Feeling bad about writing a negative review

[Rachaelamb1]

Wow. I haven't checked this post in a few days. Thank you everyone for the advice. My first review was accepted. Yay! And I was able to list the positives and negatives without being too harsh (I think). Onto the next book

[bluemel4]

I would like to know how negative we can get in the reviews? I know attacking the author is wrong but if the writing is horrible can we just come right out and say... this was horrible? I try to be nice and say something positive and then launch into the negative but am I being too nice then? It is still an honest review but more diplomatic then I would be if I told a friend about the book.

I would appreciate thoughts on this and how the forum leaders feel about it.

[bookowlie]

I think the word "horrible" can be too harsh in a review. I think you are on the right track with trying to be diplomatic. I find it's good to stick to specific elements of the story and why they didn't work. Examples: lack of character development, awkward phrases, weak plot, too many plot holes, storyline was confusing, etc. A word like "horrible" seems mean-spirited in a review. Just my opinion. I try to look at it as if I were the one received the criticism. I would handle it better if the reviewer gave specifics on what didn't work in the book, rather than just saying "I hated it", "the plot was horrible", "I couldn't stand the characters", etc.

[bluemel4]

I think the word "horrible" can be too harsh in a review. I think you are on the right track with trying to be diplomatic. I find it's good to stick to specific elements of the story and why they didn't work. Examples: lack of character development, awkward phrases, weak plot, too many plot holes, storyline was confusing, etc. A word like "horrible" seems mean-spirited in a review. Just my opinion. I try to look at it as if I were the one received the criticism. I would handle it better if the reviewer gave specifics on what didn't work in the book, rather than just saying "I hated it", "the plot was horrible", "I couldn't stand the characters", etc.

You're right. Being more specific to the actual book's weaknesses rather than being catty and out right mean.

[bookowlie]

The funny thing is that, even when you are diplomatic, authors are often very sensitive to the slightest bit of criticism. I once had an author get really annoyed when I pointed out something I didn't like, even though I generally enjoyed the book and gave it 3 stars.

[ALynnPowers]

Yeah, I was once told by a "fan" of the author, "If you don't like it, all you have to say is that it's not your cup of tea," and basically not explain why I didn't like it.... (all of my reasons included an unedited manuscript containing a massive number of errors, major plot holes, inaccurate information, Americans speaking British English [my super pet peeve!], etc.). I didn't even reply... but, you know... we're kind of required to say why we gave it the rating that we did. Saying "This book was not my cup of tea" is the like worst possible review ever. And actually, that book kind of WAS my cup of tea; it was just REALLY poorly written.

[Scott]

I find it's good to stick to specific elements of the story and why they didn't work. Examples: lack of character development, awkward phrases, weak plot, too many plot holes, storyline was confusing, etc.

^This

[stoppoppingtheP]

I dont have perfect grammar either. This is the one thing i struggle with the most when writing my reviews, but i have managed to have a few published. Every review i have submitted has been proof read multiple times but still they werent perfect according to the editors comments. Be aware the editors comments can be pretty harsh, i wasnt aware of this and it really struck me after my first review. Im not sure of the rules since they are not written but you are usually not allowed to fix errors in your reviews once it is rejected. Be honest in your review and do your best. I am not trying to discourage just trying to let you know

I also struggle a bit with the grammar, and I used to dread the editors comments. I think I need a refresher course in grammer, especially about where the comma's go!

[TarinaJ]

@Rachaelamb1,
My first review was negative as well, which I felt horrible about. I picked a short story as my first review thinking it would be a good way to get my feet wet with regard to OBC's process. Well, that backfired - not from the sense of learning the process, but that I didn't enjoy the book. I tried to remain objective and provide specific examples of why I didn't like the story (as the wise bookowlie suggested). At the end of the day, it is your personal review. Someone else may love the book. All you can do is be honest in your assessment and let others make theirs.

~TJ

[Ramona]

In one of my early reviews, I rated the book as low as possible, not because I didn't like the story, but because of very poor (seemingly lack of any) proofreading/editing! There was something that needed correcting on almost every single page. The story had great potential. There were a few other issues, but minor in comparison to the grammatical issue! Some of it could have been typographical errors, but I just felt I could not reccommend the book in its present condition. I felt really bad about it, but as a grammar freak, I didn't see how I could do otherwise. Living and learning... Well, now I might give it a 2 with some caution to a potential reader. The author did have a good plot. Although the storyline could have been improved upon in a few places, it was good idea and did have a lot of good points. The grammatical and punctuation errors were in excess. What to do? I'm learning about the review process as I go. Well, it's too late for that one, but I'm proceeding with more caution, while still giving an honest review about the books I read in the future.