good novel book review

GoodNovel - Stories & Novels Reviews

About: GoodNovel - Romantic Books & Fantasy Novels for Story lovers! - Book Genres: Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Western, Sci-fi, Fan-fic - Become An Author to REALIZE YOUR WRITING DREAM Collection of Best Books & Hottest New Reads in Every Genre! GoodNovel has collected popular web novels and books, provides you with the latest chapters of the highest quality. This is a must-have book app for the majority of web novel lovers.

  Table of Contents :

• User Reviews (120)
• Pricing Plans
• Is it Legit?
• Is it Safe?
• Not working
• Report Issue
• Contact Support

About GoodNovel

What is GoodNovel? GoodNovel is a book app that offers a collection of popular web novels and books in various genres such as romance, mystery, fantasy, western, sci-fi, and fan-fic. The app also allows users to become authors and realize their writing dreams. GoodNovel has a professional author team that creates the best novels, and the app has been continuously recruiting high-quality authors to provide new content recommendations. The app has in-app tasks that users can complete to obtain coins to continue reading new chapters. GoodNovel is not a totally free online novel platform, but it offers a stable income to authors to produce better quality content for readers.

- Book genres: Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Western, Sci-fi, Fan-fic

- Become an author to realize your writing dream

- Collection of best books and hottest new reads in every genre

- No.1 book reading platform for novel lovers

- Numerous book genres for choosing freely

- Hundreds of web novels read more than 1,000,000+ times

- Professional author team creates the best novel

- In-app tasks to obtain coins to continue reading new chapters

- GoodNovel authors are from all over the world with experience and talent in writing stories of many different genres

- GoodNovel has been continuously recruiting high-quality authors and has a steady stream of new content recommendations

- Payment is required to ensure that authors can obtain a stable income to produce better quality content for readers

- GoodNovel has a lot of in-app tasks that users can easily complete to obtain coins to continue reading new chapters

- GoodNovel offers automatic subscription renewal

- GoodNovel has a service and privacy policy that users can access through the app

- GoodNovel can be contacted through customer service email, opinion collection form, official website, Facebook, Facebook group, and Discord.

Overall User Satisfaction Rating

Key benefits of goodnovel.

- Allows authors to get their works out there

- Provides entertainment hours for readers

- Can find some great reads on the app

120 GoodNovel Reviews

By HPMichee

Absolute SCAM

I must say - someone came up with a great way to scam unsuspecting people. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since it was Facebook that brought me here. Innocently enough, it started with a Facebook post on my feed. I began reading what felt could be an interesting short story. Before I knew it, I was at Chapter 4 with no way to continue unless I downloaded GoodNovel. Seemed harmless enough so I did - and got to about Chapter 7 where it insisted I pay for coins to continue reading. Well at that point I was invested so I paid $5.99 for several hundred coins. NOWHERE did it state how many coins might be needed to complete the story nor did it provide any information on how many coins would be charged for every new chapter. Well, I blew through the hundreds of coins in about 40 minutes and about seven chapters with the story still nowhere near the end. At that point I decided to cut my losses and walk away. No way was I going to pay another $6 for more coins without disclosure of how many would be needed to finish the story! This was a complete scam. Amateur writers with no editors should not cost more than bestseller novels from a trusted book store. The story contained so many typographical errors - it was difficult to read. Learn the proper use of contractions and commas for goodness sake! Basic sentence structure, please. Avoid this scam at all costs - unless you have no better way to spend your time and money. Definite RIP-OFF!

By Actual literature reader

Colossal waste of money for incredibly poor and disrespectful to readers writing

I got hooked to one of the books on Facebook, so I downloaded GoodNovel and kept reading. It was never mentioned anywhere that you will need to buy coins to continue reading. I would be ok maybe paying $10, but it seems like it is going to be a never ending story with hundreds of dollars lost. In previous reviews someone mentioned that if you were to buy an entire Harry Potter series or Game of Thrones, you’d pay similar amount of money. I bought and read both, and I consider that a great way of spending money. This, however, is a complete opposite. It seems like it is written by a child, completely careless of the outcome. Zero editing or proofreading. A premature baby born after 10 months of pregnancy, mixed up names, F country, “arriving to a certain location”, “reasonable reason”, a 5-year old hacking a computer and developing a tracker and self-defense device- these are some of the memorable screw ups. The author feels like they need to explain everything and remind everything over and over again, to the point when I, as a reader, feel like a 5-year old. I have to give it to the developers and authors - it is a completely new way of scamming people not only for money, but for the intellectual abilities- who knows how many IQ points one can lose over reading this combination of soap operas plots and minimal writing skills after very heavy hangover. Scammers!

By pushpuppetfan

Expensive but Enjoyable Page Turners

If you are looking for a digital book that you could buy at the library then this is not for you. Many or most of the stories on here are Massive ongoing stories that would be more comparable to multiple seasons of an ongoing tv series that might leave you hanging for awhile as they get more pages translated. Yes it is very expensive with some stories having over 2,000 chapters. However, how much money would it have cost you to originally read all books of the Harry Potter series when it first came out or to read all The Game of Thrones books. It is not cheap to read but if you add up the amount of entertainment hours you get, reading something unavailable in stores, it doesn’t seem as painful. I have just accepted it and enjoy them. My only complaint is that the translations are a little slow once you read to the end of what they have completed. Almost like waiting for the next season of your favorite TV Series.

By Beautiful fi

Caught in a web

So I was on Facebook and this story pops up. Marriage by Mistake. I started reading and was like oooh exciting. So I downloaded GoodNovel and started to read the story. I got to a point where you had to purchase coins for the story. I’m like sure I will buy the book for $5. So thinking I bought the book I started reading. Enjoying the way the book was going and boom I would have had to pay more. I was like what. So read the comments and seen that the book was on going. I don’t believe that it was worth more than that so I did not by more. I waited for free coins. Once I received them I read. Eventually the story got to a point where I knew it was going to turn but it never did. I made it to chapter 116 before I deleted GoodNovel . The writer has talent but I’m not sure if they actually know how to make a book that continues in a good way. I believe that the writers have to write a certain amount each day. There is a way to continue a book without continuing the same story and the writer lacks in that department. It’s kind of disappointing. If you are reading this I suggest not to get caught in a web. You will not be happy when you spend 100 plus and the story is pretty much the same. I don’t know what the ending is but I can tell you getting to chapter 116 wasn’t worth more than the $5 I spent. Good luck

By Jesifer_9

DONT WASTE YOUR TIME OR $

Saw the ad on Facebook for the book about Charlie Wade and thought it was just some short story that someone posted so I started reading it and after a while it said in order to finish the story I had to download GoodNovel so of course I downloaded GoodNovel without thinking or reading any reviews and continue reading I get about 30 chapters in and suddenly a chapter is locked so I buy the cheapest points possible the $5.99 for 600 thinking that’ll get me through the rest of the book because it was only going to charge me nine points to continue reading little did I know it was nine points per chapter after that I ended up getting to about chapter 60 still hooked in the story even though it was poorly written I was invested by this point again not enough tokens to continue reading so stupidly I bought another 600 I am now $12 into this book and haven’t even gotten halfway through the story. I decided today to check out GoodNovel and see if I could find out how many chapters are in this book since I’m running low on points again. This is an 800+ chapter book meaning it would be cheaper to just go to a bookstore and buy a hardback Limited addition version of a book then it would be to read one here. GoodNovel is a scam and charges way too much money for mediocre books

What a joke.

I wanted to read one novel. Started reading on Facebook, and decided to continue reading on GoodNovel . I don’t mind paying ten bucks for a good book, but the book I was reading had more than 200 chapters. I was on chapter 40 something, and that was ten bucks. No way am I paying fifty or more dollars for a book. Especially since these books are not all that good. I enjoyed the story, but the grammar, spelling, and punctuation were atrocious. I can overlook that as these authors are new, and this is an app for amateur writers, but their books are not yet worth the kind of money I’d need to shell out to read them. GoodNovel need to either give way more free coins per day, make the chapters cost less coins to unlock, or make the coins much much cheaper, or else this is just a complete rip off. I’ve read the response from the developer to some other commenters about this being a scam, and I just want to say that the developers keep saying they want to give us affordable books and that we are supporting the authors so they can write good books. First of all, the books are not affordable, nor are they good enough to justify the cost, and secondly, I don’t mind supporting a good author, but these books aren’t even well written! (The storyline was great, though!)

To expensive

I’ve gotten sucked into a story and have paid $20 dollars already and am only on chapter 75. Mind you each chapter is about 10-12 iPhone screen sized pages. Do not start reading Facebook stories. This is where it all starts. The complete lack of editing is extremely distracting. And if I’m paying what is looking like $40 to read one book that if in print would be around 200 pages, I expect so much more for the money invested. The authors are great story tellers but GoodNovel is too much. Don’t censor the cuss words for Pete’s sake. It’s like it’s on an automatic filter and puts asterisk where there was no foul language. My desperate hope is that the authors are getting most of this money and not the developers. I’ll be deleting GoodNovel as soon as I’m done. I’m halfway through Alpha Asher and I’ve already spent $20. Each chapter is 40-50 coins so no each day is not enough “earned coins” to get any value. GoodNovel is by far the most expensive with ridiculous costs. No where do they give any idea about how much it would cost to finish the book which is the scam part in my mind. If the pricing was upfront then you could make your mind up if the book is worth it.

By Robbygoof

Great idea ruined by greed.

So I started reading a story they had on this app and at some point I knew I’d have to pay something for the rest of the story. Chapter after chapter I read until chapter 20 (which each chapter was only about 3-4 small pages on my phone, likely at most 2 pages of a typical paperback) when at the end it asks me to spend 10 coins which is an in app purchase where you can buy 600 for $5.99, 1000 for $9.99, and so on increments of chips. I decided to look and see how many chapters there were and I find that there are over 2500 chapters to this story…. Doing a little math at 10 coins per chapter it would take over 25,000 coins which was over $200 just for this story that while yes it has a ton of chapters I’d say at least 3 or 4 chapters maybe 5 would need to be added together for to be a normal chapter of a book. These kind of micro transactions is just pure greed preying upon those who don’t pay attention to these things until they’d spent money and more money and more thinking they were almost complete with the story. Was the story pretty good? Yes it really was but is it worth $200 for me to read til the end, absolutely not. Buyer beware everyone, don’t fall for this scam like app.

Great!!(mostly)

Honestly when I saw the ads and book snippets for GoodNovel i was intrigued by it and was willing to download GoodNovel . At first, it seemed pretty decent, similar to many other apps that replaced wattpads nsfw/some sfw reading selection. But the longer I’ve had and been on GoodNovel , the more I notice how unfinished it seems and how absolutely ridiculous the coin to reading system is. So far, every book I’ve started only gives you a handful of free chapters before you have to spend coins or bonus points on the next chapter, which in general isn’t too bad, but the big flaw with that is how frequently it happens, there are no books that are completely free or at least 90% free. None of the books I’ve encountered have a wait for free chapter option, and when I do want to buy the next chapter with coins/bonus points, the price per chapter ranges so vastly that I don’t even want to read anymore. The books are pretty interesting, and aside from the bad grammar and punctuation in a lot of them, the overall stories are pretty good. I would just like to see some more growth and adjustments to GoodNovel before I decide to scrap it altogether.

By dias5boys

Don’t Bother

Don’t bother with GoodNovel if you enjoy to read and enjoy reading a whole book if you choose to do so. I understand these books are either in the process of being written or someone’s first story but there is a thing called editing. I can get passed all the grammar mistakes but what I can’t get passed is reading a chapter or two, maybe three if you’re lucky and then being told you have to pay coins to read, or come back in so many hours or days. Sure you can buy coins just like you can buy e-books on Kindle or Nook so why bother here if you can only read so much if the book is still in the writing process and the coins only give you so much time or limited number chapters!!! As for earning coins, yeah that’s a joke! I read for over and hour different stories as far as I could go before having to wait or pay with coins and got nothing in coins for my time reading!!! I wish all the authors the best but truly GoodNovel isn’t worth it if you are an avid reader and writer like myself. Make some changes and just maybe you will have something. Check out other apps like this one they’re better than this one.

By 4unicorn20

I’m reading the novel fated to the alpha and I’m super into it and just as it was getting better it froze. It wouldn’t let me go to the next chapter or the previous page, it wouldn’t let me even leave the book I had to exit GoodNovel and close it only for it to say loading when I try to click on the Novel to read it again. I ended up deleting GoodNovel and re-downloaded it. I click on the Novel, it made me start over. I go to the chapter I was previously having troubles with (chapter 75) hoping it would be fixed but it did the same thing. I clicked on another novel and it went through easily. I tried to sit and wait for it to load but as 5 minutes turned to 10 I realized it most likely won’t load. I do not want to start another novel until I finish this first one because I’m super into this one and it was the main reason I downloaded GoodNovel to begin with. I’m not sure if it’s something with me or GoodNovel or maybe just the novel itself but I would really like this fixed so I can continue reading the novel please and thank you

By P100acrw

Hit and miss

There are a few well written books on this platform, but the editing is atrocious. Even if multiple people point out mistakes no one fixes them. It makes it very distracting trying to read with all of the typos. If you can find the good ones that are interesting reads, then it’s worth it. But you will get no help from the book descriptions or reviews to try to discover the good books. It’s very hard to tell which books are good. Many of the books are terrible, make no sense, and change character names because the authors can’t remember what they wrote. And many of the authors seem like English is not their first language. You can easily tell when it’s someone writing about a country they are not familiar with. Really wish they would find some good editors, at least for the really popular books. And I wish they would write proper descriptions of the books and have more detailed genres. But you will also spend a lot of money trying to finish one book. I have no idea how they determine the price of each chapter, but for cost to value you are better off sticking to big publishers.

By Leighbaum

Hit and miss and too expensive

I’ve used a few apps like good novel and I tend to bounce between them. Good novel is by far the most expensive! I’ve spent $30 so far and have yet to finish my current book. I’m pretty irritated with how much it costs to read a book that isn’t professionally edited with many mistakes and errors, it isn’t finished, and some times it gets worse as the books go on. Some of the books on here are poorly written. However, I’ve found a couple that I’ve enjoyed. So far I like alpha Asher and p.s. you’re my mate. I do not love that it’s costing me almost 3 times as much money as any of the other apps out there. And honestly, as soon as I’m done reading my current book, I probably won’t come back for another one. If you do the daily check ins to simply unlock content and not spend money, it’ll take you a day and a half up to 3 days of check ins to unlock some of the more expensive chapters. So the daily bonuses are pretty pointless sadly. I’m mostly disappointed in how GoodNovel is run, the quality control, and the amount they charge for their poor standard of works. Very sad.

By unhappy female shopper

GoodNovel reading App

As previous reviewers have said I found GoodNovel thru FB and got really into the story and decided to download this app. It’s a great app and a way for Authors to get their books/stories out there and I totally support that…however it is on the more expensive side. Most apps have in-app purchases to do certain things so that’s kind of what I expected here only I’ve spent probably close to $100 on GoodNovel because I do love the stories I just wish the coins you buy for your money weren’t so expensive because they go quick, instead of $5 for the lowest amount I feel $2 and up would be a good start. There is also the issue with the typos- most stories on here have them, almost as if they are not proofread which can get kind of annoying and at certain same points make it hard to understand. this app is not everyones cup of tea but if you have the money you can find some really great reads on here. I recommend Alpha Asher & Alpha Loren.

Good books!

