IndieReader’s reviewers are tough, but fair
Our Reviewers won’t judge your book as compared to other self-published titles, but against other books, period. Our ratings are based on the following criteria, although reviewers are able to award partial stars (i.e. a 1.3 or a 4.7), rather than rounding up or down to a whole or half number.
1/5
Really bad
Work on it.
2/5
Mediocre
1-2 bright spots.
3/5
Good
Worth reading.
4/5
Very Good
1-2 spots that need work
5/5
Excellent!
Must-read.
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Jerome J. Bourgault's DAY OF EPIPHANY is a powerful, affecting account of life in Catholic-run Canadian orphanages during the Duplessis era.
Linda Lappin’s THE ETRUSCAN successfully immerses readers in a world of ancient ruins, complex relationships, and haunting beauty.
Emily Saxe Nydam's JOURNEYING HOME is an absorbing family drama that successfully explores how the lives of two women separated by 100 years of history...
Joan Fernandez’s SAVING VINCENT, like the art of its eponymous demiurge, brilliantly evokes both the dignity of the mundane and the fire of revolution at...
By using the mechanism of a story within a story, Curt Finch’s MONTJOY is able to investigate ideas of the reliability of memory and the...
Joan Donaldson's AE FOND KISS is a sweet and wholesome romance immersed in a well-developed historical context.
Sheldon Collins’s THE LEGEND OF VALENTINE delivers an arresting fusion of meticulously researched historical fiction, star-crossed romance, and spiritual rebirth.
Balancing historical events with drama and romance, Reenita M. Hora’s VERMILION HARVEST is a gripping tale of India's gruesome and heartrending history amid her struggle...
Dean Cycon’s A QUEST FOR GOD AND SPICES proves a rollicking adventure chock-full of geopolitical intrigue and vivid medieval detail.
Though its plotting and characters are sometimes uneven, T.A. Keenleyside’s ROADS NOT TAKEN strides boldly through global history with some startlingly sharp prose and persistent...
Giorgos Katsoulas’s THE PAWN AGAINST THE KING has strong vision, but it doesn’t quite bring enough to enliven the straightforward central conceit.
WAIRAKA POINT: The Paradox of Truth by Trevor Watkin covers an extraordinary amount of ground, including romantic drama, travelogue, and low-key thriller, but suffers from...