Reviewing Reviews

Years ago, after my novel had been available for online purchase from a handful of book stores and shopping sites for several years (it was published almost 10 years ago), I found myself checking these sites to see if there had been any reader reviews.

I'm genuinely interested in whether someone who has graciously taken the time to read the 440 pages has given even more of his or her time to let others know about their impressions. At that time, only one reader had left a review, on Amazon.ca, for Songsaengnim: A Korea Diary.

The reviewer had given my novel three stars out of five, which is actually a score that I gave myself after I read the completed, printed book. Roland is a fairly believable character and we can easily follow along with him as he experiences a new way of life while reflecting on his past, from which he is desperate to escape. But at times, I find the writing tedious and I've always found that the ending wrapped up a little fast.

It's not a happy ending (not an overly sad one, either) and there really is no conclusion. But when I first wrote Songsaengnim, I meant for it to cover a two-year period in which Roland is in South Korea. As I came to the end of the first year, I felt the story was too long for one book and so I made the decision to cut the story in half and make Songsaengnim the first of a two-parter.

I told myself that I could write the second part in a year—two, at most.

(Yeah, I'm still laughing at that one.)

This Amazon reviewer was spot-on in that there are grammar and spelling mistakes. My editor caught most of them but not all. I'll be much more careful for the sequel. The reviewer also thought the ending was too short. I couldn't agree more.

It's fair that the reviewer didn't like Roland, though he or she refers to the author, rather than the character, and Roland and I are very different people. He or she called Roland back-stabbing and without remorse.

Okay.

But the reviewer also liked the day-to-day experiences in Korea, albeit some days were mundane.

It's a fair review and the rating is, as I said, what I would give the book, myself.

Yesterday, a social-media friend referred to a collective book-reading site, goodreads.com. It's where you can meet with people to see what each other is reading and get reviews on books. Out of curiosity, I searched for my book and was excited to see it was listed on the site.

Two people who use the site had marked my book as one that they wanted to read. Those indicators were a few years old, and I don't know if they ever read the novel.

Four people had rated the book, as recently as September of last year. One person is a Twitter buddy of mine. The average score for my book was four stars: two five-star ratings, a four, and a two.

The person who gave me a two-star rating also left a review, and I was curious to learn why he didn't seem to like the story. The review starts positive, where the reviewer mentions that the story is structured as a diary, which he finds to be a good thing. But the reviewer then says that he doesn't like how the story has been written in the past tense, something he says makes the flow awkward.

For me, diaries are usually written in the past tense because the action has already happened. When I was actually keeping a diary, while I lived in Chŏnju, I wrote about my day or weekend, and everything was in the past tense. And how many stories are written in the present tense, anyway?

The reviewer then goes on to say that the main character seems self-indulgent (it's a diary), with most of the action focusing on the expat characters, rather on the Korean ones. Here, I respectfully disagree.

Roland does interact with Koreans. We know about the secretaries at the hagwon and get to know a bit about some of Roland's students. But when Roland is away from class, he tends to interact with his fellow teachers and expat friends. I don't see how Koreans are excluded from the story.

If you've read the book and agree with this reviewer, I'd be interested to hear your take.

I'm not upset at the reviewer, nor am I hurt by his words. It sounds to me as though he was looking for more depth on Korea and Koreans, and this story is about a westerner's journey as he tries to cope with his tragic past.

I've only read two reviews from readers, and I'd love to hear more. As I say when I meet people who are reading my book, "If you don't like the book, I'd love to know why you don't. If you love the book, tell everyone about it."

Because I'm still working on the sequel, Gyeosunim, I'm constantly re-reading my drafts, looking to fix the spelling and grammar errors. And I'm restructuring so that the end product will grip the readers and make them want to turn pages. I've taken these reviews to heart, and I'm hoping that my readers won't be disappointed.

When I eventually finish it, that is.

If you've read my novel, please consider leaving a review on one of the online sites. If you didn't like it, tell me why. If you loved it, tell everyone why.

Cheers!