Engagability
Reviews are a funny, funny thing. I've often been told that there's no usefulness in taking them on or taking the personally. And really, one of my own personal credos (reinforced by my time in design school, such as it was) has always been that you as a creator don't get to explain your art once it's out there. You don't get to tell people how to see the art.
Oh yes. I called my book art. I know that's going to ruffle some feathers, but so be it. Let the blogosphere erupt in outrage. Cry havoc and let slip the kittens of argumentativeness!
So if people didn't see what you wanted them to see in the work, then maybe you did something wrong. I can live with that. Yeah, it's been a long time in coming, but this is my first published work. I expect it to be imperfect and even in dire need of improvement. Like I said before, I agree with Sean Collins' assertion that MURDER MOON could have used more pages, though I'd argue it only needs about ten more at most, or the loss of some plot lines, neither of which I was prepared to do at the time. Mea culpa.
It is very interesting, however, in seeing how different people see the book utterly differently. The PW review stated "all the plot turns are predictable," which 1) I don't agree with and 2) I find borderline incomprehensible. I'm not the only one. Readers have pointed out that there was a subplot that needed fleshing out, and if that's the case, then how is that predictable? Sloppy writing motivated by the need to fill out a chunk of the plot, sure, but predictable? Hard to reconcile the two.
Critique, like fiction, is a mirror. There's a lot of picking and choosing that goes on. Some aspects get brought to the fore, and some are buried, and some are entirely constructed by the reader. Having earned a degree in English, I'll say that there's validity to any of them that can be backed up by the text. Of course, the selection of topics that you choose to address says a lot. That whole said/not-said dichotomy gets to come out and play as well.
Of course, there's reviews that I've blown off completely, as they're reading the book for a completely different reason than I wrote it in the first place. They're welcome to their views, of course; I can't prevent them from posting whatever they want to say. Not my job. I don't get to tell them what to think, nor should I spend a lot of time (like any) trying to convince them otherwise. Again, the work has to stand up on its own two legs. Or reflect like silvered glass.
Yes, I'll continue to read reviews as they come in. Just keep spelling the name right.