Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: I've read better-written cereal boxes

I love historical fiction, and a friend suggested The Puritans to me. Despite my reservations after thumbing through it, I gave it a whirl out of respect for him. I have been sadly disappointed. The writing is stilted and barely literate; I found myself fighting to get through awkward phrasings and junior-high level prose. I could care less about the Christian overtones, though the labored scriptural references are hamfisted at best. For those with an interest in adult-reading-level historical fiction, let me recommend the well-researched and engrossing works of Jeff Shaara, Patrick O'Brian, CS Forester or Gore Vidal. For those unable to stomach occasional depictions of such unrealistic human experiences as sex or violence, perhaps Mr. Cavanaugh's See Spot Run Series fills the bill.