I really like the books so far. I’m currently reading 3 at a time to help me rotate and gain the points. So far I haven’t paid anything yet. If you are a very impatient person then you will definitely hate GoodNovel but so far I’m ok. The chapters aren’t massive but they aren’t super short either and sometimes more then one chapter gets unlocked at a time which is nice. I’ve used other point based free apps and so far I like this one better. You can earn points by watching ads, logging in, reading 15min and 30min, adding books to your library and by adding friends. Basically I can earn at least 40 easily a day and there are times when the chapters just unlock plus they have surprise chances to earn the daily points again. I’m not sure if I could use this as my main reading app because I read so much the waiting would kill me but I definitely love it for the additional books I have read.

By Barista ☕️

I’ve spent too much time on this app

GoodNovel is wonderful, if you are looking for fully published works that have no mistakes whatsoever, don’t bother. If you interested in writing or reading works that are still in the making, this is GoodNovel for you. It is a bit costly. Some works are not complete. You purchase coins, which are used to unlock chapters within the book, a certain number of chapters are free. Authors do make money with GoodNovel, not by chapters, but by their overall word count for the month and it isn’t as much as a book deal. I am proud to say I have spent days on GoodNovel, reading, critiquing, and commenting. Authors want YOUR FEEDBACK. If you find a mistake, you can comment on the paragraph, a different set of eyes is sometimes the only way, and there isn’t a publisher for this. Help out your struggling poets and writers, everyone needs an escape from the world. These are the writers of the future! KEEPING BOOKS ALIVE AND WELL.

By babysharkdooo

GoodNovel.. boooo

Maaan! I just deleted GoodNovel! I’ve had it 3 days! And all 3 days I used it.. ALOT! I love to read! And these were good stories! But it runs off a “earn coin” or “purchase coins”.. which is great! If it worked like it was suppose too! Every story I read, would just start getting good then you had to pay for the next chapter.. JUST 1.. maybe 8 pages?! From anywhere to 11-75 coins! You could earn coins kind of.. 3 for watching ads. But they only allow so many you can watch. Then 5, for reading for 15 minutes on the platform. Which I did. Several times.. for 3 days! And I received the 5 coins once daily. Oh you get 20 everyday, for showing up. But if you preorder the next chapter. It takes you coins.. and you have no clue where the book is you subscribed too.. I can read a whole book or 2 in 3 days! I haven’t finished any on GoodNovel.. which is why I didn’t bother to pay for anything on it. It’s a scam.. it’s great for starting writers! But not for thirsty readers.. I wish GoodNovel wouldn’t have tried to screw the writers so much! I would gladly go to my local library and check these books out.. mistakes and all!!

By do you actully want a review

Ehhh not bad but not worth the money

It is understandable to pay $15-30 for a brand new published book! But to have to spend more that and more to be able to read an unpublished/ in edited book is unfair. Yes you can wait two hours or try to get the free coins from reading time... etc, but the coin requirement for each “episode” increases basically making it impossible for you to earn enough without spending money. You would think writers would want their works to be read and enjoyed, but this is basically forcing you to choose spend lots of money or do not finish the book that you started. The first book I began to read has 99 “episodes” I spent $20 to read the first 50, waited every two hours to read the next 15 and now it says I can only unlock the last part with coins so- which means I will have to spend more money. Mind you these “episodes” range from 10-20 phone pages. Truly unfortunate that I will end up not finishing the book and I have started several others to get the coin reward, which I won’t be finishing either.

By Stupid nickname#136278

I started off reading “The Amazing Son-In-Law” first. I will admit it is a compelling story. But the liberties taken with the story are as shameless as the characters in the story. The editing is horrible as is the continual synopsis of what was just read at every turn. At times I wondered just how many people were writing this story. Surely a single author didn’t forget that he had relayed his story, only worded differently, a mere three paragraphs before! I would hate to think that in addition to making each chapter 5-10 pages long, that this was done as a way to increase the text in order to force your good readers to pay even MORE for these stories than is already warranted or necessary! Why for the price I have already paid for this story I could have bought 3 books from a bookstore! Or, failing that, on this very app! It truly is sad and honestly makes me think twice about digital reading material. Maybe print will make a comeback and make apps like this obsolete. There are better ways to EARN the money spent on GoodNovel than by swindling it away from your users.

By Bbuullll

Good books has some bugs

First off GoodNovel has a lot of good books!! Problem is there is A Lot of bugs!!! I check in every day and was going good for a while but now it skips days doesn’t give me all of my points doesn’t check me in and when I read it doesn’t count Any of my minutes! The chapters are never the same as seen it over charge me a lot which I don’t like because I also pay to read. Which brings me to my next statement which is you have to pay a lot to read, and once again the more points you have the more it charges you per chapter. I have been waiting on an update to fix this and last times I’ve updated it tells me I’m going to get points (100 or so) but never get them! So 3 stars for good books and that’s it! I don’t usually leave reviews (ever) and I would have deleted GoodNovel a long time ago if I wasn’t hooked on the books. I will update my review if this ever gets resolved while I am on it but if it keeps up I will delete GoodNovel .

By $Realsmart

Interesting stories

Translation and improved proofreading would make stories easier to read

By Sapphire_B

So addicting!

The stories are awesome, but a bit pricey.. being a bookworm, i don't mind. I hope they make it less pricey though or maybe look into monthly subscriptions instead

By Pandora3SP

I’m extremely disappointed. I actually purchased coins and they disappeared by the next time I needed to spend them. So either it’s spending them without telling you or they just disappeared. Either way, it’s a poor way to cheat people of their money. I’m one who dies spend money on my app entertainment but won’t waste my money on this one again obvioyslt

By Kyungsoo Biased

Seriously ?

As I am using it for only two days I only received 15 coins and cannot even unlock any chapters after using those coins to unlock one chapter. 😒 given there were a few free chapters but after that now what? I can’t even earn any coins and th only real options is to purchase like wth!

By happy359879

Hard to search for fantasy stuff

It’s hard to find the good stuff I like to read here. The other problem is that that it’s hard to get enough coins to actually read anything without having to actually buy them

By cherisheachday

The novel is decent, and the translation isn’t too bad. It is incredibly expensive, though. And, mainly, the novel just stops. The story is unfinished. Never would have started if I had known that.

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Joe De Lacy   8 months ago

Good evening, My problem is the bonus. I click on them and ad starts when it is over I click the x to close the ad. When back at the main screen the bonus doesn't collect and the wheel keeps spinning. Exit out reboot click again same problem.

Gwendolyn Harris   8 months ago

At times, clicking on the app takes you to a different book and it's very difficult to get back to the book that you are reading. I spent $159.99 to join Good Novel and as I was reading the novel, it kept asking for additional money. I ended up spending $44.04 in addition to read up to Chapter 228 of Love at First Sight. After spending almost $200 and they were asking for more money to continue this one book; I cancelled my subscription. The book was great but not worth the price. I could have purchased 10 or more fiction novels for this price.

toni stageman   10 months ago

What a scam Facebook should be ashamed of its self allowing this to advertise on its pages when you buy a book for up to ten pounds you get a book and the author gets paid for his or her hard work on this a book will cost you up to fifty pounds what a rip off deleted app very disappointing

Dixie Ohlson   10 months ago

Disappointed is all I can say about this site. You rip off customers by making us believe this is a great thing to join and pay a subscription. What an absolute rip off. I will never buy another subscription from your site ever again.

Laura   11 months ago

Payed for points that I did not receive Scam

Leslie   11 months ago

It is so unfortunate that these books are so expensive. I really enjoyed the story, but you ate ripping people off to get to the end of a story. Will be reporting to whoever I need to!

Lori A Ling   11 months ago

I have spent $30 in the past 24 hours and still not finished with the book. Bummed because I want to know how it ends, but I have spent more 4 books and I haven’t finished one. Really bummed- that’s a lot of money for me to throw away. Better off buying a book, two, or three. Can’t finish it, can’t afford to.

Mary   11 months ago

Nowhere does it tell me what the cost will be, therefore I'm unwilling to commit to a subscription.

Pamela Brown   11 months ago

I have been reading When He Woke Up in Good Novels on my phone. I have paid a fortune. I was 63% finished with the book and have paid a fortune to read it. This morning when I decided to read for a while I was brought back to page 1 chapter 1. I started scrolling thru the pages trying to get back to where I was and when I got to chapter 8 it wanted more money. This is BS when I was up to 63% of the book. If they don't allow me to go back to where I was I will contact my credit card and dispute every charge I paid.

SARAH MELTON   1 year ago

I AGREE WITH A LOT OF THESES READER. I HATE IT WHEN YOU GET TO THE END OF IT AND HAVE TO WAIT EVERY DAY FOR 2 MORE CHARTERS PER DAY ONLY AND HAVE TO PAY THE MONEY TO DO THAT. AND WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO START ANOTHER BOOK THEY SEEM TO MAKE YOU BY PUTTING YOUR FIGURE WHERE IT SHOULDN'T BE . AND THEN YOU CAN'T GET BACK INTO THE STORY YOU WERE READING .BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY TO GO BACK TO THE STORY YOU WERE READING . WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO TO THE INDEX AND GO TO THE STORY ANY TIME YOU WANT TO ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE TWO BOOKS YOU WANT TO READ AND THEY MAKE YOU WAIT FOR ABOUT A WEEK BUT IF YOU START ANOTHER BOOK YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GO BACK TO THE FIRST WITHOUT WAITING FOR ABOUT A WEEK , NOT READING ANY STORIES , FOR THE INDEX WILL COME UP . ONE THINGS FOR SURE YOU GO TO A BOOK STORE YOU WILL KNOW IT HAS A ENDING WHEN YOU GET TO IT. I HAVE BEEN READING 2 CHAPTERS PER DAY WHEN I CAN GET INTO THE INDEX TO GO TO IT AND THIS BOOK HAS OVER 3,000 CHAPTERS AND IT BEEN 2 CHARTERS A DAY SINCE NOVEMBER . . AND THEY WILL PULL YOU INTO READING SAYING IT IS FREE ( ON FACEBOOK ) BUT AFTER ABOUT THE 12 CHARPTER IT GOES IN THE GOOD NOVEL APP . AND YOU HAVE TO START PAYING FOR IT AFTER ABOUT 2 CHAPTERS INTO THE APP

Gayle   1 year ago

What a scam! I have been searching for a way to complain to the App Store. This app should be shut down. It will take months and months to finish this book if I just wait to earn coins. I’ve already spent twenty dollars, thinking that should get me to the end of the book. Didn’t happen. I’m done with GoodNovel.

Schaef Home   1 year ago

Rip off! I paid to read a book and it’s not the case. It’s definitely not free. No way to get up with anyone to vent my frustration!

Kim   1 year ago

Don't waste your money, they post onFB and on -ine Free download and you can read a portion for free, than ask to pay after you get hooked in the novel so I thought sure I'll pay a few $ to continue and finish it, so I paid $20 to continue to read and they went back to the first chapter and after scrolling through the $20 i paid I never even reached the chapter to begin reading past the ones they said were free. It would very expensive to try and read a book on here, never again I will stick to a paperback or kindle. Beware of being suckered in! No phone number to contact and NO customer support!

Randi Lightning   1 year ago

As everyone said here. Great stories. But much too expensive for the quality and amount of coins it eats. Don’t start reading, you’re setting yourself up for heartbreak and frustration. Lol

Maggie   1 year ago

This app may have good novels but it just increased their prices to 35 coins per chapter even if it’s a 6 page chapter or 13 page chapter. It’s wayyyyyy to expensive and I’ve about to delete the app. IReader cost way less. Plus there are apps that just charge a yearly fee. GoodNovel feels scammy now.

Martin Overgaard Pedersen   1 year ago

It's a scam.. try and check your expenses and calculate total.. i spent approx 300 coins on chapters(calculated by the expenc s page), i had bought 500 coins plus had about 30 free ones and now I have 9 coins left.. err . What? The ad on fb said I could read the entire book for free(I have proof screenshot) . All lies... Scammers taking your money.. it's cheaper buying a novel on Amazon with the kindle app...

Brenda Kecso   1 year ago

750$ to finish a poorly written sham of a "book" stupid

I paid 6.99 at chapter 40ish and then 9.99 at chapter 87. Looked the book up and it has over 3000 chapters so it would cost over 750$ to finish a poorly written predictable ignorant story. Billionaire ex wife is so beyond unbelievable it's ridiculous. A woman with the exact last name as her brothers working at her family's business with the same name and nobody knows who this woman is and thinks her brothers r her lovers... Seriously??? For 750$

Angela   1 year ago

The app has stopped working. I can’t collect rewards because the screen is greyed out. So now I am stuck and can’t read anymore in the book I have been working on. I am not putting money into this which is what they want. Forget it going back to Readict. So much better!

Sandra   1 year ago

I got hooked on story but you really need to do the free ways to earn coins rather than purchasing coins.

Charlotte Cunningham   1 year ago

I have left romance stories in the dust you are robbing your readers. The page is locked and I still have more to read I paid for. I don’t want your scams bonus. This one is called when his eyes opened. So many errors in many words and the information is inconsistent in the story line. As readers we don’t forget the events in a story. I think your garbage.

Tabes   1 year ago

Very expensive. I don’t mind paying for a good book, but the further I got into the book, the worse the grammar and spelling got. Then pages would repeat themselves. So I was paying to re-read several pages. 🤬. Anything that had “and” and the word itself was always spelled with symbols and other letters (ex: W&87¥a” = Wanda”).

Tony   1 year ago

I would have gladly purchased the book I started reading but I refuse to pay per chapter very disappointing in this

Peter   1 year ago

Same as other readers. Followed a Facebook ad, was enjoying the Charlie wade story until I got to locked chapters. Purchased the 600 coin package and to my dismay I ran out of coins by chapter 75. There’s hundreds of chapters in this book (some literally are 3-4 pages). That means to finish a book you’ll need to pay up $30-50 by the time it’s all said and done. By any other name, you’d call this a scam. Also, the plot is interesting but the writing is atrocious.

Pam   1 year ago

THIS IS A MONEY GRAB!!!! Started this book from facebook and was intrigued, so I started on the app. I like the story and got a ways before it asked me to pay for more reading. So I spent $9.99 and it let me read one or two chapters. At that point, I forgot to uncheck the auto chapter renew before I hit the unlock button. It charged me another $9.99 for ONE chapter. Each chapter is 5-7 I phone pages and takes maybe a minute to read. At no time after you buy coins does it tell you how much you have left...so they start tempting you with 1/2 price coins/bonuses. I finally decided to spend $39.99 to see if I could just finish the book. $150 later and I still have over 100 chapters to go. Hate that I am addicted to this story! BEWARE!!

Dawn Narvaez   1 year ago

Absolutely a rip off you'll waste at least $50 trying read not even half of it. Spend $10 on kindle get unlimited reading

Tracy   1 year ago

When his eyes opened absolutely great book HOWEVER I have spent almost $200 which is complete BS to have to pay that much for a book that does a lot of repeating of chapters and a lot of mistakes and misspelling and once I reach the last chapter which was more than 1700 chapters I realized the book didn’t actually end its as if writer hadn’t completed the book very upset!!!! I would have gladly paid 40 or 50 dollars for this book but not 200 and then no ending complete SCAM!!!!

MistiDawn Martin   1 year ago

I'm not able to use the audio version of my book

DB   1 year ago

This App is a total scam. First few chapters were free and then they were blocked so I signed up for 1000 points. Up to chapter 80 And only 9 points left - so looked up to see how many more there are more than chapters and there are more than 400 chapters. No way I'm continuing with this.. don't know if the author even gets the money.

