Instead of writing a book review today because somebody didn’t finish the book she was supposed to I will be writing a sort of discussion post about negative reviews. I think this is a nice compromise, especially since I feel like it’s been quite a while since I’ve done a post like this due to laziness being busy.

I have a confession to make. 

I like reading negative reviews.

Now it’s out there in the world. Negative reviews are like a guilty pleasure for me. I like reading them and although they’re hard to write because I don’t want to be mean or risk the possibility of the author stumbling upon my review I’m just such a nice person.

But also, writing and reading negative reviews are so much fun. The best negative reviews are the ones for hyped up books that literally everyone has been raving about. Why? Because they’re being completely honest about their feelings without letting the opinions of others hold them back.

I live for honest opinions. That’s kind of why I started blogging. I like seeing what people truly think of a book. I like it when bloggers forget sugar-coating and just start ranting and throwing shade at a book.

me when someone starts trash talking a book

Negative reviews bring out the inner critic in us all. We nitpick and mention everything that annoyed us about the book whether it be the bland writing, slow storytelling, 2D characters, overused tropes, etc. we can all somehow relate to negative reviews in one way or another because we have all read a mediocre book in our lives.

I love talking about the things I didn’t like in a book. I might’ve not liked the book, but I oddly get a lot of satisfaction from sharing why I didn’t like it. I think this is due to all of my feelings about the book accumulating as I read the book, and when I write my review I am finally able to pour out all of my feelings on the book.

Sometimes I’m not even sure what my thoughts on a book are until I start talking about the things I didn’t like. That’s when I realize that the book I originally thought was a five star read was actually a three star read! It’s very interesting how writing a review for a book can change my rating and overall thoughts on it.

me when i try and make any decision in life

Let’s not forget the absolute pure joy I get when I find a negative review for a book that everyone has loved besides me. It makes me feel less alone and plus I can talk about what I didn’t like about the book to someone that has the same thoughts on it.

Besides being able to relate to a negative review, they’re also super important. I don’t know about you but I take a lot of consideration for what books to buy from reading reviews. I don’t want to waste my money on something that ends up being mediocre at best. I’m able to read mostly great books because I take reviews into consideration when I’m choosing a book to buy and read.

So, in conclusion, I love reading negative reviews because:

• unpopular opinions are so much fun
• they help me decide what i should read
• they help keep me far away from books i would’ve otherwise read
• it shows that book reviews share their honest opinions

I can’t express enough how important honest opinions are. If you don’t like a book, don’t be scared to talk negatively about it! I know that I myself have been hesitant in the past because of the way some authors have chosen to act towards negative reviews written about their books, but we shouldn’t let this keep us from writing negative reviews for a book we didn’t like!

Negative reviews help authors themselves as well, if they choose to read them. I know that authors reading reviews of their books is a controversial topic, but I’m okay with it overall as long as the author doesn’t say anything bad towards the reviewer and makes them feel uncomfortable for sharing their opinion.

Negative reviews are important for authors because they let authors know what they can improve on in their writing, world-building, storytelling, and characters. Without negative reviews, there’s no way for an author to know what they should be improving on!

I myself like to hear critiques and constantly ask people to critique me and tell me their honest opinion when I show them my work because I’m constantly striving to better my writing. I can’t better my writing if nobody tells me what I can do to make it better!

But, there is a thin line between a negative review where you spread your opinion and a negative review where you’re bashing an author and their work. That line should not be crossed. Respect authors because writing a book is hard. They’ve spent countless hours losing sleep over that book you just made fun of, so have fun writing a negative review, but don’t write a review slandering them and their work. That’s just not cool.

What are your opinions on negative reviews? Do you like writing them? Reading them? Do you not like them at all? Let me know!

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