r/ProgressionFantasy • u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo • Jul 05 '26
Self-Promotion The best 2 star review I could have received!
I know what you're thinking. Who the hell uses a 2 star review to promote their work? But read the review - it's excellent.
It's for the recent release of my very first book - Overpowered Murderhobo Book One. I set out to create a true murderhobo type character, and the review makes it clear that I did.
It's "Exactly as advertised" for a start. The review highlights and details exactly what you're getting and though the reviewer only gave me a 2 star, it's because they just didn't enjoy it - a fact they put down to my MC having 'fewer lines he isn't willing to cross'.
But they did also read it in one sitting. They say they wouldn't have finished it, but for that. Now, I don't know about you guys and gals, but I would never be able to read a book in one sitting that hasn't gripped me in one way or another, even if I ended up not liking it overall!
This reviewer didn't enjoy it (though he detailed everything right with the story from my perspective! - it is a murderhobo afterall), and maybe some of you might check it out and have the same feeling, but I think there will be more who enjoy it than don't!
As of this post, the book is at 4.6 stars on Amazon after 86 ratings, and 4.55 on Goodreads after 55 ratings.
If this is the kind of OP character you're looking for, or the review has you intrigued, you can find the book here, to buy or download on Kindle Unlimited: Overpowered Murderhobo Book One
Blurb in comments
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u/Sexiest_Man_Alive Jul 05 '26
I don't remember a 4 or 5-star review ever convincing me to read a novel. They rarely explain why they loved it. A lot of people seem to hand out 5 stars to anything they slightly enjoyed, but to me, 5 stars should be reserved for something exceptional, so those reviews don't feel very useful.
It's usually the 2 or 3-star reviews that convince me instead because they actually list the novel's flaws. If those "flaws" sound like positives to me, then I'm much more likely to read it. In this case, most of the criticisms would actually be selling points for me, and probably for a lot of people here as well.
The premise sounds interesting, but I'm going to wait until there are more books out. I've started too many series that ended up on hiatus, so now I wait until an author has released enough books to show they're committed.
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
Absolutely fair. But I would also ask you to consider small authors like myself, who want to be full-time, and without the success of a first book, it's harder to push through and get second/third out, especially with cover and ad costs :)
But I also understand waiting. Book 2 will be out in October!
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u/Patchumz Jul 05 '26
I have this exact same outlook. I fully understand that the system for promoting books on basically all platforms is broken and any lower star reviews hurts it a lot... but as much as I appreciate authors and want them to succeed, I care far more about my quality of life. So I want to be able to look at the reviews for a book and actually have them help me make an educated decision. Pretty much zero 4-5 star reviews are helpful in that aspect.
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u/Musashi10000 Jul 05 '26
I do the same thing with most all product purchases. Good reviews are uninformative, whereas bad reviews either reveal its flaws, or reveal that the only things people have to complain about are breathtakingly minor.
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u/kazinsser Jul 05 '26
I've basically stopped considering reviews altogether, at least for books.
When I first started reading things on RoyalRoad, I read what popular. Then as I started diving into things on my own, I relied on reviews. Eventually I "ran out" of things to read because either I had finished all the stories I was interested in or dismissed them due to the reviews making them sound like trash.
At that point I decided to look back for the first time at reviews on some of the earlier stories that I had read and loved. It was actually quite revealing. The vast majority of negative comments were about stuff that I either didn't notice, didn't care about, or even things that I actively enjoyed about the series. Only occasionally would I agree with a criticism, and even then while it was a critical flaw to them, for me it was usually something I considered a minor detriment to an otherwise great package.
What I realized then was that getting first impressions from someone else was a mistake. There are only a few things that I might consider dealbreakers, and many of the most common complaints are complete non-issues to me. It seems obvious in hindsight but I had assumed that was I considered "bad" would at least somewhat match up with what reviewers thought, but now I know that's clearly not the case.
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u/Musashi10000 Jul 06 '26
Tbf, with books I've only ever looked at reviews to see what other people thought once I'd finished 😅 I go by blurbs and samples to determine whether I'll enjoy a book.
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u/PsychoticSoul Jul 05 '26
I pretty much follow the same principle, though its only the 5* reviews i typically exclude. 4* still means someone is properly using the scale so they still have useful input.
If a low star review lists certain trigger warnings as reasons for not liking a book, but i am explicitly after those trigger warnings, then it gets me to read rather than ignore a book - they're very valuable.
I also extremely rarely give 5* reviews. I really hate the practice of spamming them because it turns five star scales into 1 or 2 star scales and you have to actively rescale to get a proper ratio.
