If I were a betting woman (which I’m not), I would bet that many of you read the title of this post and needed to take a moment. Fellow authors are probably, even as we speak, sharpening the tines of their pitchforks. Readers are just shaking their heads, sadly, thinking that I’ve officially and completely lost my marbles.
But bear with me a minute. Please?
Two or three times a year, since I was first published, I see discussions in reader-oriented groups crop up about leaving reviews. And the refrain that I see over and over is along the lines of: “If I can’t give a book four stars or more, I just don’t review it.”
This breaks my heart.
Now, I’ll go ahead and state for the record that of course I love when I get four and five star reviews. And of course I hope that the majority of the reviews on my books are four and five stars.
But.
Can I tell you a secret?
When I’m looking at books to decide what to read next? I don’t read the four and five star reviews.
If I can’t make up my mind about buying a book from the cover + blurb + look inside? I go straight for the one and two star reviews. Sometimes even the threes. And I have bought more than one book because of a one-star review. Because what didn’t resonate with that reviewer has ended up being something that I look for!
I think often we get in the “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” mindset. And this is a good mindset! But it doesn’t necessarily rule out a negative review.
You can leave a one-star review and still be kind.
How? Well, it’s a lot like the advice you have probably been given at one point or another about how to argue with someone. Keep the focus on you.
You can say things like, “I just couldn’t connect with the heroine. To me, she came across as flighty and I didn’t feel like she grew over the course of the book.”
or
“I really wanted to love this book, but I just didn’t like the emphasis the caterer put on locally sourcing her food. It was too much.”
Don’t slam the book. Don’t slam the author. I would even say don’t criticize the writing craft. (Though if you just felt it was super poorly written, you could say something like “I struggled to connect with the author’s writing style.”)
Be kind. But also be honest. Because it is OKAY that you didn’t love a book. Not everyone loves every book ever written.
And this is also why I think we do authors a disservice if we only review books that we can give four and five stars to — it tells the prospective readers two things:
- Only the author’s advance team and super fans have read and enjoyed the book.
- Anyone else who read it, didn’t love it enough to review it and/or disliked it and thus didn’t review.
There a lot of hokum out there that at x number of reviews, Amazon will start promoting authors’ books. That doesn’t happen. And yet, reviews still matter. Reviews are social proof that people are reading the book. Having something more than four and five star reviews lends some legitimacy to the book in the eyes of many readers.
And for every reader who didn’t like a book because the caterer was over the top about locally sourced food? There’s someone who will read that and say, “Oh, wow. I’m super passionate about locally sourced food — I have to read this book!”
So what do you think? Think you’ll give leaving some less-than-four-and-five-star reviews a shot?
(And, haha, if you’re looking for a book to read and review, A Heart Reconsidered — Peacock Hill #6 is now available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited. It’s set around Christmas, but not super Christmas focused, if you’re looking for a hint of the season but need a little breather from your Hallmark Christmas movies.)
Elizabeth Maddrey is a semi-reformed computer geek and homeschooling mother of two who lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books. She loves to write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and receiving God’s grace on their way to their own romantic happily ever after.
Thanks so much for your insight! Very helpful on how to review the stories that make us go ‘bleh’!
Hi Elizabeth, thanks for sharing. I have often wondered if I should leave a review/what to write if I didn’t particularly enjoy a book. Your tips have been very helpful- thank you:)
Blessings:)
It’s important that reviews are honest, but there is no need to be cruel.
Good post I am guilty of not wanting to leave a 1 star review but then If I don’t like a book within the first few chapters I don’t finish the book. I do however leave 3 star reviews and have let an author know why. Once or twice have told the author I will be leaving a 3 star review and its up to them if I post it. I had one author say yes post it (it was a anthology of stories and some were wonderful while a couple not very good) She wanted honest reviews.
I too tend to read the 3 star and lower reviews. When I see mostly 5 star I question who wrote the reviews and if maybe they are paid reviews. When I see a combo of reviews I know its more genuine. I have been on blog alliances that say if you can’t at least leave a 4 star review please don’t review but we would prefer 5 star. This happened after about a year of the alliance and I decided I didn’t want to be told I had to put 5 star one a book. I know they are to promote a book but I want to be able to be honest. To me 5 star means the story is one of the best books I ever read. If all books are rated 5 star then what can you give an exceptional book? On my blog I would include half stars.
