Thoughts on Bad Reviews

So is honesty really the best policy on reviews? 

This is something I have been thinking about for a very long time and I have seen reviews that are so bad that I have come very close to not reading reviews from readers as all it does is make me wonder what is truly wrong with the book for the reviewer to trash it so bad? Is the storyline bad? Is the author not clear on what they are trying to convey to the reader? 

Questions just swirl around me as I think about why I should or shouldn't read the book that is being dragged through the mud with the author being dragged along right behind it. Now with that being said I do once in awhile not even read the reviews of the books as I would rather just read the blurb and if it sounds like it might be something I would like then I read the book.

Reviews from other readers sometimes get to be too critical to the point where I would sit and think about if I wanted to even read the book which really shouldn't be that way as I remember when I was growing up there was no social media for books and I would just read the books if the story struck a chord in me - there were no reader reviews to pour over and give me pause of do I really want to read this book or move on to something else. I just read the book if it sounded great and moved on to the next book. 

So getting back to this honesty thoughts on reviews. 

Too much honesty can hurt an author - this is an interesting concept really as everyone wants to be honest on reviews but there can be honesty but not "drag the author through the hot coals by their toes" honesty! If you are a reader doing this to an author by being mean spirited and just want to rant on a review because the book just did not work for you then shame on you. 

I have literally seen readers go on rants through a review - it happens more often than not - I have seen readers cussing a blue streak on the reviews as well just going off on the author. There is no cause in doing that as when doing reviews all that is basically needed in a review is saying what you liked or didn't like about the book. There is no need to go off on a ranting streak of why you didn't like the book - it is no use at all to other readers as readers will more than likely shy away from the book because they get it in their heads that since the one person(s) didn't like the book and was ranting about it then the book must be bad so there is no sense for them to read it either. 

I literally saw this about two weeks ago on Goodreads - I kid you not - a reader gave a bad review on a book and the first person that jumped on there said that after reading the review then they were not going to read the book either. Now interesting enough that book has received quite a few four and five star reviews, but just because a reader didn't like it then another reader decided it wasn't for them either. That reader let someone else make a decision for them of why the book shouldn't be read instead of making up their own mind by reading the book themselves.  

This is a wrong way of looking at it because not all readers are the same - everyone is different with how they read books. So my thoughts on what should be done on a review of a book that a reader doesn't like is that they should put some sort of disclaimer at the bottom of the review that would read something like this: "I did not care for this book, but just because I didn't like it doesn't mean that the next person will not like it - it's just not for me."  Readers can be nice about it if they calm down when they write their reviews.

This is probably why so many authors struggle to get their work noticed as these antics that the readers pull on their reviews because if the reviews are bad then no one is going to want to read the books. All reviewers need to be mindful of how they do their reviews because the books that we all read would not be here on this earth if if wasn't for authors.

Now on the other hand if you are an author/reader and you go into a rant dragging the author over the hot coals shame on you twice fold.  Now this might get sticky but I am just going to stick it out there anyway as it needs to be said. 😊

This leans more toward respect if anything as in my honest opinion authors are truly a rare breed and I would think that they should stick together, but that is not always the case with reviews I have seen. Authors tend to be sometimes more critical because well "they are authors" so they look at things differently and they look at books from an authors viewpoint, but that doesn't mean that they should be raking the author over hot coals of the book they didn't like either. 

There is a way to give a review without "ripping the heart out" of an author as the author that is doing the "ripping" wouldn't want to be on the other end of the "ripping" so when giving out reviews you can be honest but not "heart ripping" honest. 

My thoughts on how I am when writing a review. For one thing I am not a "heart ripper". If I do not like a book I will just say what didn't work for me or just say what was wrong with the book as not everyone sees or feels the same way about a book. I just think that a review needs to be told in a way that will leave other readers maybe wanting to try the book for themselves.

So the moral of the story on these thoughts are:

Try to be nice on reviews as it is truly not that hard on giving out thoughts on how you feel but while the review is being written think of how the person on the other end is "feeling" while reading the review. Also ask yourself these questions while you are writing the review too. Is my review going to be the one that makes or breaks an author? Is my review going to make readers pick up the book or turn away from the book? Does my review reflect what I feel without dragging the author's work through the mud?  

Think about the reviews as you write them as you are in control of your thoughts when writing up the review, but do it in such a way that makes other readers want to try out the book because if the review is written in such a way that makes the book look bad then there will be those select few that will not want to read the book as those readers are usually the ones that rely on the reviews to help them make their decision. Those readers do not think for themselves - they only go by what other readers say in their reviews. 

For you readers that rely on others to make your decisions stop being a follower and be a leader in reviews as a great review always helps not only the author but other readers that want to read the book or books. 

So those are my thoughts on bad reviews. 

Happy Reading Everyone!