Review Group discussion

The review group is the most successful group for peer reviews on Goodreads. It hosts non-reciprocal reading/review rounds of ten authors with a variety of themes and genres, as well as ‘general’ rounds where any book is permitted, from non-fiction, to horror. When a round has ‘now forming’ in the title, there are places available, you can sign up. If it doesn’t, it’s full – look for another round or check back another time.

The Amazon rules state that authors/publishers are not allowed to specifically supply published books in return for reviews on Amazon. To comply with this rule, we don’t insist members review on Amazon, but we do insist that every participant in the round has the capacity to leave a review on their local Amazon store, so we all start with the same options.

The founding principle of the group is honest, non-reciprocal reviews, so please help maintain the integrity of the group by letting me know as you sign up if you have been reviewed by, or have reviewed another author in the group and do check back as the group fills to report any clashes. Usually places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

This is a 'Novella' round.

Fiction and non-fiction, adult and children's books under 45,000 Words. Do not offer a book that is over that word count.

Please note it is always possible that the books you are assigned may contain material you find upsetting or offensive. If you can't commit to this, please do not sign up.

Now for the boring stuff, but please read it, it saves a lot of time if everyone is on the same wavelength.
Before signing up below with your Goodreads author and Goodreads book link in the thread below, please ensure that:

1. You have enough time to read and review 4 books within the 12 weeks of time allowed.

2. Your book is currently available for sale on Amazon (not pre-order) and it complies with the individual round theme, if there is one.

3. Your book is fit to be reviewed.
If it is not, due to editing or other issues, you risk poor reviews. This is your problem, not that of the reviewers or the groups. The number one error new authors make is not having their book beta read and edited, by non-family members.

4. You can submit reviews to both Goodreads and Amazon.
Amazon allows only those people who have spent $50 in the last year to leave reviews in each of their stores. If you are unsure about your Amazon reviewer status, try posting a ‘test’ review before signing up. If you are unable to post reviews on Amazon, please do not sign up.

5. You can provide (and accept) at least PDF files.
You are not expected or required to buy the books you are allocated to review, but as this will give a ‘Verified Purchase’ review on Amazon, it is welcomed when you choose to do so. Many authors have books available via KU and others might provide smashwords coupons. Most authors can provide mobi and/or epub files directly by email. Please note: International Copyright laws apply. You cannot sell, or give away material you have received without the author’s express permission.

6. You have completed your reading if you are currently in another review round in this group. You can be involved in the ‘one for one’ list whilst you are in a round.

7. You have an author profile set up before you join.

8. Your Goodreads profile allows people to message you, i.e. your profile is not set to private.

9. You declare any relationship you have with another member in the round.
Amazon will not allow reviews from the same household on the same book or if you are an editor, relative or close friend of another member.

10. You agree to finish assigned books before leaving a review, that your reviews will be unbiased and honest, whatever the star rating, and you will try to avoid ‘spoilers’. i.e. giving away the finale of a book. Please note the Review Group will back any reviewer's right to express their opinion about a book, but personal comments about a fellow author are against both Review Group and Goodreads policy. If you DNF* an assigned book, you run the risk of not being allowed into review rounds in the future.

11. You will not ask a fellow author to change a review of your book because you don’t agree with it.
If you think you have a legitimate concern, talk to the mod of your round, NOT the other author. Personal attacks, or pressurising other members WILL NOT BE TOLERATED and will result in you being blacklisted.

12. You declare all Goodreads accounts when signing up for rounds, including all pen names and additional user accounts, so that these can be checked by moderators and other group members to ensure that there are not previous review conflicts.

13. Books which include AI-generated writing are not permitted. Reviews may not be written by AI.

Please note:
*We all want reviews, it’s why we joined the group. It is bad taste to expect other people to review your book and then not do the same for other people in the group. People that DNF (do not finish) and/or don’t post reviews will find it difficult to get into a subsequent group.

It is not necessary to leave any kind of disclaimer in your review, but ultimately, it is up to individuals. Reviews that state you received a copy ‘in return’ for a review will probably be removed/not allowed by amazon.com. ‘I received a free copy from the author without an obligation to review’ would be more acceptable if you feel the need to add a disclaimer.

Your Goodreads details and the rounds you participate in may be recorded by the admin mod on a database. We do not retain details of email addresses etc.

Allocation is entirely random and there will NOT be any rearranging of the listing to accommodate personal preference. The ONLY circumstance in which you may duck out of giving a review is if YOU provide a stand-in reviewer.

