Why I Write Negative Reviews
Negative reviews? GASP! How could I, a book lover and writer, ever write a bad review for a book? Authors hate them, and I get it. You don’t want to read about the fact that someone didn’t enjoy your life’s work…but here’s the thing: not everyone has the same taste.
Storytime
So before I tell you why I write negative reviews, let me tell you a story. A few weeks ago, I get an email from author X, asking me to read their book. It’s an NA book, so I thought I would give it a shot and BUY the book because NA is a genre that needs more love and support.
Author X also asked that I give them a chapter by chapter analysis, something that I don’t normally do (because who has the time?). As a blogger, I feel like I’ve already gone above and beyond. I bought your book for $5, which is R75 for me, and now I’m giving you an in detail analysis, a service I do not provide without payment (when I beta read or edit).
So I gave them my analysis of the first chapter, which was that the writing style was way too formal for the way the characters spoke and it felt weird to read. As a side note, I asked if her first language was English because mine is not English either and I recognized the similarities between our writing styles. We tend to write more formal, there’s nothing wrong with it, it was just interesting to see the same style.
Here comes the rant, brace yourselves
Apparently this caused offence, and I was promptly told not to bother reading the book any further, I was unfollowed on Instagram and asked not to post a review below five stars on Goodreads.
First of all, my dude, offence is taken. I did not mean to offend them, and I apologized multiple times. But if YOU want to be offended, go right ahead. Secondly, YOU WILL NOT TELL ME WHAT TO READ. I will read your dumb book if I want to, and I will put it down when I want to BECAUSE I PAID MONEY FOR IT. Author X continued to hound me on Instagram even after they unfollowed me, because every time I posted about reading another book, they would ask if I was finished with their book.
DUDE, NO. I am allowed to read multiple books at once because I can do what I want. (I’m so salty about this, sorry for the RANT).
Thirdly, I can understand that authors don’t want reviews below three stars on Goodreads or Amazon. But asking people not to post reviews below 5 stars is just a little petty. It overhypes the book and will leave people more disappointed, plus you’re squishing people’s opinions. If you had given me the book for free, yeah I won’t post it. BUT I bought your book, so I am entitled to my opinion.
I paid you, and you were absolutely rude to me. PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO LIKE DIFFERENT THINGS MY DUDE. This is not how you treat someone who bought your book and owes you absolutely nothing. And if I were not so against starting drama, I absolutely would have called you out on Instagram, and Goodreads. Your attitude made me DNF your book, and you can bet I will be leaving a review for a book I paid for on my blog. (Tiny disclaimer: I LOVED all the books in the photo below).
Negative Reviews
So the whole point of my story was that this incident made me reconsider how I write negative reviews. Because I have written DNF reviews before. I did some research on Instagram and the general consensus was: WRITE NEGATIVE REVIEWS.
This post will thus not debate the whole “should we write negative reviews”, because the answer is yes. We should write them.
How we write them is a different story.
Writing Negative Reviews
Here’s how I write mine. I will never, ever, be mean in a review. Sure, I’ll highlight the pro’s and con’s of the book, and I will never discourage anyone to read the book. And I understand that people’s tastes vary. I might not like a book (example anything by SJM) but it could be a lot of people’s favourite book. So I won’t tell you not to read it, in fact, I will encourage you to read it because you might love the book.
Unless the book is majorly problematic, I won’t post the review on Goodreads if below three stars. However, I reserve the right to post on my blog. Do you know why? Because I pay R480 for the hosting, so you will not tell me what to do here. This blog is my safe space, I pay the hosting, therefore I will post what I want.
Why I Write Negative Reviews
Integrity, mostly. That has always been one of the values I refuse to compromise on. If I did not like the book, I cannot in good conscience give it four or five stars. What kind of reviewer does that make me? How will people trust my reviews if I just like everything? Yes, most of my reviews are 4 stars, and I don’t always review every book I read (I will do a separate post on how I select my review reads), but I don’t like every book I read.
And I will voice my opinion on my blog.
Let’s Chat
How do you write negative reviews? What’s your take on all my drama? 
I’m sorry you had that experience, it would of rubbed me up the wrong way too so I totally understand your reaction. I agree with writing negative reviews, otherwise people won’t get an honest view of a book before they decide to pick it up. As you said something I don’t like might be something other people love, for example love triangles, and therefore make them actually want to read a book I didn’t like because of this. I will always post an honest review of books no matter the rating on Goodreads however, unless it’s an ARC I received for review I generally don’t post a full review of books under 3 stars on my blog. Instead I summerise them in a mini reviews post and link back to my Goodreads review. Everyone has their own opinions on negative reviews, I find it quite na interesting topic to discuss so thank you for your post.
Gemma @ Gemma’s Book Nook
That sounds like a terrible experience, I’m sorry the author behaved that way. I’m a huge believer in writing your honest opinions (as long as you’re not attacking or being mean, just giving opinions).
You should definitely not be mean when giving your opinion, that’s doing it wrong.
That is absolutely horrible! I am continually disgusted by the lows that some authors will go to (and some bloggers, as well. I know it’s not just one side or the other). And to harass you like this after you paid for the book…that’s extremely rude.
I feel guilty a lot of times posting negative reviews because I just want so badly to like every book I read. But as bloggers, we have a right (and a responsibility) to post negative ones, as well as positive ones. If nobody posts the negative, someone buying this book (like you said) is going to think that it’s fantastic because all they see are 4 or 5 star reviews.
Great post and I am sorry for your experience. Sending you virtual hugs!
I definitely know of a lot of rude bloggers too. Two sides of the same coin. Thank you for the hugs xx
This. “If I did not like the book, I cannot in good conscience give it four or five stars. What kind of reviewer does that make me? How will people trust my reviews if I just like everything?”
You are my favorite person in the entire world today – I adore this post!
Thank you DJ!
Great post. I’m always careful about what I pick to read. Genres I love , authors I love. I have found that some self published authors are quite sensitive as they haven’t had editors and publishers critiquing their work. Bloggers need to be honest or you lose all credibility.
You’re so right, ‘not everyone has the same taste’. Some of my favourite books have 1 star reviews on them.
Exactly! I’ve also had the same experience with self-published authors.
Sounds like the author needs to get off their high horse and join the land of the living. Negative reviews happen. People are allowed to write them. If they can’t cope with them they shouldn’t be writing. I write negative reviews. If it’s under three stars I no longer put the review on Amazon but I do on Goodreads. Low and behold anyone who ever tells me how to do my reviews.
Thank you for your post. I totally agree and as a reader I usually read a few 5 star reviews and several of the 3 and 1 star reviews before I buy a book. I know what I like and what to avoid so thank you for your honest reviews.
Wow that’s so crazy. I’m so sorry that happened to you. I also write negative reviews because that was my honest opinion.