Review Policy

Review Policy:

My goal with book reviews is to give my honest opinion. My criticism is always constructive; I am never negative without justifying why I didn’t like something, and I will never give a book a positive review unless I genuinely liked it. I am happy to review books for authors - unfortunately, I am no longer accepting self-published authors outside of the ones I have already established a reviewing agreement with. But please keep in mind before asking my blog to review your book that my opinion will be full and honest. If you are afraid of getting a negative review, The Reading Hedgehog may not be the best blog for your book. 

Please keep in mind that once I have finished reading a book - whether or not you have asked me to, I WILL write a review for it. This review WILL be put up on my blog, Goodreads, and a shorter version on Shelfari and RiffleBooks. Since I am not being paid to read these books, it is my duty and my right to post a review. Time spent reading one book is time I could have spent reading another book; there is no way I am not going to review it. This applies to professionally published authors as well as self-published.

I will also not post a review for a book I did NOT finish. But it WILL go on my DNF (did not finish) shelf on Goodreads. This is NOT to be mistaken for a review. It is how I keep track of books, and unfortunately I cannot make certain shelves public and others private.

I read a wide variety of genres, and I generally am willing to give any book at least one try. There are always exceptions to every genre. However, there are a few genres/subjects that I absolutely will not accept requests for. They are:

·         New Adult/erotica
·         Vampires/zombies
·         Chick-lit
·         Realistic fiction (i.e. teen drugs, abusive parents, terminal illnesses like cancer, et cetera)
·         Fallen angels

While I have reviewed books from almost every genre listed above, I prefer to review these at my own leisure. Once I have finished a book, I ALWAYS REVIEW IT.

My main focus is Young Adult and Middle Grade books, so please do not ask me to review Adult novels. While there are a few I have enjoyed, and reviewed, The Reading Hedgehog’s focus is for YA and Middle Grade, and not Adult. I prefer to review Adult novels at my own leisure.

I accept these formats:
·         PDF
·         ARC
·         Hard copies

I do not do audio books, as I am extremely picky about narrators and this influences my opinion of the book very heavily. I do own an e-reader now - a Kobo - so I am now able to access electronic books.

When I accept your book request, please send with your book a JPG or PNG file of the book’s cover art. Sometimes I can find the cover on the Internet, but not always, and I want Readers to know what your book looks like! If you would also like me to include an author biography in the review, please also send a JPG or PNG file of your author picture and a short bio.

When trying to decide what to rate a book, I consider several main things: character, plot/pacing, believability (if applicable), romance, writing style, and ending. These things all factor into my enjoying of the book, and I weigh it all in balance with each other.


Rating System: