DocoftheDarkArts | The Sunday Prescription: July 12, 20...

The Sunday Prescription: July 12, 2026

[DocoftheDarkArts

Bob Stuntz

• Jul 12](https://docofthedarkarts.binderybooks.com/)

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Discussion: Should We Trust Book Influencers?

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another Sunday Prescription. This week, I want to talk about some of the discussion going around the book world recently about creators and influencers being liars when it comes to the books they're reading. Most of this has come down to accusations that bookish content creators and influencers are not reading the books they are reviewing, and they're only reviewing books to chase clout when the book is popular/trending, or they have been paid or have been given free books and as such, just promote them blindly. Another one is that there is no way book influencers are really reading as many books as they claim they are. I definitely have some thoughts on this!

My Observations

1. I am sure that there are people out there who do this kind of stuff, but I genuinely do not feel it is widespread. In terms of the accusations that influencers are paid for good reviews, companies and publishers do their research.
2. When it comes to financial relationships, I would imagine they do their research even more. Most content creators do more positive than negative reviews because they don't want to trash authors, especially when they are high profile.
3. As far as the volume accusations, I had someone recently make a similar comment on my YouTube page, saying I had clearly lied about how many books I read in the first half of the year.
4. Everyone reads for different reasons and at different levels, and we all have different retention abilities.

My Policies on Reviews

• I will never review a book without reading it. If I DNF a book, I make that clear.
• I always tell authors that if they send me a book I will do an honest review.
• When I do reviews, I will always state whether that book was given to me for free or not.
• I have not entered into any financial agreements with companies in terms of direct reimbursement, but if I do down the road, I would always let you all know.

What I’m Reading

This has been a fun week of reading and hobbies. After I finish writing this newsletter I'm going to be finishing up Valour by John Gwynne, and I finished up Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff last night.

For our main book club on Bindery and Discord, we'll be reading The Jasad Heir, and for my new Fable Book Club, Dr. Bob's Literary Apothecary, we'll be reading The Wolf and His King by Finn Longman. We're also holding a monthly reading challenge to read an indie published book which participants can join for a chance to win a $25 bookshop.org gift card.

Hope you all have a great week of reading and life, and I'll see you next week!

Upcoming Review

Book Review: Headlights by CJ Leede 4.25/5 Stars Format: Hardcover