Book Blogger Confessions is a new bi-weekly meme hosted by Tiger @ All Consuming Books and Karen @ For What it's Worth Reviews.
Everyone LOVES that book! Why don't I? How do you handle being the one reviewer who doesn't like a book that's taking the blogosphere by storm? Do you write a review? Pretend you didn't read the book?
I actually have a lot more to say when it comes to books I really didn't like so a negative review is almost always posted. And to be honest if it’s a book the masses seem to love that motivates me a lot more to share my negative opinion about the book, maybe to add some balance to the universe? I don’t know I guess it’s the same reason I try to write a review if I LOVED a book that isn't wildly popular or known. I think readers deserve to know about it, either to not miss out or to not get blindly pulled into hyped up books.
With my first negative review I must admit I thought something was wrong with me because I seemed to be the only person to hate the book but it didn’t stop my review from being posted or from being negative. Also, even if I hate a book I never flame it, bash the author, or specifically order someone to not get it. I just honestly state what I thought about it and if there is anything positive to say about it I’ll try and state it so my review doesn’t come off as too harsh but I never prevent myself from posting a negative review about wildly loved books because it’s my blog and I don’t want anyone dictating what I can write on it.
I do agree about wanting to create a little negative balance. Few of us want to sound harsh, but you know, if we notice something lacking about a book that no one else is pointing out, it's perfectly legitimate to let the internets know what we observed. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's why I think negative reviews are important. I can't tell you how many times I've read 100 OMG reviews. bought the book and didn't like it only to find people secretly tell me they didn't like it either but wouldn't post a review.
ReplyDeleteI've never got any bad feedback from a negative review. The key is to write a respectful review.
xoxo
I agree about writing balanced reviews -- if I don't like a book, I can usually find something redeeming about it. I agree with what Karen says -- it's key to write a respectful review, even if you didn't like a book. :)
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