Interesting work, the book review. Some readers base their next purchase on the words of those who read books for a living.

A good reviewer can help a good writer sell few more copies of their hard work. Conversely, a good reviewer can steer the reader away from a book that may not be up to snuff. But the reviewer is not the final word on whether a book is worthy of a reader's fistful of dollars.

Reviewers are human, known to get it wrong every so often. I've read some books that received high praise, only to personally find them to be quite awful. (I won't name titles or authors here.) And of course, there are novels I've found to be amazing and entertaining despite the poor showing among those we trust to lead us to gold.

I'm certainly not a professional reviewer. I don't even play one on TV. I've reviewed about forty books here on my Goodreads page. They are, if nothing else, my honest opinion concerning a story that I've taken the time to read. Most of my reviews here tend to be positive--though I have read some truly terrible books in my time. The bad ones usually go ignored once I'm finished with them. No sense in wasting my time posting negativity. If asked, though, I'll gladly give the dirty lowdown on any particular piece of work that ripped me off.

I'm a writer, first and foremost. I write short stories, a novel, and once upon a time I even wrote record and concert reviews. If something moves me, I'll share this.

So now we come to my point in this posting. I read the novel Bridge Ices Before Road by Sienna Rose. I reviewed this book right here on Goodreads. I sincerely enjoyed this well-written story. If I didn't, I promise you I wouldn't have posted a review. Sienna is a talented writer, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read and comment on her work. So it shocked me when I found a review posted on the IndieReader.com site claiming this novel failed to tie up loose ends, leaving readers hanging. This is simply not a correct portrayal of Ms. Rose's work.

This story pulled all those strands together, and matters were resolved in ways that left me both fulfilled and sad. Sad on two accounts: First, I didn't want this story to end. Second, well, I can't tell you without spoiling a key part of the book.

It just amazed me that two people reading the same book could come to such differing conclusions. I've seen it elsewhere, as well. That's the literary world we inhabit. We're going to have differences of opinion on whether a story is good or it sucks. That's not the issue here. This revolves around whether it ended one way or the other. That's like reporting Dorothy never found her way home in The Wizard Of Oz. Critique the story, don't rewrite it.

Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject. I felt the need to speak up because Bridge Ices Before Road is a read worth discovering. There are no issues with the way the story concludes--just a hint of sadness. I understand reviewers have a job to do, but get it right, good review or bad. And just for the record, I seriously LOVE the IndieReader.com site. I use it regularly to find good reads. They've never let me down--until this particular review. Peace.