m3l89's review against another edition
4.0
I finished this in under 24 hours, as I found the plot very compelling and the novella easy to read. I am unsure if I found the references to Leather's other work 'The Basement' conceited or clever, but I must admit that I fell into the trap of enjoying The Bestseller, and buying The Basement straight away.
sarahs_bookish_life's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars really enjoyed this relatively short story.
tracyj's review against another edition
5.0
This is the second book I've read by this author and have really enjoyed both. They are only available on e-readers. I like the twists and turns in the book and that it keeps you guessing until the end. I look forward to reading more.
theelliemo's review
1.0
I feel like the only thing that had stopped the time spent reading this book being a waste of a couple of hours is that it's so easy to read, I was able to read it while I was exercising on a treadmill.
I bought this in the early days of my Kindle ownership, but being an incredibly disorganised book-reader, it's only just found itself at the top of my to-be-read "pile". Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more 6 years ago, but now, it seems too " of its time" (yes, already!) I've read this at a time when sales of paper books have increased, and sales of eBook readers and eBooks have decreased. So the constant comments throughout the book about how eBooks are the future makes it already very dated.
And that whole concept within the book, the shiny new eBook/Slater vs "dead tree book"/Grose, makes it difficult to know if the author is being ironic in this book. Virtually every downside of eBooks and self-publishing expressed by Grose are here, in this book. It reads as if chunks of it have been accidentally deleted. I read some bits and found myself looking back through the last couple of chapters to find out where and how I'd missed some essential plot device, when actually I hadn't missed anything, it really had just been dumped in suddenly.
One of the students in Grose's class apologises when he reads out his work in progress because he realises he has repeated himself several times, and following this there are a couple of conversations alluding to repetition. Ironically, the author repeats himself several times in this book. I thought I'd inadvertently skipped back a chapter on a couple of occasions!
The first chapter of the book reads as if it is from a completely separate work until the moment you know Slater has a boat. From that moment, you pretty much know where the book is heading, apart perhaps from the eventual reappearance of Kirsty, for a pretty lame twist.
There's not a single character in this book with which a reader can empathise. You do not have to like a character to enjoy a book - I've read plenty of books where the characters have been vile creatures, but the writing has been strong enough to still make the reader care what happens to them. I didn't care about the outcome of any of the characters in The Bestseller.
If this book is meant as irony, then it does its job well.
If it's not ironic, then it's done its job very badly.
I bought this in the early days of my Kindle ownership, but being an incredibly disorganised book-reader, it's only just found itself at the top of my to-be-read "pile". Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more 6 years ago, but now, it seems too " of its time" (yes, already!) I've read this at a time when sales of paper books have increased, and sales of eBook readers and eBooks have decreased. So the constant comments throughout the book about how eBooks are the future makes it already very dated.
And that whole concept within the book, the shiny new eBook/Slater vs "dead tree book"/Grose, makes it difficult to know if the author is being ironic in this book. Virtually every downside of eBooks and self-publishing expressed by Grose are here, in this book. It reads as if chunks of it have been accidentally deleted. I read some bits and found myself looking back through the last couple of chapters to find out where and how I'd missed some essential plot device, when actually I hadn't missed anything, it really had just been dumped in suddenly.
One of the students in Grose's class apologises when he reads out his work in progress because he realises he has repeated himself several times, and following this there are a couple of conversations alluding to repetition. Ironically, the author repeats himself several times in this book. I thought I'd inadvertently skipped back a chapter on a couple of occasions!
The first chapter of the book reads as if it is from a completely separate work until the moment you know Slater has a boat. From that moment, you pretty much know where the book is heading, apart perhaps from the eventual reappearance of Kirsty, for a pretty lame twist.
There's not a single character in this book with which a reader can empathise. You do not have to like a character to enjoy a book - I've read plenty of books where the characters have been vile creatures, but the writing has been strong enough to still make the reader care what happens to them. I didn't care about the outcome of any of the characters in The Bestseller.
If this book is meant as irony, then it does its job well.
If it's not ironic, then it's done its job very badly.
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