Do you leave book reviews of your favourite books on Amazon or Goodreads?

I have a love and hate relationship with book reviews.

I enjoy reading them to get an idea of what people think of the same book that I just finished reading or a book that I plan to buy.

What surprises me the most is how nasty people become when they are reviewing books online vs in person.

It’s like all emotion, empathy and decency gets thrown out the window and anything goes when they’re sitting in front of a keyboard and screen.

It’s rude. It’s sad. It’s just plain nasty.

The Internet has brought the world a lot of good but it has also allowed people to bring out their claws. If they can’t see you, or they don’t know you, they feel that they can say anything they want.

What they don’t realise is there is another person at the other end.

Have you heard the saying that goes something like this, nine people will say awesome things about your book or product and then one will diss it, abuse it, and tell you you’re stupid. Who are you going to listen to?

Yep, the one little person who felt it was ok to kick in the guts and make you feel like shit.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t be honest in our reviews. Honesty is a dying trait. Be honest. But it doesn’t mean you have to be a pompous ass about it.

Reviews are awesome as it allows us to share our opinions with the rest of the world. And that’s fine. That open communication is great to engage within your community and the world.

It’s an opportunity to converse and debate with people from around the globe on similar interests. It’s a great way to make online friends and build platforms.

If you’ve written a book or sold a product or even write a regular blog you are going to get reviews of some form. For a book it might be on Amazon, Goodreads or a review blog. A blog or product might get reviews on a review page, Amazon or in the comments section of your blog.

Sooner or later you’re going to get hit with a nasty comment.

Have you had one before?

I have.

It felt like a kick in the guts. I couldn’t breathe. My stomach hurt. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to curl up in a tiny ball and hide in a dark room for eternity.

I didn’t bother listening to the comments that sang praise.

Stupid right?

Yes and no.

Both good and bad reviews have their place. But there is a difference between constructive criticism and plain-old nasty.

Which one do you sway towards?

Some people take pleasure in making others feel like shit.

Do you know what I’ve noticed about them?

Often these are the people who are not happy with their own lives, jobs, partners, friends, relationships, weekends.

So they take it out on others.

But you don’t have to be one of them. Nor do you have to listen to them.

As a reader and a writer you might feel inclined to leave a review to voice your opinion. If it’s an angry one give yourself a moment to assess your thoughts and ask yourself why the book or product makes you feel that way.

Cool down and think twice before hitting publish. There is an actual living, breathing, lovely person sitting on the other end.

Until I published my first book I didn’t really bother with reviews. I figured others could leave them, they didn’t need my opinion added to the mix.

But leaving reviews is good. It’s supportive of the writers or products you love (and sometimes don’t).

When there are mixed reviews it gives the next person contemplating buying the product to get a balanced perspective and make up their mind about the stated pros and cons. It helps them make a more informed decision.

I read a lot. I try to get through one to two books per week. Some of these are recorded on Goodreads if you want to check out what I’ve been reading lately.

I’ve even left reviews. With one caveat.

I will only leave a review if I think the book is at least 3 stars. I don’t want to leave bad reviews or dishonest ones. So If I don’t review a book it’s usually because I don’t rate it high enough.

Sometimes though if I’m not familiar with a genre and the rules of that genre I will not leave a review unless I really loved the story. I don’t think it’s fair to the writer.

What do I look for in books?

Engaging plot
Easy to read writing
Interesting characters
Good dialogue
More action less description

Spelling & Grammar

Have you noticed I haven’t mentioned grammar and spelling? While these are important, they are the last thing I consider when leaving a review.

I had a kind enough person email me once telling me they liked my story and saw potential in my writing but would not leave a review because they found too many spelling and grammar mistakes in the book.

That’s fair enough. I’m grateful for their honesty and decency although my first reaction was not so – I took a moment and tried to take emotion out of the equation – hard but not impossible.

After that, I went through a hard copy of my book with a red pen and fixed everything up. I also changed editors.

Genre

Certain genres have certain rules.

Crime books for example general end up finishing with the bad guy in handcuffs or something equivalent.

Romance novels most often than not have a happy ending where the hero and heroine end up together (after many obstacles) and live happily ever after.

Yet reviewers still can’t help themselves and say ‘That was so (*&^ing predictable.’

Yes it was. Romance readers want a happy ending and they want the two main characters to snog at the end just as crime readers want to make sure the good guys always win.

Some books break the rules, often these are cross genre ones. But you have to know the rules to break them and understand the different genres.

Should you leave book reviews?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

But be nice. You’re reviewing a persons work. Sometimes it’s the most important thing to them. Something they’ve worked all their lives towards and has taken a lot of courage to put out in the world.

Their first book might not be the best, yours probably wasn’t or won’t be either. But with enough encouraging reviews they might keep going, keep improving and then one day on their seventh (think Hugh Howey’s Wool) or twelfth book they might hit the right spot and sell a gazillion copies.

Think of your favourite authors. Have you read some of their initial work?

We all have something to learn. We can use reviews to improve our writing and our reading.

Just remember, that your review is just your opinion. There are over seven billion others that could be different from your own.

If you see a ton of mistakes in a book but enjoyed the story why not write an email to the author and explain to them that the book was good but because of the errors you aren’t inclined to leave a review. That’s fine. At least they are aware of the problem and the ball is in their court to fix it.

What really frustrates me is when a reviewer will find three spelling mistakes in a 100,000 word novel and give a bad review. Or they think that an urban fantasy genre is unrealistic. Hmm, vampires, werewolves and faeries are the creations of our imaginations, they aren’t meant to be realistic.

If you’re a reader, think twice before leaving a bad review. People read them. They get hurt by them. Sometimes they give up because of them.

If you’re a writer, don’t take all the reviews to heart but do read them with an open mind. A few might be telling you something. Use reviews to improve your books and to grow as a writer. You want each book to be better than the one before it, don’t you?

Leave a review. It’s one of the ways you can support authors and encourage better writing.

Do you leave book reviews? Have you received one that made you want to give up?