11/4/22: Thank you for considering me as a reviewer for your novel. Unfortunately, since I receive books from multiple sources, I am swimming in books to review, so must close to requests until 2023. Once I’ve made decent progress on my long list of books, I will update this page with a tentative reopening date. Until then, I will not be able to accept or answer any review requests sent after this date (11/4/22). Thank you.
Thank you so much for considering me as a reviewer for your novel! I do my best to offer balanced reviews that are as objective as possible as I don’t believe in discouraging readers from picking up any book. That said, I will be clear about what I enjoyed and what I didn’t like.
I actively read and review self-published books.
I have also launched a personal reading challenge to add more diversity and inclusive worlds to what I read. For more information, please check out Diversity and Inclusivity Challenge 2022.
As I constantly find myself losing minutes, hours, and days, but would really love to up the number of indie books I read, I now offer two review options. With one option I’m more restrictive about which books I accept for review than the other. Please select one option only.
Review Option 1: Mini Review
What’s Included: Listed on my Impressions and yearly reading challenge posts and a shorter review along with 1 or 2 other reviews that will be posted to my blog and review sites, possible inclusion on The Curated Bookshelf
Genres Not Accepted: Non-fiction, horror, erotica, children’s, middle grade, YA (though I will read books that straddle YA and adult), poetry, Westerns, military fiction, anthologies/collections of short stories
Will Not Review Books That Contain: explicit and gratuitous sex/excessive sex scenes; excessive violence and blood (warfare based books, battles followed by more battles, graphic wars/battles, graphic gore, excessive blood, etc. I appreciate it may be necessary to the story, but, in that case, I am not the right reviewer for you); horror elements (for reference, the Goosebumps books scare me); vampires; werewolves; excessive cursing; rape; abuse; torture
File Types Accepted: EPUB, PDF, gifted copies through Amazon to (Kindle NO LONGER supports MOBI)
Reviews Posted To: The Lily Cafe blog, Amazon, Goodreads, The Storygraph, Bookbub (plus any other requested sites)
How This Works:
1) send your novel to as an attachment (please do not send a formal review request as it will automatically be placed on my reading list as long as I have a way to access the book either through a pdf or epub I can download or as a purchase link – see more info on the latter option below). I will email you the links to the Impressions, reading challenge, and review posts (if requested, I can also let you know what position your novel is at on my list) either as they post or all together (depending on my life schedule)
or
2) send me a purchase link to . In all honesty, most of my family’s budget currently goes to groceries, gas, and things my kids need, so it will take me longer to get to read these books, but I’ll be happy to make the purchase as soon as I can if this would be preferable to you.
Due to time constraints, I cannot respond to review requests sent via this email address (Review Option 2 is attached to a different email address so I can keep the two review options separate) that do not have a way for me to access your book.
Please note that, should your novel fall into a category I do not review, I will, unfortunately, need to decline to review. I will notify you should that happen. (Psst! My name is Kat, but I also answer to Lily.)
Samples of how it will look: Upgrade and Revolution | The Other Guest and Primeval Fire
Review Option 2: Full Review
As this review option requires a greater amount of time for me to fulfill, I will be much more selective about what I accept. If your novel does not fall in the categories I do not review and a shorter review would be acceptable, please consider Review Option 1 instead.
What’s Included: Listed on my Impressions and yearly reading challenge posts and a solo, in-depth, full length review posted to my blog and review sites, possible inclusion on The Curated Bookshelf
Genres Accepted: Fantasy (no romance fantasy, please), soft science fiction, cozy mystery, women’s fiction/romance
Genres Not Accepted (list is not exhaustive): Nonfiction, YA, horror, hard science fiction, erotica, children’s books, middle grade books, Westerns, military fiction, anthologies/collections of short stories
Most Common Reason Why I Decline to Review Your Novel: It’s fantasy, but tends more towards a YA audience. I do take a careful look at your novel and, if it appears to be geared towards YA and younger readers, I will most likely decline it.
Will Not Review Books That Contain: explicit and gratuitous sex/excessive sex scenes; excessive violence and blood (warfare based books, battles followed by more battles, graphic wars/battles, graphic gore, excessive blood, etc. I appreciate it may be necessary to the story, but, in that case, I am not the right reviewer for you); horror elements (for reference, the Goosebumps books scare me); vampires; werewolves; excessive cursing; rape; abuse; torture
File Types Accepted: EPUB, PDF (Kindle NO LONGER supports MOBI)
Reviews Posted To: The Lily Cafe blog, Amazon, Goodreads, The Storygraph, Bookbub (plus any other requested sites)
How This Works: Use the form to make your request. I will get back to you as quickly as I can. Please do not send your novel to , otherwise it will automatically be given a mini review. (Psst! My name is Kat, but I also answer to Lily.)
I cannot guarantee that I will not rate any book less than a 3. I usually know within the first quarter of the book whether it is something I will enjoy, so, if you prefer only favorable reviews, please let me know and I will notify you if I am not enjoying the book approximately 25% of the way through and will cease to read it.
Would you like me to review your book? Let me know!
Thank you so much for reading!
Most Sincerely, Kat
The Lily Cafe 