Our Book Review Policy

CW (reviews as Xiaolong), Joce (reviews as Cuddle), and Skye (reviews as Sprout) are open to book review requests.

Our preferences

CW prefers diverse (i.e., books written by marginalised authors and/or are about marginalised characters) middle grade and young adult books. She prefers books that are #ownvoices, contemporary, science-fiction that has discourse, and fantasy. She does not review non-fiction, horror, poetry, or erotica, does not generally review adult fiction, and does not read books with over ~550 pages. CW is highly selective due to time restraints outside of blogging.

Joce prefers realistic/literary fiction contemporary, romance, mystery/thriller, select SFF, and select non-fiction and poetry. Joce strongly favors the voices of authors and characters who identify with marginalized groups (POC, LGBTQIA+, mental health challenges, physical disability, difference in socioeconomic status), and books by and about women.

Skye prefers high concept speculative fiction with tons of heart across all age categories, with a focus on intersectional, #ownvoices stories written by authors of color. She is fond of lush, descriptive prose as well as character-driven plot. Her miscellaneous loves include diverse fantasy, gothic horror, folklore retellings, sapphic romances, and novels-in-verse. She doesn’t review erotica, non-fiction, or gore, and generally shies away from books with heavy explicit themes.

Our policy

  • Our book reviews are honest and fair.
  • We reserve the right to express our honest opinion and, if we have a negative opinion of the book, do not enjoy it, or find specific parts problematic, we may post a ‘negative’ book review where we share our honest opinions.
  • We are not provided monetary compensation by any publisher or company.
  • We reserve the right to not post a book review about a review copy.
  • We reserve the right to post a short review if we do not have strong feelings or opinions about the book.

Our process

  1. Send all book review requests via our contact form or directly to thequietpond@gmail.com.
  2. In the contents of your book review, ensure that you include the following information:
    1. Release date of the book and the book’s summary
    2. Why or how this book fits our preferences
    3. A timeframe for when you would prefer for us to post our book review
  3. Your book review request will be forwarded to CW, Joce, and Skye (if your book review request is not addressed to a specific reviewer).
  4. If interested in reviewing your book, CW, Joce and/or Skye will contact you directly.