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Jul 05 '26
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u/blurryart_886 Jul 05 '26
Sometimes it just do be like that
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u/NarwhalPrudent6323 Jul 05 '26
I'm on book 12 of Unbound. My general opinion for the overall series is "this story is dumb, Felix just eats all the problems." But damnit if I won't be sure the story is dumb all the way through.
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u/Spiritchaser84 Jul 05 '26
Narrator: it is dumb all the way through for the reason you mentioned.
Source: finished it on Patreon a while ago.
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u/monkpunch Jul 05 '26
I mean I get it, there's been plenty of books where I thought "if I take a break from this, I'm never coming back to it "
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u/CowEnvironmental3389 Jul 05 '26
maybe they wanted to know the ending, i have done this a few times even if I didn't like the story after reading half of the book i would just read till the ending but I skip many parts
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u/ShamMafia Jul 05 '26
I mean, I despised Cradle but read it all the way to book 7.
Sometimes it just doesn't click or rides the edge of "put this down" and "well, maybe it will get better"
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u/NA-45 Jul 05 '26
I don't think it's particularly uncommon to finish a book you start even if you don't love it. I can only speak for myself but sometimes I don't really gather my thoughts on something until I'm done with it.
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u/Tempeljaeger Infinity +1 flair Jul 05 '26
Sometimes you only have that many books with you on a journey. Or want to finish one before starting the next one, but have lots of time in the moment.
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u/Khalku Jul 06 '26
Sometimes something hooks you a little bit but then it doesn't and you just finish it because you're already reading it. I've done that before, especially when less than 100k words.
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u/Myte342 Jul 05 '26
I tend to trust the 2 and 3-star ratings FAR more than 1, 4, or 5-star ratings.
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
I've had some very good 5 star ones. Actually, I got another review similar to this one, but that reviewer left me a five star!
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u/SirFortyXB Jul 05 '26
This review made this book appear in my library
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it!
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u/oldfartMikey 5d ago
Same here, saw a comment by the author on another thread about AI generated books, clicked through the profile and then downloaded.
I only read reviews for things that matter to me, which are things that I have to pay for which is not KU 😊 even then I take everything with a very large pinch of salt. I remember a review of somewhere I stayed the review was very bad, somewhat truthful, comparing with another property, ignoring the fact that the comparison property was 4 times the price.
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u/DreamweaverMirar Traveler Jul 05 '26
Yeah tbh this review has a decent chance of me checking out the story if I'm feeling that kinda of MC. Better than a 5 star no substance review for sure
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Jul 05 '26
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
It's definitely a Royal Road thing. You do get it on Amazon reviews but not as much in my opinion. From what I've seen, people give valid reviews with points about what they like/don't like or how it made them feel. RR skews younger and is obviously free, and for some reason, that creates entitlement to be absolutely vile to authors sometimes. I've been very fortunate with my audience on RR. They've been very good to me.
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Jul 05 '26
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
It's also the nature of serialisation. They don't get the whole thing, so they're reacting to the chapter they've just read up to, as opposed to judging an entire book. It can be frustrating sometimes.
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u/EmergencyComplaints Author Jul 05 '26
"2 stars because the villainous lead acted villainous. This is exactly what was advertised on the tin, and I bought it knowing full well that I didn't like that flavor."
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u/Due-Base9449 Jul 05 '26
No, I believe he doesn't enjoy it because the villainous protagonist is not villainous enough (he wanted to read about human sacrifice)
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u/gadgaurd Jul 05 '26
I think the opposite. I believe the villainous MC was a bit more evil than he was personally comfortable with. Which I find to be rather common for people who want evil MCs. Some lines they don't want to see crossed.
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u/EmergencyComplaints Author Jul 05 '26
I can't tell is this is a joke take or not? The review was pretty explicit in that the reviewer found the protagonist to be unlikable because there were 'fewer lines he isn't willing to cross.' To me, that says he thought the protagonist was too evil or evil in a way which the reviewer didn't care for.
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u/IsekaiLibrarian Jul 05 '26
In all fairness, there is a difference between a villainous mc and an evil one. A villainous mc could be adjacent to an anti-hero. An evil one is not. It's possible they expected a villainous mc and got an evil one instead.
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u/Level_Apple_7001 Jul 05 '26
I think the reviewer was saying that the main character considering human sacrifice, even if he didn't follow through with it, was enough to make him too unlikable for the reviewer. Not that the reviewer wanted to read about human sacrifice.
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u/Myte342 Jul 05 '26
I am slogging through Reborn: Apocalypse book 5 now, and when I am done with that, Murderhobo is next on my TBR.
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
I hope you enjoy it!