The only way this group can function is if we trust each other to behave honourably. And it IS perfectly possible to give a fair-minded review of a text that does not coincide with our normal choice of reading matter. If you need a few hints/tips, please see this thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


I will do my best to fit everyone into the group they request, but occasionally, particularly in the case of our more prolific good standing members, I may have to decline a member request to fit the maximum number of people into a particular round.

It is permissible to review an author more than once if a different book is available.
If you need anything clarified please ask, either by goodreads personal message to me or on the thread below, before signing up. It’s a pain to have to keep rearranging the list because people haven’t read the above.

Please state when signing up what authors already on the list have reviewed you, and which ones you have reviewed.

To check if you’ve reviewed someone, click your “My Books”, and type their name in "search and add books".
To check if someone else has reviewed you, go to their profile, click the middle link under their picture (x reviews) then type your name into “search and add books”

If you have more than one pen name or use a different profile to leave reviews, LET US KNOW! I will do what I can to help you avoid reciprocal reviews, but ultimately, it is on you to avoid reciprocal reviews!



Your group moderator will be: Loralee Evans
Member Links
1. S D Brown
2. Amber Daulton
3. Balroop Singh
4. Linda A Sanchez
5. Jane C R Reid
6. Sean DeLauder
7. David Alyn Gordon
8. G J Griffiths
9. Emma C Buenen
10. Loralee Evans

Book Links
1. I Escaped The Titanic
2. Mistletoe in the City
3. Emotional Truths of Relationships
4. I'm 50: Welcome to the Full Body Betrayal
5. Seeing Beyond the Ocean
6. The Last Case
7. Jigsaw: Shadow Ball
8. Dizzyrambic Imaginings
9. Fierce
10. Ephraim's Garden

In order to participate in this round, your setting for 'Who Can Send Me Private Messages' needs to be 'anyone'.
Please follow this link to check - and if necessary change - your privacy setting:

https://www.goodreads.com/user/edit?t...

Please read through all the rules before signing up, especially these rules as they have been added, or added to recently:

10. You agree to finish assigned books before leaving a review, that your reviews will be unbiased and honest, whatever the star rating, and you will try to avoid ‘spoilers’. i.e. giving away the finale of a book. Please note the Review Group will back any reviewer's right to express their opinion about a book, but personal comments about a fellow author are against both Review Group and Goodreads policy.If you DNF* an assigned book, you run the risk of not being allowed into review rounds in the future.

In other words, finish books before you review them, and if you give a book lower stars, make sure it is because of some flaw or flaws that you found, not because you don't like that particular genre.

12. You declare all Goodreads accounts when signing up for rounds, including all pen names and additional user accounts, so that these can be checked by moderators and other group members to ensure that there are not previous review conflicts.

In other words, if you write under more than one name, let the rest of us know!

13. Books which include AI-generated writing are not permitted. Reviews may not be written by AI.

No AI writing, either in the books you submit, or in your reviews. AI images are permitted.

Hi Loralee, please sign me up for this round.
This is my non-fiction book.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Thanks.

Linda wrote: "I would love to join if possible with my book: Voices Respectful but Unafraid

Linda A. Sanchez"

Gene wrote: "Linda is currently signed up in the Group 380 I'm moderating."

Thanks, Gene. Linda, as Gene said, you can participate in one group at a time. (Please re-read rule #6.) Once you are done in group 380 and have posted all four of your Amazon and all four of your Goodreads reviews, you will be free to join another round.

Welcome, Balroop! I have read the book you are offering, but since you have several more I have not read yet, I will be happy to read another one. Just let me know which of your other books I have not read yet, that you'd like me to read.

I'd love to join with Mistletoe in the City or an alternate. I have lots of novellas.

I've read from Balroop before, but not her chosen book.

Loralee has read from me, but not my chosen book.

Thanks.

Welcome, Amber!

Hi Loralee, I would love to join this review round with my novella, Fierce.

https://www.amazon.com/Fierce-Emma-C-...

Emma, welcome! Since you have not read or been read by Amber and Balroop, and you have read me, I can fit you.

Amy wrote: "Hi Loralee, I am looking around and am fearful I won't be able to properly keep up and will let somebody down. You fine folks are massively prolific! I also see I need to fill in more info for my 2nd pen name (K. L. Bordeaux). I did check as to any reciprocity review-wise and so far--none (which is good). But let me check back with you when I know I have more open space so I can do a decent job of reading and reviewing. Thanks for letting me reach out to you guys."

Amy, I hope you come back in the future! Review rounds go for 12 weeks, in which time you are expected to read 4 books while getting your book read 4 times.

