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!