The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for My Enemy in Vietnam

Because My Enemy in Vietnam was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.

Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.

IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.

This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.

Manang Muyang

The title and cover are telling. This is a true story of the Vietnam war written by a Black GI. I am interested in what the author has to say, so I would have sampled the book outside of the program. I would have wanted to read it, too, because it has only 60 pages. The two official OBC reviews were written by reviewers I both trust, and their complimentary reviews convinced me about the merits of the book. However, the price is too steep; that's the major reason I won't buy it. I noted errors in the bit I read. In the chapter "Race Issues," "I thought nothing of it other than why everyone was so quite" needed "quiet." In the same chapter, "Everyone kept their distance from me, and not a single word was spoken doing chow time" should have used "during" vice "doing." The next chapter, "The Riots," is a repetition of a portion of the preceding chapter. I hope the author can get an editor to review the book for errors. I like the different perspective of the Vietnam conflict offered by the book. It is sad that the author had to watch his back amidst men who wore the same uniform.

First Ten review added on March 3, 2022, at 4:42 am by Manang Muyang.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Ann Ogochukwu

I didn't understand this book's cover until after reading its OBC review. Because of my interest in history, I might have tried this book outside this program.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sample this book because none of the provided websites had a soft copy sample of the book; there was only the paperback version. From the book's description, though, this book was about the author's experience in Vietnam. Something I found interesting from the description was the fact that the author was more afraid of the people he wore the same uniform with than he was of the "enemy."
I think I would enjoy this book, but I won't buy it because it isn't easily accessible to me. I didn't notice any errors in the bit I read, and I can't say yet if this book needs any improvement.

First Ten review added on March 3, 2022, at 4:39 am by Ann Ogochukwu.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Mutai Marshal

Both the cover page and title piqued my interest in this book. They hinted that this is a memoir, and I would have read it without sampling since I relish the genre. From the sample, I liked the relevance of the theme presented. It addresses racial discrimination that continues to cripple the strides to attain human equality and equity. Having read the OBC review, I will buy this book to find out more about the racism that prevailed in Vietnam during the war. It was not exceptionally edited as I flagged grammatical errors (such as 'My conscious is clear, I never harmed anyone in Vietnam and God is my witness!' It should be 'my conscience is clear'). I recommend another round of editing to expunge the grammatical errors.

First Ten review added on March 3, 2022, at 4:03 am by Mutai Marshal.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Shrabastee Chakraborty

Despite the official OBC review's rating, I wasn't inclined to read this book because of its genre. The sample in Amazon only contained the front and the back cover. I found an error in the back cover ("conscious" should be "conscience"). The back cover told us what this book was about, how the author had faced racial discrimination from his comrades. I didn't particularly like anything, nor did I have much information for suggesting improvements. Based on my preferences, I wouldn't read this book.

First Ten review added on March 3, 2022, at 3:25 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sou Hi

Even without this program, I would have sampled this. There is only one rating on Amazon, but the official review from OnlineBookClub and the blurb look good. I'm also interested in the Vietnam War.

I like the war theme. However, the tenses used in the sample are inconsistent. There are also many repetitive details, such as the fact that the author was the only black man in his unit, how he wanted to kill his comrades, or how the VC would spare the black soldiers. I would suggest another round of proofreading to fix these issues. Since the book can't pique my interest, I won't buy it.

Error example: I was in Vietnam, not in the states, yet I am being held responsible for the conduct of people who are ten thousand miles from me? -> The past tense should be used for the whole sentence.

