Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Tiara Talk: Negative Reviews

You might recognize this topic from a mini rant from my Twitter feed awhile back but it was too fascinating a topic to just limit it to 140 characters.

You see, I had won this book from Goodreads, read it, and ultimately found myself not liking it but I felt obligated to write a review for it since that is the whole point of winning books from the website.

So I tried. I really did. I wrote out several different drafts trying to communicate why I just didn't care for the book without coming across harsh. But as a person not fond of negativity everything I wrote seemed unbearably harsh to me. Even more so when I was thinking of how many author versus blogger battles that have taken place on the internet over negative reviews. The pressure was unbearable.

How on earth do I write this thing without stirring up any unwanted drama/negativity?

The answer for me? I don't. 

I thought about it long and hard after I had written several drafts and mentioned briefly on Twitter how much I hated writing negative reviews. Hated it. And that was when I decided, I blog for me and blogging is supposed to be my fun hobby. Why should I waste time on a post I hate?

So I've decided that for me, personally, writing negative reviews just isn't my thing. But after so many interesting responses on Twitter I decided I wanted to reach out to a larger majority, and give you more space in which to explain your thoughts, and ask how you feel about negative reviews. Do you write them? If you do, why and how?

And for you readers, do you read these negative reviews? What do you think of them?

1 comment:

  1. I usually don't mind writing negative reviews. I usually feel like writing a negative book review if the general response to the book is positive. I just like making sure I'm not the odd woman out haha, and I like challenging popular opinion by bringing up some questions that maybe others who highly praise a text might not have noticed.
    Usually in reading other's negative reviews, I prefer it when there are legitimate points made as to why a book doesn't work for them (it makes it easier for me to decide if I want to pick the book up or not).

    That being said, I also like people like bazpierce's reviews (and he can be totally harsh and somewhat elitist). For some reason with him, I find it entertaining whereas with others, I might be annoyed. XD

    Sometimes I definitely don't feel like writing a negative review, particularly if a book is so dull that I don't have anything to say other than that I didn't like it (writing a full review would just feel like a waste of time).

    Also, sometimes I'd rather just vent my frustrations with a book personally, with friends like you! :)

    Definitely always write what you love! :D

    ReplyDelete