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#Post#: 54255--------------------------------------------------
Re: Writing a polite book review
By: shadowfox79 Date: July 8, 2020, 2:21 am
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I'm a writer in my spare time, and the one thing that annoys me
in reviews is when someone starts it with "I've always hated
this type of book, and this was no exception."
This, I should add, was from somebody who volunteered to review
it as part of a blog tour. If you don't like this type of book,
why did you agree to read it in the first place?
I also had someone who made vague comments about how the novel
"ends appropriately", and when somebody commented asking if this
meant it didn't have a happy ending, she got all vague and said
"Let's just say it's appropriate and leave it at that." It was a
romance novel and did, in fact, have a happy ending, so I have
no idea what she was going for there.
#Post#: 54257--------------------------------------------------
Re: Writing a polite book review
By: Aleko Date: July 8, 2020, 6:35 am
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I feel there are so many possible scenarios here (e.g.
fascinating subject incompetently handled / competently written
but dull material / too much detail / too little detail /
plausible but dull / story so dramatic you don't quite believe
it hasn't been a bit 'improved' / you name it) that no one piece
of advice will fit them all. Perhaps you could precis what you
liked and what you didn't here, and we could suggest ways of
phrasing the negative aspects tactfully and possibly even
helpfully?
#Post#: 54267--------------------------------------------------
Re: Writing a polite book review
By: Hanna Date: July 8, 2020, 10:48 am
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This particular book just got me thinking about the topic.
There are many over the top complimentary reviews of it but also
many panning the work.
It made me want to write an honest review that would be fair,
productive and also not hurtful. The woman is a tremendous
writer, but at times so self-absorbed and convinced that she
herself is fascinating. That really damages her work.
Reading the reviews I thought some were just brutal.
I have a pretty good idea of how to write this now.
#Post#: 54268--------------------------------------------------
Re: Writing a polite book review
By: Kimberami Date: July 8, 2020, 10:52 am
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[quote author=Hanna link=topic=1776.msg54267#msg54267
date=1594223289]
This particular book just got me thinking about the topic.
There are many over the top complimentary reviews of it but also
many panning the work.
It made me want to write an honest review that would be fair,
productive and also not hurtful. The woman is a tremendous
writer, but at times so self-absorbed and convinced that she
herself is fascinating. That really damages her work.
Reading the reviews I thought some were just brutal.
I have a pretty good idea of how to write this now.
[/quote]
What you just said was very insightful. You almost have to
admire the chutzpah of some people.
#Post#: 54276--------------------------------------------------
Re: Writing a polite book review
By: Lilipons Date: July 8, 2020, 12:22 pm
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Hanna’s gotten a lot of good advice here. I can’t add much else
but I worked with people who published and reviewed books for
several decades.
We always had a good laugh about the ‘5 Big Bad B’s’ of book
reviewing. If you don’t know the joke, I hope you’ll enjoy it.
THE BATCHER: You’ve written the definitive work on geraniums.
the review should be on the front cover of the book review
supplement. It isn’t. Your magnum opus is reduced to two
paragraphs in a six book review on gardening in general.
THE BETCHER: It isn’t a terrible review but the reviewer is of
the opinion that ‘What’s his face’ could have done a
much better job with the topic than you did.
THE B#%CHER: Nothing more need be said about this reviewer.
THE BOTCHER: This reviewer iisn’t reading the book you wrote.
S/he’s looking for the book s/he wants to read.
There’s nothing you can do about that.
THE BUTCHER: Everybody’s encountered a reviewer who hated you
and everything you stand for. In (usually) his eyes your book
is only good for feeding the back yard grill.
#Post#: 54283--------------------------------------------------
Re: Writing a polite book review
By: pierrotlunaire0 Date: July 8, 2020, 2:13 pm
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The fact that this is a memoir makes it a little trickier. Every
writer's work is personal to them, but obviously a memoir is
their life! Being needlessly harsh would feel like a real
betrayal to me.
That is why last year when my book club read a memoir that I
didn't care for, I debated leaving a negative review on Amazon,
ultimately deciding not to. The fact was that I wanted to grab
the author, give her a little shake, and yell, "Get therapy! You
need help! Your anger and bitterness are eating you alive, and
made this book a long and hard journey."
I tried to compose a reasoned and dispassionate review, but I
would get worked up and realized, it just wasn't worth the
strife it was causing me.
#Post#: 54399--------------------------------------------------
Re: Writing a polite book review
By: malfoyfan13 Date: July 10, 2020, 3:28 pm
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I used to write reviews for Amazon Vine. We were given a long
list of books from which to choose our monthly selections;
sometimes I'd get a couple of really enjoyable books, sometimes
not. (it can be hard to decide from a very short blurb.) We
had to write a review of every book we chose, so sometimes my
reviews were not positive. In those cases, I'd focus on what
bothered me about the book: the writer's style, the pace of the
story, the lack of plot or too much plot, unbelievable
characters, bad editing and so on. There were times when I got
sarcastic, mostly in cases where the book was SO bad I felt it
deserved to be thoroughly panned. Mostly I tried to be
constructive and point out WHY a storyline or character didn't
work for me, or why the book was boring or otherwise unpleasant
to read. My goal was to give readers an honest view of the
book. I had no agenda of promoting a writer or a genre. I
tried to write the type of review *I* like to read. I don't
like the 5-star reviews that mostly are of the "awesomest book
ever!!!" type, because that tells me nothing about the book. I
want to know if it's a good read - does the story flow, will I
be interested in/care about the characters, will I think about
it after I finish it? And if multiple people say it's terrible
I'd like to see those reviews and find out why they felt that
way.
I think it's possible to be critical without being mean. Saying
that a book was boring isn't mean, it's honest if that's how you
felt. I have read books that I really struggled to finish, but
needed to finish in order to be able to provide a review. I
have read "thrillers" that were more like appliance manuals. I
don't think it does the author any good service to lie and say
you liked a book if you didn't. Maybe they can learn something
from your review. Maybe next time they'll find a better editor
or do a few more re-writes. I've always felt that people who say
"i can't give a one-star review, that would be mean!" are
totally wrong.
Anyway, my advice is to write what you honestly feel and don't
worry about it.
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