Especially in the wake of the Online Review-Gate “scandal,” I find myself in the odd position of being inherently distrustful of glowing reviews on Amazon, and yet jazzed to have them come in from all over the net.

My book has maintained a 5-star rating on Amazon since it was first made available for sale. Several of the writeups are from friends that contributed to the crowdfunding campaign that made it a reality, so high rating should be somewhat expected. But as time has gone in they are starting to come in from “Marlon Randos.”

Here are the two latest blurbs to be added to the Amazon page.

An eclectic collection of stories that take you for a short but exciting ride that sometimes catches you off guard when it throws you out on the street and left wanting… but really, when you think about it, you know the story had to end there… then instead you’re anxious to move on to the next adventure.

And…

Although Secrets and Lies languished on my bookcase for well over two years before being read (cut me some slack, I have a toddler!) I finally started reading it, and as other reviewers have said, I wish I’d picked it up a long time ago. I think the thing I like best about these stories is the narrative voice that ties them all together. Often I found myself mentally cheering that voice on. Read this book if you’re the type of person who views the world as sadly hilarious and the people in it as frustratingly flawed, but loveable anyway. Or just read it because the stories are short, witty, and good.

That second one is actually from someone I know from college—Monica Garcia, the author of a collection of semi-experimental short fiction called Hate Mail that I highly recommend picking up—but I’ll still take it.

Though I wouldn’t say I’m actively hoping for a less than stellar review, it would be interesting to see, just so long as its legitimate. The other half of Online Review Gate is people that pan things for the sake of panning things or because they just don’t like who is behind them and actually have no knowledge of the thing they are panning. And that’s weak sauce.