REVIEW POLICY

The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed currently welcomes submissions for review from authors and publishers. I am interested in every genre, but especially welcome children’s and Young Adult fiction, literary fiction, supernatural and horror, historical, science fiction and fantasy. Print copies only please, and please note that I cannot return books to you.

I believe that reviews should be balanced, fair and honest, and the purpose of a book blog is to provide real responses to a book from a real person. My reviews are my own subjective opinion, and may be critical of a work. Therefore I do not accept payment in exchange for a positive review. I will disclose on the blog if the book reviewed has been sent to me by a publisher or author.

Please also note, that I have a full-time job, a house, garden, allotment, family and a deranged, high-maintenance cat, as well as a towering pile of books I want to read that frequently threatens to cascade all over the floor (to the consternation and disgust of the cat). Therefore my time is precious, and unfortunately I can offer no guarantee that I will review your book should you send it to me.

If you would like to contact me regarding reviewing please email me at jo@anniseed.com.

COMMENTS POLICY

The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed welcomes constructive, friendly debate about books, reading, publishing, and writing. My opinions are entirely my own and are totally subjective; you are entitled to disagree! I’m an advocate of reader-response theory in which each reader constructs their own meaning from the text, therefore no two people will have an identical experience of, or response to, a work.

However I reserve the right to delete posts that I consider offensive or libellous. Criticism of a book or post should be constructive and never directed personally against the author – contributors to The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed are requested to participate in a respectful and responsible manner.

MY RATINGS EXPLAINED

***** Exceptional. This is a book that will haunt me, in good ways or bad, and that I would strongly urge people to read. In my opinion the writing is enthralling, characters jump off the page and into my life, and the plot is a steel trap.

**** Very good. This is a book that I have thoroughly enjoyed; and I consider the plot riveting and the characters extremely well-drawn. The writing is very skilled.

***Good. This is a book I have enjoyed reading and I think the writing is sound. The plot is feasible and hangs together well, and the characters have enough life and energy to keep me interested.

** Okay. This is a book that shows promise, but not all aspects are that well executed. I enjoyed it but my attention wandered in places.

*Disappointing. I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I’d hoped to; there were aspects of writing, plotting or characterisation that didn’t really work for me.

Unrated – give this one a miss.