Helen   1 year ago

I could have read 24 novels by now. The story I’m reading the charismatic Charlie Wade started off exciting, interesting touching the emotions. I paid to read it sometimes speed reading through the chapters because they were repetitive, redundant (same story different characters). I read until there was no more story to read. There was no ending and now each day there’s a paragraph or three that are called chapters. I feel like I’ve been robbed well I was being robbed now I’m being F*^%€d. The readers who have made it to where I am in this book are complaining that the author or whoever should be listening are not listening to our comments. Consumer beware.

Christine Morgan   1 year ago

I HAVE NEVER FELT SO PASSIONATELY ABOUT A SUBJECT AS TO POST A REVIEW FOR AN APP BUT THIS WAS THE WORST!!! COMPLETE and ABSOLUTE SCAM, A COLOSSAL RIPOFF!! I was drawn in by the first few free chapters this app offered but after that it will cost you 9.99 if you want to continue further (at least without being locked every few chapters!) Then come to find out that these books have over 1500 chapters...YOU GUYS ARE A MAJOR RIPOFF!! You've made it so that I don't even care to finish the book ( also the book is Neverending, it's constantly repetitive story lines(just with a slight change of antagonist doing the same joke of a revenge theme) is mind numbing, exhausting, and extremely frustrating!!! IT NEVER ENDS!! I'VE NEVER BEEN SO DISAPPOINTED IN AN APP BEFORE!! DON'T WASTE YOUR PRESCIOUS TIME AND HARD EARNED MONEY ON THIS APP...TOTAL RIPPOFF!!

DJ   1 year ago

Read the ultimate husband started from Facebook like a lot of people here. Did the free coins a lot and put 15$ Or 20$ into the app. Only around chapter 300 of 1500. The storyline is very captivating but I don’t know that it’s worth starting a book that’s going to cost 100$ and has almost no editing. Names are constantly wrong and numbers change often as well, sometimes from paragraph or page.

Jo   1 year ago

Like everyone who have commented blimmy i think i paid around $100 NZ so far and they still need more $$$ wtf. The problem is i got hooked at the beginning, nevermind ill just have to come up with my own conclusion these people know how to play us. Mongrels

K Brown   1 year ago

SCAM Absolutely disgusted at this money grabbing website by luring people in with a prologue on a book then as you get into it you get asked to pay £8 99 to enable you to continue reading the book you are now interested in then they do the same again requesting you to pay to continue reading the relevant book. Will definatrly be letting friends and family know not to be taken in by this online site.

Marianne Goetze   1 year ago

Scam I don’t read often but saw something on FB started reading it. The book was good but Definitely not worth more than 10 bucks. I’m on chapter 128 already spent 10 and now to continue I need to spend more. This book had over 1200 chapters by the time I’m done ready it will costs me over 30 with the typos, errors on whose who it’s not worth this. Will def not continue my book. Sad I think it was good

Irritated   1 year ago

Was looking to find hire many credits to read a book and came across this… people have posted exactly what I was feeling. There should be information on how many credits it costs to read one book.

Sue O   1 year ago

I bought coins twice . Spent over 30.00 and still only a quarter of the way thru..I Left on chapter 300 and the books last update was for chapter 1100. What a joke....I refuse to pay more.

I bought tokens twice . Spent over 30.00 and still only a quarter of the way thru..I Left on chapter 300 and the books last update was for chapter 1100. What a joke....I refuse to pay more.

Becky   1 year ago

I did the same thing the other people posted about. Got interested then got to where I had to pay. Paid about $5 I think it was and it was quickly used up. No idea how many chapters or how much it would cost to finish the book. I was on chapter 124 when I stopped which I hated to do because I was enjoying the book. Why can't they just tell you the price in full and let you just pay for it? I'm guessing it's because it would be so expensive that no one would buy it!

Kelly   1 year ago

Even though I got caught up in this scam and spent more money than I’d like, maybe in the future you should give the option of purchasing the book vs chapters of 2000 plus…

C a s   1 year ago

Too bad the partial book I read was published under these scamers .the author had a great plot line and the editing was pretty good .I was on chapter 109. And again they had their hands out for money nomatter they call it coin. Deleting app Amazon is way cheaper. I should have a legal battle with fhe Corp

Connie Jent   1 year ago

Well like every review I’ve read, it did the same thing. I didn’t see any where when I first started with this app where it said you paid for each chapter that you read. I was into the story I kept paying. This is awful, I’m going to see what the BBB has to say about this app. I think it should be shut down.

Dianne Del Greco   1 year ago

I normally read reviews before getting an app but got caught up in the novel from Facebook, as the previous post reviews have already said. I, too, was OK with paying five dollars for it but I’m not even a third of the way through it and am needing to pay more. I normally do not like not finishing a book when I start, However, this is one time I will not finish. GoodNovel with All these negative reviews you should reconsider how you’re charging people. You may have more return business instead of the scam you’re operating under..

TRICIA   1 year ago

Do not get sucked into a book I am over $40 in and the book still is not finished. It is way to make money and not a reasonable way at all!

Erika House   1 year ago

Don’t do it. I also started reading the story that popped up on Facebook so I downloaded the app and it was interesting. I was Reading The Chronicles of Charlie Wade very interesting but I’m on chapter 3558 now and I have spent $390.65 and they keep adding chapters. Who spends that much for a novel absolutely ridiculous. Pay attention to app purchases. Had I not gotten involved with this novel and read the reviews first I definitely would not do it again. The story is good just to much $$.

Havilland Dyck   1 year ago

This is ridiculous. I spent 9.99 for 1000 coins and ran out in a few hours. I was fully committed to the story and spent 19.99 for 2000 and still didn't have enough to finish. I tried to get free coins but the chapters need more and more coins every chapter. The chapters aren't even long and the writer is still writing a chapter a day. I would have never started it if I knew it was incomplete and going to be so costly. There are alot of weird errors in the book. Sometimes a word is replaces with random letters and symbols so you have to fill I'm the blank. It is so irritating. I am beyond mad because I really want to know know will happen.

Nat   1 year ago

Really annoying, stories not complete, wait time for chapters a joke and you need to continually pay to get to next chapters, books are cheaper on kindle or bookstores. Thought it might be good for some escapism but it’s just annoying

Kelvin   1 year ago

This is a scam. I got sucked in with a couple of free chapters, got to a locked chapter, paid USD9+ to continue reading and I just got locked out again after reading a few more chapters.

Jerry Griggs   1 year ago

Complete scam. Of course meta would be part of scam. You’ll spend hundreds of dollars and still not get the finished book total bullshit. China screwing the world again

Cheryl Quick   1 year ago

Scam!!! Started reading from FB. Little did I know it was going to cost me over $100. The story was captivating. At chapter 4277 when it appears as though it is finally concluding it suddenly ends and tells you it’s in process of serializing! I invested a lot of time and money without learning how the story ends. Good Book app will be deleted!!’

C   1 year ago

This is a rip off and a kind game I have paid so much money just to finish reading this and it goes on and on and on. I'm done I'm out

[email protected]   1 year ago

Can ImI just finish one book! Without paying out of my ass The novels are good but zi like to finish a book. But you are not readers or spell/grammar check

Courtney   1 year ago

This is a RIPOFF.. I COULD HAVE BOUGHT 10 books by now!!! NEVER SAID I HAD TO PAY AND THAT WAS OK AT FIRST UNTIL U REALIZE YOU PAY BY CHAPTER !! I’ve spent too much trying to read one book!!! And now I see after 400 chapters there is 4000+ and still adding!! Well note to the authors..PUBLISH THE BOOK AND SALE IT YOURSELF!! YOU WILL GET MORE PPL TO READ THE BOOKS!! THE BOOK IM READING COULD HAVE BEEN TEN BOOKS!!!

Marilyn   1 year ago

What a ripoff!!! At least the stories aren’t that good to reel you in too far. Going back to actual books for half the money. With correct grammar and punctuation.

Cari   1 year ago

Found this ad on Instagram, I started to read the book provided, it was free to this point and was good enough to keep going. Then the chapter stopped and I had to buy coins, I so far have paid $26 and am still not close to the finish. I cut my loses. They cover the same feelings, use the same sentences again and again so the book is DRAWN OUT. This is an absolute SCAM. Don’t fall for it, it’s not worth it. Shame on these people for making me paid $25 to not even letting me finish the book.

Debrah L White   1 year ago

Way too expensive!!! I could have bought several best sellers for this price! Yes, I got hooked on one of the books that stated is was 'FREE". False advertisement!!! A subscription to Kindle Ebooks is $9.99 a month and the books are FREE. SHAME ON YOU GOOD NOVEL!!

Sherry Schutz   1 year ago

It is absolutely ABSURD to have to pay over $20 to read ANY book . Let alone from an unknown author. They try and get you hooked on a story to get you to keep paying. What a ripoff!!!

Heather Littlefield   1 year ago

I loved the app until they started locking chapters I had already paid for. I’ve tried to contact them over a dozen times and get barely a reply telling me to uninstall then reinstall but when that didn’t work they continued to not reply or send the same messages again to me. So disgusting how they treat their readers it’s despicable!!!!

Regina Moore   1 year ago

I am 220 chapters and $30 in to the Charlie Wade book 📖 plus I thought 💭 I brought $10 max they charged me $25 what in tax world I get another $10 then I said like everyone else this is the never ending story3! I was like do they not know when to wrap it up. I love ❤️ novels I have been read them since I was 23. The Hobbit Lord of the Rings long book but I paid like $100 for a series of book not one long drawn out story. I don’t care 🤷‍♀️ what happens to Charles and his wife who have never so much as kissed not even on their wedding day the 2snd one. Then I need a prank will book just to understand why they hate them so much and they’re their family? Ok he’s a loser and trash 🗑 I get it but how many times is he going to beat them up? I paid more money than then I have so far on Sex and The City but I don’t buy things until they end. 800 plus Chapters and I can’t figure out the ending no way. Plus he was a billionaire when the story was free. Then he has super powers😵‍💫🙄! Then he can beat up everyone he’s John Wick 😂 lol. Then the wife has that mother who was so different from her??? She believed that people give away $130 million dollar homes? The father in law was the son of the greedy grandma and not the greedy mother? They try to take their house because he was married to someone in the family. I’m not rich but, I’m sure they take pride in getting their own houses and money? I think I will buy the book a little bit 1x a month. It’s like reading a soap opera!

Bless   1 year ago

Same story for sucked in from reading what seems like a good novel then opted to downloading the app then- buying coins. 150 something 2-3(if you’re lucky) page chapters later 20 bucks done. I wanted to read more but I will not spend more. I will just buy a regular book online or at the bookstore it’s better. Smart idea for this company- in the expense of ripping people off.

Adina   1 year ago

This app and website is both a sham and unprofessional. They'll offer you something but you won't get what you want. Plus they have rude customer service representatives who spam and are passive aggressive. All for money is their main motivation If you're looking for a book to read or publish, go to a reputable company.

Jenna   1 year ago

This story just popped up so i started to read, then had to download the app, then they asked for $ to finish... No way so i quit reading but they kept sending notifications. I tried to find a way to cancel but no option. So went back to app.... They had all my info including my cc #.??? I was pissed. Its been 3 days... In their terms it says if u log in u then r their customer n they have the right to all ur info.. Still trying to cancel. This app is fucked up

Fay   2 years ago

I did not know I was buying into a soap opera novel… a lot of words missing too…. Had to figure it out… $19.98 later I’m at chapter 202 and they’ve locked chapter 203 asking for more money Good grief! So disappointing. Go fk yourselves.

Yolanda Rich   2 years ago

The app is not working I bought 600coins yesterday and it won’t let me read the next chapter.

Mary   2 years ago

Disgusted and disappointed. In addition to being outrageously costly, the book I was reading dropped off in the middle of the story. Allow me to repeat: I feel ripped off and conned. I paid an ridiculous amount to pursue a “novel” that abandoned the reader without an end. Am assuming GoodNovel is having a big laugh at all the readers they exploited.

PAULA BOWLEY   2 years ago

This IS a scam- I have already spent close to $100 for one book. It should be a flat fee for the book downloaded.. I do not recommend this at all.

Kendels142@   2 years ago

After reading comments about the app and using it I came to my own conclusion. I wouldn't recommend this reading platform to anyone because first, it is fucking expensive, second, it cheats u of your coins. Why couldn't we just pay a flat rate to open a book instead of spending so much money to unlock a chapter then you see your coins disappear?

Cordelia Kruse   2 years ago

Hello, my card was charged $21.41 on a payment that I did not make, and I'm not sure what to do about that

A Harrison uk   2 years ago

Readers from the uk beware…. You will have to pay more than US readers! For example, $14.99 for a coin purchase will cost a UK reader more than $17 due to them profiting extra from the exchange rate. Contacted them to raise the issue and all I got back was you need to contact apple for a refund. Will stick to Dreame where you get the genuine exchange rate

Gene Eder   2 years ago

I bought 500 coins to refresh read that went to refresh again and it says I need to buy coins? I’m reading Charlie Wade and I thought it was using 10 coins so where Are the other 490?

Isabella mcbrown   2 years ago

Dear team, l logged out of my goodnovel's account and logged in again after sometime but l cannot see my published book which is being reviewed for sometime now. Please help me to get back my books

Richard Buffin   2 years ago

I spent lots money on this GoodNovel, The ultimate husband I spent 46.60 and before that 77.69 I’m just getting rip off, now I’m only reading one chapter a day. Very disappointed shouldn’t of never got into GoodNovel, next think they well be asking for more money to top up ., this is a ripoff and spammed

Louise Prothero   2 years ago

For the last 2 days it wownt allow you to check in to earn your coins it keeps taking you to a page to subscribe for 5.99 per week! Why can’t I just check in as normal!

Richard A Moen   2 years ago

This is such a rip off, the writers are taking way too long to write anything. I only get two chapters a day. Was 7/8 pages , now only 5/6 pages per chapter. I only read Charlie Wade. I won’t start another unless the owner does something about this.

Maiden   2 years ago

I purchased coins through Gcash BUT MY COINS HAS NOT TOPPED UP ON THE UP! I DIDN'T RECEIVE THE COINS WORTH MY MONEY!

Lorraine Clavell   2 years ago

Rip Off!! You get interested in a book, pay dearly for it only to get to find out that you cannot read anymore because the book is not finished!! I have been reading Married by Mistake for a few months and now on chapter #1836. I can only read 2 chapters a day because they are still in the process of writing the book, completely unacceptable!! Quit repeating over and over again what we already know in the book and finish the story!! Stop taking our money for a book that is not finished it should be free at this point. This response on several of the reviews I have recently read is just outrages "We hope you could understand that you are not only paying for the novel, but also paying to support the author to create good stories". You sucked me in and that is on me to pay but I thought I was paying for a completed book first off and second don't want to pay for this author's college degree I only want to read a good book. Finish the book!!!

Simone   2 years ago

I've read one book on Good Novel. Cost me more than $100 (Australian dollars). I deleted the app and said never again. Now I stick to Dreame. Don't waste your hard-earned income on this scam.

Anthony Bazan   2 years ago

Was reading a novel, and paying out the nose. Next it stops and says author is writing next chapter. I was already into over 3032 chapters. Next thing I know it starts into a book I did not select. With no way to get back to the original novel I was reading. This is a bigger scam than a Nigerian prince wanting to give me a million dollars. Not good at all.

Jennifer Deming   2 years ago

You keep taking away all my point when I open one chapter. I had 100 points, I had been saving over the last 5 days and I opened one chapter of a book for 37 coins and you took them all!! Seriously?! This isn't the first time it happened! I planned on reading a few chapters today and only got one! Please fix that because it is a waste of my time.

