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mad_about_books's review against another edition
1.0
I read a lot. Lately, I've been reading a lot of new authors, and I use the word authors pretty loosely here.
If you are writing stories and publishing them yourself just because you can, you need to ask yourself, do I have ANYTHING close to a basic command of the language. Apparently, a number of you don't. You also don't have beta readers or editors who can help you over the rough spots. I get it. You are excited to get those words on paper (virtual or otherwise) you are scribbling/typing away and don't realize that you have made some spelling or grammatical faux pas. It's OK to make mistakes while you are writing. It is NOT OK to publish those mistakes.
Prepositions are words (yes, I know, mostly very little words, but still words), and all words have definitions. You don't even need a dictionary anymore to find out what a word means. You have the entire internet at your disposal. Use it! The word "at" is not synonymous with the word "to." If you don't know what these little words mean, look them up. All the online dictionaries will give you examples of proper use.
I get it. You wrote an outline that is not composed of actual sentences. It is NOT OK to copy lines from that outline without reading them to make sure you have actual, coherent sentences. Again, a beta reader and/or an editor will catch these obvious errors. If they appear in the published work, you wrote it, didn't bother to read it, didn't have anyone else read it, and didn't have it edited. Bottom line, if you don't do these thing, you are not a writer. You're not even a hack.
Once you've got that book published and made available to the public, you offer it to people like me. People who read... a lot. People like me who bother to review what they read. You offer it in exchange for an honest review. You really don't want an honest review. You want someone to feel obligated to give your poorly written and unedited piece a 4 or 5-star review.
It is difficult to throw an anthology on the DNF (did not finish) pile because each story contained therein is written by a different person, and you might just be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If the gem among the paste is buried at the very end of the book, you will have cheated yourself out of that very experience that makes you read in the first place.
Recording a stream of consciousness and then transcribing it does not a piece of literature make. If you want to make your mark in the world of books, read what you wrote, then have others read it, and finally have an editor read it. If you want your profession to be "author," you have to be willing to do everything needed to make people want to read what you have written. Simply putting words on paper, virtual or otherwise, does not an author make. You may have heard that folks will happily pay good money for Stephen King's shopping list. The reason that bit of farce is accepted is that he has paid his dues to the gods of literature.
I glanced at several reviews on Goodreads and found that most of the reviews are for single stories within the anthology and those reviews rate the book at 5-stars. This gives a lot of credit to what, apparently, was never read.
Along with it being difficult to read an overall bad anthology, it is equally difficult to rate one. Yes, this story was readable, and this one was coherent, and finally one was actually worth reading. How do you rate an anthology fairly? Do you give it one star because overall that's what it's worth? Do you rate each story it contains and come up with an average?
It gives me no pleasure writing a bad review, but when a book is bad and an honest review has been requested, you get a bad review. You can look at other reviews, especially those that give a five-star rating, to see if you want to commit to buying this book for the sake of one, two, maybe even three stories out of the fifteen that are showcased.
If you are writing stories and publishing them yourself just because you can, you need to ask yourself, do I have ANYTHING close to a basic command of the language. Apparently, a number of you don't. You also don't have beta readers or editors who can help you over the rough spots. I get it. You are excited to get those words on paper (virtual or otherwise) you are scribbling/typing away and don't realize that you have made some spelling or grammatical faux pas. It's OK to make mistakes while you are writing. It is NOT OK to publish those mistakes.
Prepositions are words (yes, I know, mostly very little words, but still words), and all words have definitions. You don't even need a dictionary anymore to find out what a word means. You have the entire internet at your disposal. Use it! The word "at" is not synonymous with the word "to." If you don't know what these little words mean, look them up. All the online dictionaries will give you examples of proper use.
I get it. You wrote an outline that is not composed of actual sentences. It is NOT OK to copy lines from that outline without reading them to make sure you have actual, coherent sentences. Again, a beta reader and/or an editor will catch these obvious errors. If they appear in the published work, you wrote it, didn't bother to read it, didn't have anyone else read it, and didn't have it edited. Bottom line, if you don't do these thing, you are not a writer. You're not even a hack.
Once you've got that book published and made available to the public, you offer it to people like me. People who read... a lot. People like me who bother to review what they read. You offer it in exchange for an honest review. You really don't want an honest review. You want someone to feel obligated to give your poorly written and unedited piece a 4 or 5-star review.
It is difficult to throw an anthology on the DNF (did not finish) pile because each story contained therein is written by a different person, and you might just be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If the gem among the paste is buried at the very end of the book, you will have cheated yourself out of that very experience that makes you read in the first place.
