Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read lots of books, and I’ve seen lots of dirty tricks in the book reviewing world. But I have to say, what I saw in another two-star review on this book might be the most clever yet. That’s hard to do. In the other two-star review—It’s easy to find—the reviewer claims she’s a history major, talks about another book they loved, and at the end of that non-review, mentions A Girl Called Samson and purposefully and completely distorts the book’s content. In this case, the reviewer indicates that A Girl Called Samson is a “Queer people in history romance.” If that were true, so be it. But it's not. Not even remotely. And the reviewer knows it. Distorting content is a surefire way to play saboteur to a book and that book’s intended audience. I’ve seen it done with false trigger warnings, false genre claims, as well as insinuating content that simply isn’t there. It is malicious and calculated, and I see this kind of stuff all the time among First Reads reviewers and in the book world at large. The sad thing is, the comment in that review is also dismissive and derogatory toward historical figures that maybe were LGBTQIA+. A Girl Called Samson mentions Baron von Steuben, a hero of the Revolution, who was openly gay. I knew nothing about him before this book and appreciated that small cameo. A Girl Called Samson is about a real historical woman (Deborah Samson) who wanted to be a soldier and went to great lengths to do so. It is inspiring, eye-opening, and wonderfully written. The romance is not the primary plot mover—this book is mostly historical fiction—and it develops very naturally. The romance is between Deborah Samson and a man she’s known most of her life, a man who, through the course of the book, falls in love with her too. Is A Girl Called Samson a two-star book? No. I actually loved it. But sadly, most people won’t read the five-star reviews, and someone needed to set the record straight. My apologies to the author for the low star rating.