Betrayed!

Have you ever felt betrayed by a book that you've read?

Have you ever read the first book of a trilogy only to have the author leave the main character is dire straits in order to guilt you into buying the next book in the series?

Have you ever wanted to throw those books across the room, shred them like a power-lifter shreds a 3-inch thick phone book?

I have.

As a writer, I refuse to stoop that low, and as a reader, I will NOT buy another book from that author.  My stubborn stand doesn't affect the NYT best-selling authors like Nicholas Evans (nope, suicide by horse was seriously wrong), but I like to think this will keep my integrity intact.

A few weeks ago, I beta read a YA for a  writer friend. Most of the time, beta readers are simply there to catch the stupid mistakes, and I was good with that. . . until I started reading.

When I'm judging or critiquing, I try very, very hard not to insert my voice or style into the writer's work. I will point out jarring or awkward sentences, slow pacing, and stuff that's out of character or simply doesn't make sense, but I WILL NOT REWRITE ANOTHER'S WORK.

So when I started reading this YA, I realized that, 1) it started very slow, 2) I really didn't care for the female protagonist, 3) some of the same scenes were repeated in the first 50 pages.

1 & 3 can be fixed by cutting, condensing, tightening, etc, but it would take time to do. #2 could be taken care of during the tweaking of the pages simply by altering some word choices. I suggested she cut half of the first 50 pages and move the end of Act 1 a little closer to the beginning, BUT I knew this writer didn't care what I thought because she had a timeline. She wanted it up by July 1.

Fine. I suspected that when I started reading.

The action picks up in Act Two as the reader learns more about the world, the characters and the "situation".  Act 2 was everything it should be: upping the stakes.

IMO: The issues at the beginning of the story are minor, easy fixes.

We roll into Act 3-tension builds, personalities are revealed, blah, blah, blah, and the main character heads home through a portal . . .
-- AND FOR ME THIS WAS THE KISS OF DEATH--
and ends up in the lair of the 'bad guys'.

THE END.

So what do you all think?  Would you feel gyped, cheated and betrayed by this writer?

I know I have many lurkers who read my blog, and I'm curious, what would you do?

Refuse to buy another book by this author?

Shrug your shoulders and buy the next book?

Would you write them an email, detailing your disappointment?

Or would you simply remain silent and move on to another writer?

Let me know what you think.

Later, Peeps!