Kirkus ReviewsReviews of kirkusreviews.com

My recent well-documented criticism of Kirkus was taken down with the message "Kirkus Reviews flagged this review for containing harmful or illegal content." A Kirkus representative blamed Trustpilot. I contacted Trustpilot, whose representative explained, “the review was flagged by kirkusreviews.com for the reason it contains "harmful or illegal content." However, after assessment it was determined that it follows our guidelines. Therefore, it was validated and put online."

In the past few months I’ve sent multiple letters to each of seven Kirkus representatives, without a single reply. Kirkus chose a reviewer who feels sonnets are 'outdated' to review my book of sonnets. This despite Kirkus’ written agreement to use its best efforts to provide a review that is impartial and unbiased. No one at Kirkus seems willing or able to explain how the review is not biased.

Is it possible to give ZERO stars instead of one? I'm an established, multi-award-winning author, and for my most recent book, like others here, I paid $500 for a supposedly professional review, given Kirkus carries weight in literary circles and the bookselling world. What I received instead was a poorly written summary by a very biased reviewer who obviously did not read past the first chapter, but cherry-picked a few sentences to form their dismissive opinion. Not only is the book described as a "caregiver's memoir" (it's actually about being outsiders in a foreign country), but the so-called-review contains numerous factual errors—including one of the protagonists' nationality, which is central to the narrative on being an outsider. All of which underscore that the reviewer did not actually READ the book. As someone has already pointed out, Kirkus states it will use its "best efforts to provide a review that is impartial and unbiased." Yet their chosen reviewer clearly has a strong distaste for anything with a spiritual, "alternative" or New Age vibe; so much so, they actually used the word "annoying" to describe my "affirmation-speak" (their description). Really, Kirkus? My writing has won multiple awards, and this latest book was selected as an Editor's Pick by Publishers Weekly—who gave it a beautiful and glowing review, with an "A" score in all categories! Similarly with the other professional reviews we obtained, ALL of which have been overwhelmingly positive. Kirkus missed the boat entirely. The fact that they keep their reviewers anonymous not only allows the comments to be biased, but for them to skate off with writing a crappy summary for a book their reviewer merely skimmed. Despite all this, I decided the lukewarm final line of the so-called-review—"the money quote," as people call it—was worth using simply because of Kirkus's clout. I wrote to them, pointing out my disappointment that their reviewer clearly did not READ the book (as proven by the numerous factual errors which I outlined), stipulating I would be willing to publish the review IF the errors were corrected. To date, three months later, I have never received a reply from their so-called Customer Service, and the corrections have still not been made. In all, a complete waste of money and a TERRIBLE, unprofessional show on the part of a company who sits jauntily as an established trade review periodical. Author, beware!

Zilch. Zero. This was the ROI from Kirkus Reviews and their much hyped holiday gift guide. Prior to Christmas I had been contacted by Kirkus to say they thought my novel ‘The Scribe’ might make a useful addition to their guide. I responded by saying I didn’t believe such promotions worked but upon reflection decided to try it. Kirkus had already given a lacklustre review to the book and used the last line of the said review in its promotion; probably the worst line they could have used. When I queried this they said as per their terms and conditions that they always used the last line. To be fair they didn’t promise a return on investment and arguably there are still a few days to the end of the season but to have no sales whatsoever means that Kirkus is no longer the powerhouse it was in literary circles. The price for a place in the Kirkus guide is nine hundred plus.

Buyer beware reviewers have clear bias for children's books and the service keeps them anonymous.

I wish I had read more comments online before spending $674 on a Kirkus review. I naively assumed that for that amount of money I would receive a discerning analysis that at worst would yield a quotation or two that could be used to market the book. That's not what happened. Like others, I received a vacuous summary that read more like a book report written by a lazy high school student--who sprinkled in a few quotations to demonstrate they had "read" the book--than a professional review. While the "review" was not negative, there was no critical engagement and not one sentence worth quoting or one positive comment about a book that has been praised elsewhere. The only hint at criticism was a peevish complaint that the book is too long and there are too many deaths--six over a period of fifty years. In my experience it is evident that Kirkus does not offer a service commensurate with the cost of a review and that it takes advantage of the good faith of people who have put a lot of time and effort into their work. A brief examination of comments online supports the perception that the reviewers are unqualified, even apathetic, readers looking to pick up a little extra income who are not governed by uniform standards or professional oversight. You may have written a very good book, but don't believe the reviewers at Kirkus will make the effort to read your work carefully or write a few words to acknowledge that.

Don't waste your money, especially if you are an author of color.

Over five hundred dollars--a hundred dollars a sentence---for a review a barely-schooled teenager could have written, and maybe did! A superficial plot summary, followed by five careless, ambivalent comments about characterization. No mention in those facile notes of the story, the nuances, the implications, the psychology, or --really, anything. It would have received a D minus grade in any literary class. Not even as good as a copy of a Cliff notes. Utter waste of money, and the customer service response was: We're not going to read your complaint anyway, so Up yours!