review policy

Revised: 6/15/10

in which a girl reads is first and foremost a book review blog. I accept both middle grade and young adult literature for review and promotion.

What interests me in a book?

In YA, my favorite genres are literary (think The Book Thief, Jellicoe Road, Wintergirls, Looking for Alaska, and The Absolutely True Diary), contemporary (think Cracked Up to Be, the Year of Secret Assignments, If I Stay), fantasy (think Sabriel, The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray, Graceling, any thing Tamora Pierce) and dystopian (think the Hunger Games). In middle grade fiction, I'm absolutely in love with children's fantasy (think anything by Diana Wynne Jones or Frances Hardinge). Of course, I'm open to other genres as well, and there's no telling what I'll fall in love with.

I'm particularly interested books that have one (or more) of the following: coming-of-age storylines, character-driven plots, strong female protagonists, magical realism, steampunk, books set in a boarding school/castle/ Europe/ road trip, quirky characters, a humorous tone, and a unique voice. I'm in love with all things historical fantasy. And most of all, I love words. Beautiful ones. I'll fangirl over lyrical prose any day.

Based off of my track record with reviews and my general dislikes in fiction, it would not be in the best interest of your book promotion if your book contains/falls into the following categories: run-of-the-mill paranormal romance, or a one that has a main character whose every waking moment of their life is filled with pain and misery. It is unlikely that I'll write a positive review for a book dominated by either of those elements.

I do not review nonfiction, ebooks, adult genre books, or self-published books.

So, what's a review like?

A review usually consists of:

1) Summary--typically the blurb found on the book.
2) An image of the book cover.
3) My Opinion: At least 4-5 paragraph review that shares my opinion of the book regarding things such as plot, setting, characters, description, cover, general writing, or anything else I take notice of.
4) Rating : I rate it on a scale from 1-10, 1 being the lowest score and 10 being the highest.

I post my reviews on the blog, Goodreads, and upon request, Amazon.

I can't guarantee a positive review since I strive to be honest in my assessment of the book. I do tend to have a more critical view of books and won't hesitate to point out things I do and don't like.

On promotion:

Lately I've been getting a lot of emails about participating in book tours, giveaways, etc. However, due to a busy schedule, I am limiting my participation in book tours. I also MUCH prefer to promote books I've read already. It's sort of ineffective/strange to be promoting a book I know nothing about.

That said, I really like to do author interviews. So if that's of interest to you, email me! I'm also all for holding giveaways of books as well.

For teen writer interviews, please don't email me asking to be featured. I only feature writers whose writing I'm familiar with.

Any further questions, book recommendations, comments, concerns?

Email me!


Email: chocowrites@gmail.com

Note: I do not respond to all emails. Feel free to re-email me after a few weeks if you would like a response and haven't gotten one.