Ah, the most dreaded situation for many bloggers and reviewers. You read a book that you absolutely hated, for whatever reason, and now you have to review it. To make things even worse, it was sent to you by the publisher! What do you do? Do you write the negative review? Do you post negative reviews at all?
Personally, I’m all about negative reviews. I find they’re often more important than gushing five-star reviews, particularly in the YA community where there is so much enthusiasm. When there’s level-headed criticism, I can much more easily decide if a book is going to appeal to me. When there isn’t level-headed criticism and people are bashing a book for something like the inclusion of a strong and unlikable lady lead in a sci-fi novel, I know that if this terrible person hates the book then I will absolutely be interested in reading it.
I actually really enjoy writing negative reviews. I feel like they’re so much easier to write because I have more to say and it’s easier to put into words. It can be difficult to put into non-spoilery words why I liked a book and it can, quite frankly, sound so boring. I’d rather have a much more interesting, perhaps controversial, review that can spark some conversation.
That being said, I will never bash an author or a book. I feel like that’s uncalled for. And I would never in a million years criticise anyone for liking a book I hated. If you do this, you are a bad person. End of story.
That’s obviously just me! I know everyone has different views on negative reviews. Some people don’t post reviews for books they rate under 3 stars. Some will boost their star rating in order to not potentially hurt the author’s feelings (me before I actually started writing reviews). Some will trash a book/author/the people who love it.
I Should Read That 
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