By Tessa Pulyer Posted on

#BookBloggerHop | Negative Reviews

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, Billy @ Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blog.

Do you post negative reviews? Do you promote those reviews if you post? 

(submitted by Heather @ MM Romance Reviewed)

I don’t post negative reviews by choice.

If I don’t like a book, I often choose to DNF it rather than finish it because if I finish it, I feel like I have to write a review or I’m not being honest and genuine. But, when I have agreed to a blog tour stop, there is no DNFing. I have to post the review on my site whether or not it’s a positive review.

When that happens – I try to keep the general tone of the review neutral. I also try very hard to be constructive and not mean. I can usually find good things to say about the book and I lead with those elements, then I briefly explain why the book was not for me.

I choose to do it this way because it’s true to who I am and also because we all know how subjective our reading experiences are. It’s recently come up for me where another blogger had a completely different opinion about a book than I did – so different it was like we didn’t even read the same book. Things like that reaffirm that subjectivity like nothing else can. So, writing a purely negative review on any book just doesn’t work for me.

Do you post negative reviews? Why or why not?

35 Replies to “#BookBloggerHop | Negative Reviews”

  1. Jenny Mcclinton says:

    I don’t write negative reviews but I do try and point out bits that confused me or I found didn’t work for me, it is more reflected in my star rating when I didn’t enjoy a book so much

    Liked by 1 person

  2. writerravenclaw says:

    I would never write negative reviews for places like Amazon. Writing a book is difficult, I know that. Authors will see what they intended to write, not what is on the page. Myself included. I can spot things in other pieces of writing I would never in my own. When I do read something I will always ask the author if they mind if I give some constructive feedback another way. If not then I leave it completely. I’m part of a writing group and they are terrifying with their constructive feedback, but my writing has improved because of them.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I agree. I think I’m always conscious of the fact that the author may read my review so I treat it the same as I would if I was speaking to them directly.

      Like

  3. Kelly says:

    Fortunately it doesn’t happen often but I do write the occasional negative review. When I really need to talk about it and vent, I post it on my blog, sometimes I just post it on Goodreads. I wouldn’t post a negative review on a blog tour, luckily it has only happened once that I didn’t fully enjoy a blog tour book, I felt sorry for the author who was super enthusiastic about the tour for his debut and I asked the organiser for an extract instead. I did post my review but at a later date.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I’m always very cognizant of author’s feelings and apply that to all my reviews, especially after I realized that even my favorite authors have managed to find my reviews. It freaks me out but keeps me respectful in all that I say – especially the things that I didn’t care for.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Melanie’s reads says:

    I always write what I thought whether that’s positive or negative. It’s all subjective as one man’s trash is another man’s treasure as they say. This post is actually perfect timing as the review I’m posting later today is not going to be a positive one x

    Liked by 1 person

  5. nickimags @ Secret Library Book Blog says:

    I do occasionally, mostly on Goodreads though rather than my blog. Maybe a long time after the book has published I might post something negative if it’s still annoying me. I’ve had to drop out of blog tours in the past because I’ve DNF’d books, or changed to an excerpt instead because I couldn’t give a positive review.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I get that completely. And I agree about the length of time. I think the longer the books been out, perhaps the easier it would be to just be blunt.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Nya says:

    I try to avoid writing negative reviews, sometimes I’ll just skip it altogether. But I think sometimes it’s nice to discuss each other’s opinions, even if they’re opposite. I add a disclaimer highlighting the fact that opinions are subjective and that my personal opinion is not meant to discourage others from reading that book. If I’m reviewing for Netgalley, for example, I committed to posting a review, so I’ll write the review, regardless.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I agree. I’ve even posted the links to fellow blogger’s reviews that are different than mine (both ways) because I want people to be able to see and think about what those differing opinions mean for their own possible enjoyment of the book. 🤗

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Janette says:

    I only post negative reviews on Net Galley and then onto Goodreads but I’m happy to post negative comments in general posts as I think it’s important to have a balanced view

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      When I DNF a book – which means my thoughts were very negative – I don’t publish a review on NetGalley but I do write detailed feedback in the ‘why I’m not reviewing this book” section on the site. I think it’s important to be honest and I don’t feel as bad with it going to the publisher rather than the author.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Books Teacup and Reviews says:

    I don’t mind writing negative reviews. Of course, my tone is never mean. I keep it like explaining why I didn’t like the book or certain points but I’ll write them for sure as I believe what’s the point of discussing books on blog if you’re not telling every part of the book and every feelings related to book. It’s subjective and this is my blog with my views on book, positive or negative.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I agree. I do give constructive thoughts on things I don’t care for as a reader too. It’s very important to be honest. 🤗

      Like

  9. jordyn says:

    I write negative reviews, and I don’t regret doing it. I frequently depend on my friends on Goodreads and their reviews to see if I’ll check out a book. If I see more than one of them hated it, I know I probably will too. That way I don’t waste my time. Soooo my reviews, hopefully, will help someone do the same.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      That’s a good way to look at it and come as close as you can to always choosing books you love. I look at stars but I try not to read reviews on books that I know I will be reviewing myself, so that I can read it with fresh eyes. I love that we each have such different thoughts on this subject. ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Teri Polen says:

    I try to write neutral reviews, not negative. If you’ve read my reviews for a while, I think it’s pretty easy to tell if I enjoyed a book or not. I’ll usually point out parts that didn’t work for me, but I’ll never bash a book.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Silver's Reviews says:

    I rarely post a negative review, but if I do, it still isn’t an awful review.

    I just give it a 3/5 instead of a 4/5 or 5/5 and say why it didn’t work, but I don’t “bash” the book. Authors take a lot of time to write a book and there is always something good that can be said about a book.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Jonetta | Blue Mood Café says:

    Thank goodness I don’t have to write many of them as I’m really, really careful about my choices. I don’t mind writing a negative review as I’m also careful about sticking to what didn’t work for me. Never, ever do I make it personal and encourage readers to check out other reviews with a different perspective. Mine might prevent more negative reviews by those with similar reading tastes. They’re all helpful. But, I don’t promote the negative reviews. I post them on Goodreads and my blog only.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I agree completely. I’ve actually posted the links to differing thoughts/reviews on a book because I think all opinions are beneficial ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Lori says:

    I agree with you completely. Just because a book didn’t work for me doesn’t mean that you won’t love it. I try to point out the things that worked, the things that didn’t, and what readers might love the book.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. mistysbookspace says:

    Yes I absolutely post negative reviews. For me personally I feel like if I only post positive reviews I am lying to my followers in a why. I always try to be as nice as possible and I never bash an author or the book for that matter I just talk about why the book didn’t work for me but still encourage others to give it a try if it sounds like something they would like.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      That’s very similar to how I approach books that really didn’t work for me. I guess I think of that as more neutral rather than negative. To me a negative review is a scathing “this book is horrible, don’t get anywhere near it,” type of review.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. mistysbookspace says:

        I don’t see a reason to be hateful in reviews. Just because I hated a book doesn’t mean everyone in the world is going to hate it too. I know that even though we can all read the same book we will all come out of it with different things which is why I say people should give it a try if it sounds like something they would like but if they have similar tastes to me then they might want to stay away from it. I guess negative reviews for me are still nice just with low ratings.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. WendyW says:

    I don’t leave negative reviews, either. But, I see the other side as I like to read negative reviews if I’m considering buying a book, just to see if the negative is also something I would find as a negative. Often, the negative reviews convince me to buy a book anyway!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I read negative reviews too because I guess I’m just curious since I would never write them myself. It kind of has that weird appeal for me.

      Like

  16. Louise H says:

    I don’t usually put negative reviews on my blog, as I want it to reflect books I’ve enjoyed. I do review every book on Goodreads, even if I DNF’d it. Having worked closely with quite a few indie authors, the vast majority feel that reviews are for other readers, not for them. Of course they don’t enjoy getting negative reviews but they do accept it is “par for the course”.

    That said, I do not like negative reviews that are rude and insulting to or about the author. There is NEVER a place for name-calling an author, belittling them or getting personal about them or their writing.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      My reviews are written to be the same as what I would say to the author about their book if I had the opportunity. I would never be rude and scathing to their face, so I’m not in my reviews, just like you. I think in this world of social media where people have disconnected from other people’s feelings, it’s important to remember that real live people are reading what you write.

      Liked by 1 person

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