First Ten review added on March 3, 2022, at 1:18 am by Sou Hi.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

brooke oakes

I dont think I would have sampled or read this book outside this program. I didn't find its cover or title fascinating. Also, neither its OBC nor Amazon review appealed to me because the book mentions some of the brutality that occurred during that time period. Springer tells of his experience in the Vietnam war. He shares his experiences as a black serviceman in the war. I liked the characters perspective in this book, but nothing else in the book appealed to me, so I won't complete it. I don't notice any errors in the beginning, while I read. I don't think this book needs any improvement.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 10:14 pm by brooke oakes.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Gabrielle Sigaki

My Enemy in Vietnam by Billy Springer is a non-fiction book that talks about the author's life experiences in the Vietnam War and the racial issues related to it. If I didn't sample this book, I wouldn't read it based on its Official OnlineBookClub review, its genre, its blurb, and its customer reviews since I'm not interested in non-fiction books that talk about wars. After sampling it on the link, I didn't change my mind and I won't read the entire book because of the reason I stated before. Its cover and title didn't affect my decision. Besides, the book doesn't seem professionally edited since I found errors while sampling it. For example, there's a spelling error in "I thought nothing of it other than why everyone was so quite." The author used the word "quite," but the correct is "quiet." Therefore, this book could be improved with another round of editing. However, there's nothing else to improve in this book, and my favorite aspect were the illustrations in it since they evoke strong emotions through the people's expressions.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 9:04 pm by Gabrielle Sigaki.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Gabriella H

I don’t like the book cover because it shows a black person being beaten. The book title and the fact that it's nonfiction, meaning it is about real events that took place during the Vietnam war, also made me weary. I got more insight into the book through the official OBC review, the blurb, and the editorial review. Therefore, I felt I should at least give the book a chance. Based on the first ten pages, I will be completing this book. I was irked by the attitude of the command structure and felt sad that he (Billy Springer) was being mistreated, especially for something he didn’t even know about that happened all the way in the states while he was in Vietnam. I didn’t bother with the customer reviews, as I had already gotten the necessary insight through the OBC official review. If I weren’t a part of this program, I wouldn’t have read this book, as I would’ve skipped it immediately after I saw the cover. I have no suggestions for improvement. I saw a few errors. An example of one such error is “When I return to my unit after hearing of all the civil disturbances in the states, I was full of anger.” (Page 9). Return should have been returned since it happened in the past.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 8:12 pm by Gabriella H.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Mercy Bolo

This book's cover didn't entice me to read it. The OBC review dissuaded me when it mentioned that the author narrates his experience as a black soldier during the Vietnam war. That storyline doesn't appeal to me, so I won't read the rest of the book. When I read the first ten pages, I liked that the author revealed that he was used to the silent treatment from his colleagues since the command structure showed every black man disrespect. I will conclude that the text underwent professional editing since I spotted no errors. There's nothing I disliked about the bit I read, and I wouldn't change anything about it.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 6:06 pm by Mercy Bolo.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Rosemary Owolabi

Had I not actually sampled the first ten pages as part of this program, I would have chosen to read this book based on the cover, title, genre, blurb, customer reviews, and editorial reviews. Because I trust what customers say about a book and the ratings they give it, I will use their reactions to the book to determine whether it is a good book or not.And whether to buy it or not,

I couldn't sample it on the link given. The link took me to different links. There was no link to sample it on Amazon, only links to purchase it. I couldn't read the first ten pages of this book because I couldn't see the Amazon sample version anywhere.

I will buy the book to read the whole story because the title seems intriguing and worth reading.

The book had an official OnlineBookClub that I saw. But this didn't affect my decision.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 1:54 pm by Rosemary Owolabi.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Soraya Bayah

There are no samples to read about this book. Nonetheless, I would not pick up this book solely from the title, cover, or genre, as I do not feel a strong attraction to any of them. The description is interesting as well as the reviews, especially OBC. It seems like a short read meant to give people insight into the insides of the war that occurred, and I appreciate stories of minorities being told. I am even eager to know what a dark-skinned person had to deal with in that time period. Still, as the book is only available in a paperback edition, I will have to skip it but will consider it if it receives an ebook. I cannot say if the book has errors or if I enjoyed reading the sample, as it is not available.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 1:52 pm by Soraya Bayah.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kaitlyn Canedy

