Last night, as I was tried to fall asleep, I was distracted. I was, I realized, irate. I’d just stayed up past my bedtime reading a book by an author whose books I have loved. This one, well, I wouldn’t say I hated it but I just about did.
Now reading books I don’t like is a part of my job. Normally poorly written books do not make angry–I simply toss them aside and move on. But this book, this book ticked me off. It wasn’t just that the power imbalance between the lovers was appallingly vast nor that the hero is, for most a the book, a sh*t. I’ve read many a romance where these plotlines have made for a brilliant read. Nor was it that the writing and story was pedestrian, even cloying. Again, been there, read that.
Why, I wondered, was I so bothered by this book? It is, of course, because I know this author can do better. They have done better several times. They even written books I’d designate as sublime. In reading this book, I became like the vast majority of teachers I had, all of whom dutifully wrote on my report cards, “Dabney is clearly not working up to her abilities.”
So, yes, I am harder on authors who have earlier written great books and now are writing just OK or, like this one, bad books. I want better which, perhaps, isn’t fair. Shouldn’t we take every book on its own merits?
What do you think? Are you harder on weak books by great authors than you are on mediocre works by those you have no expectations of?
In this day and age of The Multi Book Series, I think we can become both emotionally and intellectually invested in an author we really like, who hits our buttons and who becomes a DIK Auto-Buy. I suspect we all have several authors of this stature who are almost like great friends. Therefore when they let us down somehow, we can be deeply disappointed, maybe even angry at being let down. A new or unfamiliar author will not have our built-in, long-standing loyalty and appreciation so a disappointing book will leave the reader indifferent, possibly feeling ripped off and that author just disappears into the rear view mirror of reading experience. The reader may try again with that writer or just move on, perhaps hoping the Auto-Buy’s next book is back on form.
IDK, but it’s an interesting question.
On the one hand, if it’s a book written by one of my favourite writers, even if it is boring be, I read it until the end, whereas I DNF books from other authors.
But, on the other hand, I rate a book comparing them with other books written by the same writer. So, for instance I can give 4 stars to a Kleypas book that, with a different name on the cover, could be a 5-star. Because I know she can achieve outstanding things. But I guess that has more to do with the way I rate books.
So, I don’t know if I’m harder on weak books by authors I love, but it’s going to be very interesting to see your answers to this question.
I’ve started reviews saying “for this author it’s a 3 but probably a 4 for others” I think this is fair in the same way I expect different quality food from Bistro L’Hermitage vs Red Robin.
I totally blame the author.
She knows, herself, that the book is not as good as those in the past. She knows that she should throw it out, but she doesn’t. She knows each flaw, but somehow, can’t (or didn’t) fix them. Maybe she has writer’s block and that inner dictating voice is now silent. Maybe she’s getting tired of writing within her niche.
I don’t care.
She is a professional. We expect our professionals to rise to the occasion, not to do shoddy work.
A long time ago, people were clamoring for a sequel to a romance by Linda Howard. She wrote a whole book, everybody knew it was coming out (oh, joy! joy!), then she announced that it was no good, that she had tried and tried, but she couldn’t fix it. Probably Howard was like Louise May Alcott when she wrote a terrible romance for Jo with the Professor to please her fans. Anyway, Howard destroyed the book.
There is a magic in any artist which separates him/her from the pack. The Greeks called it the muses who sometimes go silent.
In answer to your question, Dabney, yes, I expect more from my favorite authors. Do they always deliver? No. Would I rather read second-rate from an author I love? Sometimes. Sometimes, it just annoys me too much.
I just had an experience with a book written because fans wanted a sequel – and it was a dud. I completely understand why an author would want to keep her readers happy, but she should left the story at the first book becasue now, my enjoyment of that story is somewhat tarnished.
I have written several reviews here where I’ve started out by saying “it pains me to write a negative review of a book by X because I’ve enjoyed their work in the past” – and it really does. But as you say, they’re professionals, and if they want us to pay for their work, then they have a responsibility to deliver something worth paying FOR. And I know several authors who are really dedicated to doing just that and wouldn’t consider putting out a second-rate book – for example. C.S Poe cancelled The Councilman (Magic & Steam #4) earlier this year because she’d been struggling with it, and then had to admit it wasn’t good and had to throw most of it out and start again. It takes a lot of guts to be able to do that, IMO – and I’m sure that when the book finally does appear, it will be all the better for it. But there’s so much pressure on authors to deliver – whether they’re trad published or not; as readers we’ve become very spoiled to expect our favourites to deliver 3 or 4 books a year and not everyone is
Gregory Ashecapable of putting out so many books and maintaining the quality.And I agree that when you’re talking about established authors, they know very well when something is sub-par – artists of any ilk are, by their very nature, very self-critical.
Completely off-topic, but I’m glad I’m not the only person who didn’t like this. I wanted Jo to find someone who’d support her writing, not guilt her out of it.
I get frustrated, or even angry, but I most often think it is me, not them.
Example – did JAK get (awfully) worse or does she do the same thing and I do not like it that much anymore?
IDK.
What makes me angry is bad craft – plain bad writing, like constant use of a few words instead of some variety. Unclear situations, because the descriptions suck. Bad explanations for mysteries or crimes, so stuff that is really shoddy work.
Writers who were great for me usually had good craft already, so they tend to make less of those craft mistakes, they know the technicalities already, and know them well.
What does make me angry could be a super short book, with huge print, not advertised or priced as a novella, or a badly wrapped up story, and there, yes, I blame writers if I feel they “cheated” in some way. So a JAK story with a badly wrapped up mystery would make me angry. And did, I returned the book.
