This week’s discussion is a topic that genuinely bothers me.
Now, I know that everyone has the books they don’t like. Or even books they actually hate with a passion. And that’s fine.
But what bothers me, is when people hate on those books…
What I mean by “hating on books”
I mean the sort of people who explain their opinions in a really disrespectful and rude way. The sort of people who write negative reviews full of hurtful comments.
Phrases like:
“Why was this book ever allowed to be published?”
“This is the worst book I have ever read in my life.”
“The editors should be sacked for ever allowing this to exist.”
“Please never write another book.”
These are all phrases I’ve actually seen way too often in negative reviews. And when I do see them, it bothers me so, so much.
Negative reviews
Of course, as book reviewers, there will be times where we have to write a negative review. But I just can’t help but think there’s a “right” way to do it.
Just think – that author would have spent years working on that book. The determination they must have had to actually complete an entire novel. The nervousness they would have gone through when handing their work to a publisher, getting the editor’s comments back, actually having other people read their words.
So I don’t understand how people can hate on books. How can people say such hurtful comments in their reviews? Because I know that if I had managed to write a book and send it out into the world, any comments like that would stick with me.
Again, of course there will be negative reviews. But these should be written politely, and in an understanding way. Sure, say how much you really didn’t like it. But explain why, and word it carefully.
Rather than saying
“I hate this book, how does it even exist?”
say something along the lines of
“I really didn’t like this book. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style; it just wasn’t for me. But I’m sure other people will enjoy it.”
Personally, I just think there’s a limit – a sort of border – to expressing your opinion, and being downright rude.
So what do you think?
Should reviewers share their opinions in any way they like?
Or do you think there’s a method to writing negative reviews?
Have you ever seen someone hate a book so much it surprised you?
Or how do you personally handle writing negative reviews?
Join the discussion in the comments!
Until next time…
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Come and visit me!
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A frolic through fiction 
I hate when people do that too
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Glad I’m not the only one! It’s just really inconsiderate
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Yeah it is
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Totally! I can’t imagine working on a novel for years, putting blood, sweat and tears into it only for people to slate it with no constructive feedback on how to improve! x
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It’d be really awful, to say the least!
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I totally agree with you! Every reader/reviewer is going to come across books that they don’t like but I think how you review a book you don’t like says a lot about you. You can definitely express your dislike for a book without being mean, hurtful, rude, etc. and if you’re writing a negative review, you should be aiming to do so while being as respectful as possible. I can’t imagine spending years writing a book and then having people tell me that I should never write another book or something like that. It’s ok to dislike a book (it’s pretty much inevitable) but to be completely disrespectful of the author is not ok at all.
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Glad you agree!
I hate seeing reviews that are basically just hurtful rants about how awful a book is. I mean, I know it’s their opinions, but like we both said, there’s much better ways to say them – in a respectful way.
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Negative reviews are such a touchy subject and I always have a hard time writing them. But I agree with you, I very rarely rip a book to shreds. If I don’t like it, that’s my personal opinion and it isn’t a reflection of the author or their talent, it just didn’t resonate with me like it might with other people. This is a great post, I think it’s important to talk about this. – ashley
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Thank you! It can definitely be a touchy subject, that’s for sure. Probably because everyone finds it difficult to write negative reviews. But it’s definitely like you said – the review reflects personal opinion, not the writer’s talent!
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Oh God. I’m guilty with this one.. 🙂
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Oh no!
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yep. sorry
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I just keep thinking of how I feel if I was an author and I read something like that about a book I put so much time and love into, and that would suck. So, I keep it respectful and I try to bring up the positive sides as much as I can
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Exactly the right mindset to have!
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I completely agree with you. I understand ifthe reviewver is writing that though, because sometimes you just get soo frusturated reading something you thought would be amazing. Whenever I don’t like a book but I want to write a review for it, I just wait a day or two to cool off so my review won’t be too ranty. By the way, I tagged you for the Liebster Award on my blog!
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Yeah, I suppose sometimes it’s understandable. I usually only have an issue with people ranting if they go too far with what they say. I tend to wait a bit before writing reviews too, though that’s more out of timing than anything haha 😀 And thank you!
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You are so nice!
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Aww thank you! 😀
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I definitely agree with you! Whenever I person starts hating a book, their opinion is immediately invalid. If you have to result with hating on the author and publisher to get your point across, your point doesn’t deserve to be listened to.
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Hating on books does seem a bit too extreme
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I’m not one to rip a book to shreds but occasionally I just read a book that I can’t really say anything nice about. I’m going to keep my review honest because in the end I don’t write my review for the author – I write it for other readers that are still deciding if they want to read it.
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It’s not an issue if you don’t have anything nice to say, because of course you need to keep reviews honest. It’s just when a person rants a bit too much on the nasty side when I find it goes a bit too far 🙂
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I don’t like posting negative reviews at all. I know authors are unlikely to actually read my reviews, but I still worry that they might and I’d hurt their feelings. I always try to focus on the positives in my reviews.
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I hate posting negative reviews too, but I just know I have to be honest with them all otherwise people won’t trust my opinions.
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