Reading and Writing Reviews

I had a author on a few weeks ago named Una Tiers and she talked about reviews. She talked about being aware of the fact that authors have feeling too. I do agree with her I think people can be horrible. But I am on the opposite side. I like most books and give good reviews to most books. My friend said I give out four and five stars too easily. But it is how I really feel. I And if you notice, on my blog I do not give out stars or roses or whatever people like to give. I just tell you about the book and what I thought about it. Even the worst book I read (anyone remember ny Wakefield review?) I still wrote a positive that it was a great idea for a book but poorly executed.

I love to do reviews. I think that is the most fun part of the book! To tell people about it and what you thought of it. I have fun doing reviews and would do it professionally if I could. I have actually been asked to read a book and write 4-5 sentences to be used on the back cover. I AM SO EXCITED! That will be hard because I like to talk a lot but try to do short reviews. But our lovely lady here is talking about negative reviews.  And I explained that above. Will I give them? Yes. Do I like to? No. But I ALWAYS include a positive in the negative.

So this is something I found and would like you to read it and maybe tell me what you think about reviews. I do like what the author had to say about reading books with low stars on goodreads to see why they got a low star. I never thought of that. I tend to read those low star books more if they were recommended or I know the author then I think it is a mistake. But I read reviews carefully and read many reviews about a book before I read it myself. I do not read too many reviews so as to spoil a book or sway me. And I have never written a review without finishing a book. I was surprised to see that in what you are about to read. I do make notes but few on something in the book I want to use in a review. Honestly I think nobody wants to read a long almost telling you the whole book in the review, review. So here is a piece written by Thuy from nitelitebookreviews.com.


What Does the Bookworm Say?: Negative Reviews

Hi and welcome to a new feature here on Nite Lite called What Does the Bookworm Say? that I am doing with my friends at The Reader's Antidote,, Elegantly Bound Books,  and The Windy Pages.. This week's topic is about negative reviews. Do you write them and why or why not?

I feel like most bloggers fall into two camps - those who write negative or critical reviews and those post positive mostly reviews. Now this can be for many reasons. I have a friend who posts mostly positive reviews because she doesn't finish books that she does like and therefore does not review them. I have another friend who just doesn't want to take the time to write a review about a book she didn't care for. Every blogger has their own style and if you read for long enough, you'll be able to tell whether their review style is something that you like or not. Personally, I enjoy blogs more when there is a mix of positive and more critical reviews.

My style of reviewing, if you haven't noticed, it definitely a mix. While I love gushing about a new favorite book, I also like talking about why a book did not work for me. I actually like reading the lower star reviews on Goodreads because I like to see why people didn't like a book. This helps me make an educated decision about whether or not I think I'll like it. What someone else hates in a book might not bother me so writing something negative about a book doesn't mean I won't read it. Everyone has different tastes and not every book is for every person. I also find it easier writing negative reviews because I can usually point out why I don't like a book better than why I like it.

I take the same sort of stance when writing reviews. What doesn't work for me might be a plus for something else so I don't feel bad telling people why I didn't like a book. That said, I am a pretty easy going reader and my ratings tend to be pretty high. I also try not to be mean in my reviews because that's just not me. I respect that people can write a review any way they want but you'll probably never see a super rant-y review from me.

What are your thoughts on this subject? Do you like reading or writing less than glowing reviews or do you prefer to focus on the positive?

Be sure to check out what The Reader's Antidote, Elegantly Bound Books and The Windy Pages thought of this topic as well. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, just leave it in the comments below. Thanks!


*Note from Mollydee - please visit these bloggers to support them. Just remember if you like them where you heard about them! :)