Review Policy

The majority of books that I review are books that I come across in bookstores or the library.  I occasionally review books sent to me by authors/publishers/publicists.  I am fairly selective about accepting review copies, so don’t be offended if I don’t review yours.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day for me to read everything I would like to!

I can’t make any guarantees as to exactly when a review will be posted.  I try read any review copies that I receive within a month (or two, depending), but I don’t make any promises.  Basically, I’m balancing work, grad school, and my blog, so I have to prioritize, and occasionally I do get behind.  My apologies in advance.

If you would like me to review your book, please make sure that it has been professionally edited and doesn’t make me want to whip out a red pen while reading.  I tend to avoid self-published books, although I’m willing to make the occasional exception.

Before contacting me, please read some of my blog posts to determine whether the book you are suggesting is in line with the type of books that I tend to enjoy.  I do have a Kindle and will review e-books, but only if there is also a print version on the market.  Not everyone who reads my reviews has an e-reader, so I’d like the books that I review to be accessible to everyone who is interested.

While I accept electronic review copies, I prefer print.  I like to read in the bathtub, and electronics and water don’t mix.  I am willing to review books either before or after they have been released.  If I publish a review of your book, I am willing to conduct an author interview as well.

I do not use a star-based rating system, because I believe that the reasons why a reviewer likes or dislikes a book are more important than an arbitrary number of stars.  Different people enjoy different books for different reasons, and I’d like my reviews to reflect that diversity.

While I enjoy many genres, I am most likely to accept books from the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and literary or historical fiction.  I also particularly enjoy anything related to Russia.

I will not generally accept romance, thrillers, mysteries, erotica, vampires, self-help books, Christian fiction (unless it’s Christian historical fiction, which is different), or paranormal romance.  While I may occasionally read and review a book of these genres, I don’t tend to enjoy them as much on the whole.  This means that the exceptions are most likely going to be books that I pick out on my own or that stand out in some way.  I also try to avoid reading sad books, as there are enough depressing things in real life.

If there’s some pressing reason why I might enjoy a book that falls outside of my norm, feel free to let me know.

If your book fits these criteria, you can contact me at grace (dot) troxel (at) gmail (dot) com.