Just using JAK as an example because she still writes and I loved her a lot, and still like her language and “craft” as I call it.
Yes.
Shortly after I started reading genre romances in the 1990s and realized HOW MANY books and authors were out there, I started marking AUTHORS in my list tracking books I own to look for more of their books. It took me a little while to realize that authors’ books could be inconsistent in their appeal to me and to switch to marking BOOKS and looking for more books based on a mix of maximum, mean, and minimum personal appreciation of authors’ books already read. I have higher expectations for books from an author with multiple books above 3 stars than an author with one book at 3, several at 2, and a negative.
I think I probably do hold a favourite author to a higher standard, especially authors who have hit it out of the park more often than not, because I KNOW what they’re capable of, and when they miss that bar, I feel disappointed. (Courtney Milan, I’m looking at YOU!)
I try to judge on case by case basis, but when it’s an author I love whose work suddenly goes south I do find myself picking stuff apart and wondering what went wrong.
Yes! If I have been anticipating a new book by a favorite author and I don’t enjoy it, I feel disbelief, angry and sad. I often wonder if it’s me – are my expectations too high? Are my reading tastes changing? If it happens a few times, I will take a break on the author. The best way I’ve found to get over it is to cleanse the pallete with a good book!
I have found lately that a number of authors whose work I’ve enjoyed in the past seem to have been on a downward trajectory in quality. I’ve also thought about this a lot and I’m totally sure where the source of the issue is. Part of it is that personally, I have more of a soft spot and a love for the books I read in my 20s and 30s and for me the books those authors write now just can’t compare to those. Plus, I’ve now read SO. MANY. BOOKS. that it takes something more – more unique, more heartfelt, more something – to stand out to me and make an impression. But it also feels that some of these authors may just be running out of gas after a long career and dozens of books.
the second sentence should be “… I’m not totally sure …”
I’ve found the same, and I think it’s probably a combination of us becoming more discerning the more we read, and so many authors now putting out so many books a year. It wasn’t so long ago that a favourite, trad. published author might have one book out per year – many are now producing two (or more) and there’s no way that isn’t affecting quality. But I suppose the competition brought by self-publishing, where authors control their own schedules, has had an impact on trad. publishing, and authors are now caught up in a treadmill where they have to keep producing or risk losing readers or contracts.
I know this is veering off topic somewhat – but I do think it has a part to play in the discussion. And I could compile a list of authors to whom your last sentence applies.
I think you’re right. The expectations for romance authors are unrealistic, and it’s not surprising that so many of them seem to burn out. Other genres do not demand multiple books a year from their authors! In sf/f, it’s not unusual for authors to have gaps of over a year between either books or series.
For me it all comes down to expectations. As a lifelong reader, I’m well aware that authors have some variability in their oeuvre. Not all Shakespeare’s plays reach the heights of MacBeth or King Lear, for example. So I expect some ups and downs, and I respect an author who takes a creative leap knowing it may not pay off. However, if a beloved author repeats a theme/plot/character/trope/language again and again, then I will be pretty disappointed in them. Expectations also come into play with a new-to-me author if their book has been heavily hyped or positively reviewed. I go in expecting a lot, and if the book doesn’t deliver, I am disappointed. But in that case, I might blame the hype as much as the author.
I’m pretty hard on everyone, to be honest, especially now that I’m older and have both more experience and more trust in my assessments.
If you are a professional, your work should be to a certain standard. I feel more disappointed if an author I’ve enjoyed before produces something that isn’t up to the standard I have come to expect from them, and that certainly affects my impression of the book, but I try to keep the two as separate as possible, just as I try to separate my enjoyment of something from my assessment of its quality.
The disappointment is greater, which leads to perhaps harsher judgment. But if I’m allowed to have off days, aren’t writers allowed to have off books? Plus, there are economic considerations that often dictate what successful writers write, even if the inspiration for those books is lacking.
I have, several times, said something about authors having an ‘off day’ in reviews, and yes, I agree that we all have them and are entitled to them. But I think that, as putting out a product for sale is literally an author’s job, readers are also entitled to complain when something isn’t up to the expected standard. I mean, you’d do it with anything else you purchased, right? And provided the ‘off day’ isn’t permanent, then I will go back to that author if I’ve enjoyed their work before. It’s only if the ‘off day’ is repeated, that I’ll stop – and have done so with several authors whose work I used to enjoy.
My theory – and it’s something that feeds my opinion about BooTok’s hostile takeover of the world – is that as we become better readers, our expectations increase and we begin to find fault in places where before, in our ignorance and naivety, we found satisfaction. So a book by Author A that we read many years ago and adored might not stand up to scrutiny if we were to re-read it after years of more books, but our memory of having loved that book by Author A leads us to always expect to love books Author A has written. Does that make sense? Maybe it’s the case that your expectations were established before you knew better and now Author A can’t live up to them?? IDK. May be grasping here!
Yes, that is what I believe is part of it.
The other is all the shoddy work that happens, too.
I try to figure out if it is more of the first – my guess is yes, about 60-70% – and 30% truly worse books. But ask me another day, and numbers may flip.
I love this question. One weak book from an author whose works I have loved and I’m like eh, everyone has a few of them in a long-term career, plus, what I don’t appreciate someone will squee over (as Goodreads can attest).
A string of them and then I get sad, especially when it’s seems as though the author is getting…comfortable and/or is taking shortcuts and it shows up in their writing.