I often wonder why someone who hates a book (some reviews are really nasty) would read the whole book if they don’t like it when there are so many books out there.
I leave reviews for every book I read, whether I liked it or not, and I make it a point to have those reviews be HONEST reviews of the book. My honesty policy has gotten me thrown off of 2 authors’ ARC/Street teams and has gotten me in trouble with at least one PR/marketing firm as well. I try very hard not to bash the author in the review, but I do state what I didn’t like about the book, and I always try to find at least one redeeming quality of the book, if I can. I believe, like you, that negative reviews have value to prospective readers, but I also believe that many authors aren’t aware of their value, or haven’t thought of their value in that way before and wind up destroying relationships with ARC/Street Team readers because of them. Thank you for bringing awareness about the value of a negative review!
It can take a little practice to find the kind way to say it – but it really is so worthwhile!
Yay! And thanks. :)
I think if all else fails you can just say “I couldn’t connect with this story no matter how much I wanted to.”
Oh absolutely! That’s why I think keeping it in terms of you (you couldn’t connect, you felt X) can help. Because then you’re not saying the book is bad. You’re simply saying the book wasn’t for you.
I am guilty of finishing books I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy. I keep hoping it’s going to get better and then I’ve invested too much time to quit now.
I’m working on it :)
Oh man. I’m sorry you had that experience. That stinks. Because yes! Honest reviews are so necessary! As long as you’re kind and respectful you should absolutely leave a review explaining what didn’t work for you.
And I love that you look for something positive too.
Thank you for going there!! HONEST reviews are so important. I leave a review for every single book I read so that the author knows I finished it and to give other readers an idea of what to expect in this book. But I don’t like every book I read.
And you’re absolutely right. My husband does the same thing with any product he’s thinking about buying–he goes right to the 1 and 2 star reviews to see what people didn’t like about it. Most of them are about delivery problems or formatting errors, things that either the author has no say over or can be easily fixed once they see the review. If it’s a content issue with the story itself, the only way an author will know to consider changes in future editions or future books is if you tell them.
There is even the pragmatic benefit that Amazon will like it when you don’t give everything 4 or 5 stars. If you do, they begin to investigate whether you’re getting paid for reviews or if you’re scamming the system in some way.
I have left a three star review before. I didn’t bash the author, I just told why I gave the book the review I did. I felt after 61 chapters that I was left totally hanging, and there was no closure at all. I agree that reviews need to be kind, and that’s what I tried to do. Your hints would have been great back when I did this review, and I’ll keep them in mind!!
I hadn’t thought of Amazon thinking you were a scammer but it’s certainly possible.
And yes – there can be helpful info in the bad reviews, even if they sometimes hurt to read.
Oh man – that’s a lot of reading to not feel you got closure.
Glad there was some food for thought in there for you!
Hi Elizabeth, great post! I have bought many books after reading a 1 or 2 star review and learning that the reviewer’s problem/issue/lack of connection with the story is something I like to read. A well thought out and articulate low star review (that isn’t personally attacking the author) is often more valuable than gushing five star reviews.
Writing quality is something we can discern by reading an excerpt/Amazon sample, but discerning story quality from an excerpt is harder. Reviewers who share that they were triggered by a particular issue are also helping other readers discern whether or not the book is right for them.
I’m sad to hear that genuine readers who are posting genuine and honest reviews are suffering adverse consequences for having the integrity to write their truth based on their personal reading preferences. Unfortunately money can bring out the worst in people, and there are money flows behind the scenes in the publishing world for marketing/publicity/promo.
Art is subjective, and there’s never going to be 100% agreement on whether a book is worth 5 stars or 1 star or something in between. Which is different to other products that are either ‘fit for purpose’ as described in the product description and work or don’t work. In a world where product reviews can have a direct impact on products sales, and people are continually trying to scam the system in various ways (and peer pressure to post glowing reviews is a form of scamming, imho) we need more readers to share what’s on their heart and maintain their integrity in the process.
Yes to all of this! :)
I am not great at writing reviews, bow but will almost always leave a star rating on Goodreads. If it’s one or two stars, it’s likely I didn’t finish the book, too many good books out there to read something you don’t enjoy!
