pay half price for another reviewer that she thought would do. (Yeah, more money) Of course, she stood by her reviewer and said that it was an excellent literary review and didn't see how it focused on the theology of the protagonist. However, she did admit that she didn't understand the rape case scenario, and I explained to her that the paragraph in question dealt with how spiritual and emotional experiences cannot be seen as concrete evidence in a court of law. A woman knows when she is raped - it is an emotional experience even if there is no proof and Christians often have spiritual experiences that are not considered proof to atheists. She even agreed with this, yet the review stands as an unbiased literary review.
So this is your warning.
"BookReview.com has a staff of qualified reviewers in each genre. Our reviewers are skilled at producing well-written, objective reviews in their respective fields. Our reputation was built on honest, straightforward reviews and we will not compromise our integrity by posting false reviews. Please use our Express Review service only if you believe deeply in your work. Express Review guarantees a review within 15 business days of receiving your book. A copy of the review will be emailed to you."
An express review costs $125.00.
Now, I'll be honest. This sounded a bit fishy to me. Spending money for a review. However, I've learned that many large publishing houses do this, but no one's going to hurt the piggy bank of a large business paying for bulk reviews. My distributor advised me to do this, so I did.
So, Sons of God was listed as speculative fiction, and very pro-God. Really it is very edgy Christian fiction.
It was reviewed by a reviewer under the genre "romance" who I believe is either an agnostic or atheist. And this is what she wrote.
Romance
Title: Sons of God
Author: Rebecca Ellen Kurtz
Rating: Poor
Publisher: Ephesus Books
Web Page: ephesusmedia.com
Reviewed by: Kym Markowitz
Author Rebecca Ellen Kurtz attempts to weave an imaginative tale out of the ancient mythologies of many cultures in her novel “Sons of God.� She uses old legends, especially those of angels and vampires are the basis of her story. The concept has promise, however the execution is flawed.
The main character is an arrogant, brooding whiner who couldn’t bear to believe that she has been deceived by evil, and so she blames her god. Rather than proactively solve her problems, she frequently waxes obnoxious about her abandonment by her god. Kurtz also appears to be excessively biased against science and rationality, squeezing several tirades against both into her main character’s internal monologue. She frequently and absurdly refers to atheism as a religion. As the saying goes, atheism is a religion like bald is a hair color. She also compares skeptics' demand for irrefutable proof of god to the court system's demand for irrefutable proof of rape. Can this get any more offensive? All that is missing is a reference to Hitler.
If the reader wishes to induce a migraine or increase their blood pressure, this may be the book for them. Otherwise, they may wish to pass on “Sons of God.�
-End of Review
What surprises me is that this reviewer has focused primarily on one paragraph in chapter 2 and makes me wonder if this is where she stopped reading because the protagonist does proactively solve her problem by the end of the book which the review states that she doesn't.
Does this sound like a Christian reviewer? Sounds more like an atheist to me who has a vendetta. The bulk of the review is based on one paragraph in the novel. I was like.... do they send erotica to pastors for reviews? Children's books to gore fans?
When I spoke with the editor of the site, she told me that the review stood and that she personally knew the reviewer and didn't think she was an atheist. She offered to let me pay half price for another reviewer that she thought would do. (Yeah, more money) Of course, she stood by her reviewer and said that it was an excellent literary review and didn't see how it focused on the theology of the protagonist. However, she did admit that she didn't understand the rape case scenario, and I explained to her that the paragraph in question dealt with how spiritual and emotional experiences cannot be seen as concrete evidence in a court of law. A woman knows when she is raped - it is an emotional experience even if there is no proof and Christians often have spiritual experiences that are not considered proof to atheists. She even agreed with this, yet the review stands as an unbiased literary review.
So this is your warning.
Tags: bookreview.com
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Donald James Parker on -
There is a war going on out there. If you write Christian material, you really need to get a Christian reviewer or you might end up with what you got here. I would ask for my money back or to have someone else review it.
Good luck and don't feel - consider it joy when you suffer persecution for your faith.
Don
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Ellen Kurtz on -
Thank you. I try to focus on the messages from Christians who write and say how much it helped them heal spiritually. I was upset with God when I was demonically deceived, and I didn't know what it was till I lived through it. Now, Christians are saying they didn't know till they read the book that they were upset with God for the same reasons - and then became healed from old spiritual warfare battle scars.
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Permalink Reply by Mark Young on -
Sorry for your experience with that book review site, Rebecca. FYI: Based upon your information, I visited that site and skimmed through some of the reviews for “Christian fiction” and “Romance” over the past 50 days. There was one primary interviewer for most of those reviews, and one other reviewer. The person who reviewed your work was not listed. I’m the new kid on the block when it comes to this part of the publishing industry, but it appears you landed with a person they don’t normally use (at least for those reviews I peeked at). Don’t let this discourage you. And thanks for the heads up. God bless your writing.
Mark
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