Celebrating 4 years: Question 6

This is the hardest part of reviewing.  It is made more difficult by the level of interaction on social media.  When I review a book, I try to disassociate the book from the author, as I don’t want my review to be based on my level of friendship with any particular author.  I feel that I have to be honest with the review whether I love the author as a person or whether I we are friends who chat regularly, and that if I am unable to do this, it takes away the credibility of the rest of my reviews.  But, I always try to be constructive and point out the positives, as well as anything that didn’t work for me.  I know reviews are for the readers, but I always hope my reviews are helpful to the authors as well so that they can maybe find something helpful as well.

I still try to be honest as possible in my review.  I think that even if i’m disappointed, there are probably good parts of the story.  Just because it wasn’t the way that I wanted it to go…doesn’t mean that it was all bad. Hopefully.

The same way I do any other review, really.  Obviously, the disappointment is going to be a factor in the overall rating but that isn’t the only thing I base my judgement on.  If the feeling is too much in the way, I just walk away from anywhere between a couple hours to a full day before sitting down to work on the review again.  That usually gives me enough time to be objective.

I have to admit, those are the hardest reviews. I have authors that are my go-to’s. it is especially hard and disappointing if they miss their mark with me, especially if it is part of a series that I am invested in, as a reader. But I am honest in my review and state that this particular book just didn’t do it for me, in my humble personal opinion. And that is what my reviews are…my opinion.

Aah yes, this has happened to me several times as of late.  The thing is, our job as a reviewer is to give an honest opinion of the book.  So, I do.  Even when the book was disappointing.  Tho, in most cases, I try to temper the review a little by thanking the author for sharing their time and talents with the world.  It would be a disservice to you as the reader to not get an honest review.  Whether the book be good or bad.

I try to be as objective as possible. I will mention it’s not as great as I hoped but I will honestly review every spect of the book. How’s the writing, how’s the plot, are the characters well written etc

For me it’s heartbreaking because I hate for a book to be bad. But you have to give an honest review bad or good

That is so hard. We all have authors who we ‘love’, and we read every new book they come out with. Once in awhile, there is one that you finish and set down and wonder, “what the heck did I just read”, but you have to be professional and explain why this particular book didn’t work for you. The key is to focus on the details of what didn’t work, but I always try to put a positive spin on it as well if I can. The author put a lot of time into writing the book, it deserves an honest and complete review. You always have to remember, the book is being reviewed, not the author.

This is a really hard question. Because it happens. Your favorite author puts out a book and you are so excited to read it. Then you open it and it just doesn’t live up to your expectations. I feel that I then have to decide whether my expectations were too high or was the book really not as good as it should have been. In these situations I have to put my personal feelings about the author aside and just think about all the things I liked and didn’t like and then rate according to those things.

First, I rant or mope for myself if the highly anticipated book wasn’t as great as I was hoping for. After a couple of days (when I’ve calmed down), I might be able to write a unbiased (as possible) review for the book, where I try to look objectively at what was good and not so good about what I just read. If I have started a book, and just hate it, I contact Dani, and see if some other reviewers want to pick it up and see if they have better luck with it. I don’t want to keep reading a book I don’t enjoy at all. That’s not fair to me or to the book. 🙂

Donna:

I’ve learned to wait awhile and try to calm down if I’ve really hated a book. There was one memorable, brutal review I wrote in my early days, and to be honest, I still feel kind of bad about it. I try to make sure I include some good points in any review I write. There’s no need to slay an author. You can say that something disappointed you without being a bitch.

Alexander:

Be honest and polite.  I am but one opinion and so in these cases, I explain why I didn’t particularly like an audiobook
so that others can make their own decision.

Pizzygirl:

If there is another reviewer who wants a shot at it, I will give them a chance. If not, I will be very honest that it simply did not meet my expectations and then I will try to objectively review what was there. If it was still well done I will say so but often when this happens the book has other issues (editing, inconsistencies, incomplete development)  that I will mention as contributors to my disappointment.

Cinnamon:

With honesty. I hate that feeling though. When I have been waiting for a story or a new book by a favorite writer and what I get is not what I expected… then I just do what I do with every book I don’t really care for. State the positive aspects (even if it’s just the hot cover) and then say what things did not work for me. I try to stay positive and say it’s my opinion so hopefully others will still enjoy it.

Kimberley:

I just be honest without being cruel about it. I understand that writers are artists, and their work are their babies. You wouldn’t want anyone cruelly criticizing your babies, right? So, that’s what I keep in mind when reviewing any book. I put what I liked first before moving in to what I didn’t like. Always keeping in mind to be respectful when doing so.

Tammy:

I have had this happen to me. I write my review and if the book hasn’t lived up to my expectations I will always explain in detail why I felt it fell short for me as I have the utmost respect for anyone who has written a book and put it forth for everyone to read and criticize.

Cindy:

It’s not easy, especially if the author is a favorite of yours. But I promised myself to always be honest about how I felt so I would probably give it a couple of days before writing the review to get over the disappointment and then do the review as honestly as I could. The big thing is to make sure the review is about the book and not a personal attack on the author you feel has let you down.

Amber:

You just have to be honest. I’ve found though that when there is a lot of hype around a book coming out it’s harder to review it when you weren’t in love with the story. You never want to be the one that’s like, “well, this didn’t work for me” but it does happen and you just have to be honest. There’s no reason to be mean or nasty in your review. You can be kind and honest, they go hand in hand.

This question got so many of our reviewers replying , I think that is great!

Let us know what you think and two of you have a chance to win an ebook out of the Extasy collection