God, that sounds awful. I died halfway through the blurb.
Glad it's not just me.
I think, to be honest, it was written by the publisher's Marketing Algorithm. They plug in the variables of the target market, hit 'generate book' and the let the machine cogitate up a suitable pile of words and accompanying cover blurb.
So, on the whole, you wouldn't have appreciated my initial thought "A review that Ian might have wrote had he lost his sense of humour"?
I still think that there might be people who would have read that and thought "I'll enjoy reading that". If it comes up as Kindle Unlimited I may well be tempted to see if it is as godawful as the blurb makes it sound. At the moment it is pre-release for £21 hardcover on April 7.
There may be people who aren't me (a fact I have yet to establish). It does seem algorithmic though in stacking up all the market focus touchpoints and ticking them off. I'm personally not so sure that anyone who has read Flannery O'Connor will have come back with the words 'humour and heart,' not really the themes explored in Southern Gothic. Though with a California twist, who knows, that's probably like grits with a side of smashed avocado. Chefs, just don't, m'kay?
I was left with an abiding impression of Pastor Vern frantically and futilely trying to release himself over his barren raisins. I'd be shocked to encounter that scene and I'm not a fourteen-year-girl.
Honestly, though, it grabs me on 'taxidermy mice collection.'
I hate Goodreads, it's full of vacant nitwits who seem to love everything. It's only palatable if you set the filter to two stars and below. Otherwise it's full of people in a perpetual state of astonishment (which pays, I'm sure).
Words, Marcy, they used words!