Authors Rating Reviewers--Never A Good Idea, But Here Goes!

One of the greatest advantages of any Kindle author is going directly to readers.  Readers can
be blunt, sometimes painfully so, in their estimation of books that may take years to craft, which
can provide a service for readers and writers alike. 

Other times, reviewers are simply negative and harsh and little can be gleaned from their review
other than that said reviewer did not like the book.  Such is my take on a recent review posted (without my knowledge, though this is a courtesy by no means required) to Booketta's Book Reviews.  The review in question surrounded Storm World: Speaker Of The Gods, which Booketta claims to have read all the way through.  Maybe she did, even if I don't find the evidence all that compelling.

The reviewer starts off getting the title wrong:

Stormworld

It's actually two words.  A simple visit to Amazon.com would've helped with this.  Unfortunately, Booketta neglected to do this and also uses the old cover.  To be fair to her, though, the old cover is still up on librarything.com. 

Next, Booketta lets the reader know:

I won this e-book from LibraryThing Members Giveaways.

Good to know that she didn't purchase it.  From here, Booketta notes:

The book started out well and I was looking forward to further developments in the storyline. A few chapters in and I started to get bored.

This fact alone makes me wonder if Booketta was reading the rest or merely sleeping through it, as no plot points (at all) are referenced.  I only give first impressions based on samples on this site, not formal reviews.  However, if I did review a work of fiction, I think I'd at least touch on some key plot points.  How can a reviewer avoid this?  Booketta has managed to do so.  Instead, this is what Booketta finds relevant:

Noah's Ark is referred to several times in the story and the group are asked to believe and have faith in God. John the leader is a Jesus type figure with Rhonda, Malleus, Hector and Odessa his disciples. Samuel is a trainee disciple and is very much a doubting Thomas. Not quite Judas but certainly Peter. Is this a Christian story?

Does that question even belong after the four declarative sentences (one's a fragment, but still) preceding it? Ironically, Booketta sees the Christian overtones, which are in the book, but misses the rather obvious Biblical overtone signified by the protagonist's very name.  Not to be snide, but his name is Samuel.  Might that not be a clue?  The Bible is not simply confined to The New Testament, Booketta, even if that fact does complicate your disciple theory a bit.

All in all, I felt that Booketta is entitled to her opinions, however much I disagree with them.  Would it have been nicer if she bothered to be more detailed in her review?  Sure.  Would it have been more informative?  Absolutely.  However, putting a book out there means that all reviews have to be taken into consideration, good and bad, ignorant and informed.  While I may roll my eyes at parts of the review, I do have to at least thank readers like Booketta for considering the works of new authors, even if it is in part as free content for her blog.