I support negative reviews!  Heck, I love reading negative reviews- they can be incredibly entertaining.  If you’ve read any of my reviews you’ll know I do not shy away from negativity.  If I have a major issue with a book I’m reading for review, I’m going to let you know.  I expect other reviewers to do the same.

Recently, reviewers have come under fire for writing negative reviews.  This is NOT OKAY.

Here, in a nutshell, is why I am in favor of negative reviews:

Books are a product that publishers sell; they cost money.  It’s a tough economy, and I’m a broke college student.  I don’t have much cash to go around.  I only want to spend my money on books I really believe I’ll enjoy.  How do I determine this?  I read reviews.  If I’m considering purchasing a book I will check to see what reviewers are saying, whether those reviews come from Goodreads or one of the many book blogs I follow.  If I find negative reviews from sources whose opinions I respect, chances are I’m not going to buy this book.  Negative reviews keep readers like me from wasting time and money on a book I’ll end up hating anyway.

If readers only wrote positive reviews, well- we might as well not have any opinions at all.  Reviews would be useless to anyone other than the authors and publishers looking for ways to promote their works.  And while I am happy to promote books I love, I write reviews primarily to help other readers decide what to read.  I’m not here to make the authors happy.

With that said, here are two things I keep in mind when I review:

1. Always try to say something positive.

Even if I absolutely LOATHE a book, I always try to find some good points to share about it.  Even if I think it’s the crappiest piece of crap to ever exist, I know someone out there will love it.  Even if I didn’t enjoy the book, I can try to share a reason why someone else might enjoy it.  We all have different tastes, and I don’t necessarily want to discourage someone from reading any book.

2. Never personally attack the author.

I have seen this done, usually on gossip sites, and it’s not pretty.  In fact, it’s cruel.  The second you attack an author is the second you lose credibility as a reviewer.  I don’t mind “rant” reviews as long as that ranting stays focused on the product, not the person behind it.

Here are some other awesome posts on this topic:

Something in the water?

Don’t be hateful