Let me preface this by saying THE VAST MAJORITY of review requests I receive are books outside my stated preferences. This is a sign that most requesters do not even bother to check before wasting my time with an email. So, if you are here know that I appreciate it.

I have returned to university, which means I have very little time to read. Thus, I have reduced the number of genres I am open to receiving review requests for to those I am most likely to accept. And right now, I want my small amount of fun reading to be as far from the stressors of reality as possible. So, I am only accepting review requests for femme-authored Monster and Why Choose Romances of the fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi (etc.) variety. That’s it.

Additionally, I will no longer accept requests from anyone but the author themselves (or maybe a personal PA). Lately, I’m getting a flood of requests from a publicist who have very clearly put me on a list to email EVERY SINGLE BOOK ON THEIR ROSTER with no discernment about topic or genre. This is hugely disrespectful of my time.

I vastly prefer physical books. That is not to say I will not accept an ebook. But they have about a million times more chance of getting lost in the shuffle than a book that can sit on the table in front of me, taking up space and reminding me of its existence. But if I accept a book for review, I will read it almost immediately. I’m based in the US and would appreciate no YA or religious books (even if they are YA or religious UF/PNR), please. NA books need to be on the older end of the NA rather than younger one.

I realize that this is a very slim area, but it’s what I’m most enjoying reading at the moment. And if you are one of the many, many, many, many people who read the above paragraph and thought, “Well, she says she only wants Monster or Why Choose Romance, but I’ll gamble that she’ll accept my whatever genre book and email her anyway,” let me just stop you. Too many people think the same thing. You won’t be novel. I won’t think, “Oh, they shot their shot. I’ll reward them by reading their book.” No, I’ll grumble about another author who ignored my stated preferences (or never read them, to begin with) and wasted my time. You will be one of many, not one who stands out.

I love authors. I love books. I love reading. I love reviewing. But I am a limited resource and reserve the right to only read what I enjoy. And right now, that is Monster and Why Choose Romances. Other genres are for other reviewers.

As an alternative, for those of you in the wider fantasy, romance, and soft science fiction genres (including sub and peripheral genres), Sadie’s Spotlight offers book spotlights, excerpts, interviews, etc. The site does not offer reviews but is open to self-submission for free general book promotion. You can check it out here.

Here on See Sadie Read, I am particularly interested in Indie and Self-published authors (not that I don’t also read and enjoy traditional pubs), but I would ask that the books be properly edited. The fact that such authors are able to break the commercial mold really appeals to me, and I look forward to reading stories told in ways traditional publishers would not be interested in (books from odd POVs or that regularly tell instead of show—the dogma being to never tell, always show). But I don’t want to be tripping over spelling, grammar, and homophonous mistakes. Believe me; you can’t catch them all yourself; no one can. (As a perfect example of this, I had a misspelled word on this very page for close to 6 months before someone finally pointed it out to me.)

You can go here to see examples of my reviews. Just choose a year. I also regularly post on Goodreads and occasionally on LibraryThing and Smashwords (usually just books I’ve gotten from these sites). I also almost obsessively post book pictures on Instagram. You can see them here. And I post on TikTok as the mood strikes me.

If you would like to discuss sending me a book (and I reiterate, I’m only open to Monster and Why Choose Romances right now), please email me at Reviews@sadieforsythe.com.

Side notes:

I have a Little Free Library in my front yard. Any physical book sent to me will likely be added to the LFL and shared unless I’m asked not to (or they are such favorites I hoard them).  It’s currently down for repairs.

Regarding review swapping: Every once in a while, an author will email me asking about this. I don’t. I admit I tried it once very shortly after TWE was published, but I was very uncomfortable with it and will not do it again. I discourage anyone seeking such exchanges from going through with it.