I never think twice about reviewing a product. Want to know what I think of my Honda Hybrid? I love it. Want to know what how the pistol-grip Dremel works? It doesn't. But books are something else entirely. Reviewing a book is hard for me because I really hate to hurt people's feelings and I know that even people who write really, really bad books work hard at them and send them off into the world believing they are wonderful.
On the other hand, if a book is chock full of ghastly grammar, plodding plotlines or atrocious alliteration, shouldn't other readers be warned before plunking down their money?
You may (or may not, depending on what loops you are on) have heard the bruhaha about a certain author who went so far as to track down the personal information (name, address, family names, etc) of a woman who gave her book a mere three star review on Amazon. That's after chastising the reviewer in the comments section of the review and recruiting people to vote that the review (three stars, remember, not one) be removed as abusive. And there are other authors, rather famous ones, in fact, who are also known to "game the system" by having friends go in and post 5-star reviews whenever negative reviews pop up.
I rarely read Amazon reviews because for the most part I find them utterly useless. Unless I am trying to get a plot summary, of course, in which case, there's always back matter masquerading as a review by "Harriet Klausner." I do read Janice Harayda's One Minute Book Reviews, though she mostly doesn't review genre fiction, so I rarely read the books she examines. She does, however, do wonderful children's book reviews on Saturdays, where I collect present ideas for my various nieces and nephews.
John Connolly said something about reviews that's stuck with me now for over two years:
I can’t remember the good things that were said about my books because, in some deep, dark place inside of me, I didn’t quite believe them and so they didn’t stick in my memory. I can, by contrast, probably recite sections of the bad reviews verbatim. They stung because in another deep, dark place inside of me, I believed that they might be true.
(March, 2006--as with most things he writes, the whole post is worth reading, especially the chunk on bland reviews and internet reviewing)
So today, as I was about to add a book to my LibraryThing library and give it a mere three stars, which--for this author--would be a decidedly low mark from me, I started to wonder about whether that author had a LT account, and whether she'd be upset. I still think the book deserves three stars because it's part of a series, and there's far too much focus on stuff that happened earlier in the series, but now I feel a bit awkward. After all, I read Tess Gerritsen's posts about how upsetting she finds bad reviews.
What about you guys? Do you read reviews? Write them? Would getting a negative review upset you more if it were "this book sucks" or if it went into detail about the problems? Is "what a fab book" sufficient praise, or would you prefer more specific compliments?
UPDATE: People asked about the original story for of the Amazon fight, and Dear Author has conveniently posted a timeline.
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11 comments:
I write reviews on my blog and for TitleTrakk.com . In both cases I only review books that weren't so sucky bad that I couldn't find something nice to focus on. I still feel a responsibility to point out possible reasons that readers may not want to pick up that particular book, but if it's too bad- I just don't review it.
Hubby thinks that I should go after the bad books too, but I draw a distinction between book critic and book reviewer. And yeah, it's mostly to avoid hurting the feelings of someone who's worked so hard.
Very thoughtful post, Laura. The Bag Lady doesn't review books because she doesn't feel qualified. (i.e., not smart enough!)
She also has never written a book (unless the one she wrote for extra credits in high school counts...and she got a reasonably good review from the one person who read it and graded it...)
She can understand how upsetting a bad review would be, but would definitely want to know what the reviewer felt was wrong with the book.
And this post has guaranteed that she will never, ever review a book on Amazon or anywhere else for that matter...doesn't want some pissed-off, grief-crazed author tracking her down and beating her up with a hard-cover book!
My comment's long, but I also write reviews under the name Henway at Fantasy Bookspot which includes Mystery, Scifi, Comic, and Horror BookSpots as well. (www.fantasybookspot.com) I've taken a hiatus, but I'm working on a new one to break my retirement right now, and these concerns are close to my heart.
First: Even though reviews can make writers of books AND reviews queasy, I think it's the best way besides excerpts to get a look inside the cover. With nearly 80,000 titles produced last year, readers are anxious to know how to find stuff they'll like. They're willing to try new authors, but they're overwhelmed by the stacks, so they tend to stick the same, safe 31 flavors we see apprearing even beyond their freshness dates. I don't blame readers for that. I do it, too.
