Kindle First

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Wearever

Nothing seems to catch my eye this time. I did read " Ready Player One" and enjoyed it years ago. For those of you who are reading " One Word Kill " would you say it's similar to " Ready Player One ? "

Similiar how? There is some books similar to Ready Player One in the sense of "addicted to virtual reality saving the world," but that does not seem to apply. The sample covers part of the first chapter. It cuts off just before it gets interesting. Or rather, more interesting. By then you should know if the writing style caught you. It is something about how it is written that I cannot put in words. By the end of chapter two the hook set in chapter one is sunk in completely and you will be along for the ride out of Kansas.

If the sample doesn't do it for you, the book might not be it. Very nice that First Reads allow to "Look Inside" if you use the desktop version of Amazon. I should have done that to not continue on.

Since nothing caught your eye, there really isn't any risk to try the sample. Other than maybe you cannot put it down.

[Wearever]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Similiar how? There is some books similar to Ready Player One in the sense of "addicted to virtual reality saving the world," but that does not seem to apply. The sample covers part of the first chapter. It cuts off just before it gets interesting. Or rather, more interesting. By then you should know if the writing style caught you. It is something about how it is written that I cannot put in words. By the end of chapter two the hook set in chapter one is sunk in completely and you will be along for the ride out of Kansas.

If the sample doesn't do it for you, the book might not be it. Very nice that First Reads allow to "Look Inside" if you use the desktop version of Amazon. I should have done that to not continue on.

Since nothing caught your eye, there really isn't any risk to try the sample. Other than maybe you cannot put it down.

Thanks for the explaining that. I did read the sample and it seemed to have the teens facing real life difficult situations, and good at assessing the scope of the situation regardless of what the adults told them, realities can be altered...... If that makes sense ? I do think this book would be more intense than "Ready Player One " like beating the odds of mortality instead of just winning the game against all odds. I read some reviews and do like the Time Travel aspect as well. I'll try lt !

[kyrilson]

I really enjoyed One Word Kill. It reminded me a little bit of Stranger Things, but without the monster aspect.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by kyrilson

I really enjoyed One Word Kill. It reminded me a little bit of Stranger Things, but without the monster aspect.

No monsters?

Spoiler:

The monsters were mere humans. Expelled school kid. You know who.

[kyrilson]

Good point. There IS a monster. A scary one too.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[sakura-panda]

I don't think that a comparison to other pop culture successes is a promising way to start a synopsis, for any genre or medium, and I skipped over One Word Kill for that reason.

Since I tend to lean toward contemporary or general fiction when I'm not immediately attracted a particular title, I went with The Overdue Life of Amy Byler.

[Wearever]

I agree I'm not really up to date as far as pop culture goes. However I'm enjoying this book. The author has written an intelligent engaging story, he didn't need the pop culture references. It did throw me off at first until I asked other readers what they thought. Dungeons & Dragons do feature in the story, and I've never played that game. It's just something the kids get together with. I'm also glad it's a first book in the series since I can add it to my sci fi reading challenge this month too.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by sakura-panda

I don't think that a comparison to other pop culture successes is a promising way to start a synopsis, for any genre or medium, and I skipped over One Word Kill for that reason.

If you're doing that solely based on the synopsis on Amazon's site, and not the sample of the book, that's highly unfair to the author. Unless the book is self-published, the author does not write the synopsis. It's entirely out of their hands and is done by the publisher. Here that means Amazon wrote the synopsis, quite possibly it was done by Jack Butler, their editor who provided additional comments on the book, which are also on the store page. Publishers like to make comparisons to other successful books because it helps sales.

I went with One Word Kill myself, because I like science fiction and it sounds somewhat interesting to me.

[sakura-panda]

Originally Posted by Manabi

If you're doing that solely based on the synopsis on Amazon's site, and not the sample of the book, that's highly unfair to the author. Unless the book is self-published, the author does not write the synopsis. It's entirely out of their hands and is done by the publisher. Here that means Amazon wrote the synopsis, quite possibly it was done by Jack Butler, their editor who provided additional comments on the book, which are also on the store page. Publishers like to make comparisons to other successful books because it helps sales.

I went with One Word Kill myself, because I like science fiction and it sounds somewhat interesting to me.

That's fair, but with six book choices, I need some criteria to narrow down my choices and I try to not use genre for the first cut.

I apologize if my original post sounded dismissive; it wasn't meant to be, but I find this trend unhelpful and frustrating. As I am *not* a regular science fiction reader, the comparison and the light synopsis following was unpersuasive. I was left thinking it was meant for fans of the referenced works and not for casual readers who want to experience something new.

What little I know of those two works, combined with the synopsis, had me moving on, but with so little to go on, the book might not be like what I'm thinking at all.

Thank you for reminding me of the samples; I haven't looked at them in a while since they are always the beginning of the book (are they still that way?) and I prefer my samples from somewhere in the middle, once the story is up and running, to get a better feel for what it's all about. Still, they are a resource that I should take advantage of, when I'm torn between a couple of titles whose descriptions are less helpful than I'd like.

[DuckieTigger]

@sakura-panda: Yes, the samples (that I have seen) are still from the beginning and are setup to end with a small cliffhanger.

I was left thinking it was meant for fans of the referenced works and not for casual readers who want to experience something new.

That is a fair point. And in the case of One Word Kill that is exactly it. But not for the reason you think. Probably more because the books are different, yet cover the same aspects under a different light. So it is there to say you probably like it if you liked the other, but you don't have to know the others.

[silverraven]

Today is the last day of April.
S

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by silverraven

Today is the last day of April.
S

That depends where one lives.....

[kyrilson]

So the May Kindle First reads came up in my email today. I'm trying to decide which to get, One Small Sacrifice by Hilary Davidson or Thin Air by Lisa Gray. Has anyone here picked up either one? If so, did you like it?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kyrilson

So the May Kindle First reads came up in my email today. I'm trying to decide which to get, One Small Sacrifice by Hilary Davidson or Thin Air by Lisa Gray. Has anyone here picked up either one? If so, did you like it?

You can get both very easily. All you have to do is setup a family share with your family and you'll each be able to pick a Kindle First Read book.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by kyrilson

So the May Kindle First reads came up in my email today. I'm trying to decide which to get, One Small Sacrifice by Hilary Davidson or Thin Air by Lisa Gray. Has anyone here picked up either one? If so, did you like it?

Those are the two that interest me as well. I will probably go with Hilary Davidson, as I read an earlier book of hers and liked it, whereas Lisa Gray is a totally unknown quantity.