If My Enemy in Vietnam hadn't been the OnlineBookClub's book of the day, I would have skipped the sample of it. Books about war are not my favorite books, which is the impression I got from the title. However, I decided to read it because of the description on Amazon.com. I liked that the author was open with his thoughts about his mistreatment in Vietnam; his supervisors and colleagues treated him poorly. I am skipping the book, however, because the mindset of the author is one that I am not comfortable reading about. There is a grammatical error in the second sentence after the start of the first chapter- "I thought nothing of it other than why everyone was so [quite]." The only suggestion I have for improvement is to make a few pages available to sample on Amazon.com. There are two official OnlineBookClub reviews for this title, but I did not need to read them to know that this book was not for me. If a reader likes reading books about the harsh experiences of racism during wars, they may like this book.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 1:16 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Sarah_Khan

The cover of this book definitely grabs your attention. The title is average. After reading the Amazon blurb, I would not have sampled this book because I am not interested in reading stories that involve war. I thought the illustrations were a cool addition, but I think there should have been paragraph breaks. I did also notice inconsistencies with the verb tenses used (e.g. However, it backfired because the Vietcong would let the black point man pass, and once he is out of danger, they would open up on the white boys big time!) The official OBC review was mostly positive, but it did mention editing mistakes. The other comments and reviews I saw also mentioned that this book did not seem professionally edited. For this reason, I will not be reading the rest. My one suggestion for the author is another round of editing.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 11:27 am by Sarah_Khan.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

gen_g

Just from the title illustration, I think that the book is a memoir of sorts, detailing the author's experience in the Vietnam War. I also want to mention here that the cover illustration should be reworked – it is quite obvious that the cover illustration seems to be cobbled together from a programme like Paint. In other words, a reworking of the illustration is needed in order for the book to seem more professional, which will also attract more potential readers. As I am not in the market for non-fiction, I would not have sampled it. I did come across two positive OBC reviews, in fact. However, the presence of OBC reviews (whether positive or negative) generally do not have the power to influence my decision to sample because I find that 400 words (or perhaps slightly more) is insufficient to have any real discussion about the book, which I can use to make my decision whether to sample the book or not. Unfortunately, there are also a couple of errors present. One of these errors can be found on the first page of the chapter titled "Race Issues", where there is a spelling error: instead of "...why everyone was so quite...", it should be "...why everyone was so quiet...". Therefore, I suggest more editing, because I expect error-free reads from anyone who wants to publish. Honestly, I cannot pick out something that I like, because after sampling, I feel that the author is rambling, and it is difficult to follow the thread of the author's thoughts on paper. For example, when the author is talking about his surprise upon realising that the Vietnamese even kept up with news from the United States, he then starts talking about freedom (as well as what constitutes freedom), before moving on to how his anger was so great that he nearly wanted to kill everyone that was in the mess hall. I suppose one could label this type of writing as a type of "stream of consciousness", but I think otherwise. The author should be reworking this book to better organise it – the writing is very messy at the moment. I think it is clear that I will not be buying the book today.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 11:23 am by gen_g.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Jorge Leon Salazar

The cover and title are striking and consistent with the story. The cover image makes you reflect since the black man is along with the Vietnamese. In addition, they are observing a violent action. I think interested readers should be drawn to this cover-title combination. In general, I like books about historical wars as they usually convey lessons to learn. The blurb expresses this book tells the author's experience in the Vietnam War. He wrote it to expose the racial problems that were never seen in the news. He had to constantly watch his back from men who wore the same uniform he does. The only customer review is flattering. Based on these elements, I might give this book a try. What was available from this book to sample was scarce, but it gave you a clear idea of the focus of the book and the author's perspective. It is impressive that in a war you feel that your own companions are your enemies. It causes curiosity to know the reasoning and feelings of the author to not find a relation between the Vietnam War and the demonstrations in the United States. Plus, it is interesting to know how the author's daily experiences were while he lived with the Vietnamese who even called him "soul brother." The official OnlineBookClub review indicates the author presents a different perspective of what it was like to be a black military man in the Vietnam War. Simultaneously, a battle for civil rights was roaring in the United States. As for the editing, in the little I sampled, I did not see any error or typo. However, as indicated in the official OBC review, the book has several details to correct. Overall, I didn't see anything that I believe could be improved. The theme and focus of the book appealed to me, but there was little available to sample. Therefore, I would prefer not to read the rest of the book in the near future.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 11:06 am by Jorge Leon Salazar.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Rodel Barnachea