Recording a stream of consciousness and then transcribing it does not a piece of literature make. If you want to make your mark in the world of books, read what you wrote, then have others read it, and finally have an editor read it. If you want your profession to be "author," you have to be willing to do everything needed to make people want to read what you have written. Simply putting words on paper, virtual or otherwise, does not an author make. You may have heard that folks will happily pay good money for Stephen King's shopping list. The reason that bit of farce is accepted is that he has paid his dues to the gods of literature.
I glanced at several reviews on Goodreads and found that most of the reviews are for single stories within the anthology and those reviews rate the book at 5-stars. This gives a lot of credit to what, apparently, was never read.
Along with it being difficult to read an overall bad anthology, it is equally difficult to rate one. Yes, this story was readable, and this one was coherent, and finally one was actually worth reading. How do you rate an anthology fairly? Do you give it one star because overall that's what it's worth? Do you rate each story it contains and come up with an average?
It gives me no pleasure writing a bad review, but when a book is bad and an honest review has been requested, you get a bad review. You can look at other reviews, especially those that give a five-star rating, to see if you want to commit to buying this book for the sake of one, two, maybe even three stories out of the fifteen that are showcased.
energyrae's review against another edition
5.0
I read Sins of the Flesh, Gluttony, which was Stacey Broadbent's contribution to the anthology. It starts with Piper meeting Mark, she hasn't dated in a long time but there is something about Mark that she just can't resist. But Mark has a secret and surprisingly, Piper is more on board with what Mark has planned than what he could have ever anticipated.
Eerie and twisted, Gluttony will leave you with chills at the depth of horror Broadbent brings to the table. A superb read.
Eerie and twisted, Gluttony will leave you with chills at the depth of horror Broadbent brings to the table. A superb read.
lareinadehades's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
endlessmidnight's review against another edition
3.0
This was quite a simple anthology, centering all around vices and virtues. Except that it is often twisted, incredibly twisted and different from the original form.
The first story caught my attention by being all about cannibalism, and the idea behind it. As well as the thrall that the main character feels when she does it, eventually to becoming too much. Unique and memorable.
And so were some of the others. Such as Chandler and his tale, regarding him becoming a servant, when he sinned with sloth. Often becoming one of the most intriguing in its concept, and the way it was executed. That there is no way out and he is responsible. He simply learns to deal with it.
Some of the others never made much sense to me. Such as about Humility, and some just faded into my memory. But this does something different, which I don’t see quite often. About the idea of vice and virtues.
Another was Hurricane Evelyn, and the tale behind her. The story that made her be, and the way that she grew when she simply did things her own way. Leading her here.
But the ones which were unforgettable had been mostly vices, which is certainly true. As the spin it takes, are quite gruesome, different and often not something those with a light heart should read.
Overall, I liked it enough. Some of the stories were memorable, but most faded from my memory as it does with most anthologies. A surprising thing was that all of the writers here were all Wattpad writers, which made memorable tales to say the least.
The first story caught my attention by being all about cannibalism, and the idea behind it. As well as the thrall that the main character feels when she does it, eventually to becoming too much. Unique and memorable.
And so were some of the others. Such as Chandler and his tale, regarding him becoming a servant, when he sinned with sloth. Often becoming one of the most intriguing in its concept, and the way it was executed. That there is no way out and he is responsible. He simply learns to deal with it.
Some of the others never made much sense to me. Such as about Humility, and some just faded into my memory. But this does something different, which I don’t see quite often. About the idea of vice and virtues.
Another was Hurricane Evelyn, and the tale behind her. The story that made her be, and the way that she grew when she simply did things her own way. Leading her here.
But the ones which were unforgettable had been mostly vices, which is certainly true. As the spin it takes, are quite gruesome, different and often not something those with a light heart should read.
Overall, I liked it enough. Some of the stories were memorable, but most faded from my memory as it does with most anthologies. A surprising thing was that all of the writers here were all Wattpad writers, which made memorable tales to say the least.
staceybroadbent's review against another edition
5.0
*A note from one of the authors*
I had so much fun writing my piece for this anthology! Sins of the Flesh is so different to anything I've written before, and I have to say, it was nice to step out of my comfort zone and go a little dark and twisted.
I had so much fun writing my piece for this anthology! Sins of the Flesh is so different to anything I've written before, and I have to say, it was nice to step out of my comfort zone and go a little dark and twisted.
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