Loralee,
I would like to join this group with my poetry collection:

Dizzyrambic Imaginings

G.J. Griffiths

Thanks, G J

Welcome, Graham! I am glad I was able to fit you into this reading round.

Hi,
I'd like to join with my middle grade book, I Escaped the Titanic. https://www.amazon.com/Escaped-Titani...

I co authored this book with Scot Peters. He has reviewed Loralee
I have reviewed Balroop and GJ has reviewed me

Welcome, S.D.! I think I can fit you.

It needs to be noted that S D Brown also goes by Spike Brown for some books, and that there are two authors for this book, S D Brown and Scott Peters.

S.D., I believe I have a spot for you so long as you have another book for me to read, which I believe you do. As I mentioned in my message, I will need to read another book of yours since I am ineligible to review Scott Peters as he has reviewed me before.

Everyone, I believe I have checked correctly and that I can fit S.D. Brown and Scott Peters' book in for G J and Emma to read (I will have to read another book by S.D.) But in case I haven't checked correctly, please check your conflicts against these two authors. GJ, Emma, and whoever else I put just above you, will be reviewing a book by these two authors, so you will need to check your conflicts with both of them.

You will need to check your conflicts against S D Brown who also goes by Spike Brown (it's probably easiest just to type in "Brown" in the "Search and add books" box) and Scott Peters.

If you find a conflict that I missed, please let me know!

Hi Loralee. I just posted my last review (both Goodread and Amazon links) to my last book. Can I join this group now with Jigsaw: Shadow Ball. I think I would be a good fit. Please advise and take care.

Huzzah! I was able to fit you, David. It looks like you have reviewed GJ, Emma, me, and SD, and it also appears that Amber and Balroop have reviewed you, so you fit in quite nicely. It also appears that you have no conflicts either way with Scott Peters, so you can read the book SD is asking reviews for.

3 more slots to fill, everyone!

Hi Loralee,

I was hoping to add my novella, The Last Case, to this list.

Admittedly, it does not go live for three days, but if that's not an issue--great!

It's been a while since I've done any reviews for the group so it looks like the only person I've read is G.J. Griffiths and I've not been reviewed by anyone. In which case I'm pretty much the Type-O reader--you can put me anywhere.

Thanks,

Sean

Welcome, Sean!
Just 2 more spots to fill, everyone!

Hello, I'd like to joine with my book I'm 50: Welcome to the Full-Body Betrayal

Linda A. Sanchez

Welcome, Linda!
Everyone, we have just one more spot to fill, and then we can do the roll call!

Hi, please can I join with my book?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Balroop Singh and S D Brown have both read another book of mine: 'Allure of the Stone' and Linda Sanchez - 'Becoming Catherine.' No other conflicts.

Welcome, Jane! It looks like you fit.

Everybody, it looks like we have enough people now!

At this point, we need to do roll call!
You need to check your conflicts, then comment here and state if you are good to go!
In order to do that, please read and follow the instructions after the list of names below.
DO NOT RELY ON MEMORY AS THAT HAS CAUSED TROUBLE IN THE PAST.



Here is the list:
1. S D Brown (Who also writes under Spike Brown) Scott Peters*
2. Amber Daulton
3. Balroop Singh
4. Linda A Sanchez
5. Jane C R Reid
6. Sean DeLauder
7. David Alyn Gordon
8. G J Griffiths
9. Emma C Buenen
10. Loralee Evans


Please check your conflicts with the 4 people above you. (The list wraps, so 10 is above 1.)
To do that, go to the menu at the top of your screen that says Home My Books Browse etc.
Click on My Books
On the page this click takes you to, find a small search box that says Search and add books
In this box, type one of the names of the 4 people above you then click on the icon of the magnifying glass on the right side of the box. If you have not reviewed that person (which is good) the next screen will say You have no books matching "Author's Name"
Repeat this same search with the other 3 names above you.
If you have NOT read any of the 4 authors above you, you are good to go in that direction.

*You will also need to check if the 4 people below you have reviewed you. Again, the list wraps so 1 is below 10. To do that, go to one of their profiles. Find the person's picture and click on the middle link under their picture. It should say "... reviews" showing how many reviews they've done.
On the page this click takes you to, find the small box that says Search and add books
Type your name into that box.
If they have never reviewed you (which is good) the next page will say So'n'So has no books matching "Your Name"

Repeat this with the other 3 authors below you.

If none of them have reviewed you, you are good to go in that direction.

You do not need to worry about the 5th person away from you, since s/he is in your blind spot.