NeilathenA   2 years ago

This novel is a scam.. What a shame

Hailey   2 years ago

The app is amazing but recently when I collected my bonuses after they didn’t show and the app keeps crashing

Alvin Meng   2 years ago

I had 22,000 odd points. Suddenly, all the points got wiped out! So, how are you ppl going to resolve this?

David Degennaro   2 years ago

Went through 1000 coins in one y.Its a RIP off not counting the bonus coins I've gotten.The book I am reading but to already spent $11.00 to just get to chapter 128 out of 2020 pages is just ridiculous!!!!

The chapters are to short.im only on chapter 126 and ive spent almost 11 dollars the bookk I'm reading has 2020 pages.

Kelly Mulley   2 years ago

They’ve charged my account weekly for purchases I am not making or authorising. It’s hundreds of dollars - how do I contact someone to make it stop? I’ve even deleted account details off of apple to try stop but was charged again yesterday. I can’t afford these charges! Please help me stop it!

Roberta E Logan   2 years ago

This is not legit I do not believe. You buy 500 coins for 4.99 and it only cost 10 to unlock and go on. But when you get to the unlock point again you have no coins left out of the 500. Why?????? So I bought them again and now its saying I have 1 coin left from that 500 coins. RIP off!!!!! As much as I want to finish this book, NO MORE ....I will warn all my book reader friends.

Amber   2 years ago

How can I get a refund? I paid 9.99 for coins to read a piece of a book? Have to pay and earn coins how frustrating.

Mrs. Me   3 years ago

Oh my good story. I love to read a great story but its over 2000 chapters and $20 for every 200 chapters purchasing coins. With only 15-20 coins given free daily if u remember to get them! This his became a rip off in order to complete this book probably be out of $500. $500 for a book!

Hendrina   3 years ago

Please stay away from this app. Extremely expensive.

Gale Light   3 years ago

I have read up to chapter 680 ?? Waiting for more chapters but nothing is coming, have coins still left and I want whatever is left to be credited to my account, this is so bad all it does is rob you of your money!!! Credit wanted

Emma Archer   3 years ago

GoodNovel is a complete rip off and would not recommend to anyone the authors are copying books from other authors that do not have a copy right attached, good novel are not bothered by this but are still charging people a lot of money to read books that you can actually get free in other places not even willing to give a refund stay clear this app is a rip off

Drienie   3 years ago

would like to see the end, but seriously the story keeps repeating itself just with a different character......money money making scheme abusing people's curiosity.......married by mistake......

Amber   3 years ago

Insanely expensive! Don’t bother!!

Married by mistake started of with a bang and loved the storie. But really get to the point. Stop running in circles. Not a good way to read books. Not a friendly app. Very expensive and the episodes gets loaded on to slowly. If you are a person that likes to read a good fluent story and is exciting about the end, I do not recommend this app.

Nicole   3 years ago

Very disappointed in this app. I am happy to pay a set price to read a novel No transparency on the process of paying for chapters. I agree that it appears to be a scam and I hope decent authors find other avenues to get their work out there online. I would not recommend this app, steer clear!

Jean   3 years ago

I don’t recommend. I have bought over 2000 coins so far and cannot even get close to finishing “Married by mistake”. It is too costly. Don’t start reading anything!

Paula Solomon-Hillen   3 years ago

Your app is a total rip off I 1000 coins and now you’re expecting me to pay more for a story that is never ending. Extremely disappointed and disgusted with scam.

Sarah Brady   3 years ago

It will not allow me to scroll back to where I am on my book even though I have still unlocked chapters to read. I accidentally went to check how many chapters tapped on one and now will not take me back to my chapters

Is GoodNovel Safe?

Yes. GoodNovel - Stories & Novels is very safe to use. This is based on our NLP (Natural language processing) analysis of over 76,854 User Reviews sourced from the Appstore and the appstore cumulative rating of 4.3/5 . Justuseapp Safety Score for GoodNovel Is 45.5/100.

Is GoodNovel Legit?

Yes. GoodNovel - Stories & Novels is a totally legit app. This conclusion was arrived at by running over 76,854 GoodNovel - Stories & Novels User Reviews through our NLP machine learning process to determine if users believe the app is legitimate or not. Based on this, Justuseapp Legitimacy Score for GoodNovel Is 60.5/100. .

Is GoodNovel - Stories & Novels not working?

GoodNovel - Stories & Novels works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or Contact Support .

Pricing Information

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GoodNovel offers an automatic subscription renewal for its premium membership. The fee will be automatically charged to the user's Apple iTunes account upon confirmation of purchase. The renewal fee will be automatically deducted from the user's Apple iTunes account 24 hours before the subscription expires. If the user wants to unsubscribe, they can do so by going to the "Account Settings" page and selecting "Subscribe" to choose the GoodNovel Bundle to unsubscribe. If the user does not unsubscribe at least 24 hours before the end of the subscription period, the subscription will be automatically renewed. The pricing for the subscription is not mentioned in the information provided.

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Blog – Posted on Friday, May 01

The best book review sites for enthusiastic readers.

Book lovers, stop us if you’ve heard this one before: you’ve just finished a mind-blowing book and you need to hear some discussion about it. What do you do? Dive straight into the limitless realm of the Internet and search for book review sites, of course. 

Or here’s another scenario: you’ve finished reading a novel and now you’re searching for something to fill the void. Maybe you want more of the same, or maybe something completely different to switch things up. You’ll probably also scour the Internet for ratings and trustworthy recommendations. 

Fortunately, there are endless review blogs and book review sites that you can peruse. Un fortunately, not every one of them features a wide enough variety to help you. But don’t worry: we’ve got you covered with ten of the best book review sites to satisfy the bookworm in you. If you want to cut to the chase and get a personalized pick for a book review site in 30 seconds, we first recommend taking this quick quiz:

Which review community should you join?

Find out which review community is best for your style. Takes 30 seconds!

Then read on for the full explanation of all of the best book review sites out there!

1. Goodreads 

It’s impossible not to mention Goodreads when discussing book communities: it’s the Facebook of book reviews — the ultimate social media platform for bibliophiles. If you’ve somehow managed to go this long without stumbling upon this omnipresent site, here’s the run-down: you can use Goodreads to organize, display, and discuss your virtual bookshelf with other users. 

Goodreads recommendations are based on your listed interests. You can follow authors and book influencers ranging from Celeste Ng to Bill Gates . This allows you to see all their reviews, which vary from compact one-liners to critical analysis, and watch the new reviews roll in. For a quick verdict, just take a look at the star rating that they give the book. 

Also if you like to browse lists, Goodreads compiles the best and most popular books for every genre. There’s also the annual Goodreads’ Choice Awards to celebrate each year’s new releases, where you can cast your vote or peruse the list of contenders to find a new book to read. It’s a site for every kind of reader, with abundant ways to comment and interact. 

2. LibraryThing

This is the OG of all online book catalogues and discussion boards — take a look and you’ll see that it’s an oldie but a goodie. Of course, the basic functions of LibraryThing are rather similar to Goodreads: there are millions of books that readers can add to their lists, as well as review with star ratings.

While the interface harks back to the earlier days of the world wide web, LibraryThing has a secret weapon that’ll appeal to all readers, especially modern ones: their Zeitgeist . This page displays the latest crème de la crème of the whole site, from the most popular books to the hottest reviews , which you can also write with the help of a good book review template . Just a glance shows that the readers here know how to read between the lines and wield their words!

So if you’re hoping to read or share some in-depth literary thoughts with fellow sharp-minded users , LibraryThing is the site to browse. (You can even access it without creating an account!) 

3. Reedsy Discovery 

Now, if you’re searching for some hidden gems to peruse, Reedsy Discovery ’s got your back. While our blog features everything from classics to contemporary hits, Discovery’s specialty is indie publications, many of which are accompanied with succinct comments from experienced reviewers . There’s no better way to broaden your horizon! 

Moreover, if casual and creative reviews are more your cup of tea, then rejoice: the burgeoning community of readers on Discovery can leave comments, one-line reviews, and video reviews (calling all Booktubers!) on just about any book. It’s a fun and interactive way to geek out over your favorite reads and discover all the coolest new titles you won’t find anywhere else.

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4. LoveReading 

Though it’s UK-based, this prolific site caters to audiences around the world. LoveReading is strictly a reviewing site, with a base of staff writers and carefully selected contributors, so you know the reviews are top-notch. The staff often give quite personal reading experiences in their reviews, which make their recommendations very endearing, like they’re from a close friend. They even offer you presents — well, if you think of giveaways as presents! 

LoveReading covers books from every genre you can think of. They also have weekly, monthly, and yearly list features to keep you up to date with the latest stellar releases, so you’ll never be in want of something to pore over. 

5. The Millions 

In search of reviews that really dive into the themes, metaphors, and overall executions of interesting and highbrow books? The Millions has got you covered. 

Written by a collection of seasoned critics, these reviews are speckled with memorable quotes, elegant analysis, and plentiful comparisons to other works — which means extra reading recommendations for you! If contemporary and literary fictions are your go-tos, then The Millions is the site for all your lit nerd needs. 

6. SFBook Reviews 

Those who think quantity and quality don’t go hand in hand, you clearly haven’t encountered SFBook Review . The five reviewers on the team here share two common and important goals: firstly, to follow the outpour of new titles in the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror genres every year, and secondly, to give thoughtful reviews to as many of them as possible.

This team knows their SFF niches inside out, so their verdicts are very credible. Still, their reviews are quite friendly and personal — they discuss other related books and share their reading experiences to help you make your own reading choices. 

7. Bookpage

Bookpage features all kinds of genres: from children’s books to nonfiction, from the works of household names to debut authors, and so much more. Their format is neat and straightforward — they bring you the volumes they think are most worthwhile, recommending them to you by summarizing and concisely commenting on the prose, the theme, and the plot of each chosen book.

In addition to this, Bookpage also features author interviews and articles that unearth the deeper themes and purposes of certain books. If you’re a true book lover seeking like-minded literary aficionados, this may be the perfect place for you.

8. Book Riot 

Avid readers, you’ve probably stumbled upon Book Riot more times than you can remember. While it’s not a site that individually assesses titles, it has lists for everything — from timeless literary giants to the top books in each genre. What’s more, Book Riot has lots of thinkpieces that dive deep into the way certain titles make readers feel — be it exhilarated, motivated, or enraged — and that’s really all you need to know when deciding to embark on a new reading adventure. 

Additionally, if you’d rather listen to discussions and reviews rather than read them, you'll be happy to know that Book Riot has a range of podcasts for you to choose from. 

9. NetGalley 

NetGalley is another platform bringing you new and unconventional recommendations. They specialize in connecting authors who are publishing to readers who’d like to preview and put in their two cents. While the database of books available here are not the most expansive, those that are featured are certainly worth your time. 

Readers can benefit most from NetGalley via their book recommendation site, Bookish , where the staff reviewers update you with their recent reads and in-depth thoughts on those reads. Along with that, Bookish also has book club kits, equipped with comprehension questions and discussion points, to help readers explore stories mindfully. 

10. BookBub

While it’s very similar to Goodreads, BookBub focuses more on connecting readers to books that might suit them specifically — which is partly why you’ll see plenty of bargains and deals promoted on the site.

Because of this promotional value, BookBub has quite a strong author community. Diana Gabaldon and Gillian Flynn , for instance, are constantly recommending books on their accounts. So if you’d like to tag along with your favorite author, this is an excellent website to visit. The only drawback of BookBub is that they only have community reviews from users based in the US, and you have to sign up in order to read them. 

With these ten sites, you’ll be sure to find your little community of fellow book lovers regardless of what your interests are. Here’s to exciting TBR lists and nourished minds!

If you want to try your hand at reviewing, we’ve got a little guide to help you out ! On the other hand, if you want to plough away at your books, why not consider the Kindle Cloud Reader ?

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How to Write a Book Review: The Complete Guide

by Sue Weems | 23 comments

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If you've ever loved (or hated) a book, you may have been tempted to review it. Here's a complete guide to how to write a book review, so you can share your literary adventures with other readers more often! 

You finally reach the last page of a book that kept you up all night and close it with the afterglow of satisfaction and a tinge of regret that it’s over. If you enjoyed the book enough to stay up reading it way past your bedtime, consider writing a review. It is one of the best gifts you can give an author.

Regardless of how much you know about how to write a book review, the author will appreciate hearing how their words touched you.

But as you face the five shaded stars and empty box, a blank mind strikes. What do I say? I mean, is this a book really deserving of five stars? How did it compare to Dostoevsky or Angelou or Dickens?

Maybe there’s an easier way to write a book review.

Want to learn how to write a book from start to finish? Check out How to Write a Book: The Complete Guide .

The Fallacy of Book Reviews

Once you’ve decided to give a review, you are faced with the task of deciding how many stars to give a book.

When I first started writing book reviews, I made the mistake of trying to compare a book to ALL BOOKS OF ALL TIME. (Sorry for the all caps, but that’s how it felt, like a James Earl Jones voice was asking me where to put this book in the queue of all books.)

Other readers find themselves comparing new titles to their favorite books. It's a natural comparison. But is it fair?

This is honestly why I didn’t give reviews of books for a long time. How can I compare a modern romance or historical fiction war novel with Dostoevsky? I can’t, and I shouldn’t.

I realized my mistake one day as I was watching (of all things) a dog show. In the final round, they trotted out dogs of all shapes, colors, and sizes. I thought, “How can a Yorkshire Terrier compete with a Basset Hound?” As if he'd read my mind, the announcer explained that each is judged by the standards for its breed.

This was my “Aha!” moment. I have to take a book on its own terms. The question is not, “How does this book compare to all books I’ve read?” but “How well did this book deliver what it promised for the intended audience?”

A review is going to reflect my personal experience with the book, but I can help potential readers by taking a minute to consider what the author intended. Let me explain what I mean. 

How to Write a Book Review: Consider a Book’s Promise

A book makes a promise with its cover, blurb, and first pages. It begins to set expectations the minute a reader views the thumbnail or cover. Those things indicate the genre, tone, and likely the major themes.

If a book cover includes a lip-locked couple in flowing linen on a beach, and I open to the first page to read about a pimpled vampire in a trench coat speaking like Mr. Knightly about his plan for revenge on the entire human race, there’s been a breach of contract before I even get to page two. These are the books we put down immediately (unless a mixed-message beachy cover combined with an Austen vampire story is your thing).

But what if the cover, blurb, and first pages are cohesive and perk our interest enough to keep reading? Then we have to think about what the book has promised us, which revolves around one key idea: What is the core story question and how well is it resolved?

Sometimes genre expectations help us answer this question: a romance will end with a couple who finds their way, a murder mystery ends with a solved case, a thriller’s protagonist beats the clock and saves the country or planet.

The stories we love most do those expected things in a fresh or surprising way with characters we root for from the first page. Even (and especially!) when a book doesn’t fit neatly in a genre category, we need to consider what the book promises on those first pages and decide how well it succeeds on the terms it sets for itself.

When I Don’t Know What to Write

About a month ago, I realized I was overthinking how to write a book review. Here at the Write Practice we have a longstanding tradition of giving critiques using the Oreo method : point out something that was a strength, then something we wondered about or that confused us, followed by another positive.

We can use this same structure to write a simple review when we finish books. Consider this book review format: 

[Book Title] by [book author] is about ___[plot summary in a sentence—no spoilers!]___. I chose this book based on ________. I really enjoyed ________. I wondered how ___________. Anyone who likes ____ will love this book.

