This is a hot topic amongst the indie author crowd. Should you leave a negative review?
The most popular take with the people I speak to is, never leave a negative review, even if you didn’t like the book.
Unfortunately, I cannot get on board with that. I’ve tried, but it just feels dishonest.
Let’s say you bought a pair of socks, but they were too small, despite the fact they were labelled as your size. They were the wrong colour, and they had a hole in the heel. And the elastic was so tight, it bit into your ankles making it feel painful to wear them. Would you leave a five-star review just in case anything negative hurt the sock seller’s feelings? If you did, you would be misleading people into buying a product that isn’t very good, and the seller would never fix the issues and make better socks.
Now, I’m not suggesting that it’s okay to trash another author. I would never leave a mean review, but in my opinion, there is a huge difference between constructive, honest feedback, and being mean. Some authors get upset if they receive anything less than a five-star rating and a glowing review, gushing about how fabulous their book was. I even fell into that trap myself when I first started out. Oh no, a four-star review? Welp! They must hate it.
I have read a lot of indie books, and plenty of them would rival today’s bestsellers. The quality of some of these books is outstanding. However; we all know that there really are some awful books out there. Both indie and trad. The thing is, to rave on a poorly written book and tell everyone how fantastic you found it simply because it was written by an indie author and you don’t want to hurt their feelings, reflects badly on us all. Indie authors need reviews for visibility, but leaving glowing reviews on books you found sub-par makes having reviews worthless. What’s the point if they all say great things that aren’t true? As a reader, I often check out reviews to help me decide if a book is worth my time. I’ve fallen into the trap of reading glowing reviews about a book, only to discover that the plot makes no sense, it is riddled with typos, and it has no depth. It becomes clear that the author garnered these reviews from swaps with other authors, and these are seldom honest because nobody wants to leave a critical review when they know the author knows who left it. That’s one way to make enemies in the indie publishing world.
Now, I’m not talking about leaving a crappy review because you didn’t like the genre, or you prefer third person and this was written in first. Those are preferences, but your preferences make no difference on whether the book was well written or not.
I’m talking about books that are poorly written. I once read a book where every line of dialogue ended with said [insert adverb here] For example, she said happily. He said angrily. He said bitterly. She said cheerfully. Every line was like this, and it was tiresome to read it. This is an example of poor writing.
I once read a book where the author had done zero research and had a diabetic character who had lost consciousness and was suffering from low blood sugar, so the doctor ‘saved’ her by giving her insulin. This wasn’t a throwaway moment in the book, but a major plot point that the rest of the story centred on. You may or may not know this, but that doctor could have killed the character, because a diabetic with low blood sugar needs sugar, not something to lower it further (duh). This is an example of someone doing very little research, and not having another pair of eyes on their book. An editor or at the very least some beta readers could have caught that error.
So, what’s the answer?
Some people say you should reach out to the author directly and tell them privately your complaints about the book. To that I say, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I can handle a person reading my book, deciding it wasn’t for them, and leaving a negative review on a review site. It’s not what I’m striving for, and I can’t say I will ever be overjoyed to receive negative reviews, but I accept them as part of being an author. But if someone disliked my book so badly that they sought me out to tell me personally how much they hated it? Yikes. I think I’d be really upset.
Personally, I like the compliment sandwich approach. For books I love, it’s easy. I just pretend I’m in court. I tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
But when it comes to books I disliked, I try to be a little tactful. I always find two things I liked about the book. There has to be something in there. Maybe a character? Maybe the flow of the writing? Maybe an unexpected twist? Open with one of those. RESPECTFULLY explain which parts of the book didn’t work for you, and then end on something else positive.
If there is nothing at all about the book that I liked, I would probably choose not to leave a review, rather than trash the book entirely. My goal isn’t t be mean. It is to be honest.
And as far as star ratings go, I’m probably a little kinder with my star ratings than most. I don’t think I’ve ever one-starred a book in my life. It has to be truly awful for me to give it two stars. Really, unless I disliked it terribly, it’s getting at least a three-star from me, but the accompanying feedback will be honest.
Where do you stand on this debate?
Ashleigh Reverie Author 