Review Policy

(UPDATED MAY 2017)

Proverbial Reads was born out of a love of reading. I review Christian historical fiction published by Christian publishers. I belong to a number of review programs (see below), which means I have commitments to review any book I receive from them. I also receive e-books through the NetGalley website. There is no obligation to review any book I receive from that site. Finally, I also borrow books from my local library and have occasionally reviewed one of these books. I do not review anything that is not historical fiction, or is non-fiction, self-published, or sent to me unsolicited.

While I do receive books in exchange for review, my opinions are my own. I strongly believe in giving my honest opinion when I review a book, which means I sometimes go against a general consensus. However, authors do take a long time to research, write and edit their books. With that in mind, therefore, if my review is negative I try to target my negative language toward the book and not the author.

At the end of each review, you’ll see an italicized disclaimer indicating how I received the book. This is per FTC guidelines. (The exceptions are books I’ve bought or borrowed from the library.) I do not receive any income from the authors, publishers, or anyone else connected with a book I review. If there is a contest being run in conjunction to a book launch, I have the same chance of winning it as everyone else who enters.

Each review contains links to the author’s website, publisher’s product page, and the book’s listing on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and ChristianBook.com. Sadly, I do not have a local Christian bookstore, let alone one with an online presence. Please note, I am an Amazon Associate and links to Amazon pages are specialized associate links. This means if you click on the link and then purchase an item I will make a small commission. You do not have to purchase from Amazon to enjoy my reviews, nor are you compelled to make a purchase if you do click on a link. I do not know who clicks on the links and only know the number of purchases.

Note: the bold text at the beginning of each review is taken from either the cover of the book or the promotional information for it. No copyright is claimed, and neither are grammatical errors that may appear in such text. The paragraphs following make up the body of my review.

Publishers often require that I post a second review to a commercial site, such as the three listed above. I usually post on Amazon. I also post reviews to the Goodreads web site.

I cannot keep all the books I review. In the past, I’ve given some to friends as gifts, and donated others to my local library. In 2013, I donated several to my church for them to sell in a silent auction to raise funds for the annual mission trip to Jamaica. I do not sell these books.