About

Alternative Mr Men is a books and reviews blog specialising in horror, thriller, speculative and historical fiction.  

Reviews are written by Vicky, an accountant and Masters student of English with the Open University.

This blog is independent and reviews those books you might have missed, rather than bestsellers.

How It Works

Books are rated based on:

Story -- The tale itself, whether the story holds up, is interesting, makes sense and holds the attention.

Style -- How the book is written.  This will cover whether it's an easy or a hard read, how the narration works, and any narrative devices or gimmicks the author might employ.

Substance -- What keeps the reader thinking about the book afterwards.  This section might take a bit of a scholarly turn, such as ideologies tackled by the author, but will also cover connections to other books and puzzles for the reader to keep on at after the book is over.

The Rating System

★★★★★ -- Everything is fab and absolutely nothing wrong, not even a nitpick.

☆★★★★ -- Almost perfect.  There will be one or two points that bugged me, but otherwise truly excellent.

☆☆★★★ -- Good.  In the middle.  Enjoyable.  Not going to light me on fire, but a positive experience.

☆☆☆★★ -- I struggled or had enough issues that reading was not a good experience.

☆☆☆☆★ -- Active dislike.  I have major issues with something the author has done and would not recommend.  Single star overall reviews are usually reserved for books I couldn't finish.