Glenn Hates Books

Glenn Hates Books Vol. 1

by Glenn Conley

3 out of 5

Synopsis
WARNING: There's a lot of unnecessary profanity in this book.
Why? Because... Because REASONS! 

This book contains over 100 brutally honest book reviews. These laugh-out-loud reviews are offensive in every way possible. There's so much unnecessary profanity, it's crazy. But it's not the profanity or offensiveness that makes this book worth reading. It's the honesty. 

You will find 1 star reviews in this book, that absolutely tear the book to shreds, because the book was really that bad. But you will also find 5 star reviews in this book, because the book was actually that good. 

It contains reviews of popular books such as Gone Girl, The Giver, The Maze Runner, and many other popular books. Of course, it also includes plenty of books you've probably never heard of. 

There's reviews that urge you to read a book, because it's so good. And also, reviews that warn you to stay the hell away from certain books, because they're bad. So bad. 

In the end, you'll laugh while reading this book. And cry. And possibly vomit. You've been warned.



Review
Ok, this is a first for me - a book review about book reviews.
This is possibly one of the hardest reviews I've ever had to do, so bear with me.

Glenn Conley has put together a collection of over 100 book reviews.

The Good
I like reviews. I confess that every time I want to waste a little time (usually when I'm supposed to be editing), I click through the reviews on my Goodreads news feed; then do that addictive thing of looking at other reviews for those books, because I'm curious about one reaction or other by the reviewer.
It could be because they were doing back-flips and shouting from the rooftops how amazing the book was; or they were banging their head against the wall and cursing every page. I'll be honest - I've done the same when reviewing.
Glenn Conley provides an array of both extremes, and everything in between.
I will warn you now, this book contains a lot of foul language. If you can't handle that, go read something else.
His reviews are very blunt, he doesn't sugar-coat his opinions at any point. But even with the coarseness of language and views; Conley's work has a certain flow and a definite humour to it. You get the immediate sense that this isn't meant to be taken seriously. Conley is not dictating what we should and should not read; he's simply providing entertainment and honesty.

The Bad
The concept.
I think the concept is quite lazy. Conley has taken about 100 reviews that he has done in the past. They have been split into 5 sections: 1 star; 2 star; 3 star; 4 star; 5 star.
This meant that it was somewhat repetitive. I think I would have preferred a mix, so the reader doesn't know what's coming next. But something logical - so maybe, a well-done sci-fi, followed by a badly done one etc.

Also, there's nothing here that you can't find by following Glenn on Goodreads, or on his blog.
A) Why would you pay £1.49 on Amazon, for something that you could read for free?
B) I think I actually prefer his Goodreads and blog reviews because it's so much easier to link to the books that you want to buy/read further reviews of. They also enable you to strike up a conversation or debate. A book (even an ebook with all the modern tech snaziness) is so flat in comparison.

Maybe if there was something more than a copy and paste of Conley's reviews. Maybe if there were blog-style posts that were unique to the book; or even better, something autobiographical over how he went from being a book hater, to this person who is so passionate in his opinion of books, along with the books that spurred him on the way. I'm not really into my non-fiction, but Conley is a funny and expressive guy, I would definitely give that a read. 

Goodreads link
Amazon.co.uk