Hannahwhere was one of my book club picks and I’m quite certain that I would never choose to read this book if I wasn’t challenged to do so. I am in the minority, as the book has 4.5 stars on Amazon and 4.2 stars on Goodreads but I was underwhelmed. Sometimes I get nervous when that happens. Like I think to myself, “Did I miss something?” or “Am I being too picky?” but in this case I think I feel confident that I really didn’t like the book and if I read one more positive review I’m going to scream” THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES!”…but I won’t because that would be pretty douchey of me. However, I just published it on the Internet so one could make a case that I’m still kind of a jerk. I posted my lack of excitement for the book on my Goodreads page and John McIlveen kindly asked me try one of his other books (which was really nice because my review was negative without really justifying my negativity). Because of that, I probably will try another one of his books!
The premise of this novel is actually really cool but there are trigger warnings galore. Anna and Hannah are twins;their mother is involved in an abusive relationship. Because of this she teaches her daughters how to escape to a different plane of consciousness that they can teleport into when they feel like they’re in danger. They escape from their mother’s boyfriend just after watching him kill her…flash forward two years…Hannah is found nearly frozen to death near a dumpster by a social worker named Debbie and Anna is nowhere to be found. Debbie and Hannah form a deep bond, one that allows Debbie to revisit some of the things that she has repressed in her life but that need to be dealt with. And yeah…it did nothing for me. And I also didn’t understand why everyone didn’t know what happened to Anna, I truly didn’t. I thought we ALL knew what happened to her…but I guess it was just me because all the characters seemed shocked.
Not only was I frustrated with many of the characters and their actions, I also (and this is by far an insensitive thing to say if they were real people) was kind of sick of hearing about how they had scars that couldn’t be seen due to the issues from their pasts. If we were talking about real people, yes, I would want them to talk it out as much as they needed to, I suggest therapy and good friends, and of course, I would be supportive. As a reader, it was over the top as a theme. Perhaps my disappointment stems from the fact that I saw it was Horror (a genre I adore) and then after reading it, it was nothing of the kind. I don’t know, don’t listen to me because one of my favorite “new to me” writer Jonathan Maberry loved it so I don’t even know what to think! 2.75/5
One of my personal pet peeves is when an author responds to a negative/mediocre review trying to justify their work. I understand it’s hard to see someone criticizing your work, but people have opinions and it’s not really the place of an author to comment on those opinions. I don’t even like it when an author ‘likes’ one of my positive reviews, which has happened. So when you mentioned that he commented on your goodreads review, I got curious and went to check out other reviews of this book, he’s done it a couple of other times. Hardcore pass.
Why? Why is an author not allowed to defend their work? If you’re not a creative person it might be difficult to understand this, but a book is like your child—you pour your love, your heart and soul into it, you invest so much of your time in molding it, and then you put it out into the world and hope people treat it kindly. You would come to the defense of your son or daughter if they were being savaged. Why wouldn’t you come to the defense of your other creations? I get that that metaphor only goes so far, but still, if you create something that is truly and deeply meaningful to you only to have people tear it apart, then it hurts. No, there’s nothing wrong with defending your creative efforts. It’s only wrong if you attack the critics in return.
No matter how much of your heart you put into your book, there are going to be people who don’t like it. Commenting on someone’s review isn’t going to change their mind, and is in fact, awkward as hell. It puts the reviewer in a defensive position they shouldn’t have to be in. Authors need to understand that someone not liking their book isn’t personal, and that it’s something that’s going to happen to them forever. Even if their book is a masterpiece of the written word, there will be people whose tastes do not match it.
I don’t mind when authors like or comment on positive reviews, though. Hell, I don’t even mind when they comment or like on negative ones, as long as they’re not trying to change the reviewer’s mind and they are respectful about it. I had an author comment on one of my reviews once (negative), and all they did was thank me for reading the book. It was harmless and I came away having a more positive opinion of them. It would not have been harmless if they had tried to change my mind or “defend” themselves.