OnlineBookClub.org (www.onlinebookclub.org) has a 4.5 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 105 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Media & Publishing and its reputation is excellent. 85% of reviews are 4 stars or higher and 9% are 1 star; The business has replied to 40% of negative reviews. Last updated 2026-08-12.
I found Aces High to be an emotional and thought-provoking memoir. Penny Hodgson shares her experiences with childhood trauma and explains how those experiences continued to affect different areas of her life as she grew older. What I appreciated most about the book was her willingness to be vulnerable about difficult parts of her past while still focusing on healing, resilience, and moving forward.
The discussion of Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, was especially interesting to me. It helped show that childhood trauma does not simply disappear when someone becomes an adult. Those experiences can affect relationships, emotional health, physical health, and the way a person responds to situations later in life. I thought combining this information with Hodgson's personal experiences made the subject easier to understand.
This book can be emotionally heavy at times. Some of the experiences discussed are painful and may be difficult for readers who have experienced trauma themselves. However, I don't think the book is meant to leave readers feeling hopeless. One of its strongest messages is that although we cannot change what happened in the past, it is possible to understand its effects and work toward healing.
One thing I would have liked was a little more balance between some of the trauma-related information and the personal storytelling. At certain points, there is a lot to process. Still, I think that reflects how complicated trauma and recovery can actually be.
Overall, I enjoyed Aces High and found it meaningful and informative. It gave me a better understanding of how childhood experiences can follow someone into adulthood and why addressing trauma is so important. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in memoirs, trauma recovery, emotional resilience, mental health, or personal growth.
I would rate Aces High 5 out of 5 stars.
I am grateful for reviewers helping me to improve my novel, proofing and story content.
A
Athena · 6 reviews · Experienced 2026-08-10 ·
★★★★★
Unless you have endless time and patience, I would not bother
Website is a bit of a scam and an absolute labyrinth for reviewers.
They assume people are just reading books at a speed that may be unrealistic and then "score" you on how badly you are maintaining their processes.
Then, when you finally review a book, the verification to actually get paid is impossible (I've since resigned from the book club after submitting a review three times to each editor rejecting it for something new) and was never paid for another review I did over 3 months ago. They will send you notifications about not finishing a book fast enough but when it comes to getting paid, there's no notification if you actually need to do anything.
Getting verified apparently appropriately enough requires adding someone on Facebook and paying them or alternatively waiting forever for any kind of response which never actually gets confirmed.
Absolute waste of time unless you are just sitting around with loads of spare time.
They were always there to guide me through the process. I had faith in them from the first step to the last and my faith was not displaced. 237 orders for my book in one day! That is results.
I tell everyone that this is a hobby that doesn't cost me anything. I love to read and to write. Reviewing books gives me the opportunity to get paid for doing what I love.
Excellent service. The staff are very professional and approachable if you have any queries. My Book of the Day promo made me an amazon number one. Results. I'll use them again!
I'm new at writing and had many questions. Valarie, customer service, responded quickly via email to everything I ask. I'm looking forward to getting my review and writing my next novel. I will introduce it through online book club, forsure.
J
Jan Stone · 1 review · Experienced 2026-07-07 ·
★★★★★
Book Of The Day option with Online Book Club
I had a great experience with the Online Book Club's Book Of The Day option. My book received much more focus than it has previously received.
c
cassy wayne · 1 review · Experienced 2026-05-14 ·
★★★★★
Scam company
Scam company, owner scammed many of us don't give payment for work. Also book publishers data is not safe.
OnlineBookClub does it's best to help, support and provide members and readers in progressing their books through the various stages from writing to publishing.
exceeded my expectations. This was supportive. It was fun. It was worthwhile but above all, it accomplished my objective. I needed to get a message out. out. And I did. I am definitely going to recommend Online Book Club to others, readers and writers. It's a remarkable resource, essential for those who have to make the transition from being authors to doing outreach. I can't thank you enough.
I appreciate OnlineBookClub's commitment to connecting readers with authors and encouraging honest, unbiased reviews. It's a community that genuinely promotes thoughtful discussion and helps readers discover books they might otherwise miss.
I used the service in the past which brought me back. The organization has a good reputations, and when I made inquiries I have been responded to. Even reponses from the top.
Signing up for the backup promotion was straight forward. However, even at the discount, it's still expensive on my budget. As a first-time indie author trying to get noticed to make some sales, the promotions costs really add up.
C
Chris · 1 review · Experienced 2026-07-14 ·
★★★★★
The site's reviews become a useless…
The site's reviews become a useless stream of insincere praise, offering no genuine insight into a book's quality. Readers are effectively being lied to.
The practice of paid reviews, as implemented by OnlineBookClub.org, operates on a morally and potentially legally dubious foundation.
By incentivizing positive reviews through payment, the site undermines the principles of honest consumer feedback.
The model blurs the lines between genuine reader opinion and paid advertising, potentially misleading consumers and creating an uneven playing field for authors.
Furthermore, depending on local regulations, undisclosed paid reviews could be considered deceptive advertising, raising legal concerns about transparency and consumer protection.
Reviewers are subjected to shifting and inconsistent grammar rules.
The site selectively enforces style choices to reject reviews deemed undesirable.
English grammar and style allow for multiple valid options regarding commas, hyphens, etc., so there is no single 'correct' way.
This allows the site to arbitrarily allege grammar violations in any review.
It uses grammar not only to ensure correctness but also to exploit flexible language conventions for editorial control.
Reviewers are caught in a double bind: Too little detail about the plot and the review is deemed to provide not enough information about the content of the book.
Too much detail, and it's flagged for spoilers.
This ambiguity allows the site to reject any review that doesn't align with its desired narrative.
The site bases 40% of the review approval on an "Editor's subjective rating." This adds a further, evident level of arbitrariness, meaning reviews can be rejected based on personal opinion rather than objective criteria.
The company are located in the US (Manchester, CT) they are not BBB accredited.
Yet they’ve been in business for 15 years, have a LinkedIn that claims have over 1000 employees and have tons of people writing reviews for them.
Why this company is not accredited and why they are not providing a tax form to their reviewers who are earning high amounts for their reviews, makes no sense…unless there are no people making such high amounts, which would eliminate the need to follow regulation and provide a 1099 form to US based reviewers.
The customer service as my package was rolled out was very good. Good informational emails so I knew when my package was to happen and what I could do with my social media to enhance its effectiveness.
Excellent client service. OnlineBookClub is a highly reliable platform for gaining book exposure. I truly appreciated the welcoming and compassionate support provided by the entire team.
Thank you kindly,
Morquita Leavy