Upon reading the title’s official OnlineBookClub review and Amazon page, I opted not to acquire the historical non-fiction book. I believe that this book tells a true story that is important to the history of the USA. However, I am not American, so I don’t think this piece of history has a huge impact on me. I am also not Black nor part-Black, so I am further unaffected by the title's implications. Honestly, I am not surprised to learn that there is racism in the military, especially in the times when Americans are campaigning for the civil rights of Black people. Sampling the book did not change my mind. I would not acquire it because nothing in the text compelled me to peruse the remaining chapters of the title. The Amazon sample includes four illustrations (with each illustration taking up one page), the first chapter (”Race Issues”), the second chapter (”The Riots”), and the third chapter (”’Militant’ Black GIs”). What I liked most is when the captain and the major officer explained how the author’s conduct could set back the civil rights movement in the states. I noted some errors in the sample:

1 — The sentence “Why whites do not obey the law and are not punished?” is grammatically and structurally incorrect. We can rewrite this as “Why can whites not obey the law without getting punished?”

2 — The sentence “It was difficult for me to understand how a black man can be held responsible for the behavior of other blacks more than ten thousand miles away from one another.” was repeated twice on two different pages. While this is not a strict error, I believe that an editor would avoid having to repeat a sentence word-for-word.

Since I only identified one strict error and one minor error, the book still seems professionally edited. I have nothing to suggest to the author.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 5:41 am by Rodel Barnachea.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Emy Katherine

Although both the title and the cover caught my attention, I would not have read the book based on the genre and customer reviews. The book had no editorial reviews, but I appreciated the detailed Amazon blurb. Throughout his 56-page book, the author shares his real-life experiences as a black soldier during the Vietnam War. The first five chapters were short, and I appreciated the author's honest, conversational tone. I also liked the black-and-white illustrations included in the story. However, I honestly had a hard time reading the first chapter, "Race issues," as the author highlighted how he experienced racial discrimination within his unit. For this reason, I will not read the rest of this touching story. The OBC review was informative but did not change my mind. I would also suggest another round of editing; I found some errors and did not like the repetition of some phrases in different chapters. For example, it should be written "in the States" in the following sentence: "I was in Vietnam, not in the states." (Chapter 1, page 1) Considering the Kindle version is not available on Amazon, I would suggest that the author make it available to motivate the reader to buy the book.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 5:16 am by Emy Katherine.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Eunice Geres

I wouldn't have checked the sample if it weren't on BOTD because the book cover doesn't seem like something that would interest me. After reading the blurb and official review, I'm still not interested in the story, even though the book offered a story I had never heard of before. There was no sample available on Amazon, but I found a sample of the book on Google Books. Unfortunately, the sample there doesn't have a page number. I found the first grammatical mistake in the second sentence of the 'Race Issues' chapter. The author wrote, "... Everyone was so quite." 'Quite' should be 'quiet.' This book is hard to read, not because it was poorly edited, but because it's full of violence that happened back in the war. Reading these kinds of things is truly sad. Additionally, the black and white illustrations are aptly used to capture the dark, painful, and violent essence of the book. Unfortunately, even though this book evoked emotions out of me, I still won't read it because I truly don't like this kind of emotion. I would recommend having the book checked by an editor to correct the grammatical errors.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 4:28 am by Eunice Geres.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kelyn

