Reviewing with River

One story type I can't handle at all is children's stories. There are particular skills and rules for those that I just don't understand. Another type of story that makes me shudder is romance. There are other classes of story I recoil from too, such as super-hero fantasy and fan-fiction.

If I'm specifically asked to do a review for any of these, I respond with an apology that 'this is not my thing'.

It is hard to avoid sounding like you are a snob that looks down at these kinds of stories, but you have to work on that. I don't lie and say "I don't have the time right now", because despite being an easy way out, I don't feel I need to make false excuses. Most people are willing to accept that you won't or can't review their piece because of the topic, genre or whatever, and besides, most people prefer honesty.

One thing I've found though, is that a good apologetic letter often results in a dialogue opening up, and that has led me to reviewing some other piece of theirs.