Once you have done that and you are good to go in both directions, please come back here and post "Good to go!" or something equivalent.

*Important note: If you are reviewing SD Brown, also check if SD's co-author on this particular book, SCOTT PETERS has reviewed you. If Scott has reviewed you, you'll need to review a different book by SD, like I will have to do since Scott has reviewed me in the past. If Scott Peters has reviewed you but SD hasn't, you're still good to go, just make sure to mention to SD that you will need a different book.
If SD is reviewing you, you do not need to check your conflicts with Scott Peters.

Once all 10 of us have said that we are good to go, we'll get started!

I have finished checking my conflicts, and I am good to go!

I am good to go!

I'm good to go... and thanks Loralee for posting my potential conflicts....

I will purchase the books I will be reviewing, so need to contact me.
unless you want to.

I'm good to go - many thanks, Loralee!

Good to go, Loralee.

Good to go. Thanks Loralee

Good to go Loralee. Take care.

I am good to go, Loralee!

I’m good. I’ve read from Amber and Jane but not their listed books.

So sorry for the late response. No internet for days. yes, I'm ready.

Excellent! Thanks, everybody! Give me a bit, and I will get the reading lists set up!

Okay, we’re ready!
START DATE: 1-July-25
END DATE: 23-Sep-25




Round 1 – post your review by 22-July-25
Round 2 – post your review by 12-Aug-25
Round 3 – post your review by 2-Sep-25
Round 4 – post your review by 23-Sep-25

You will be SENDING your book file to the four people above you, and RECEIVING a book file from the four people below you. Read below, including the instructions further down.


As AUTHORS you SEND your book file to:


381-01__S D Brown
Loralee Evans for round 1
Emma C Buenen for round 2
G J Griffiths for round 3
David Alyn Gordon for round 4

381-02__Amber Daulton
S D Brown for round 1
Loralee Evans for round 2
Emma C Buenen for round 3
G J Griffiths for round 4


381-03__Balroop Singh
Amber Daulton for round 1
S D Brown for round 2
Loralee Evans for round 3
Emma C Buenen for round 4




381-04__ Linda A Sanchez
Balroop Singh for round 1
Amber Daulton for round 2
S D Brown for round 3
Loralee Evans for round 4




381-05__ Jane C R Reid
Linda A Sanchez for round 1
Balroop Singh for round 2
Amber Daulton for round 3
S D Brown for round 4




381-06__Sean DeLauder
Jane C R Reid for round 1
Linda A Sanchez for round 2
Balroop Singh for round 3
Amber Daulton for round 4




381-07__ David Alyn Gordon
Sean DeLauder for round 1
Jane C R Reid for round 2
Linda A Sanchez for round 3
Balroop Singh for round 4


381-08__ G J Griffiths
David Alyn Gordon for round 1
Sean DeLauder for round 2
Jane C R Reid for round 3
Linda A Sanchez for round 4




381-09__ Emma C Buenen
G J Griffiths for round 1
David Alyn Gordon for round 2
Sean DeLauder for round 3
Jane C R Reid for round 4




381-10__ Loralee Evans
Emma C Buenen for round 1
G J Griffiths for round 2
David Alyn Gordon for round 3
Sean DeLauder for round 4




As REVIEWERS you will RECEIVE books from:


381-01__S D Brown
Amber Daulton for round 1
Balroop Singh for round 2
Linda A Sanchez for round 3
Jane C R Reid for round 4

381-02__Amber Daulton
Balroop Singh for round 1
Linda A Sanchez for round 2
Jane C R Reid for round 3
Sean DeLauder for round 4

381-03__Balroop Singh
Linda A Sanchez for round 1
Jane C R Reid for round 2
Sean DeLauder for round 3
David Alyn Gordon for round 3

381-04__ Linda A Sanchez
Jane C R Reid for round 1
Sean DeLauder for round 2
David Alyn Gordon for round 3
G J Griffiths for round 4

381-05__ Jane C R Reid
Sean DeLauder for round1
David Alyn Gordon for round2
G J Griffiths for round3
Emma C Buenen for round4

381-06__ Sean DeLauder
David Alyn Gordon for round1
G J Griffiths for round2
Emma C Buenen for round3
Loralee Evans for round4

381-07__ David Alyn Gordon
G J Griffiths for round 1
Emma C Buenen for round 2
Loralee Evans for round 3
S D Brown for round 4

381-08__ G J Griffiths
Emma C Buenen for round 1
Loralee Evans for round 2
S D Brown for round 3
Amber Daulton for round 4

381-09__ Emma C Buenen
Loralee Evans for round 1
S D Brown for round 2
Amber Daulton for round 3
Balroop Singh for round 4

381-10__Loralee Evans
S D Brown for round 1
Amber Daulton for round 2
Balroop Singh for round 3
Linda A Sanchez for round 4


Please remember the commitment you are making to your fellow group members. If you pull out after the start date for any reason it is the other members who will be faced with the problem of finding a replacement, or missing out on reads/reviews, through no fault of their own. Please don’t ask the moderators to chase after replacements as we just don’t have the time.

