Leave A Bad Book Review: Yes or No?
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I started writing this without a title, not really knowing what I was going to write about . . . but that changed at the end of this sentence.
Caring For Things Is Hard
Love is pain in many ways. Just this week, I’ve recieved news of a family member’s health which is concerning, and that news has justifiably and deeply upset all of my family. I also have a deep love for a little child who just does NOT want to listen, and my oh my has the behavior worsened over the past few weeks.
My family, those I love, are stressed. That stress is born of love. In fact, I’d love to share a personal story with you, which is both sad and adorable; but for the sake of privacy, I’ll simply say that being a father makes people do strange things, beautiful things.
Every bit of meaningful stress surrouning my life is centered around one whom I love. Obviously, and quite expectedly, I want to resolve those stresses overnight, to give comfort to those in need, to give happiness where it is lacking. Those we love deserve peace, and adoration.
Now, what does all of this have to do with book reviews? Well, I’ll tell you. As authors, we love our work, our worlds, our characters who are as real as rain . This love, this work, it causes us to do strange things.
There’s a strong desire for success hidden in the fingertips of every author who dared print their view of the world. Take my toddler. If I were to rebuke a gift, a hand-crafted picture of sorts, a proudly colored image . . . there would be pandomonium.
That’s how an author feels when they write a story and get a negative review. They made something, a special thing, and it was rejected by the hands it touched. It feels all the worse when a negative review lacks anything constructive—which is often.
Add that onto the other authors who condemn another’s work to shine light on their own. Not only was your work rejected, but it was intentionally vivisected as a marketing campaign.
It desn’t feel great, I know.
Should You Leave A Bad Review?
Yes . . . but.
*Insert disclaimer that this is my opinion and I’m not stating anything as fact.*
If every single book only gets good reviews then people will never know if they are interested in the book, right? Well, I tend to disagree. I never read reviews for books. I stopped trusting reviews for media when critical reviews bombed The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers film adaptation.
I pick up a book, read the back, check and see if anyone I enjoy left a quote or a blurb, and then I read the first few pages. If I like the premise and the writing of the first few pages, I get the book. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you the last time I read, or cared to read a book review.
However, there are plenty of people that respect reviews or need the validation of others to consider a purchase, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Perhaps there’s a search for tropes, triggers, or some other storytelling element you really do or do not want, and you want to find that in the reviews—that’s a good way to go about it.
One thing I do tend to consider is the quantity of reviews for the rating it has. I’m more likely to look at something well read, but of the three nonfiction books I’m currently reading, the highest review count among them is 82. So, as you can see, while I’ll look at quantity, it hardly makes a difference for me.
But, once again, and well-read and well-recieved book with tons of reviews is likely to catch someone’s attention, as it should!
But what about the hard-hitting critical review? What about the 500 word condemnation of someone who ARC read?
Here’s my opinion: If you ask someone to ARC read, yuo should expect something honest in return, even if it’s scathing. My personal preference would be give me the harder-to-hear feedback personally if you know me, and just broadly explain what you liked and didn’t in the review, but to each their own. I’d certainly set no requirements on this.
Another opinion on bad reviews from someone who just randomly picked up the book . . . this is the one it seems a lot of people get worked up about. If someone doesn’t ask me to leave a review, the odds of me doing so are exceptionally low. I just stop reading things I don’t care for and move on. I tend not to think so highly of my opinion that I think others will care what I have to say on any given topic.
Still, I’d want a review from everyone I could get, including the bad ones. I’ve had a few people reach out in my DMs with suggestions or things they’d like added (haven’t gotten much of people not liking the book, just that they want more.)
I did get one scathing review, and to be honest, I didn’t respect it for a multitude of reasons—the main one being the missed the dialogue tags of an entire 6,000 word chapter which lead them to accuse me of poor writing by leaning on sexual assault (which, for those who have read the book, know that doesn’t happen.)
Clearly they rushed reading the book, which I confirmed by checking their own public content. It was meant to be rushed, and it was meant to be critical, because it was meant to showcase that person’s work over my own—not a bad tactic, and I don’t hate them for it.
But that scathing review had value. Two things stood out to me in that review. First, that the reader hated the alleged high amount of exposition (telling vs showing). Second, they praised my action sequences saying they wish there was more of that, which showed this reader cared more about action, fight scenes, those big Micheal Bay moments.
Now, for the first point, they were right. I am lucky enough to get the chance to rerelease The Cruelty of Magic with a traditional publisher who acquired the title earlier this year. In doing my edits for that release, my god did I love telling over showing nearly four years ago when I wrote this book. I am genuinely thrilled to show all of you my improvements over these past years.
For the second point, well that’s just not me. I’m here to show a world, meaning, beauty, sadness, history and intrigue. I’m not going to have a huge action sequence every chapter, but you’ll learn some gut-punching information on every page—that I promise.
So, one of the points that scathing review made turned out to be constructive, they just delivered it in a horrible way. The other point just shows that reader isn’t for me. I like Tolkien, Asimov, Stoker, and every philosophical work of literary fiction you can imagine—I like the slow points that boil.
Indeed, even with a scathing review who clearly rushed the job, I was able to take a look at my work and improve. And for what it’s worth, this person was not an ARC reader for me. I didn’t ask anyone to read my book. I put out a sign up sheet and let the internet do what it does best. This person simply chose to buy my book, rush a reading, and critique—and there’s nothing wrong with doing that, if it’s genuine, constructive, and comes from a helpful place.
So, should people take it upon themselves to post a bad review for a book they weren’t asked to read? Yes, if it’s well-intentioned. I’ll never do it because I don’t think anyone cares what I have to say, but others might feel differently.
Review are necessary for authors. Fifty on Amazon means you’re in suggestions, 75 means they will include your title with email blasts, and that’s meaningful.
Reviews are necessary for readers. They help find and avoid tropes, understand writing style and voice, and get an idea of what they are in for. The quantity of reviews can help show someone what the world at large thinks—though that’s often not a great gauge.
Readers should leave reviews, and they should be honest, even if they weren’t asked to read the book, but they should also be well-intentioned.
Condemnation is never constructive, and lessons are rarely learned in mockery. Criticism is never constructive, but feedback delivered from a kind heart can be.