Two recent reviews prompted this blog.
And it’s a weird phenomenon when you write gay fiction. There are readers out there who review your books as if they are meant to be MM Romance. It’s an issue I’ve always had. One of the worst examples was when a reviewer couldn’t finish listening to her free copy of the Winter Masquerade audiobook, because it wasn’t what she was expecting.
Then there was the time my short story, Three Ghosts, was released.
Although it begins as a Romance tale, it ends up being something quite different. I took the advice of my publisher’s marketing person and provided a review copy to a Romance specific review service.
The story got slammed. One Goodreads reviewer had to mention there was no romance, and said they were hesitant to read another of my stories.
But not as harsh are recent reviews of The Midnight Man.
It’s a novel about a middle aged man coming to terms with his life through a series of dreams where he gets to be a little younger each time. He is guided through these adventures by a twenty-one-year-old.
One reviewer said:
“From the things I read about the book before reading it I had totally different expectations. However, what I found reading it was very different. I was not expecting a story about an older gay man coming to terms with his life. It hit home in many ways.”
It’s nice when someone discovers my work and it stays with them. That is what I try to do with each book. Another reviewer only gave me an average score yet ended by saying, “a thought-provoking read that delves into complex relationships and human emotions.”
This same reviewer had trouble with the fact that the main character’s partner wanted an open relationship. This made him unlikeable. And the term ‘unlikeable’ often appears in this type of review.
Some characters are supposed to be unlikeable.
Storytelling relies on conflict so, of course, there are people whose side you are on and those you despise. Sometimes those you despise, grow. That’s the point of the story. Yet I also had a DNF (did not finish) review for The Midnight Man, because of the couple’s open relationship.
This book is written for adults, so there would never be a reason I’d write in a way that treated the reader like a child. Cheating, open relationships, heartbreak, guilt – they are part of life. They are explored in many entertainment art forms.
M*A*S*H covered this in an episode titled “Hanky Panky” where BJ cheats on his wife. The recent Australian series, Summer Love, had a storyline where one member of a gay couple organises a threesome as a present for his partner.
So I find this Disney-style point of view when reviewing totally alien.
I grew up reading gay fiction at a time when these books focussed on identity. And many commercially successful contemporary gay authors like Holden Sheppard, Christos Tsiolkas and Douglas Stuart don’t write Romance. They write novels which dominate book stores. Contemporary stories for contemporary readers.
So it’s totally weird that someone picks up a gay novel and freaks out when it’s just like any other fiction most of us have read over the years.
Don’t get me wrong. I respect the Romance genre.
I’ve read Gwen Hayes’ how to write a Romance guide, Romancing the Beat. If I ever write the Space Opera I have character notes for, I’d like the love story elements to follow this blueprint. It’s a tested formula.
But most books aren’t Romance.
So, why do some readers review all books as if they are?
kevin klehr 