J. King’s Reviews > A Time to Tell > Status Update
J. King
is on page 169 of 298
Don't understand Claire's reaction, although— No. Don't get it, not after 9 years of happy & peaceful marriage. Again, sudden.
— May 05, 2010 10:47PM
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J. King
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Still don't get the characters, like real people sometimes, and these characters do seem to be based on real people. The patterns are too consistent. I suspect they mean a great deal to Maria, the author, and I hope to talk to her about them after I write my review.
— Jul 04, 2010 05:07PM
J. King
is on page 274 of 298
I'm noticing a few themes that recur throughout this story, maybe a clue to understanding these characters. They still behave in ways that feel random to me, but perhaps the randomness has some grander purpose.
— Jul 04, 2010 09:41AM
J. King
is on page 195 of 298
Just up and reading myself to sleep. Looking forward to see if Penny comes back on the scene.
— May 08, 2010 11:06PM
J. King
is on page 187 of 298
A bit of Wow! here. This changes everything, doesn't it? (Although I would have hoped Gloria would do the dirty work, for Cara's sake.)
— May 07, 2010 09:55PM
J. King
is on page 175 of 298
This last scene made me laugh. The MST3K crew kept whispering in my head. I think I'm tired. Need sleep...
— May 05, 2010 10:59PM
J. King
is on page 167 of 298
Many of these character changes seem sudden to me, plotted, insufficient internal motivation for the change. Why I dropped Philip Pullman!
— May 05, 2010 10:44PM
J. King
is on page 166 of 298
BTW, in the US, just by changing your name, you won't escape the police. Probably in the UK, too.
— May 05, 2010 10:41PM
J. King
is on page 166 of 298
Some of these scenes degenerate into laundry-list scenes. "Where are the car keys?" "I thought you had them!" "Not me!" Oy vey.
— May 05, 2010 10:40PM
J. King
is on page 152 of 298
What changed Ben? He had some transformative experience that hasn't even been alluded to here.
— May 05, 2010 10:39PM
J. King
is on page 132 of 298
Why is Rosie so personally invested in Cara coming to London with her?
— May 04, 2010 04:28PM
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Julie
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rated it 5 stars
May 08, 2010 09:46AM
Everyone is entitled to an opinion but kindness is always the better option. I really can't see the point in this, unless of course cruelty is part of your personality?
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Sorry you feel I'm being unkind, Julie. I'll explain more on this point of storytelling when I write up my more detailed review and my critique, on my blogs. I'll also explain why it's such a big deal to me. I'll also highlight some of the bits of Wow! I find scattered throughout A Time to Tell. I'd like to learn how to reproduce some of these in my own work.Actually, the most unkind review I ever received was by someone who had not even read the book, and because of that, he couldn't make fun of the actual book, so he made fun of me personally. Ever since then, I have advised other authors—as a fellow author advised me—to ignore reviewers, because they always have their own agendas, and their reviews say more about them than about you. Of course, my reviews also apply, as you can tell from my ebook review "about" page. Note especially the section at the bottom about "Free Books and Review Swaps." If Jennifer Crusie is right—and I think she is in this case—honesty may be the better option, especially if you want your own fans to value your opinion.
-TimK
One of the things I wrestle with is that I feel bad sometimes when what I read is not what I like. And I also feel bad about lying and saying that I did like it. And I also feel bad about just dropping it and not saying anything, because I feel that's dishonest. (Although I do generally avoid rating books that I stop less than half-way through.) And the only thing left is the late, great macho flash: be as big a jerk as you can, because then when they hate you, at least it isn't because of your opinion.(I've seen this in political discussion, too.)
I try to avoid doing that by keeping my focus elsewhere, and I hope I mostly succeed, although you'll have to judge for yourself. (And when I get on a rant about the book industry, I probably get out of hand.)
-TimK