Following this basic template can help you write an honest review about most any book, and it will give the author or publisher good information about what worked (and possibly what didn’t). You might write about the characters, the conflict, the setting, or anything else that captured you and kept you reading.

As an added bonus, you will be a stronger reader when you are able to express why you enjoyed parts of a book (just like when you critique!). After you complete a few, you’ll find it gets easier, and you won’t need the template anymore.

What if I Didn’t Like It?

Like professional book reviewers, you will have to make the call about when to leave a negative review. If I can’t give a book at least three stars, I usually don’t review it. Why? If I don’t like a book after a couple chapters, I put it down. I don’t review anything that I haven’t read the entire book.

Also, it may be that I’m not the target audience. The book might be well-written and well-reviewed with a great cover, and it just doesn’t capture me. Or maybe it's a book that just isn't hitting me right now for reasons that have nothing to do with the book and everything to do with my own reading life and needs. Every book is not meant for every reader.

If a book kept me reading all the way to the end and I didn’t like the ending? I would probably still review it, since there had to be enough good things going on to keep me reading to the end. I might mention in my review that the ending was less satisfying than I hoped, but I would still end with a positive.

How to Write a Book Review: Your Turn

As writers, we know how difficult it is to put down the words day after day. We are typically voracious readers. Let’s send some love back out to our fellow writers this week and review the most recent title we enjoyed.

What was the last book you read or reviewed? Do you ever find it hard to review a book? Share in the comments .

Now it's your turn. Think of the last book you read. Then, take fifteen minutes to write a review of it based on the template above. When you're done, share your review in the Pro Practice Workshop . For bonus points, post it on the book's page on Amazon and Goodreads, too!

Don't forget to leave feedback for your fellow writers! What new reads will you discover in the comments?

Sue Weems is a writer, teacher, and traveler with an advanced degree in (mostly fictional) revenge. When she’s not rationalizing her love for parentheses (and dramatic asides), she follows a sailor around the globe with their four children, two dogs, and an impossibly tall stack of books to read. You can read more of her writing tips on her website .

23 Comments

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin is about a girl that shows no emotion befriending a ice dragon.

I chose this book based on the cover that had a little girl riding a ice dragon, and wondered what is about.

I really enjoyed the interaction the little girl had with the dragon.

I wondered how how the girl’s bond with the dragon.

Anyone who likes a coming of age story set in a fantasy will love this book.

Thanks for sharing your practice, Azure!

You’re welcome.

A interesting, at times perplexing, subject! And one on my mind lately,as I’ve agreed to do a few. I do enjoy giving reviews and am delighted when I can say, “This was a great book!” Or even, “I enjoyed this book.” It gets perplexing when I agree to review a book — and simply don’t like it. Then what to say? I hate to disappoint the writer but I’ve promised to give my honest opinion.

I’ve found some books mediocre and yet I see a dozen other reviewers saying “A great story!” Tastes do vary. But when there are obvious flaws I tend to skip all the best-friend-and-cousin reviewers and find the first person who says, “This writer has a problem with…” Usually there’ll be a number of reviewers who spot the same problems I do.

I like upbeat main characters, but not aggressive, belligerent, and/or self-centered ones. I like to meet in a story the kind of people I’d like to meet in real life— not people I’d avoid if possible. I recently read a book where the main character came across as insipid and the story only mildly interesting. Other reviewers said it was great and I know for this specific audience — readers who want a certain slant to a story — it was quite suitable. So I tried to cut the book some slack. Everyone has their limit as to how much blood and gore, smooching and snuggling, they are willing to read about.

Once I agreed to review a book and would have tossed it after the first chapter — for several reasons. A lot of “writer inserting facts for reader’s benefit”; teach/preach paragraphs; excess of description; attitudes of MCs. Once it’s live on seller’s sites like Amazon, what can you say? The one thing good it had going for it was the story line or theme. With a pro editor’s help it could have been a great story.

As for a review, one book I read lately was “A Clue for the Puzzle Lady” by Parnell Hall. It’s one of those “Stayed up half the night to finish it” books; I think anyone who likes a compelling cozy mystery would probably like it. Downside: I didn’t care for the “Puzzle Lady.” She’s a lush, hangs out at the bar getting sloshed. The upside: her sensible niece has a starring role —trying to keep her aunt on the straight-and-narrow and the mystery keeps you guessing until the end.

Christine, Thanks for sharing your insight! It sounds like you are approached often to review new books. It does make it tricky if it’s a request, especially outside your own preferences. Thanks for chiming in about your process, as I’m sure others will appreciate the perspective too. I’ll have to take a look at the Puzzle Lady– I do enjoy cozy mysteries. Sue

Here’s another cozy mystery book review in case you’re interested. I’m not approached by writers that often, but there are the Story Cartel, Book Bub and Goodreads, all sites where authors ask for review volunteers.

Reel Estate Ripoff by Renee Pawlish

The detective Reed Ferguson is a fan of Humphry Bogart, movie memorabilia of that era, and fancies himself a bit of a Sam Slade. Though not your super-sleuth, rather inept at times, he’s a likeable character. Told in first person, the story has a Philip Marlowe tone to it, but much tamer. Dialogue and story line are well done, the story well plotted and believable. I’d gladly read more stories about this particular gumshoe.

If you like cozy mystery books, I’ll send you a list later, Sue. Love them too and I’ve met many authors who write in this genre. Back on topic– you inspire me again to add some reviews to my Blog. I have been reading and writing many middle grade mysteries for a project! My latest favorite: “The World’s Greatest Detective” by Caroline Carson (who I hope to meet tomorrow in Arlington, VA!) My 12 year old grandson borrowed it and finished it before I could. “It’s the best mystery I ever read, Grandma! You’ ll never guess the ending with unpredictable twists!” What better review could we read. The target audience and I both highly recommend this 2017 mystery.

Adding it to my stack, Beth. Thanks!

Not wanting to sound life an idiot, but willing to risk it here among friends: What exactly is a cozy mystery?

Glad you asked! It’s a subgenre of mystery. The best examples of cozy mysteries are those by Agatha Christie. They usually avoid profanity, excessive gore/ violence, and sex. They focus more on the puzzle, sleuth, and their smaller world. Hope that helps!

Thanks, Sue.

Wonderful article. The first I have read by you. It especially gets those of us who don’t feel we have the formula down for review writing to be introduced to a form we can build upon with experience. You’ve kept it simple but you have given us the main ingredients needed for a good review. I printed this one off to look at the next few times I write reviews. Thank you.

Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for reading and commenting!

I haven’t gone into all this. It’s a matter of time, Joe. I gad about all over the place, not knowing where I am or where I’m going. Within weeks, I’ll be 87. I’ve books of my own that I’d like to see reviewed. Even sorting them out, however, even finding where any of them are, would be a time burden. You see the fix?

Hi Dave, You aren’t alone in feeling the press of time for getting your stories out into the world. May I gently offer this: start with finding and sorting one. If you can’t find it, write it anew. You’ve probably grown in time and perspective since you wrote the first draft, which will make for a stronger story. Good luck. I’m cheering you on!

This is an article for me, because I am happy to receive a rating. I haven’t sold many books. But, at least some thinks that it was worth the time to read. That was refreshing. And, I think I wrote two reviews, so far. It was on Amazon.com. Thank you.

You’re welcome!

Hi, Sue. Thanks for the helpful advice. I did a review on Amazon for the first of a 7-part thriller titled ‘Mosh Pit (The Rose Garden Incident)’ by Michael Hiebert. [Here it is.]

“5.0 out of 5 stars Advance copy review. By A fellow author on September 18, 2016 Format: Kindle Edition I Recommend This Book Strongly

I enjoyed reading this first part of the thriller. The author’s opening chapter/prologue was fast paced, and set me in the middle of the inciting incident along with two of the main characters. After that thrilling opening, I felt the ensuing chapters moved at a more leisurely pace, and was about to grade them as less praiseworthy when I watched a lecture by Brandon Sanderson on YouTube about building three dimensional characters and realised Michael Hiebert had done exactly that by introducing the reader to the minutiae of other characters who had parts to play in the development of the story. So, instead of cardboard cutouts of bland stock characters, the author shows us real people with real concerns that the reader can relate to.and actually care about. I look forward to reading the rest of this intriguing thriller, and highly recommend it to all lovers of well-written, and well-crafted thrillers.”

I also reviewed Part 2 of the series, but that review is too long to post here.

Footnote: The author, Michael Hiebert, was so pleased with my reviews, he recently asked me to beta-read a short story collection he plans to publish in November.

Great review, John! I like how you shared a bit of your process as a reader too, in recognizing what the writer was doing with their characterization. Thanks!

Thank you, Sue.

Five out of five stars When I picked up a copy of “The Girl with All the Gifts,” by M R Carey, at the used book store, I somehow had it in my head that it was a YA dystopian novel along the lines of “Divergent” or “The Hunger Games.” While I would definitely say that I was not right about that, I wouldn’t say that I was completely wrong. I was, however, completely unprepared for a zombie novel–which is a good thing, cause I wouldn’t have read it, and I’m glad I did. Think “The Walking Dead” meets (why do I want to say ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night”?) “Peter Pan.” I really enjoyed seeing things from, the main character, Melanie’s point of view. Her limited knowledge of her own situation was intriguing, to say the least (and probably why I thought of “The Curious Incident”). I was a bit disappointed when the POV changed to another character’s, but, as the novel progressed, I found myself sympathizing with nearly all the characters–with one exception, and I’ll leave that for you to ponder when you read it. I wondered how much of the science was real, but not enough for me to research it myself. Although, based on other reviews, I guess most of the science about the fungus is real. I also wondered about the fate of the remaining ‘lost boys’ of the cities. If you liked…. well, I don’t know. I’m not typically a fan of things zombie, so I don’t have a comparison, but the book was somewhat similar to “Divergent” and “The Hunger Games” in that the main character goes through a hellluva time and comes out the other side with a plan for her future.

“Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom is a true story about how one man found meaning in life when his doctors gave him a death sentence. Morrie was a college professor who passed on his new found wisdom in the last year of his life to a favorite student, the author, who chronicled his professor’s perspectives on death and dying.

I chose this book because of its philosophical topic, and because it is so well written that the words just jump off the page.

Knowing we are all mortal beings, I especially liked the insights, the tidbits of wisdom imparted by the dying man. Death is a subject that few, if any of us, ever talk about seriously with friends and family. The subject of death is verboten. We deny its existence. And, if we are religious, we pretend we will not really die, but we deceive ourselves and think we will live on in some afterlife existence for all eternity. But the professor, Morrie, learns some valuable life lessons from his impending death, and Mitch Albom was gracious enough to capture them in this short but eminently readable book.

I really liked the book because it is timeless. This true story will impart serious life lessons for all future generations, and will help us gain perspectives on our lives and the relationships with those we love the most.

R. Allan Worrell

Sue, I’ve been meaning to come back since this was first posted to tell you thanks for a great article. I seldom review books for alllllll the reasons you listed. This is a perfect tool and I’ll surely use it. Cathy

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Popular web novels and other fiction of the same type are kept in the Good Novel app, which serves as a library. You can get the most recent, high-quality chapters from it. This app's goal is to give you access to all the current top hits in the best possible quality. There are extra categories for fanfiction, romance, fantasy, mysteries, westerns, and other strange genres.

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Good Novel offers the following book genres: Western, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Romance, and Fan-fic. Good Novel offers you the most recent, best-quality chapters of well-known web novels and publications. For the majority of fans of web novels, this book app is a necessity. Most of our users adore Good Novel since it offers a wide variety of web novels, from urban to the supernatural.

You can read Good Novel novels indefinitely without having to pay for paperbacks, and there are several of them with over one million reads. Writers from all over the world who are skilled and experienced in a range of genres are hosted by Good Novel, and they regularly update the site with new content for readers to enjoy. Good Novel continually recruits excellent writers and creates original material.

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The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2021

Merve emre on simone de beauvoir, justin taylor on joy williams, and more.

The older I get, the more I’m interested in critics who play around with form and style. Mixing genres, experimenting with voice and structure, and tapping into personal experience are some of my favorite devices, though I still have a soft spot for the formal limitations of an 800-word newspaper writeup. From longform online essays to crisp perspectives in print, here are my 10 favorite book reviews of 2021.

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

Parul Sehgal on Soyica Diggs Colbert’s Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry ( New York Times )

Sehgal deftly takes on the style of the theatre in her review of a book about Chicago’s greatest playwright, by opening her first paragraph like the first scene in a play.

“The curtain rises on a dim, drab room. An alarm sounds, and a woman wakes. She tries to rouse her sleeping child and husband, calling out: ‘Get up!’ It is the opening scene—and the injunction—of Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun , the story of a Black family living on the South Side of Chicago.”

Merve Emre on Simone de Beauvoir’s The Inseparables (tr. Lauren Elkin) ( The New Yorker )

Emre always helps readers see things in a new way, in this case not just Simone de Beauvoir’s lost novel, but also Simone de Beauvoir herself.

“To read The Inseparables is to learn what could have been, and to judge what was a little more harshly. It is to see in the memoirs a lingering refusal to give Zaza the autonomy that everyone in life seems to have denied her at the greatest possible cost. And it is to see in The Second Sex an inability, or perhaps an unwillingness, to make as affirmative a case as possible for lesbian identity.”

Victoria Chang and Dean Rader on Douglas Kearney’s Sho ( Los Angeles Review of Books )

Reviews-in-dialogue are my new favorite thing. I love how naturalistic and conversational they are, as the form really allows critics to be themselves. Chang and Rader are a joy to read.

“Kearney’s body of work is very much about play with language, yet, that somehow feels like it diminishes the political aspects of his poems and his body of work. Perhaps play itself in Kearney’s work is a political act. I find this tension fascinating because on the one hand, I often get carried away in Kearney’s language (and the conceptual aspects of his work), but I’m also acutely aware of the humanity in his work (or the exploration of anti-humanity). In this way, maybe play and the political are not mutually exclusive. Maybe for Kearney, play = confrontation.”

J. Howard Rosier on Frederick Seidel’s Selected Poems ( Poetry Foundation )

Rosier does a great job bringing paratext to bear on the text itself, in this case interviews and Seidel’s other work.

“For a poet as revered as Seidel, there are scant mentions of turns of phrase being Seidelian, few poetic narratives or structures construed as Seidelesque. Chalk it up to the oddity of a formalist disassociating form from content; Seidel uses form like a hypnotist to mesmerize readers so that they are sedated, or at the very least put at ease, in spite of his content.”

Sheila Liming on Edith Wharton’s Ghosts ( Cleveland Review of Books )

Every editor’s dream assignment is a critic with deep subject matter expertise, and you can’t beat Liming—author of What A Library Means to A Woman: Edith Wharton and the Will to Collect Books —writing about Wharton’s ghost stories.

“Here are ‘fetches’ (ominous doppelgangers) of Celtic superstition, zombie mistresses rising from the grave, and ghost dogs, even. But for each of these paranormal threats there is an equally normal, equally mundane, and equally human villain attached to the story. In this way, Wharton’s Ghosts can be read and interpreted in concert with many of her better-known works, including novels like The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence , which tell stories of everyday human malice.”

Meg Ringer on Jon McGregor’s Lean Fall Stand ( Chicago Review of Books )

Some of the best reviews are the product of a critic who brings personal experience into their analysis of the book at hand. Ringer’s perspective on Lean Fall Stand is full of unique insights and emotional power. (Disclosure: I founded the Chicago Review of Books in 2016, but stepped back from an editorial role in 2019.)

