More than Just a Rating discussion

I'm curious what you guys think about this. I don't hate that many books, but I admit there are a few. It's very hard for me to write these reviews. I don't like to be snarky in my reviews. I like to be clear and respectful about the book, but elucidate what I hated about the book. What do you do?

Here is one I wrote. I can't say I "hated" this book, but I won't be reading another by this author. my review of Cold Sassy Tree

As you can see, I gave reasons for not liking it. Others may or may not agree with my reasons, and that's fine. But if these are things that might tip the balance, a reader has a "right" to know. ;-)

I like that review, Elizabeth. Terrific idea for a thread! I'm off to check my shelves to see what I've done...

I appreciate your approach, Elizabeth.

Looking back at some of my reviews I do tend to both 1. justify/ explain what I didn't like about it and 2. clarify that it is my personal opinion. Sometimes I also 3. find something nice to say.

For example, see my review of Punch with Judy

I usually approach it the same way as I would any other book, a little plot and then I'd go into what didn't work for me and why. I usually won't finish a horrid book though. I like a little playful snark if it's not hateful. I never start a review intending to be sarcastic but have to admit sometimes it does sneak in.

Here are a few:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Some people can be down right mean and rude when leaving a bad review. I say try to compliment the book in some way or the author to soften the blow of a poor rating....then again thats kinda like healing a wound before you cut them haha

But if a book is awful and deserving of one star in your eyes and you can't find one good thing to say what do you do then?

1 star to me means I very much disliked everything. If I were to say something positive I would have to make it up. Most everything I read falls between a 3 1/2 and a four rating. 1's and 5's are reserved for the worst and the best.

1 star for me is a book I hated, and they are often awarded to books I simply couldn't finish. I know many of you might not rate a book if you didn't finish it, but I might as well tell it like it is. I "review" such a book by saying that I didn't finish it and why.

I will rate a DNF book if I felt strongly about it, and had a big enough idea of the story to know I wouldn't like it if I continued. I know some people don't like when others rate DNF books, but I'm fine with it.

I know this isn't the popular opinion, but...

I'd call a spade a spade and I'll call a awful book an awful book. I don't believe in coddling authors or sugar coating, and I don't think I should have to find a nice thing to say about a book if I can't. I also want to read the honest opinions of other readers.

If I hired someone to build me a house and the house collapsed two weeks after it was completed, I wouldn't write a review saying "Bob the Builder had really awesome shiny new tools, but my house fell down." I would say "The house Bob the Builder built for me collapsed two weeks later, don't hire him."


Also - snarky reviews are my favorite kind of reviews to read.

Don't take the one nice thing too far. I can just imagine the reviews...
"The cover was quite nice... Everything inside it was pretty much kindling though. It's make a very nice place to hide my spare keys on the bookshelf now!"

For me, a lot of it depends on what I did not like about the book. If the book was (in my opinion) badly written and/or had themes that were boring and just did not appeal to me, I can usually manage to leave a review that is not snarky or heavy-handed. However, if I am reviewing a book that I feel is blatantly racist, homophobic etc., it is a bit more difficult to not be snarky and even vindictive in one's review (I do try not to be personally insulting, but if I read a book that feels racist or bigoted, I will definitely call a spade a spade, I will definitely criticise this most vociferously, and hopefully succeed without being insulting and mean-spirited).

Vicky wrote: "I know this isn't the popular opinion, but...

I'd call a spade a spade and I'll call a awful book an awful book. I don't believe in coddling authors or sugar coating, and I don't think I should ha..."

I agree, and enjoy reading critical reviews even of books I loved, it can be refreshing to see another person's viewpoint. To each their own, I know some are not comfortable dissing a bad book and I respect their right to do so, just as I hope they respect my right to do the opposite. It really really helps me when I'm having difficulty with a book to go back and read the critical reviews and perhaps decide to bail or not depending on what I find there.

Vicky wrote: "I know this isn't the popular opinion, but..."

I agree with you 100%, Vicky. :) I don't mind reading critical or snarky reviews of books. Some of my favorite reviewers write hilariously entertaining 1 star rants. When I read a review that sounds like the reviewer is bending over backwards to be positive about something, I lose interest. I would rather read an unvarnished reaction.

And since I've thrown up links to my own fanfic in my profiles around the web, I figure that I'm accepting the "taking it" part, so I can dish it.

I find the harder reviews to write are the 2 star ones. I didn't hate the book, I didn't love it, but I barely liked it. It was...meh. It had problems, lots of problems, but it didn't push any red button. Often I find myself writing about stylistic issues, pacing, character development, abuse of exposition, etc. rather than getting all snarky and ranty.

Oh, the reviews for books I didn't like are the EASIEST ones to write!

I never say anything personal about the author or anyone else who may have liked the book, because that's dirty pool. I will also never tell a person NOT to read a book I disliked, mainly because everyone should form their own opinion. I can't stand it when someone forms an opinion that is based on comments made by others about something they haven't bothered to read.

That being said, everything else is fair game. I'll tell you exactly what I didn't like about the book, whether it's the writing, the characterization or the story, and sometimes I'll go off on a rant about it. When I do that I'm usually snarky, almost always profane, but try not to be mean about it. Those reviews are usually for books that get a 1 or 2 star rating.

I have a shelf with those reviews on it if anyone is interested, I've called it "snarky troll lives here".

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

I also agree with Karla about the most difficult reviews to write -- for me they are 2 and 3 stars. I sometimes just can't thing of anything to say about the book, good or bad. Just meh, like Karla says.

If the book is so bad that I can't find anything authentically nice to say, I probably didn't read enough of it to feel right about rating it.

But almost all books are liked by *someone* for some reason, and I don't think it's coddling the author to try to say something nice - it's respecting both the author and the other readers. Everyone reads & writes for different reasons, and has different taste, and I won't tell people they're an idiot if they like a book I couldn't stand.

(My opinion. :)

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "If the book is so bad that I can't find anything authentically nice to say, I probably didn't read enough of it to feel right about rating it.

But almost all books are liked by *someone* for some ..."

Agree to the first. If it was that horrible it probably got chucked. I have no stick-to-it've-ness for bad books.

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "I won't tell people they're an idiot if they like a book I couldn't stand."

But I'll admit I might roll my eyes ...

I'm just not putting those eye rolls in writing. ;-)