Thank you for pointing this out Elizabeth and it makes a lot of sense. I do, now, leave reviews for everything I read. I used to be hit and miss with reviews. I’m one of those always love the books I read and leave 5 star review people. I’ve left a few 4’s that didn’t sit as well with me, but I always appreciate an author putting themselves out there with their creativity. I do rarely pick up a new author now though, as the authors I’m reading keep me plenty busy. That may change as I catch up on previous works though, lol.
Great blog post! I started out feeling like I should give great reviews, but now I dole out far fewer 5 star ratings. Much of what I review now gets 4 stars, but that has much to do with the fact that I often read many of an author’s books when I find that I really like his/her stories and writing style. However, I’ve given 3 star reviews, usually with a reason. For example: (story disappeared into a discussion of family dynamics) and a disclaimer (not poorly written, but very slow moving).
I also look at the lower rated reviews, but do check out a couple of the top reviews, too. After all, my reaction is more likely to be someplace in between!
Over time, my reviewing practices have changed.
Amazon is just a retail store. I leave a 4 or 5-star review there if I enjoyed a book and want to recommend it. I might leave a 1 or 2-star review if it was marketed as Christian or “clean” and contained sexual content or profanity.
If I want to leave a longer review or critique a book beyond a general recommendation or warning, I do it on Goodreads, for serious readers – not just shoppers.
As an author, I’d love to have lots of glowing reviews on Amazon, but I’m starting to feel like Amazon rules the world – especially the book market! LOL
You know what I’d really like to see… Kindle Unlimited reviews marked with some kind of identifying badge, like the “verified purchase” badge on book sales. Most of my income is from KU, and those reviews aren’t marked as “verified”, so they look like they came from my reader team, friends and family!
Thanks, Patty! I love that Goodreads lets you just star things without necessarily adding words.
If you honestly love everything you read then 5 star away! :) That’s excellent! (I will admit I tend to be that kind of person as well – it’s rare for me to find a book that I dislike. But I’m told I’m a forgiving reader — I’m usually more than willing to suspend my disbelief and just go for the ride.)
The middle is, I think, probably where most of us fall!
Ohh…wouldn’t that be nice? I’d love to see a “Verified KU Read” tag or something like that.
I try very hard to review every book I read. I try to be choosy about what I pick to read anyway. I have left a few low reviews in the past year.
Bethany Turner embraces her low reviews and posts them and gets a laugh out of them!
I get a kick out of some low reviews such as : it had too much God in it!( Well then don’t look for Christian Fiction, duh!)
I will write little tweets (that I don’t send) about my low reviews — things like “Got two hours of your life you don’t want to get back? Read this book!” It makes me smile and get on with it. I think as an author you have to have a sense of humor and a realization that not every book is for every reader.
I tend to only read books I think I will be interested in and I’ve never felt the need to leave a review lower than three stars. I usually discount 1 and 2 star reviews whenever I am reading them to determine whether or not to read or buy a book. If the review is by a reviewer I am familiar with, that carries a lot more weight than an anonymous low star review.
I don’t generally read things that would earn 1 or 2 stars (or if I get a recommendation and don’t love it, I am getting better at setting it aside rather than pushing through and feeling like I have to finish it.)
I don’t generally consider 3 stars a bad review (although I know there are authors who do.)
Elizabeth,
Thanks for sharing this! I find I often don’t like giving less than 4 stars for a book. However, what you said about how to give the kindest critique is helpful. I might just copy down the things you said to refer to them if I ever need them. Thank you again for this post!
Glad to help!
It’s kind of like how each kid gets a trophy……everyone is a winner. Honesty is the best policy but use tact and express it is your opinion.
thanks so much for your honesty. Loved the article
If I have to review a book I will finish it (except if its full of bad language which one I had to read was. It was something fine in America but swearing here in Australia and I just couldn’t read it). I did leave a review as a warning for Aussies but not trashing the book as I would have really liked it if not for that word.
That’s definitely worth a mention!
I hadn’t thought of it that way but yes!! (I don’t let my kids take participation awards.)
Thanks for stopping by!
Very interesting take on this, thank you. I have a hard time with doing a negative review, I will definitely think on what you said here next time I am inclined to simply not leave a review 😁
I love this post! I’m not an author, but I can imagine how reviews would make me feel prickly and nervous inside. I try to keep that in mind when I post a review on my blog, Goodreads, or Amazon. Not every book is for me, and it’s important to be mindful of anything positive that can be mentioned.