Firstly, I read this book back in 2020. The blurb made it sound very interesting, the cover is somewhat shocking, and the title (coupled with the blurb) was intriguing. I did not know of the author then, so that did not affect my decision to read it. I did not find the book/sample on Amazon but on Kobos, and there were no customer reviews to consider. Neither did I see an OBC review on that site. If I had, I would have been interested in what the reviewer had to say. The official OBC review on this site was very complimentary. That gave a good impression going into the sample. I’ve read several books about Vietnam; for some reason, that particular war fascinates me. None of them were written by black servicemen as far as I can remember. Seeing an alternate perspective was interesting. It is beyond me why a black service member would be treated any different from a white one, but perhaps that was just the culture then, given the civil upheaval that was going on in the states at that time. I found it extremely interesting that the Vietnamese people were more supportive of him than those in his own unit (my favorite part was that they were so supportive) and had to applaud the fact that they would let a black point man pass without harm. Not that I’m condoning the killing that went on, but at least he had the support of someone. It’s shameful how our military treated its black service members. The only change I would recommend is another round of editing, as I did find errors in the sample and there were many repetitions of information or sentences in the book. The first error was the second sentence in chapter one! “Pg. 1 – Misused word – “I thought nothing of it other than why everyone was so quite.”
Error: ‘quite’ should be ‘quiet’
Feedback – “I thought nothing of it other than why everyone was so [quiet]

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 2:05 am by Kelyn.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Vidhi Adhikari

The title and cover of this book are quite interesting. I was keen to read this book after reading its description, even though it had very few editorial reviews and no customer rating. After reading the sample, I am sure that I will be finishing this book. There were only a few errors in the first ten pages, which did not negatively impact my reading experience ('The Supreme Court {add apostrophe 's'} decision of 1954 {the '4' should not be bold}). I loved the fact that this book gives an unbiased account of the war and how it means so much more than what we read in the newspaper. I would suggest changing the cover to monochrome style for more impact and to keep it in line with the story.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 1:32 am by Vidhi Adhikari.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Sanju Lali

The title of this book indicated to me that the story in it is based on the Vietnam War. With that idea, I considered reading the OBC official review of this book because I was interested to know more about the Vietnam War. The official review helped me understand that this is a historical book following the experiences of a black American soldier during the Vietnam War. This information intrigued me to read the sample of the book before purchasing it. After reading the first ten pages, I realized that this book was not professionally edited because I found some grammatical errors in the sample. For example, the sentence, “So for three days I heard one horror story after another from other black GIs blamed for the conduct of other blacks in the states." The sentence could have been as follows. “So for three days, I heard one horror story after another from other black GIs blamed for the conduct of other blacks in the states." I liked the author’s idea to bring out this book to highlight how racial decimation was going on even in Vietnam War. To my dismay, I found that the author had not shared all the necessary details to give a clear picture of the ground situation in the Vietnam War. More elaboration on what the whites were saying to the blacks would have given a clearer picture. I would suggest the author for a round of professional editing and look at the shortcomings listed above. After looking at all these aspects, I decided not to purchase and read this book today. I will wait until the author looks at my suggestions so that while reading this book, I can get clear insights about the ground situation in Vietnam War.

First Ten review added on March 2, 2022, at 1:22 am by Sanju Lali.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Jennifer Garcia 555

I would probably not pick this book to read based on the title. I do not like to read war stories. After reading two official OnlineBookClub reviews, I realized that this book was more about the racial injustice faced by the author. I like how the author focuses on how well he was treated by the people from Vietnam, and how poorly he was treated by his fellow G.I.'s. I was unable to access any sample pages to read, but the review stated that the book had numerous editing errors. My suggestion for improvement would be to have it professionally edited. Based on the reviews and the description of this book, readers that enjoy historical fiction and war stories would enjoy this. I do not usually enjoy historical fiction or war stories so I will pass on this book.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 8:42 pm by Jennifer Garcia 555.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Hazel Arnaiz

The cover and title did not catch my eye. The blurb says it is an account about Vietnam War, and there is an enthusiastic customer review. I seldom read memoirs. Hence I will skip this outside the program. After sampling, I appreciate that it is an eye-opening account of Vietnam War racial issues from the perspective of a black American veteran. I also like the idea of adding illustrations. However, I did not find the story compelling enough to finish the book. Also, as of writing, I only find paperback versions. I am uncertain if this applies only to my location. But I suggest having an e-book format available. Other than this, I have no other recommendation. There are editing issues from the sampled pages. But the sample does not have location or page numbers. So, I will mention the chapter title as a reference. Here are some examples.

