Some years ago I did a brief stint as a book reviewer for a niche publishing magazine. The main purpose of any magazine is to sell advertising space, so reviewers couldn’t piss off the publishers with a bad review. I’d get 20 books a week to review (mostly preview editions). I asked my editor how I could manage to do that many reviews in such a short time. He told me to read the front and back blurbs, the table of contents, the first and last chapter, and then fan through the book and pick a couple of random pages.

Voila! I could now produce an “intelligent” review, on topics about which I knew nothing, in only 10 minutes.

The worst part about it is that she never gives less than 3 stars to any book that I have found. Usually it’s either 4 or 5 stars. Why bother to rate it at all? Is it like what Little League has turned into? No losers anymore – everyone gets a trophy! Reviews that constantly give high marks are useless since you certainly can’t rely on them for objectivity. If she is real, hope she stops reviewing for everyone’s sake.

Looking at books I’m interested in and reading reviews of them, I noticed that some of the more “to the point” reviews are posted by people with a “verified amazon purchase”.

Does HK ever “verify” a purchase? Does she only review ARCs or free copies?! I didn’t see any verified purchase from her, for any of the reviewed books. If she’s been doing this for years, all those books must amount to a giant library. That’s a fortune in books… Is amazon really that oblivious to something so visibly a scam?…

I don’t much care if they decide to do something about the HK persona or allow it to go on, but her so-called “reviews” made me only read the 1-starred ones, just to see what made people unhappy with the book, and skip all the enthusiastic ones. I don’t like this as a solution, but…

One of the reasons I loathe Klausner is that she’s giving a bad name to fast readers.  I’m a reasonably fast reader myself; on weekends, when I don’t have to be doing anything else, I typically read between three and five books a day, depending on length and subject matter.  I’m not actually trying to read quickly; that’s just the speed at which I read.  I don’t skim, unless I’m completely losing interest in the book.  Klausner gives people the impression that fast readers aren’t really reading, and plenty of us are.

I believe her when she says she can read quickly, but I still think she’s a fraud.  

Used to wonder how HK could read & review so many bestsellers so frequently. During Amazon’s early years, I was chuffed to be one of the top reviewers until, one day, all my reviews vanished. After an avalanche corresponce w/Amazon’s staff, I discovered another reviewer with the same name was working there & had started her own site. Coincidence?

Bland like unflavored tofu, is how I’ve thought of HK’s reviews: generic. & she doesn’t answer her emails on her site. As far as I’m concerned HK’s been a publicity device all these years, perhaps because Internet bookstores were worried they wouldn’t get any reviews.

Now I write my own books, & edit & publish other authors. I still read a lot & post reviews when the stories move me.

I’m as real as your mamas’ pimps.

Stop talkin’ smack about me, or I might have to get busy with a tire-iron up in here.

I got 147 books to read and review today, so stop wating my time.

-Love

Harriet

Join me?

I will tell you flat out as a past reviewer, it’s not uncommon to receive a box of galleys or advance review copies of books that are months due to the printing house. If you have the time and the ability (with resources to support your life while you do this full time) it is possible to read many books during the day. If you are genuinely interested in the content of a book it makes time go by so much quicker. Personally, if I get sucked in, I can read a 400-page book in 4 hours, maybe less.