That's why handselling still makes such a difference. In this vaccuum of comprehensive, trustworthy info, some review forums and givers have sprung up which are simply backpats with sugar on top. But I think a reader you fool into buying you once won't be back for more, will defame you to friends, and most of us are trying to develop actual careers and loyal readership. Reviews- from whatever media- are therefore important, but I wish good writers would get less squeamish about writing them, because they'd be a lot more compassionate and accurate, I think. I want -- not the rightly-reviled 'honest opinion'-- but a reasonably fair characterization of the book's experience in tone, pace, and approach, so I know if it fits my speed or even just my current mood.
I don't want to waste enough time finishing lousy books to review them. I don't get any evil thrill out of not liking them, and I wouldn't deliberately trash them. I just don't write it, and I do feel that's a slight reader disservice, too, but I have my limits. As a reviewer, I'm always trying to try to find ways to say, "If you're a reader who likes..." I think accurate characterization of my experience is the most important thing to communicate, and other readers will know if my nitpicks apply to their likes or if those aspects don't matter to them. If I say a book is awesome for readers who like blood-soaked slasher goodness and the author thinks it's for people who like humanistic self-reflection, well, no harm intended. May we agree to disagree?
Like Wordvixen, I won't review it unless I think the author executes something (someone) well, but you're probably never going to get a 'perfect', hind-lathering review from me unless it's only a sentence long, "Improve your existence by reading this book immediately!"
I know bad reviews do really upset some authors, so I'd advise, like actors, that they avoid reading their notices if that's so. Their agents and publisher, who are also very experienced readers, believed in the book. You have to hope your readers will find you. Some writers seem to get a kick out of bad reviews, find them occasionally useful, and even laugh at or promote the bad ones. It's how you're wired, I guess. Dare to scroll down accordingly.
I find reviews helpful when they're from trusted voices whose tastes I understand or from a large enough aggregate of people I can identify common threads. I know that I have certain picayune peeves, and a highlight of those in what might be seen as an overall good review can turn me off a book. But that's fair and I appreciate it. If it's not a book I'll enjoy or recommend, I shouldn't be bamboozled into buying it. Sometimes excerpts decide it for me. Sometimes the writing's too darned interesting to resist. I love posted excerpts!
The low-information snowjob on some books DOES make me irritated and vengeful, however, and I DO highlight as a reviewer when the marketing effort so obscures the real nature of the book that I know readers (like me) will be expecting something completely different. I have no compunction giving a smackdown to a book that's running a bait-and-switch, and I'll try to highlight the kind of experience I think it really is, cover art and back blurbs aside.
Whew- Your fault, Laura. You put the nickel in : )
wordvixen -
I'm interested in the fact that you review for TitleTrakk. Does the fact that it's a Christian book outlet have an effect on your reviews? I know when I reviewed software for an academic computing lab, the way I thought about software was very different than it is now that I am a single user.
baglady -
As I said on Tess Gerritsen's site, it never even occurred to me to use my real name reviewing on Amazon. Even before this whole scandal erupted, there was just too much animosity over there!
Clare -
I thought you might have rather a lot to say on this subject and almost emailed you and asked you to write a post on it, but then I figured I'd just drop in my two cents and let you play later on if you wanted. Once you get started doing your reviews again, we should put a link to them.
I, too, love excerpts, and use them frequently whenever I do a review. Of course the one Amazon review I got totally slammed for (by some anonymous person who was probably the author and/or publisher in disguise) was a scant two or three sentences of my own followed by a huge excerpt. So I guess you can't please everyone.
I hope someday to know what it feels like to get a review--good or bad!
Elaine, good point! So does the Bag Lady - if she can ever get beyond the third paragraph where she's stuck now. Sigh. Perhaps she should send it to Clare and have her review it...
Elaine - I am sure they will all be good!
Bag Lady - at least you probably won't take it personally...you already refer to yourself in the impersonal third person! Hehehehe
That's Crabby and my cousin, Leah's fault! Damn them :)
It's starting to have an effect on me, too...I've even started thinking of myself in the third person...just call me Eve...
bag lady- I'll happily review paragraphs. Will 600 words on the subject be sufficient? I am, after all, a blatherer.
So few? :)
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