Writing Blog

20231030 Criticised For Criticising

October 30, 2023, 8:30am

I wrote a review of Stephen King's latest book Holly for the product reviews here and on Goodreads... and I have received some flak in response.

I didn't mind the book. It had a strong story, the main character of Holly Gibney is a great and relatable one (though how that will change in future adventures now she is rich is to be seen), and the build of clues is logical.

However:
1) The characters of the bad guys felt unrealistic, although their motivations were strong.
2) There was a lot of padding.
3) The extra stuff with Holly's mother and uncle did not have anything to do with the main story, although it does close a longer term story over the previous Holly Gibney stories.
4) it was written in present tense which drew me out of the story a lot.

So, that's my issues.

Here's the most common splashback feedback.
1) I cannot be a Stephen King fan if I don't like everything he writes. (No, I am a fan because I can recognise when something does not resonate with me, and can admit it; that makes me not a sycophant.)
2) Stephen King always pads his works, why complain now? (I don't just complain now; it's why I think The Stand is overrated.)
3) The tense of a story shouldn't impact the enjoyment of the story. (Well, it does. It makes no sense to be in present tense; it's just King chasing trends. Present tense is rarely justified. It's because Collins did it in Hunger Games... and there it worked. Here, it didn't.)

So, I didn't like a book as much as other people, and that makes me a bad reader.

I can't write and I can't read, according to people online. And people wonder why I have left social media...