Chapter: Race Issues. Spelling. “Quite” does not seem to fit in this context. Consider using “quiet.”

I remember waking up one morning and going to breakfast; nobody spoke to me. I thought nothing of it other than why everyone was so [quite].

Chapter: Race Issues. Spelling. “Conversion” does not seem to fit in this context. Consider using “conversation.”

They never even acknowledged that I was threatened or was in any danger whatsoever. I then told them that our [conversion] is pointless.

Likewise, the official OnlineBookClub reviews are equally insightful. But I will skip this one.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 6:38 pm by Hazel Arnaiz.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Amy Luman

I don’t like to read or hear about war. (I know it’s like being an ostrich with your head in the sand.) Nothing about this book appealed to me. The reviews, including the OBC reviews, were uninteresting, the blurb was uninteresting, and so was the title. The cover did intrigue me, but only for the art value. I understand that it’s a billboard in Saigon. I’m not going to buy the book; what I read was enough for me. I didn’t notice any errors. Neither could I really think of anything that I liked or of any improvements to suggest.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 3:58 pm by Amy Luman.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Chinazo Anozie

Based on the title, cover, description, genre, customer reviews, and the official OnlineBookClub review, I knew that I would not be interested in this book. I am not a fan of non-fiction, so I will not buy and read this book. However, the author did a great job recounting his experience in the Vietnamese war. His account is very important and is sadly not the popular version of this historical event. I was horrified at the amount of racism he experienced at the hands of his fellow soldiers. I’m glad he decided to share his story with the world.

I think this book would benefit from another round of editing because there were some errors. An example from page two is provided as follows: “When I return[ed] to my unit after hearing of all the civil disturbances in the states [States], I was full of anger.”

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 3:38 pm by Chinazo Anozie.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Yvonne Monique

The book cover is a confusing mix of images that would not make me pick this book up if I would see it in a bookstore. However, the customer reviews, blurb and OBC review give a thorough and positive description of the book and make this book sound worthwhile. I was looking forward to reading the sample but, unfortunately, the link on the OBC page only took me to the bookshelves page and did not offer a sample. I checked the American as well as the Spanish Amazon website, but no free sample seems to be offered for this book. Therefore, as an improvement I would suggest to offer a free sample for future readers. In any case, I have decided to buy the book as the OBC review mentioned that this is a short book based on real events. It will let me learn more about the Vietnam War.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 3:15 pm by Yvonne Monique.

Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!

Kajori Sheryl Paul

'My Enemy in Vietnam' is written by Billy Springer. In this book, Springer talks about his time in Vietnam. The book starts off with the description of unwarranted discrimination against the Black's in the army. I like the way the author told the story of his time in Vietnam from the perspective of racism. I found some errors. For example, it should have been "quiet" instead of "quite" in "..why everyone was so quite.." I truly wish the editing could be improved as there were too many errors in the shirt sample. I cannot think of anything else that I would change. Based on the cover, title, genre, blurb, editorial reviews, and customer review, I would have read the book as I like reading war stories. However, I have decided to give this book a skip after reading the first ten pages. This is because there are too many errors.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 2:54 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Laura Ungureanu

I'm not a fan of war stories, so the book's appearance, blurb, and reviews couldn't persuade me. I noticed an OBC review, but it didn't affect my decision. I only sampled this book because of this program. The author experienced racism while he was thousands of kilometers away from America. He tells his stories with honesty while offering a unique perspective on the Vietnam war. You can't help but feel sorry for what he had to experience. If I could recommend something it would be to add paragraphs. The text is too crowded and it made reading the book feel like a chore. The book needs more editing, as I did find some errors. The wrong tense is used in "When I return to my unit after hearing of all the civil disturbances in the states, I was full of anger." This book is not for me because I don't like war stories and I don't read memoirs, so I will stop reading here.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 2:40 pm by Laura Ungureanu.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda

