Negative reviews: honest reviewing

A few weeks ago, an author tweeted, asking for reviewers to tag her in bad reviews so she knew what to name the characters she wanted to kill off.

I surprised myself by how much this annoyed me.

I respect the bloggers who only post positive reviews. I love those blogs – my TBR pile may disagree.

That’s not how I run my blog though, for a number of reasons.

My main reason is time. I never decide to review a book that I don’t think I’ll enjoy: I judge the synopsis and if that catches my interest, it makes the reviewing schedule. It is a constant battle ensuring I’ve stayed ahead of reading to be able to post reviews regularly. If the book disappoints me, I don’t have time to find something else for that review slot.

It’s how I run my blog and I’m not going to apologise for that.

But it’s more than just having the time.

I want my reviews to be recommendations. I want people to read a positive review, read the book, and love it. Those who read a number of my reviews will know where my interests lie and what I enjoy. If they have similar feelings about the same books, I’d hope if they came across a book they hadn’t heard of before, they’d trust what I write because of past experience with my reviews.

But that works both ways. If a synopsis has caught my attention – for example, a new fantasy book – then there is a strong chance it will also draw the attention of those with similar tastes. If the book is flawed, the characters weak, trigger-warnings needed etc, why shouldn’t I mention them? Why shouldn’t I warn others the parts I struggled with? I would never tell someone not to read a book – I highlight the areas that didn’t work for me so they can make their own judgement.

I’ve also written several reviews where I’m raving about the book. I’ve absolutely loved it and want to shout that from the rooftops. I like to think that when I post a review like that, people know I am being genuine.

I pride myself on being an honest reviewer – if I love a book, I’ll recommend it. When it’s disappointed me, I let my audience know.

I promote them differently though. When I love a book, I’ll connect with the author, the publisher, RT channels… The works. If I don’t enjoy a book, I won’t. I won’t draw the author’s attention to a less than favourable review. I undermine my own chance for visitors/comments, which is certainly not self-serving.

If you want reviews, you have to accept the bad with the good. Take those comments as a guide as to what is working. I now have no interest in reading that author because, heaven forbid, I might not enjoy the book. Calling out bloggers on negative reviews is wrong.

How do you feel about this? Is it something you have an opinion on either way?

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