Thursday 1 December 2016

Why Romance Novel Reviews Are So Popular With So Many Readers

By Brian West


Reading remains one of the great pleasures of life, whether it is for the purpose of learning of for pure pleasure. It is interesting to note that most avid readers still prefer real books over their electronic versions. Many readers favour specific authors or genres while others will read anything they can get hold of. Those that prefer romantic stories are in good company. This genre has millions of fans. Romance novel reviews help them to decide which book to read next.

Love stories help people to forget about the everyday humdrum that have become an integral part of their lives. It is a form of escaping from reality. In traditional love stories the main characters always overcome the many problems that they experience and they eventually get together and live happily ever after. These fans read romantic books because they allow them to temporarily escape into a world where everything works out fine in the end.

Reviewers play an important role in helping people to choose their reading material. Modern reviewers normally publish on specialized blogs. Some will provide their opinions on any publication but most reviewers focus on a very specific genre. There are many of them that concentrate on romantic publications, as even a very basic internet search will reveal. There are even fields of specialization within the broad field of romantic writing.

The traditional romantic book focus on a heroin and a hero that overcomes many obstacles to find happiness together. This type of story still enjoy a huge share of the market. However, romantic writing has broadened its horizons to include works that focus on the darker sides of love, gay love and even love that is not condoned by society and most certainly not by religious groups.

Reviewing new publications is not as simple as expressing a personal opinion. Reviewers have to keep their target audiences in mind. Their comments must therefore make it very clear what type of work it is that they are reviewing right from the outset. If it is a hardcore work containing explicit descriptions of sex, for example, many people would take offence and that is why it is necessary to briefly describe the type of romantic story that is reviewed.

An opinion about a new publication should never give the plot away. This will spoil the story for potential readers. The reviewer should rather focus on the literary aspects of the work, commenting on the plot, the believability of the characters and the style of writing. A summary, similar to what one would find on the flyleaf of a book can also be included.

When writing their critique reviewers should never forget who the intended reader of the work are. They may personally find the work in poor taste, for example, but their own personal opinion is not really the issue. The issue is whether the book will appeal to the intended target market. Reviewers should therefore remain objective at all times and address their readers, not literary agents, publishers or literary experts.

Romantic publications have always been popular but lately they make provision for wildly diverse target markets. Nobody is forced to buy a specific book but by reading reviews prior to making a purchase books that will offend can be avoided. Reviewers play an important role in informing consumers about new publications.




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