“Though there was a time—before we met, before his diagnosis—when my husband traveled to Antarctica, Robert and Anna’s story is not ours. It is barely even close. But Lean Fall Stand reads like a meditation on the questions we all must someday face: Who am I? What can I stand? Who will be there when I fall?”

Ryan Ruby on Peter Weiss ( The Point )

Speaking of hybrids between personal essays and reviews, Ruby’s experience discovering the work of Weiss during the 2016 election is riveting stuff.

“By creating physical objects that survive their creators and the world in which they were made, the artist helps to manufacture the continuity of our collective experience of historical time, and to the extent that it distinguishes itself, the work of art can become a symbol of that continuity. ‘Imagination lived so long as human beings who resisted lived,’ the narrator writes, but in the end what Weiss demonstrates in The Aesthetic of Resistance is that the converse is also true, and just as important, then as now, for what the imagination always has and always will resist is death.”

Justin Taylor on Joy Williams’ Harrow ( Bookforum )

I love a good delayed lede. In this marvelous example, the title of the book Taylor’s reviewing doesn’t even appear until more than 800 words have passed.

“I drove across the Everglades in May. I had originally planned to take Alligator Alley, but someone tipped me off that, in the twenty years since I left South Florida, the historically wild and lonesome stretch of road had been fully incorporated into I-75, turned into a standard highway corridor with tall concrete walls on both sides, designed to keep the traffic noise in and the alligators out.”

Lauren LeBlanc on Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You ( Los Angeles Times )

Ruffin’s fiction does a lot of interesting things with place, and LeBlanc smartly centers her review on New Orleans, as well as the way Ruffin subverts geographical expectations.

“Several recent story collections (Bryan Washington’s Lot and Dantiel W. Moniz’s Blood Milk Heat spring to mind) present geographies as characters. While Ruffin’s stories can’t help but transport the reader to humid, sunken, decaying New Orleans, it’s too easy to say this book is merely a set of love songs to the city. What makes such collections ring true is the way they subvert conventional knowledge.”

Victor LaValle on James Han Mattson’s Reprieve ( New York Times )

Opening a review with a question can be a powerful way to focus a reader’s attention, as LaValle does here with a compelling lede drawn from his own insights as a horror fiction writer.

“Why do people enjoy being scared? This is a pretty common question for those of us who write horror, or stories tinged with horror, and maybe for those who design roller coasters too. Why do some people take pleasure in terror?”

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In Jane Smiley’s rock ’n’ roll novel, does good sense make good fiction?

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Book Review

By Jane Smiley Knopf: 384 pages, $29 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

Toward the end of Jane Smiley’s new novel, “Lucky,” its narrator takes a moment to flip through her mother’s record collection. It’s got a lot of ’60s folk-rock, including, she notes, “the four J’s.” Presumably she means artists like Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Janis Ian. But maybe one of the J’s is the narrator herself — Jodie Rattler, a moderately famous singer with a knack for writing melancholy love songs.

“Lucky” is framed as a rock ’n’ roll novel, but it’s a tricky and surprising one. Smiley seems determined to upend the conventions of the genre. Rather than a tale of outsize fame and fortune — or vice-induced failure — the Jodie Rattler story is about how she … does OK, rising from backup singer to ’60s and ’70s solo act who enjoyed modest success. She rode the folk-rock boom to hit the lower range of the Billboard charts at a time when that still meant decent money. (She logs her singles’ earnings down to the penny: One got her $65,857.52.)

And rather than play coy about lyrics, as many rock-novelists do, Smiley takes a crack at writing a bunch of them, which have a few groaners but are more often creditable faux-Joni: “I’m done with men, or so I say / Women say that every day / But we want something / Something fine. And you are It, / Though you’re not mine.”

But the biggest distinction between “Lucky” and other such novels is that music doesn’t define its hero. “Lucky” is as much a story about Jodie’s experience racking up lovers (23, she counts) and dedicating time to her family back in her hometown of St. Louis. Music gives her a measure of fame, but she can take it or leave it.

The same goes for men: Though she falls for a kind-hearted Englishman named Martin (pointedly, the name of a bespoke guitar brand), she’s comfortable abandoning him. Visiting his parents at their tony manor, she sees married domesticity as something cold and alien. Becoming a person in full, for her, means avoiding conventional attachments: “I still sometimes felt a longing for his grace and the comfort of his embraces, but I didn’t feel guilty for setting out on my own,” she muses.

Jodie’s sensibility is, well, sensible. Throughout her life she’s determined to preserve the good luck that provides the book with its title. But Jodie’s story opens up the question of whether good sense makes for a good novel.

Company News

Los Angeles Times Book Prizes to Honor Jane Smiley and Access Books

The 44th annual awards will recognize outstanding literary achievements in 13 categories, including the new prize for achievement in audiobook production, with winners to be announced on April 19

Feb. 21, 2024

Domestic fiction tends to thrive on strife and fireworks — something Smiley knows well herself, having won the Pulitzer for 1991’s “A Thousand Acres,” a Midwestern farm saga modeled after “King Lear.” There’s some of that conflict in “Lucky,” as Jodie returns home to find her mother sinking into alcoholism. (“At what point do you say to your mother that she looks like a war orphan?”) But Smiley eschews the screamfests and betrayals.

What emerges instead in “Lucky” is a simple yet provocative idea — what if a woman protagonist were allowed to live independently on her own terms, not tied down by typically novelistic men or the bad blood that infects family life? (Whatever the opposite of a Joyce Carol Oates novel is, this is it.) A Jodie lyric gets at the idea: “Nobody told me the pleasures of fading, / That success requires evading.” The novel’s title, upbeat on the surface, is darkened by the notion of how rare such a character is. And the novel’s tension isn’t about Jodie seeking freedom so much as figuring out how to live as a person who’s always had it. Late in life she writes a “regrets song…about spending my whole life being careful. What had I missed?”

To that end, Jodie writes about her process of trying not to miss things, to be alert to myriad ways she’s connected to music and the world, albeit cautiously. (She seeks out her absent father and stands next to him in a New York deli line, just because.) She strives to be a good observer of both life and herself, and to put it into words. There’s a name for that: songwriter. There’s another name for that: novelist.

Russell Banks found the elusive heart of Trumpism in a fictional New York town

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The cleverest trick in “Lucky” is that it introduces a fifth J: Jane Smiley, who we first meet as an unnamed high-school classmate of Jodie’s, a “gawky girl” who grew up to write acclaimed novels. Smiley isn’t Jodie, exactly, but Smiley is chasing the autofictional vibe of Rachel Cusk and Karl Ove Knausgaard, trying to capture the grit of everyday life, just like a songwriter might.

“Lucky,” much like Smiley’s epic the Last Hundred Years trilogy, operates at a deliberately low boil. Life and death flow in and out, and Smiley observes it clearly but empathetically. (Not for nothing is Dickens among her favorite writers.) And “Lucky,” like those books, shows how the business of just being yourself can be a source of struggle and effort. She is, Jodie writes, a “thoughtful young woman with ideas and determination,” and impressively that is enough to carry the novel.

There’s no signal that “Lucky” is Smiley’s final book, but if it were, it would make for an admirable summing up — the story of a well-traveled, keen-eyed writer who’s spent decades making sense of the world in words, and taking pleasure in it for its own sake. A lucky way to make a living.

Mark Athitakis is a writer in Phoenix and author of “The New Midwest.”

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Libraries are full of books about great cats. This one is special.

Caleb carr’s memoir, ‘my beloved monster,’ is a heart-rending tale of human-feline connection.

Over the years, my wife and I have been blessed with 15 cats, three rescued from the streets of Brooklyn, three from barns near our home in Vermont, one from a Canadian resort and the others from the nearby shelter, where my wife has volunteered as a “cat whisperer” for the most emotionally scarred of its feline inhabitants for years. Twelve of our beloved pets have died (usually in our arms), and we could lose any of our current three cats — whose combined age is roughly 52 — any day now. So, I am either the best person to offer an opinion on Caleb Carr’s memoir, “ My Beloved Monster ,” or the worst.

For the many who have read Carr’s 1994 novel, “The Alienist,” an atmospheric crime story set in 19th-century New York, or watched the Netflix series it inspired, Carr’s new book might come as something of a surprise. “My Beloved Monster” is a warm, wrenching love story about Carr and his cat, a half-wild rescue named Masha who, according to the subtitle of his book, in fact rescued Carr. The author is, by his own admission, a curmudgeon, scarred by childhood abuse, living alone and watching his health and his career go the way of all flesh.

What makes the book so moving is that it is not merely the saga of a great cat. Libraries are filled with books like that, some better than others. It’s the 17-year chronicle of Carr and Masha aging together, and the bond they forged in decline. (As Philip Roth observed, “Old age isn’t a battle; old age is a massacre.”) He chronicles their lives, beginning with the moment the animal shelter begs Carr to bring the young lioness home because the creature is so ferocious she unnerves the staff — “You have to take that cat!” one implores.

Interspersed throughout Carr’s account of his years with Masha are his recollections of all the other cats he has had in his life, going back to his youth in Manhattan. And there are a lot. Cats often provided him comfort after yet another torment his father, the writer Lucien Carr , and stepfather visited upon him. Moreover, Carr identifies so deeply with the species that as a small child he drew a self-portrait of a boy with a cat’s head. He knows a great deal about cats and is eager to share his knowledge, for instance about the Jacobson’s organ in the roof of their mouths that helps them decide if another creature is predator or prey. His observations are always astute: “Dogs tend to trust blindly, unless and until abuse teaches them discretion. … Cats, conversely, trust conditionally from the start.”

Carr, now 68, was a much younger man when he adopted Masha. Soon, however, they were joined at the hip. As the two of them bonded, the writer found himself marveling at what he believed were their shared childhood traumas, which move between horrifying and, in Carr’s hands, morbidly hilarious: “I began to accept my father’s behavior in the spirit with which he intended it … he was trying to kill me.” Man and cat shared the same physical ailments, including arthritis and neuropathy, possibly caused by physical violence in both cases. Carr allowed Masha, a Siberian forest cat, to go outside, a decision many cat owners may decry, but he defends it: “Masha was an entirely different kind of feline,” and keeping her inside “would have killed her just as certainly as any bear or dog.” Indeed, Masha took on fishers and bears (yes, bears!) on Carr’s wooded property in Upstate New York.

But bears and dogs are humdrum fare compared with cancer and old age, which come for both the novelist and his cat. Carr’s diagnosis came first, and his first concern was whether he would outlive Masha. (The existence of the book gives us the answer he didn’t have at the time.) Illness adds new intensity to the human-feline connection: “Coming back from a hospital or a medical facility to Masha was always particularly heartening,” Carr writes, “not just because she’d been worried and was glad to see me, but because she seemed to know exactly what had been going on … and also because she was so anxious to show that she hadn’t been scared, that she’d held the fort bravely.”

Sometimes, perhaps, Carr anthropomorphizes too much and exaggerates Masha’s language comprehension, or gives her more human emotion than she had. But maybe not. Heaven knows, I see a lot behind my own cats’ eyes. Moreover, it’s hard to argue with a passage as beautiful as this: “In each other’s company, nothing seemed insurmountable. We were left with outward scars. … But the only wounds that really mattered to either of us were the psychic wounds caused by the occasional possibility of losing each other; and those did heal, always, blending and dissolving back into joy.”

Like all good memoirs — and this is an excellent one — “My Beloved Monster” is not always for the faint of heart. Because life is not for the faint of heart. But it is worth the emotional investment, and the tissues you will need by the end, to spend time with a writer and cat duo as extraordinary as Masha and Carr.

Chris Bohjalian is the best-selling author of 24 books. His most recent novel, “The Princess of Las Vegas,” was published last month.

My Beloved Monster

Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me

By Caleb Carr

Little, Brown. 435 pp. $29

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Book Review: Never Late, Never Away - A Tale of Unexpected Love and Intrigue

"Never Late, Never Away" is a novel that tells the story of Vivian William and Finnick Norton. Vivian desperately needed to get married to stay in Sunshine City, and Finnick was also looking to get married due to his influential family pushing him to do so. When they meet at the marriage registry, Vivian agrees to marry Finnick, unaware that he is the richest bachelor in the city. While many people believe that Vivian has married a good catch, their relationship comes with complications. Despite Finnick's meek personality, their marriage faces challenges and ends in a shattered relationship.

Five years later, when they meet again, Finnick asks Vivian to get back together, but she believes it's too late. However, Finnick insists that "It's never too late when it comes to you." The novel explores the theme of falling in love with someone you've already committed to in marriage. Through the character development of Vivian and Finnick, the plot keeps the readers hooked.

The story raises questions about whether their relationship can become real and whether they can overcome the mistakes of their past. The novel combines elements of romance, drama, and financial convenience, making it an exciting read for fans of the genre.

Read the full novel on GoodNovel app for free!

Introduction

Have you ever heard of the saying, "it's never too late when it comes to love"? That is exactly the premise of the novel, Never Late Never Away by Contemporary. This beautifully written romance novel takes readers on a journey of love, heartbreak, and second chances.

The story follows Sophia and her former lover who reappears in her life after five years of being apart. As they navigate the complexities of their past and present relationships, readers are left on the edge of their seats, wondering if they will find their way back to each other.

In this blog post, we will dive deeper into the plot and characters of Never Late Never Away, and explore why it is such a captivating read.

Overview of the book

Never Late Never Away is a marriage for convenience novel that tells the story of Vivian and Finnick Norton. This novel starts with Vivian waiting for her groom at the marriage registry, but he never shows up. Her situation forces her to marry a crippled man out of desperation. Later she finds out that she has married the richest bachelor in Sunshine City- Finnick Norton of Finnick Group. However, their relationship comes with complications. This novel depicts the twists and turns of a love story that was not typical from the beginning.

Plot Summary

The narrative begins with Vivian and Finnick's first encounter during an interview. Finnick had seen Vivian three days prior on a blind date and was intrigued by her. When Vivian's intended husband fails to show up at the Civil Affairs Bureau, Finnick steps in and proposes they marry each other.

As they settle into their new life, Vivian grapples with the reality of being married to a billionaire and the implications it has on her life. She is seen purchasing simple wedding rings, unaware of Finnick's wealth at the time. The dynamics of their relationship evolve as they share their living space, with Finnick often providing comfort and assurance to Vivian.

Finnick, on the other hand, finds himself increasingly drawn to Vivian, despite initially marrying her to appease his grandfather. He begins to care for her deeply, even going as far as to investigate her past to understand her better.

The story also introduces other characters like Sarah, who seems to be a colleague of Vivian at Glamour Magazine, and Fabian, a new character in a position of authority at the magazine company.

The narrative explores the complexities of their relationship, their personal growth, and the unfolding events that shape their lives.

Reason for reading the book

Readers might have different reasons for picking up the book "Never Late Never Away." Some may be intrigued by the genre of marriage for convenience, while others may be drawn in by the unique plot and character development. The novel offers a refreshing take on romance and relationships, where love doesn't always happen before marriage. It also aims to explore the intricacies and challenges of being in a fake marriage.

Overall, "Never Late Never Away" is a book worth reading, especially for those looking for an unconventional romance story.

Importance of the genre

Marriage for convenience novels have become increasingly popular among readers due to their unique portrayal of love and relationships. These stories provide a different perspective on falling in love, showing that it does not always happen during or after the marriage, but can also develop as couples navigate their complicated relationships. The genre allows readers to explore the dynamics of relationships, the importance of communication, and the consequences of decisions made in love and life. It offers a fresh take on the classic love story and provides readers with a chance to reflect on their own experiences.

