The Perils of Book Reviews, an IWSG post

   

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the December 6 posting of the IWSG are C. Lee McKenzie, JQ Rose, Jennifer Lane, and Jacqui Murray!

December 6 question: Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book reviews do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique the author?

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I've been a reader a lot longer than I've been a writer, at least the kind of writer who finishes and publishes things. And I LOVE talking about books with other readers. (We should talk sometime about my addiction to book clubs). 

Reviews, for me, are a way to talk about books with other readers. So my format is generally to set a little context (how I came to choose this book to read, my past relationship with the author, what format I consumed it in, etc.), briefly say what I enjoyed and if anything put me off, and include a statement of what kind of reader I think would enjoy the book. 

For example, here's a review I wrote of The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias, an author and educator I once shared a signing table with at a convention and have a cordial social media friendship with, but whom I can't claim to know well on a personal level. 

See? I try to let my fellow readers know what they're in for, so they can decide if this is a book for them, a little better informed than they might be by just looking at the promotional materials.

Now, as a writer, I'm cautious when it comes to reviewing books by living and not-yet-A-list authors. Not everyone takes criticism well, and more than a few writers have been known to seek vengeance on those who dare not to like something they've written. (Sad, but true). I'm never trying to critique the writer as a person, but some folks have trouble separating themselves from their book babies. 

Generally, I won't review the book at all if I didn't like it at least at a three-star level. I know the struggle of getting reviews and how a 2-star can tank your average when you've only got 5 reviews in total. I'm not going to be the one to tank your average just because your book wasn't for me. 

It's tricky, too, because I'm networking with some of these folks, so I don't want to burn any bridges or raise any ire. I'd rather just not write a review than write a disingenuous one, though. I have a certain level of integrity as a reviewer that won't let me praise a book unless I actually enjoyed it. 

[Small rant to follow] In fact, Amazon won't let me review any more--and won't give me a reason or respond to any of my queries about the block. My best guess is that I reviewed books by people I know because that's how building a career grows--I'm going to connect with and get to know other authors, and I'm going to read their work and have opinions about it. Not being allowed to review there is bullcrap, IMHO, but SO MUCH about Amazon's business practices is bullcrap even if it's my best option to date [Rant over]

I'm so grateful to the folks who have taken a moment to leave some stars and thoughts about my own books. 

First off, they read them! How freaking cool is that? 

And then, they cared enough to comment and help other readers determine if my books are for them. Awesomesauce. 

I'm even grateful for the low reviews, because sometimes a low review will show a reader that what that other reviewer hated is exactly what they might love about a book. 

How about y'all? Do you write reviews? Do you read them when you're deciding what books to try? What do you want out of a book review? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. (And don't forget this is a blog hop--go see what some of my colleagues in IWSG have to say about the topic today, too).