Is it ever okay to condemn a book without even attempting to read it?

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's also not realistic. You do not get men running around with no shirts looking for women to fall for them.

Thus the reason it's called fiction Jon. It's written for women by women. In a perfect world this is what men would be like.

I'm not saying men can't read or write the genre but just know that 95% of it men are going to be protrayed as what women wish them to be like.

SciFi isn't realistic either or Fantasy.

Sent from my XT1528

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's also not realistic. You do not get men running around with no shirts looking for women to fall for them.

Well, what am I going to do at the weekend now?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I wasn't thinking of fake reviews by the author, but of the situation where "fans" of an author will give a book 5-star reviews as soon as it appears on Amazon (or whatever site we're talking about), even before it's released, on the grounds of "any book X writes is going to be great!".

That's a big issue on Goodreads. Here's a listing for the forthcoming book Peace Talks[/i] by Jim Butcher. It has 4.48 average stars, 546 ratings, and a conversation going on in the review section without one single review. The problem is the staff know this is going on and don't care. Many people want this issue fixed. But it means that this book will be a very long time after release before the ratings can be trusted.

All GR has to do is have a verified reader options where we can get ratings/reviews from verified readers and it will drop all other ones.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Thus the reason it's called fiction Jon. It's written for women by women. In a perfect world this is what men would be like.

I'm not saying men can't read or write the genre but just know that 95% of it men are going to be protrayed as what women wish them to be like.

SciFi isn't realistic either or Fantasy.

Sent from my XT1528

Some men do write romance novels. Most of the men who do do so under a female pseudonym.

As for SF, I've read plenty where it attempts to be as realistic as possible. I know it's not 100% possible given that it's fiction. Then again, I've read some pretty out there SF.

Romance is one of those genres that most men won't try.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Well, what am I going to do at the weekend now?

Read a good book.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

All GR has to do is have a verified reader options where we can get ratings/reviews from verified readers and it will drop all other ones.

How would you verify whether or not a GR reader had read the book?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How would you verify whether or not a GR reader had read the book?

The listing has to be added to the person's library, marked as read, and have a read date past the release date.

If it's found that people are cheating, they get banned.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Some men do write romance novels. Most of the men who do do so under a female pseudonym.

As for SF, I've read plenty where it attempts to be as realistic as possible. I know it's not 100% possible given that it's fiction. Then again, I've read some pretty out there SF.

Romance is one of those genres that most men won't try.

I know men do write romance. Leigh Greenwood, Laura London, M.L. Buchanan, Nico Russo to name a few but they still protray men as women want them because women are the targeted audience.

And.. romance is a huge genre we have historicals, contemporaries, paranomal, sci-fi, fantasy, erotic and inspirational romances. Sci-Fi or fantasy technically fall under paranomal. There's something for everyone.

Sent from my XT1528

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's also not realistic. You do not get men running around with no shirts looking for women to fall for them.

You've obviously never been out on a Friday night in Newcastle!

[toddhicks209]

It isn't okay to write a review for a book you haven't read.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Remember when there was the outcry for the book sold on Amazon about pedophilia? That was a book most people had not read and would not read but the subject was one they could get behind and complain to amazon for selling the book.

So yes, you can give a thumbs down to a book without having read it depending on the subject matter without having read it first.

Even this can be dangerous. Whilst there is an argument for banning certain books which promote or assist criminal behaviour, there are real questions of where the line should be drawn. Particularly when the intended readership is adults presumed to be of full capacity.
Should Lolita be banned? And is a book ever appropriately dealt with by a self-righteous Twitter lynch mob seeking to enforce their own standards of offence on the wider community?

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Is it any different to people giving a book they've never read a five-star review? Goodness knows that happens often enough!

Personally I think it's dishonest to "review" any book you've not read, but regrettably it's a common practice.

I think you have a typo there. The Goodness should be spelled Goodreads.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

You've obviously never been out on a Friday night in Newcastle!

And from what I've heard, I don't want to. But, the men in the romance books are well fit and muscled.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by toddhicks209

It isn't okay to write a review for a book you haven't read.

How about rating a book you'e never read based on your anticipation? See my link to Goodreads earlier in this thread.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by darryl

Even this can be dangerous. Whilst there is an argument for banning certain books which promote or assist criminal behaviour, there are real questions of where the line should be drawn. Particularly when the intended readership is adults presumed to be of full capacity.
Should Lolita be banned? And is a book ever appropriately dealt with by a self-righteous Twitter lynch mob seeking to enforce their own standards of offence on the wider community?

Part of the problem there was even kids could have bought that book on Amazon. It wasn't age restricted. Plus, do you want to see someone making money from pedophilia?

Personally, I think it was right of Amazon to have finally pulled the book. It's akin to shouting fire in a crowded theater when there is no fire.