It is the responsibility of the author to get their book to their readers in a format the reviewer can manage. Everyone must be able to provide and accept PDF. You may buy or borrow the books you are due to read if you wish, and I’m sure the author will appreciate the verified review, but IT IS NOT COMPULSORY. There are no set dates for the start of each round. You can each work at your own pace, within the limits of the round deadlines. You can finish as quickly as you like, provided you have read all your assigned books. (See rule #10.)

All reviews must be posted to GR. We also expect members to post on Amazon. When you have posted your reviews, please post the links to each of your reviews (not the book page) in this thread.
The mod of each round will record whether members have posted reviews on Amazon and for the good of all, members who persistently fail to post reviews or DNF reviews to Amazon, will find mods less than willing to add them to subsequent groups.

Postings to other sites are by agreement by both author and reviewer.

If I’ve missed something that results in you being asked to review someone who has already reviewed you, please let me know asap.

To exchange book files, my advice is to use PM to give email addresses to each other (save the chance of spammers getting your addresses from this open forum).

Setting up and modding these rounds is a labour of love, with a lot of emphasis on the ‘labour’. If you want to show appreciation for all the hard work we admins put in for the group, you could download one of our books as a ‘thank you’.

Hi Everyone. Here is my review of GJ's book of poetry. I will post the Amazon link when it arrives. Take care.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Hi Everyone. Here is the Amazon link to GJ's book. Take care.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R3RW5DM...

Thanks, David. Your 1st review is complete!

And congratulations, being the first in this group to post a review!

Completed reviews so far. (Completed is when both Goodreads and Amazon reviews are finished and links are posted here.)

1. S D Brown
2. Amber Daulton
3. Balroop Singh
4. Linda A Sanchez
5. Jane C R Reid
6. Sean DeLauder
7. David Alyn Gordon - 1 review
8. G J Griffiths
9. Emma C Buenen
10. Loralee Evans

Here is my first review with both Amazon and goodreads finished.
Balroop's poems, Just One Goodbye.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/R3RYHA2...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Here are my reviews for I’m 50…
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/R1SQ2QQ...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Here are my reviews for 'The Last Case'

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2G8T...

Thanks so much, Jane!

Thanks, Jane. Your 1st review is complete!

Here are my reviews for Amber's book.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/R17QZQ0...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Completed reviews so far. (Completed is when both Goodreads and Amazon reviews are finished and links are posted here.)

1. S D Brown
2. Amber Daulton
3. Balroop Singh
4. Linda A Sanchez
5. Jane C R Reid - 1 review
6. Sean DeLauder
7. David Alyn Gordon - 1 review
8. G J Griffiths
9. Emma C Buenen
10. Loralee Evans - 3 reviews

Hi Everyone. Here is my review of Emma's book. I will post the Amazon link after it posts. Take care.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Hi Everyone. Here is the Amazon link to my review of Emma's book. Take care.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1XY202...

Here's my review of I'm 50: Welcome to the Full-Body Betrayal
by Linda Sanchez

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.amazon.com/review/R69SP31...

Thanks, David. Your 2nd review is complete!
Thanks, Balroop. Your 1st review is complete!

Completed reviews so far. (Completed is when both Goodreads and Amazon reviews are finished and links are posted here.)

1. S D Brown
2. Amber Daulton
3. Balroop Singh - 1 review
4. Linda A Sanchez
5. Jane C R Reid - 1 review
6. Sean DeLauder
7. David Alyn Gordon - 2 reviews
8. G J Griffiths
9. Emma C Buenen
10. Loralee Evans - 3 reviews

A NICE mix of different genres. Thanks.

Here are my reviews.

I'm 50: Welcome to the Full-Body Betrayal
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/RHUCJ6T...

Mistletoe in the City
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Amazon: WILL POST WHEN IT APPEARS

Seeing Beyond the Ocean
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/R1I0Q5A...

Timeless Echoes
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/RAZ5MJX...

Thanks, S D. Your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd reviews are complete!
And your 4th will be once your Amazon review for Amber’s book comes through, and you’ve posted your link for it here!