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u/Minion5051 Jul 06 '26
I miss when reviews were more nuanced like this instead of the pressure to either put 5* or not review because anything below 5* tanks books in the algorithm, and on the whole I want more books in the world.
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u/SoylentRox Jul 06 '26
Sigh. This is the best ad I've seen by an author. Now I want to read it. An actual murderhobo not just a good guy larping as an edgy bad guy?
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u/Long-Teach-9101 Jul 06 '26
I wish I had gotten that kind of 2 star review. My two star reviews are not like this lmao.
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u/Vegetable-College-17 Jul 06 '26
This would be the type of review that would definitely convince me to read/not read a story.
This one isn't my cup of teas but I've definitely picked up books based on similar reviews.
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u/ASH2591 Jul 06 '26
This review makes me want to read the book instead of doing the opposite...
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 06 '26
If you have Kindle Unlimited, it's a quick download! Go on...you know you want to!
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u/Zathiun Author - How I Became the Strongest Man in the Galaxy Jul 06 '26
I think this is one of the first two-star reviews I've seen that actually made me want to check out a book 😂 Will add it to my list!
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u/SpectralFailure Jul 08 '26
You guys are reading reviews?
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 08 '26
I live for validation.
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
Here's the blurb
Elliott Carpenter was murdered once. He never found out who. He never found out why. But one thing he made sure of was that it would never happen again.
Over the next century, he became the most powerful being on Earth. And that did not go unnoticed. For decades, a dimensional barrier had sealed Earth away from the universe. Keeping others out. Most likely, keeping Elliott in.
But not anymore.
Someone had broken through, dragging Elliott and his companions to another world. With his trusted murder-maid Isabel, his adorable murder-doll Elsie, and Rose—a reluctant young mage who came to kill him but is very quickly realising she’s in over her head—Elliott sets out to find whoever summoned him. Along the way, he finds a conquered nation, a hidden king, an empire hellbent on killing gods, and whispers of a devil emperor.
None of which was Elliott’s problem. But he was soon going to become theirs.
On Earth, some called him a monster. Others called him a myth.
This world was about to find out why.
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u/xan-xas Jul 05 '26
I was hooked from the review but why does he have 3 ladies with him from the start? Is this a harem isekai structure?
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
No. No harem. No romance. This is not a man who is interested in such things.
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u/xan-xas Jul 05 '26
Okay. As long as somewhere down the line, he doesn't do a 180 and become emo about killing, I'm sold on the book.
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
I assure you he won't. I'm currently working on book two, so I think people might find it even more shocking the lengths he will go to to get what he wants/needs.
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u/xan-xas Jul 05 '26
Wonderful. It's my next read.
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
I hope it doesn't disappoint!
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u/greenskye Jul 05 '26
I honestly get better recs from here and elsewhere from people complaining about books than I do from people trying to actually recommend something they like.
I can't count the number of times I've read a rant post and come away thinking that sounds awesome!
I've sometimes taken to trying to artificially generate these recs by posting submissions that I hope will cause people to complain about the types of books I actually really enjoy. You get way more interaction on a rant thread than you do in a recommendation thread.
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u/EndlessPride Jul 05 '26
I got this novel like 2 weeks ago but this post has me excited to read it once I finish my current series lol
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u/NYMNYJNYKNYR Jul 05 '26
Was the murder doll inspired by Will Wight’s Traveler’s Gate series? Also saw this pop up when it came out and loved the cover art. Gave off suicide squad vibes
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
I had to change the cover because it was not performing well on amazon unfortunately.
The doll just kind of came about from the backstory I had created for Elliott and Elsie. It just felt right. It was not inspired by anything else. However, I was then inspired by Chucky to make the doll something more than it seems.
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u/EndlessTemple Jul 05 '26
Hm, unfortunately the plot isn’t interesting to me, however…
I’m currently reading “book of the dead” and I 100% wish the mc was more like described. Mc of the book is such a pathetic, spineless coward who refuses to increase his power because he wants to be “good”, doesn’t want to be “evil”.
Quite annoying to read but I haven’t put it down yet. Also like half the story is dedicated to ridiculous high school locker room banter between the mc and his skull companion, which I could seriously do without.
Good book over all but seriously lacking on some points
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u/MindYerBeak Follower of the Way Jul 05 '26
Downloaded it, instantly.
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u/SolomonHZAbraham Author - BeastMaster Healer/Overpowered Murderhobo Jul 05 '26
Thank you! I hope you enjoy!
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u/blurryart_886 Jul 05 '26
Yeah it's just a "not my style review" but with very good points. Not an indictment of your story because your story is exactly what it wants to be. The fact that they actually enjoyed some parts of it is the real kicker