The book is hard to find. It's either not available in the links provided in the "Bookshelves" section or it is, but there's no sample. I only found a sample in the following link: https://books.google.at/books?id=fIvlDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false.
My first suggestion would be to make the book and the sample easier to find, because no one likes jumping through hoops just to access something that, for example, Amazon makes easily available just with one click. I couldn't find the "Look Inside" option on the Amazon link.
Anyway, the cover is violent, but I think that's the point. The blurb makes a controversial premise, which makes it attractive. I only dislike that it has an editing mistake, which makes me think that the book will be poorly edited. In any case, I'm not American, and I wasn't even alive during the Vietnam war, so I didn't see anything on the evening news, as the author says. I find it hard to relate to the topic, which is why I wouldn't have bought it based on my first impressions, despite the high ratings it has on Amazon.
The first ten pages didn't change my mind. I like the honesty of the narrative. I think it takes bravery to admit that you've seriously contemplated murder. Some insights of the author are life lessons that we can apply in many situations. For example, how he mentions the only thing we can control in a disastrous situation is our temper. On the downside, I find it too repetitive. The author repeats over and over that he shouldn't be paying the consequences of what was happening back home. I understand this is an important point, but it makes the narrative monotonous. Also, I find it incongruent that a person that's complaining (and rightfully so) about the use of racial slurs, use the slur "redneck" (i.e. "They thought nothing of beating down any redneck who disrespected them.") Because I don't like the narrative tone and I don't find the topic relatable, I decided not to read the book. The official OBC review didn't change my mind. There are some editing mistakes. For example, when the author says "I thought nothing of it other than why everyone was so quite." I think he meant "quiet." The website doesn't provide a page number, but this quote is on the first page of the first chapter, titled "Race Issues." Several times he says "the states" as an abbreviation of the United States, so "States" should be capitalized. I suggest fixing these editing problems and the one in the blurb.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 1:55 pm by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

AntonelaMaria

Judging by the blurb and the title, this is not a book for me. I don't enjoy reading books about the war. There is only one review on Amazon. It didn't change my mind. But the Official OnlineBookClub review is more informative and helpful. After reading the sample, I haven't changed my mind. While I'm glad that this book gives a different perspective on the war stories, I'm not intrigued enough to continue reading. I like the drawings that are included. I would improve formatting and add page numbers by the chapters. In the sample, I couldn't figure out the pages either. I noticed some errors. The first one is in the second sentence of chapter one. "I thought nothing of it then why everyone was so quite." The word quite should be quiet. I would add the ebook version to the retail sites. Because even if I decided to read this book, I wouldn't pick it up in the paperback.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 1:51 pm by AntonelaMaria.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Bertha Jackson

I am undecided about this book. There is no sample to read, and I usually would not have selected this book based on the cover, title, and genre because I am not fond of books about the Vietnam War. The blurb does not have enough information to make me want to read the book. There are no editorial reviews and only one customer review that did not impact my decision. The OnlineBookClub review reveals that this book has not been professionally edited. For me, this is inexcusable in a short book like this one. I recommend that the author provide a brief sample of the book to give potential readers an idea about his writing style. I would only consider buying and reading this book because it is the BOTM. However, I will not purchase and read this book today.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 11:17 am by Bertha Jackson.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Kira Bonita Reece

I was not able to sample the first ten pages of this book, but the official online book club review was quite informative. This seems like an intriguing memoir that exposes racism in the Vietnam War. I would choose to read this book based on the blurb,title and the cover. However, because I wasn't able to sample the book, I don't think I can commit to reading it. I would suggest that the author or publisher provide this book in an ebook format for persons not able to buy a hardcopy.

First Ten review added on March 1, 2022, at 10:07 am by Kira Bonita Reece.

Do you plan to read the whole book? No

Total ~ 19%

My Enemy in Vietnam earned a score of 19%.

In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 19% plan to read the whole book.

IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.

Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.

Go to main Bookshelves page for My Enemy in Vietnam