About

This is a site dedicated to the review of books, particularly ebooks and selfpublished. If you have a book you would like me to review, you need to know a few things.

I am a book reviewer, not an editor. This means that you don’t send me a rough draft of your book and ask me to review it. If it isn’t ready for the reading public, then it isn’t ready for me to review it. If you want a copy editor, there are services available through Lulu.com and the like.  There are also people who will read and critique your book and let you know if it is sellable, again you need to pay for their services.

I reserve the right to refuse to review a book. I might do so for any number of reasons, from it not being ready for publication to the content being offensive to it just not catching my interest. If you want to ask the reason for my refusal feel free, but I will not argue about it. If I refuse because the book isn’t ready, you could always work on it some more and re-submit it.

The reviews are my property, just as the book is yours. If you want to use the review in part or in whole you are free to do so as long as you give proper credit to celticfrogreviews.  This means at the end of the review or the quote you put “Alex McGilvery of celticfrogreviews” if it is on a website a link back to this site is also in order.

Reading and reviewing takes time. I have a job to pay for my living habit, so when you submit a book for review, be patient, I will get to your book. If you ask nicely I can tell you where you are in the queue.

This site is about books and how much I enjoy them and think other people will enjoy them. I use a five star rating to give a snapshot of what I think of the book. I do not guarantee to give every book a five star rating. Reviews are only useful if they are honest. The ratings will be along these lines:

One Star – I will almost never give a one star rating. This is because I generally will refuse a book that is this poorly written.

Two Stars – This is a book that has some serious flaws. The plot or the characters are cliched, the dialogue is stilted, the story is told rather than show through the character’s experience. In spite of this there are a couple of redeeming features that pulled me through the story.

Three Stars – The technical aspects of character and plot are well done.  The writing flows and the story carries me through to the end, but it isn’t the kind of book that I will argue a friend into reading, but I wouldn’t tell them not to read it either.

Four Stars – The story captures me and I have a hard time putting the book down. There are few if any times that the process of the writing pulls me out of the story. I would recommend the book to anybody.

Five Stars – This is an extraordinary book. I am transported into a new world and even after the book is done, I don’t want to come back.

I welcome comments on my reviews, but I won’t spend time defending any particular review.

If you have a book you would like me to read, simply leave a comment and I will get back to you.