What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Wondering if anyone else see book reviews that elicit a very long chain of arguments? I see quite a lot of “if you don’t like a book I like then you’re wrong” throughout replies to Goodreads views for a variety of novels.

Yes. Many of Kristen Ashley's and Rick Riordan's books now have reviews with lengthy comments sections filled with arguments.

In the case of Rick Riordan's books, ckeck any of the reviews for the books that came out after his Percy Jackson series. Generally, less positive reviews tend to argue that his later works are less original, that his characters are just a copy of his Percy Jackson characters, and that he is trying to make more money off that series by adding more (unnecessary) books to that world. The comments usually say stuff like "check the sequel, it's better" or argue the difference between Percy and the characters of the new book.

With Kristen Ashley.... there's just too much to go into, but people argue a LOT about anything from the elements of the story itself to the author's writing style. The people who respond to negative reviews don't "argue" so much as try to justify their own point of view.

Ugh, yes. I have several friends with very different views from each other, and I respect all of them—but their political arguements have been blowing up my feed. As for me, I always choose not to debate politics, to keep myself relatively sane...

Raevyn wrote: "Ugh, yes. I have several friends with very different views from each other, and I respect all of them—but their political arguements have been blowing up my feed. As for me, I always choose not to ..."

I think Rebecca was talking about arguments in book reviews specifically...

This arguement was in the comments of a book review.

Raevyn wrote: "This arguement was in the comments of a book review."

And it was about politics?

I've seen it all. Mainly because I have a lot of friends who on one side, adore authors like Sarah J. Maas and Cassandra Clare and etc. and the other side consider those authors to be the literal spawn of Satan. I've also seen religious debates, political debates, straight-up name-calling....

Marie wrote: "Raevyn wrote: "This arguement was in the comments of a book review."

And it was about politics?"

It was about LGBT rights, if I'm thinking of the same review as her.

Marie wrote: "Raevyn wrote: "This arguement was in the comments of a book review."

And it was about politics?"
Yes.

Jeez, I've never actually seen such a politically charged response to a novel. The most heated arguments I've seen were about whether or not a book was racist and about whether or not the alpha-type hero of a romance novel was actually being abusive.

Marie wrote: "Jeez, I've never actually seen such a politically charged response to a novel. The most heated arguments I've seen were about whether or not a book was racist and about whether or not the alpha-typ..."

Yeah, well the original reviewer called LGBT people garbage, so you can expect a heated response from it.

Please, forgive me for responding, maybe it is the Christmas Spirit. But, I am kind of thinking, that life is short. Why read something, that you disagree with, or don't enjoy. So many writers would be honored to have your eyes on their pages. My taste tends to run toward trashy thrillers, but will read most anything. So, given my taste in literature, feel free to discount my humble opinion. Happy Holidays 2017.

Elizabeth ♛Smart Girls Love Trashy Books♛ wrote: "Marie wrote: "Jeez, I've never actually seen such a politically charged response to a novel. The most heated arguments I've seen were about whether or not a book was racist and about whether or not..."

What book was this?

Rosa wrote: "Elizabeth ♛Smart Girls Love Trashy Books♛ wrote: "Marie wrote: "Jeez, I've never actually seen such a politically charged response to a novel. The most heated arguments I've seen were about whether..."

Renegades by Marissa Meyer.

Mark wrote: "life is short. Why read something, that you disagree with, or don't enjoy."

I've heard many people say this but I don't know how I will enjoy or not enjoy the book before starting to read it. How could I know in advance? Someone said they had a very high average rating, above 4 stars, because they only read books they knew they would enjoy. I was bewildered. Even if it's a book by one of your favorite authors, even favorite authors write duds sometimes. Even if it's a book about your favorite topic, maybe you'll hate the writing style, or it will be full of typos. Maybe the book got rave reviews in the New York Times and every other newspaper and website, but you end up hating it. How could you have predicted that you would hate it?

Lobstergirl wrote: "Mark wrote: "life is short. Why read something, that you disagree with, or don't enjoy."

I've heard many people say this but I don't know how I will enjoy or not enjoy the book before starting to ..."

This is true. I'm a big fan of Holly Black. But one book she wrote The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was so egregiously bad I couldn't believe it was the same author. I wasn't the only one to think this; other people had reviews that were even more scathing and withering than mine. But still others gave it 4 or 5 stars. Go figure.

No one is so brilliant that they can't fail or make gross errors. Charles Darwin gave us his theory of evolution and yet his milestone book The Origin of Species has entries that many scientists now know to be incorrect. You just can't tell always that a book is going to be terrible before you've even cracked open the cover.

Yes, a book can be so ghastly you don't bother to finish it. But that doesn't mean you can't review it, if only to share your opinion and keep other people from making your mistake. That's one reason why we review anything, from the latest action figure to a brand new car.

Reviews can be pontificating blasts from people enamored of their own opinions or bastions of enlightenment towards others who might be interested in Stephen King's latest. So I welcome decent reviews and try to pack as much useful critique as I can into mine. I hope they can steer others towards pleasant reading or steer them from miserable failures of literature.

I've seen and participated in a few review-comment arguments of this sort. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet has a few of these, because it has some very ardent fans and some people who really disliked it or were let down after reading a lot of hype about it. I've also got into arguments about books I gave very negative reviews (because, in my opinion, they were terrible), either on my own review or when I responded to positive ones. See here for an example.

Mark wrote: "Please, forgive me for responding, maybe it is the Christmas Spirit. But, I am kind of thinking, that life is short. Why read something, that you disagree with, or don't enjoy.."

As Lobstergirl noted, you have to read at least part of a book to figure out whether it's good or not, and some books can change drastically (in quality, tone, subject etc.) such that a preview can be misleading.

Yes. Sadly, I was just involved last month in a hours long war that began after a reviewer wrote a homophobic review. Of course she prefaced it by saying that this was "her opinion" and to not be offended! How she possibly thought she could write something so hurtful and not provoke a reaction I will never know. Then a bunch of her friends who shared her views jumped on the bandwagon and continued to attack people. Anyway, I ended up trying to protect the people she was attacking along with some others and eventually the atmosphere was so toxic we bowed out. No one was changing any of their opinions, and it was a stalemate from the start. I wish that review had never been posted.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Even if it's a book by one of your favorite authors, even favorite authors write duds sometimes."
True. I've read most of the ESG Perry Mason books, but one, "The Case of the Counterfeit Eye" was a dud for me. I tried it twice.
One of my long running unsolved threads is about a book I didn't like by an author I had previously enjoyed.