Vivian's situation

Vivian's situation in "Never Late Never Away" starts with her waiting at the marriage registry for her groom, who never appears. As she desperately needs the marriage to stay in Sunshine City and have financial convenience, a crippled man approaches her and asks her to marry him. Caught in her miserable situation, Vivian is tempted by the offer and agrees. Once married, she discovers that she has married the richest bachelor in Sunshine City, Finnick Norton, which brings a lot of complications to their relationship. Will their marriage become real? Read "Never Late Never Away" to find out.

Vivian's marriage to Finnick Norton

Vian's marriage to Finnick Norton in Never Late Never Away showed the complexities that come with marrying for convenience. While the union brought financial convenience, it did not guarantee a real relationship. Finnick's character was intriguing, as he was not the typical prideful male lead. He knew when to use his money and influence to his advantage. Vivian's character development was gradual, and her rise from a weak to a strong female lead added spice to the plot. The book also showed the importance of falling in love with someone you have already committed yourself to in marriage, creating a romantic twist in the genre.

Relationship complications

Throughout the book, Never Late Never Away, the relationship between Vivian and Finnick Norton becomes complicated. Their marriage for convenience leads to miscommunication and issues that arise when their feelings for each other start to develop. Vivian struggles with accepting Finnick's feelings, while Finnick fails to adequately express his emotions.

Their financial differences also cause tension in their relationship. Additionally, the interference of outsiders further complicates their relationship, causing misunderstandings and further hindering their ability to communicate effectively. The relationship complications in Never Late Never Away make for an intriguing and relatable read.

Finnick Norton's character

Fick Norton's character in Never Late Never Away is not the typical high and mighty, prideful rich male lead in a romance story. He is introduced as a cripple man in the beginning chapters who is in dire need to get married since his influential family is pushing him to. Finnick is portrayed as meek and knows when to flaunt his influential family name and when to use money to his advantage.

Interestingly, the author presents Finnick's character development through his failed relationship with Vivian, showcasing his flaws and shortcomings. Despite Finnick's wealth and status, his character is portrayed as relatable and realistic, making the story more engaging.

Vivian's character development

Vivian's character development in the Never Late Never Away novel is gradual yet significant. In the beginning, she is portrayed as a weak character, caught in a miserable situation, and marrying a man for convenience. However, as the plot progresses, the readers witness her improving and rising above her circumstances.

She becomes firm, resilient, and determined to make her marriage work, despite the complications that come with it. Vivian's transformation adds spice to the plot and makes her worth reading. Furthermore, the author aptly portrays her as suited for the story's plot, making readers eager to see her rise.

Reader reviews

Many readers have shared their thoughts on Never Late Never Away novel. Most of them are thrilled with the story's interesting plot twists, character development, and how it keeps them on their toes. The book has minimal grammar and punctuation errors, making it a comfortable read for many.

However, some readers find it a regular standard storyline, but overall, it's an enjoyable read. Many readers are looking forward to seeing the book made into a movie or a series. Overall, the book has received positive feedback from readers who love the romance genre and recommend it to others.

Strong and weak points of the book

One the strong points of Never Late Never Away is its unique plot. The marriage for convenience genre is not often explored, making this novel an interesting read for those seeking something different. The gradual character development of Vivian is another plus, making readers invested in her journey. However, the book has its weak points as well.

Some readers may find the pacing slow, and certain plot points could have been developed further. Additionally, while the concept of falling in love with someone you're already married to is intriguing, it may not appeal to everyone's romantic tastes. Overall, Never Late Never Away offers a unique perspective on love and marriage.

Hot Dialogues

·  The Unexpected Revelation: "Damn! The president of Finnor Group is allowing us to publish his photo? Looks like we're going to be famous!" This exclamation, found on page 41, captures the excitement and surprise of the characters upon discovering the unexpected openness of the enigmatic president of Finnor Group, Finnick Norton.

·  The Shocking Discovery: "Oh my god, the president of Finnor Group... He's actually sitting in a wheelchair?" This line from page 70 encapsulates the shock and disbelief of the characters when they first encounter Finnick Norton, a powerful figure who defies their preconceived notions.

·  The Bitter Proposal: On page 36, Fabian, a character from Vivian's past, bitterly proposes, "Since you're willing to sell anything for money, why don't you be my mistress?" This dialogue reveals the tension and unresolved issues between the two characters, adding a layer of complexity to their relationship.

·  The Strategic Decision: Finnick's pragmatic approach to business is highlighted on page 14, where he says, "Regarding the Q City project, I think we should just cancel it. The other party doesn't seem to be very keen about the project." This dialogue showcases Finnick's decisive nature and his ability to make tough decisions.

·  The Intimate Exchange: A tender moment between Vivian and Finnick is captured on page 47. "You're done?" Finnick questioned when he sensed her settling down. He did not even look away from his screen. "Yeah." She eyed his screen inquisitively. "Shall we sleep?" The man's head abruptly tilted slightly, so that he could glance at her from the corner of his eyes. "Sure." This exchange reveals the growing intimacy and understanding between the two main characters.

These dialogues, brimming with emotion, tension, and revelation, provide readers with a tantalizing glimpse into the complex relationships and intriguing personalities that populate "Never Late, Never Away."

Realism in the plot

·  The plot in Never Late Never Away feels real and relatable because it deals with issues that happen in real life marriages.

·  The characters are flawed and capable of making mistakes, just like real people.

·  Vivian's situation of needing to marry for financial stability is a common reality for many people.

·  The complications in Vivian and Finnick's relationship, such as mistrust and misunderstandings, are also common issues in real-life marriages.

·  The realistic portrayal of these issues make the plot more engaging and easier for readers to connect with.

Overall impression of the book

Overall, Never Late Never Away is a compelling read that keeps the readers glued to their seats with its plot twists and turns. The characters are well-developed and relatable, making it easy for readers to root for them. The realistic portrayal of relationships and their complexities is a strong point of the book, making it a must-read for fans of romance and drama genres.

Although the story may follow the usual storyline of a marriage for convenience, the author manages to make it unique and intriguing with their writing style. With minimal grammar and punctuation errors, the book is an enjoyable read that leaves a lasting impression on its readers.

Final thoughts on the genre

In conclusion, the marriage for convenience genre, as seen in the book Never Late Never Away, offers a unique and intriguing twist to the traditional romance novel. While it may not be everyone's cup of tea, the idea of falling in love with someone you are already committed to in marriage adds depth and complexity to the plot.

The development of Vivian's character from a weak to a strong female lead is a refreshing change, and the realism in the plot is commendable. Overall, for readers looking for a new take on the romance genre, Never Late Never Away is worth giving a shot.

Recommendation for other readers.

To those who are fans of the romance genre and marriage for convenience stories, Never Late Never Away is definitely worth checking out. With its compelling plot, gradual character development, and realistic portrayal of relationships, readers will surely be entertained and invested in the story until the very end.

Though there are some weak points in the book, such as the occasional predictable plot twists, the overall impression of the novel is positive. It's a great recommendation for readers seeking a realistic romance novel with a hint of drama.

Q: What is Never Late Never Away about?

A: Never Late Never Away is a marriage-for-convenience novel that tells the story of Vivian, who agrees to marry a crippled man she meets at the marriage registry in order to secure her future. She later finds out he is the richest bachelor in Sunshine City and must navigate complications in their relationship.

Q: Who are the main characters of Never Late Never Away?

A: The main protagonists are Vivian and Finnick Norton. Finnick is the male lead and is a meek, influential man from a wealthy family who needs to get married. Vivian is a weak-to-strong female lead who undergoes character development throughout the story.

Q: What are the strong and weak points of the book?

A: The book's strong points include its gradual character development, plot twists, and the realism in the plot. Weak points include its average storyline and slower pacing in some parts.

Q: Would you recommend Never Late Never Away to other readers?

A: Overall, the book is worth reading for those who enjoy the marriage-for-convenience genre. The plot is realistic and interesting, and the characters are well-developed. If you enjoy this type of novel, then this book is definitely worth checking out. 

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The 30 best classic novels everyone should read.

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"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison is one of the best classic novels ever written.

Classic books stand the test of time by capturing readers’ attention generation after generation. They focus on themes that people across continents, religious backgrounds, socioeconomic circumstances and education levels can all relate to, such as love and loss. Many classic novels explore familial relationships and how life circumstances can change on a dime. The best classic literature endures because it is well-written and appeals to a wide swath of readers who want to travel to far-away locations, laugh at the improbable, or feel heart-pumping excitement—all vicariously. A list of the best classic novels should transport the reader to times in the past, future or present that give them new things to aspire to and ponder.

Must-Read Classics

The best classic novels remain relevant and accessible decade after decade. Classic literature is not a genre—it encompasses romance , science fiction, humor and any other type of book. Instead, what makes a book a classic is expressing something fundamental about the human condition. These novels are relatable.

Some of the best-known authors of classic literature wrote more than a century ago, including Mary Shelley, Daniel Defoe and Miguel de Cervantes, who penned the oldest book on the list. More contemporary authors include Toni Morrison, Alex Haley, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. This list covers 30 books representing the best in literature. While most of these must-read classics are older, a few are just a couple decades old and have already become beloved by multiple generations.

Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian-born novelist and poet, poses at his home on the campus of Bard College in ... [+] Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., where he was a professor. He wrote one of the best classic books, "Things Fall Apart."

30. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958)

Nigerian author Chinua Achebe’s first novel explores the colonization of Africa through the eyes of Okonkwo, a young Igbo man whose world changes for the worse as his culture is eradicated. The book deals with themes of decolonization, nationalism and family, which remain relevant today.

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You can read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

29. Native Son by Richard Wright (1940)

The author of the acclaimed memoir Black Boy first published this novel about Bigger Thomas, a young Black man in Chicago who accidentally kills a white woman, then commits another murder to cover up the crime. The book deals with racism and classism, forcing Bigger to confront the consequences of his violent acts.

You can read Richard Wright’s Native Son by ordering through publisher HarperCollins .

28. Roots by Alex Haley (1976)

Before the hugely successful Roots miniseries came Alex Haley’s bestselling novel, which follows Kunta Kinte, a man brought from Africa to America to be enslaved. The book also follows his descendants, including Haley. Roots reckons with the U.S.’s shameful history of slavery and examines how it continues to impact race relations centuries later.

You can read Alex Haley ’s Roots by ordering through publisher DaCapo Press .

The film adaptation of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1976.

27. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey (1962)

Ken Kesey’s novel, which became an Oscar-winning film starring Jack Nicholson, follows what happens when a rebellious patient named Randle Patrick “Mac” McMurphy is sent to a psychiatric hospital ruled by the iron will of Nurse Ratched. The book is told from the perspective of an observant (and supposedly mute) Native American patient.

The book questions the wisdom of authority amid an era of deinstitutionalization, and it sparks questions about individualism and who deserves power. You can read Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

26. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (1967)

The precursor to modern-day young adult novels , The Outsiders presents the conflict between teenage gangs from differing socioeconomic backgrounds: the wealthy Socials (Socs) and the blue-collar Greasers. One of the Greasers, Ponyboy, narrates the book, which perfectly captures the pain, confusion and frustration of being a teenager. It also explores dysfunctional families and friendship ties.

You can read S.E. Hinton ’s The Outsiders , which she published when she was only 18, by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

25. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

Like so many Jane Austen novels, Pride and Prejudice relies on humor and a relatable protagonist to critique social norms of the day, including marriage, the class system and morality. This work of historical fiction tells the love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, who nearly remain estranged due to their pride and prejudices.

Some famous quotes from the book include, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” and “My good opinion once lost is lost forever.” You can read Jane Austen ’s Pride and Prejudice by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

24. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

Frankenstein is one of the most influential novels ever published. Its gothic and romantic elements combine with the science fiction-style plot for a book that appeals to all types of readers. Scientist Victor Frankenstein’s experiments yield a man made of others’ parts—or is he a monster?

The book is a classic man vs. nature tale, raising questions about morality as well as mortality and what we owe those we leave behind. You can read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein by ordering through publisher Dover Publishing .

23. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)

A searing depiction of the psychological and societal consequences of racism, Invisible Man follows an unnamed Black protagonist as he navigates the world in both the South and the North, where he suffers from “invisibility”—not a physical condition but one rendered when others willfully fail to see him. The societal observations hold true today.

You can read Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

President Bush, left, presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to author Harper Lee, the elusive ... [+] author of best-seller "To Kill a Mockingbird," one of the best classic books.

22. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

Another book dealing with the entrenched racism in the United States, To Kill a Mockingbird follows attorney Atticus Finch, a white lawyer who defends a Black man, Tom Robinson, charged with raping a white woman. The book is told through the eyes of Scout, Atticus’s 8-year-old daughter, offering a child’s perspective on harsh societal realities.

You can read Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird by ordering through publisher Hachette Book Group .

21. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)

J.D. Salinger gave voice to teenage angst and anger in this tome about Holden Caulfield, a rebellious teen recently expelled from boarding school. Holden rails against the phonies while struggling to connect with others despite his loneliness. The book is a classic coming-of-age tale turned on its head, since Holden doesn’t mature.

You can read J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye by ordering through publisher Hachette Book Group .

20. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1605)

The phrase “tilting at windmills” comes from Miguel de Cervantes’ novel about a man who decides to become a knight-errant in order to live out his fantasies—which he has a difficult time separating from reality. It pokes fun at outdated beliefs and embraces the value of all people rather than just the upper class.

You can read Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" was a Broadway play starring James Franco, Chris O'Dowd, Leighton ... [+] Meester and Jim Norton in 2014.

19. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1937)

Farm workers Lennie and George deal with their tough lot in life by dreaming of purchasing a farm. Lennie’s intellectual disability presents additional challenges. John Steinbeck questions the validity and wiseness of pursuing a dream in a nation that, the author argues, doesn’t value everyone equally.

You can read John Steinbeck ’s Of Mice and Men by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

18. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

Joseph Heller’s insightful book about war coined the phrase “catch-22.” It describes the inescapable situation that pilot Yossarian finds himself in when he pretends to have mental issues to get out of flying missions—but his scheming proves his sanity because who would want to fly dangerous missions? The book explores why war is hell.

You can read Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 by ordering through publisher Simon & Schuster .

17. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez (1967)

Colombian author and Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia-Marquez uses magical realism to trace the evolution of the town of Macondo as experienced by generations of the Buendiá family. Garcia-Marquez plays with the constructs of time and the supernatural to probe themes like love and family.

You can read Gabriel Garcia-Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude by ordering through publisher HarperCollins .

16. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

A brilliant combination of love story, remembrance of coming of age, and critique of American gender roles and race relations, Zora Neale Hurston’s dialogue is written in dialect, giving the characters believability. Her insights on masculinity and femininity continue to be discussed by scholars almost a century later.

You can read Zora Neale Hurston ’s Their Eyes Were Watching God by ordering through publisher HarperCollins .

Sir Anthony Hopkins and Christopher Reeve during the filming of "The Remains of the Day" in 1992.

15. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)

British author Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel listens in on a longtime servant recounting the events of his life with a former colleague, offering a post-war critique of British manners and dignity. The novel, which won the Booker Prize, asks where you should aim your focus, on the past or on the future.

You can read Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

14. My Antonia by Willa Cather (1918)

During the Great Migration, orphan Jim and immigrant Antonia move west, where they become pioneers on differing life paths. Cather’s novel was one of the first to center the American West and make it a character of itself in a book, which also features the author’s thoughts on women’s rights.

You can read Willa Cather ’s My Antonia by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

13. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)

The four precocious March daughters (Jo, Amy, Meg and Beth) use their talents to help their mother while their father is away. They come of age with a purpose and goals. The book plays with the 1800s idea of domesticity and explores different paths to love.

