Lisa M.

Let's face it - women read more.  Surveys consistently find that women read more books than men, especially fiction. Is it surprising then that many reviewers today are women?  Well, we managed to pry a few female reviewers from their books to get their take on reviewing from the female perspective.

We hope you enjoy.



 Lisa M.
 Averages 15 books a month

Many are satisfied with just reading. Why do you also review? I review because it makes me really examine what I am reading. It makes me look for things in a story that others might not otherwise really pay attention to such as punctuation, spelling, proper use of words, and if thought was really put into the novel. I find when I review I discover new authors and develop a strong sense of familiarity with a lot of them through their writing. If I enjoy the author and have never heard of them before, I tend to go out and purchase other novels written by them just because I enjoyed the first one so much. On the other hand, if I can give some constructive criticism and it helps the next reader to enjoy the novels that the author is producing then I have done my job as a reviewer as I always want to give an honest review.


Do you judge a book by its cover? Sometimes I do. Since I've been reviewing, not as much so as in the past. A cover can be very misleading as I have found while reading some of the books I have reviewed. So I must say not really since I've become a reviewer.

Will you remove or change a review at an author’s request because of a disagreement in your assessment? Unfortunately, I don't think so. I try to be very fair in my reviews and I don't intentionally look for things to critique and criticize an author for, but in reviewing the author should want an honest opinion and should not only seek someone to always compliment them but tell them the truth. If I am anything as a reviewer, I am brutally honest and won't hold back on letting you know how I feel about the novel.


Do you feel black women are accurately portrayed in literature? If you feel the portrayal is inaccurate, what would you like to see instead? I feel sometimes we as black women do get a bum rap in some stories. Sometimes, though, we really do come off like the characters in some of these books. I would like to see us portrayed in a more positive way, not always having to come off as bitchy or argumentative, mouthy, etc, but a lot of the times, unfortunately, the characters tend to show a lot of some black women's attributes. Thankfully we are all not like that.



If you could drive one point across to all authors, what would it be and why? Please edit your work, read and re-read the product you are putting out for people to purchase. Put a lot of thought into the storyline. I so hate to read a novel and there are so many grammatical errors, missed words, incorrect spellings, and non-flowing storylines. I just cringe when I have to review a book like that! Please, please, please get a proper editor; that is all!




Lisa M is a happily married mother of five. She works for a dialysis facility in Illinois. Lisa loves to read and finds great pleasure in getting lost in a great book. Great books transport her to a relaxing place where she can escape the everyday hustle and bustle of life, if only for a few hours. She is a member of The Real Divas Read 012812 Book Club, a fun loving bunch. Lisa is also a reviewer for OOSA Online Book Club. Her reviews can be found on Amazon or Goodreads.