Last Tuesday night on the way home from work, my car slid on an icy patch and spun into a curb. I was fine, but my car needed some TLC. After the stress of getting towed, calling my insurance company like a billion times (note: they were great), only to end up paying out of pocket, I gave myself the week off from writing and blogging (and anything that costs money).

Instead, I read. I finished MATCHED and WILLOW, and started and finished PEGASUS. All three were pretty good. I wrote more in-depth “reviews” at GoodReads, and that got me thinking…

What is the purpose of a review? What makes a good review vs. a bad review?

(Please note that what follows are my answers, not necessarily the only answers. Also, I am generalizing. There are always going to be exceptions.)

From a reader/consumer’s point of view:

Just because someone doesn’t like something doesn’t make it BAD.

I am awful about remembering that, and I have a tendency to take opposing opinions personally. As if not liking something I like automatically means you are making a value judgment about ME. (“She likes Katy Perry? Oh god, she must be completely unimaginative and tone-deaf!”) But that’s ridiculous. If someone doesn’t like something that I like, it only means ONE thing: That person did not like that thing.

Period.

Again, not liking something does not mean it is BAD. So a review along the lines of “OMG I HATE THIS BOOK IT SUCKS” is neither accurate nor helpful. To ANYONE.

In my opinion, reviews should not attempt to make a value judgment of a book. Because art is subjective. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. {insert additional applicable clichés here}

Instead, reviews should explain how much the reviewer did or did not like the book, and WHY. That way other potential readers can say, “Well, that’s not what I look for in a book, so maybe I will like it,” or “Hmm, that’s exactly the kind of thing I’m reading for, so I better steer clear.”

From a writer’s point of view:

Look, it’s always going to be hard not to take a bad review personally. Always.

But what would be smarter than curling up in a corner and crying, would be to try and learn from the bad reviews. If we assume that everyone is trying to write helpful reviews (as I described above — yes, this is a big, generous assumption) then writers could learn a lot about where they have room for improvement.

That said, There is NO WAY to please everyone. So don’t even bother trying. Learning is good, but losing yourself in the attempt to make everyone happy, is not.

From a compassionate human’s point of view:

Don’t hate; appreciate.

I know you’re mad about how much the book costs, or you think vampires are stupid, or your hardcover had sixteen glaring typos in it. I’m sorry. You’re right, all of that sucks.

But human beings write these books. Human beings like me, and like you! Writers work hard at their jobs, the same as anyone else. We are not trying to type a bunch of crap in a Word doc and have you pay for it. First of all, that just would be wrong, and second, EVERYONE IS WATCHING. I mean, if you do poorly at your job, maybe 10-20 people will find out. If WE do poorly, 10-20 HUNDRED, or THOUSAND, or MILLION people could find out, and they will tell their friends and family, and it will be embarrassing and suck.

I’m not saying you can’t write a negative review. I’m just saying that if/when you do, please try to remember that there are human beings on the other side of your screen — on the other side of that book — doing their best. And their best may not work for you, that’s fine. Just explain why, politely, and move on.

12 responses to “A few thoughts on reviews”