You can read Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

12. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (1945)

A sharp takedown of religion using irony and wit, Brideshead Revisited follows Charles Ryder’s obsession with the family who owns the Brideshead estate. He is especially drawn to classmate Sebastian, who appears to be gay but never confirms it. Their relationship has been the subject of endless literary speculation.

You can read Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited by ordering through publisher Hachette Book Group .

11. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)

When middle school boys become stranded on an island with no supervision, anarchy reigns and paranoia follows. The tale has become a touchstone for the unfortunate tendencies of human behavior, exploring themes of groupthink and the end of innocence.

You can read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

Actress Sofia Boutella and executive producer/director/co-writer Ramin Bahrani discuss the TV ... [+] adaptation of "Fahrenheit 451" in 2018.

10. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

With the recent rise of book bans , Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel couldn’t feel more relevant. It predicts a future where books are illegal and any found are burned by fire fighters, including one who grows a conscience and begins fighting censorship. Book burnings in Nazi Germany and the McCarthy hearings in the U.S. inspired the plot.

You can read Ray Bradbury ’s Fahrenheit 451 by ordering through publisher Simon & Schuster .

9. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

Sparking not one but two hit movie adaptations , The Color Purple is Alice Walker’s meditation on race and gender dynamics through the eyes of Celie, a poor Black woman navigating a nightmarish upbringing and abusive marriage in the 1900s. It won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award.

You can read Alice Walker ’s The Color Purple by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

8. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)

After British sailor Robinson’s years of adventuring, his boat crashes on a remote island, where he learns to survive by his wits and using nature. He battles the elements, cannibals and loneliness. Defoe’s book spawned the realistic fiction genre and was an early bestseller.

You can read Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

7. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (1952)

The wise spider Charlotte teaches prized pig Wilbur lessons about life and found family in this beloved, insightful children’s book. Charlotte’s Web earned a Newbery Honor and remains one of the most popular kids’ novels for its enduring themes of sacrifice and compassion.

You can read E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web by ordering through publisher HarperCollins .

Actors Richard Dempsey, Sophie Wilcox, Jonathan R. Scott and Sophie Cook in a scene from "The Lion, ... [+] the Witch and the Wardrobe," part of the BBC television serial "The Chronicles of Narnia."

6. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950)

Another classic children’s tale, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a Christian parable wherein mighty lion Aslan must sacrifice himself to end the endless winter brought on by the evil White Witch. It’s the first in a series of books about the Pevensie children and others set in the magical land of Narnia.

You can read C.S. Lewis ’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by ordering through publisher HarperCollins .

5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

Emily Brontë helped birth the gothic novel with this story of the doomed love between Catherine and Heathcliff, whose tortured life amid the moors culminates in avenging those who kept them apart by acquiring the home of Thrushcross Grange from Catherine’s husband. The novel illustrates the good and evil living inside all of us.

You can read Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

4. Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871)

Subtitled “A Study of Provincial Life,” this novel follows the lives of characters in the fictional town of Middlemarch over a three-year period that includes a clear-eyed look at real-life British events. George Eliot’s characters address gender roles, political reform, self-interest vs. idealism and more.

You can read George Eliot’s Middlemarch by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

3. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1920)

Set in New York’s high society during the Gilded Age, The Age of Innocence became the first novel written by a woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. It follows May and Newland as they ready to marry, a match thwarted by May’s scandalous cousin Ellen. The novel explores class expectations, reputation and social mores.

You can read Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

2. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)

One of the greatest fantasy novels ever, The Hobbit is nominally a children’s book but appeals to people of all ages. It is a classic quest novel: Bilbo Baggins sets off on a journey with the wizard Gandalf to help some dwarves get their homes back from a fierce dragon named Smaug.

The critically lauded book earned the Carnegie Medal and has been adapted into hit movies . You can read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit by ordering through publisher Simon & Schuster .

"The Bluest Eye" author Toni Morrison attends the Carl Sandburg literary awards dinner at the ... [+] University of Illinois at Chicago Forum on October 20, 2010.

1. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (1970)

Any of Toni Morrison’s novels could easily make the list, but her first, delving into issues of race, socioeconomics and socialization, is unrivaled. The story of Pecola, a Black girl growing up during the Great Depression who’s abused by her father, is both heartbreaking and so believable it hurts.

You can read Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye by ordering through publisher Penguin Random House .

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The Summer Book Club: A Feel-Good Novel Hardcover – February 13, 2024

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• No sad books
• No pressure
• Yessssss, wine!
• The Happiness Plan
• The Sister Effect
• The Boardwalk Bookshop
• The Summer Getaway
• The Stepsisters
• Print length 416 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Canary Street Press
• Publication date February 13, 2024
• Dimensions 6.1 x 1.16 x 9.2 inches
• ISBN-10 1335448667
• ISBN-13 978-1335448668
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Canary Street Press; Original edition (February 13, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1335448667
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1335448668
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.14 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1.16 x 9.2 inches
• #23 in Friendship Fiction (Books)
• #122 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
• #1,659 in Contemporary Romance (Books)

About the author

Susan mallery.

Susan Mallery is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of books about the relationships that define women's lives—romance, friendship, family. With compassion and humor, Susan keenly observes how people think and feel, in stories that take readers on an emotional journey. Sometimes heartbreaking, often funny, and always uplifting, Susan's books have spent more than 200 weeks on the USA Today bestsellers list, thanks to her ever growing legions of fans.

Critics, too, have heaped praise on "the new queen of romantic fiction." (Walmart) Booklist says, "Romance novels don't get much better than Mallery's expert blend of emotional nuance, humor, and superb storytelling," and RT Book Reviews puts her "in a class by herself!"

Although Susan majored in Accounting, she never worked as an accountant because she was published straight out of college with two books the same month. Sixteen prolific years and seventy-four books later, she hit the New York Times bestsellers list for the first time with Accidentally Yours in 2008. She made many appearances in the Top 10 before (finally) hitting #1 in 2015 with Thrill Me, the twentieth book in her popular series, the Fool's Gold romances, and the fourth of five books released that year.

Susan lives in Seattle with her husband, a ragdoll cat, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur. Her heart for animals has led Susan to become an active supporter of the Seattle Humane Society. Animals play a big role in her books, as well, as she believes they're an integral component to a happy life. Visit Susan online at www.SusanMallery.com.

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Emily Henry does it again. Romantic 'Funny Story' satisfies without tripping over tropes

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The weather is getting warmer, so obviously it's time for another banger read from Emily Henry.

For a subset of millennial women, the author has become a summer staple . Freewheeling romances that defy the stereotypes of "beach reads" (starting with her 2020 debut cheekily titled, "Beach Read"), Henry has become a reliable source of yearly can't-put-them-down stories about love, friendships and getting older.

Her latest, " Funny Story " (available now from Berkley Hardcover, pp. 410) takes the traditional "opposites attract" narrative and gives a realistic, if somewhat tragic twist. Children’s librarian Daphne Vincent (Henry’s characters always love to read) has moved to a idyllic Lake Michigan beach town with her fiancé Peter, slotting herself into his preferred life and the house he bought.

• "Funny Story" at Amazon for $19
• "Funny Story" at Bookshop.org for $27

Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist

But when Peter leaves her for his childhood best friend just weeks before their wedding, Daphne doesn’t have a place to live. She winds up bunking with Miles, the ex-boyfriend of Peter’s new love. He's a punky, fun-loving charmer who everybody loves, and she's bookish and reserved. They don’t have anything in common except their shared heartbreak, but isn’t that just the perfect setting for new romance? 

It certainly checks a lot of rom-com set up boxes, but Henry wisely keeps Daphne’s journey far from perfect. There is real grief and trauma here, plus a loss of self and identity. Before Daphne can even think about falling in love with Miles, she has to start loving and knowing herself again. Maybe that’s not the stuff of traditional beach fluff, but for so many women who have been lost in romance in an unhealthy way, it’s deeply cathartic. And once the time for romance is right, Henry doesn't disappoint. It's sweet, passionate, and just hot enough to steam up the book, if not set it on fire.

Just like in her other novels, the author's characters are deep, realistic and relatable. Daphne is quiet and guarded, having grown up with an absentee father she has no faith in anyone to live up to her expectations. Gregarious Miles has more issues than meet the eye, and unfolding his inner life takes the reader on an unexpected journey as he and Daphne become friends, and something more.

Henry is so particularly talented at creating romance that eschews tropes and clichés but still satisfies our innate desire for predictability and happy endings in this genre. It's certainly not easy to balance the comfortingly formulaic with the tantalizingly unique. " Story " might hit the mark best of all of Henry's books so far.

It's a funny story, how she does it, actually. You should take a read.

Roku’s ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ Lacks the Excitement and Adventure of the Novels: TV Review

By Aramide Tinubu

Aramide Tinubu

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• Roku’s ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ Lacks the Excitement and Adventure of the Novels: TV Review 5 days ago

There’s a lot of magic in “ The Spiderwick Chronicles .” Based on the acclaimed children’s fantasy books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, and adapted for television by Aron Eli Coleite, the TV show is full of mystical creatures like ogres, fetches and dragons. However, this story is no fairytale. Instead, the series, which was axed by Disney+ before finding a home at Roku , is a tale about family and acceptance. Unfortunately, though the show is supposed to be adventurous, it lacks the whimsy needed to elevate the narrative for a new generation of young adults.

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Additionally, despite aging the characters up for this adaptation, the setting and special effects aren’t creepy or dazzling enough to keep a teen audience engaged. If the twins were nine years old, as they are in the first novel, instead of 15, the series would have been able to expand as they begin to encounter more teen-centered themes. Instead, the show races to encompass all of those issues while trying to balance the show’s paranormal elements.

Though “The Spiderwick Chronicles” doesn’t offer robust thrills and scares, its focus on Jared’s struggles and how they affect his sense of self and his family’s understanding of him is effective. Having spotted Thimbletack and gotten hold of the Seeing Stone, enabling him to see faeries and other creatures, Jared is desperate for someone to believe him. Since the audience sees and experiences what he does, his family’s dismissiveness of him is poignant. “The Spiderwick Chronicles” clearly illustrates the toll of being constantly compared to his intelligent and agreeable brother and how it has affected him over the years. Simon has consistently advocated for Jared, but the easy-going twin’s new friendship with Calliope (Alyvia Alyn Lind), Dr. Brauer’s daughter, causes a split between the brothers. Meanwhile, Mallory has tried to stand out amid Jared’s chaos by leaning into perfectionism and a love of fencing. Still, this desire for excellence has become increasingly unsustainable, especially in a new environment.

The Graces’ familial relations remain intriguing throughout the season, even amid mentions of Richard (Rhys Coiro), the kids’ absentee father. Still, the fantastical elements at the core of “The Spiderwick Chronicles” are unimaginative and lackluster. While some of the storylines are interesting, like the town’s residents’ ploy to shut down the Meskawki mental hospital, the adults’ frustrating lack of foresight and the bogged-down dialogue make much of the series a chore. Tighter pacing and more streamlined plot points would have given “The Spiderwick Chronicles” the allure and fanfare needed to make this action-adventure the dazzling escapade it should be.

The eight episodes of “The Spiderwick Chronicles” premiere on April 19 on Roku.

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If You Read One Romance This Spring, Make It This One

Our romance columnist recommends three terrific new books, but the one she loves most is Cat Sebastian’s “You Should Be So Lucky.”

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By Olivia Waite

Olivia Waite is the Book Review’s romance fiction columnist. She writes queer historical romance, fantasy and critical essays on the genre’s history and future.

• April 24, 2024

Spring! There’s no better time of year for a baseball romance. We’ll wind up the column with a much-anticipated book by Cat Sebastian, but we lead off with KT Hoffman’s endearing and tender new novel, THE PROSPECTS (Dial, 346 pp., paperback, $18) .

The minor-league baseball player Gene Ionescu is almost living his best life. He’s a professional ballplayer, even if it’s for a minor-league team. He’s transitioned and is generally accepted as the guy he is, even if a trans man still doesn’t have quite the same locker room experience as a cis man. In this liminal space, he makes a finicky distinction between hope — which he exercises as dutifully as a muscle — and actual wanting, which would inevitably lead to disappointment because hasn’t it always?

Enter Luis Estrada, Gene’s former college teammate.

Luis, the son of a major-league star, was drafted before graduation. Now he steals Gene’s place at shortstop and upsets his balance — at least, until they’re forced to room together on a road trip and discover that making out turns their physical chemistry from something destructive into something electric. But dating a teammate is a terrible idea — especially when you’re certain the teammate is going to be called up and will leave you behind.

Except that isn’t quite how it goes. We’re right there with Gene as he struggles with going from almost enough to more than plenty, as he stops letting life happen to him and learns to actually reach for something. Because what if true happiness is right there, and it’s even sweeter than you dreamed?

The difference between wishing for good things and working toward them is precisely where Lily Chu’s THE TAKEDOWN (Sourcebooks Casablanca, 384 pp., $16.99) finds its footing. The diversity consultant Dee Kwan clings to positive thinking through layoffs, microaggressions and familial health challenges. All the while, her mother insists that a positive attitude is more important than any minor speed bump like your parents and grandmother moving in with you or a house that now smells constantly of medicinal weed. Her one true comfort is the online puzzle game where she’s usually first in the rankings.

Then Dee lands a new job, only to find her nearest gaming rival, Teddy, there. Even worse, he’s the son of the C.E.O. whose toxic corporate culture she’s being paid to improve.

Dee fixes upon improving Teddy’s dad’s company as a stand-in for fixing the world (and her own life). Teddy, on the other hand, has detached himself emotionally from his job, bruised by past disappointments. Chu’s couple find their solution in making small but significant changes to what’s immediate and reachable — relationships both romantic and otherwise. What they learn is that effort and hope have to work together: One without the other is never enough.

But sometimes there is no hope. Illness worsens, accidents strike, you lose people you love. It’s inevitable, as Cat Sebastian’s blunt, beautiful midcentury historical makes clear: “Unless a couple has the good fortune to get hit by the same freight train, their story ends in exactly one way.”

At the start of YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY (Avon, 382 pp., paperback, $18.99) , the journalist Mark Bailey is only 16 months out from the death of his partner. He’s coasting. It’s only when he’s assigned to write about a flailing baseball player on the sad-sack New York Robins that he finds something to connect to: “What’s happening to Eddie O’Leary is an end . That’s something Mark knows about; that’s something Mark can write about.”

Eddie, “a wad of bad ideas rolled into the approximate shape and size of a professional baseball player,” doesn’t know why he is suddenly terrible at a game he loves. He’s lonely and new to the city and shunned by the teammates he bad-mouthed to the press. He’s grateful for Mark’s attention even though he knows it’s an assignment, and he’s quick to notice all the little kind impulses Mark would die rather than admit to. Their romance is like watching a Labrador puppy fall in love with a pampered Persian cat, all eager impulse on one side and arch contrariness on the other.

People think the ending is what defines a romance, and it does, but that’s not what a romance is for. The end is where you stop, but the journey is why you go. Whether we’re talking about love, baseball or life itself, Sebastian’s book bluntly scorns measuring success merely by end results: “The crowd is hopeful, but it isn’t the kind of hope that comes with a fighting chance. It’s a hope that doesn’t need success to validate it. It’s something like affection, maybe with a bit of loyalty mixed in.”

Hoping, loving are things you do for their own sake, to mark being a human among other humans. Or as Eddie puts it: “Sometimes you want to look at a guy and say: Well, he’s f——-, but he’s trying.”

I can think of no better summary of why we do any art. If you read one romance this spring, make it this one.

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