writing a negative book review

Authoring Arrowheads

Official website for Contemporary Christian YA author, Allyson Kennedy

How to Politely Write a Negative Book Review

Good afternoon, lovely Arrowheads! If you frequently review books, you more than likely have come across a few reads that you weren’t fond of. Whether you found their plot to be weak, the characterization poor, or what have you, you’re planning on writing a negative review of the work. Now, the devil and the angel are sitting on your shoulders, debating whether you should completely bash the work and point out all its flaws, or take the the polite route and mention why you didn’t like the book and offer constructive criticism for the author. Which should you choose?

(Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece. My intention in posting this is not to offend or judge anyone who may write heated book reviews. I have in the past. This is just an encouragement to reconsider and think of the author before saying things that are unwarranted .)

Consider the Author

As an author who has been on both sides of the argument, I would suggest taking the polite route. “But why?” you may ask. “I didn’t like the book, it was horrible!” One reason: Authors are people, too. Authors see the reviews. Authors see your reading updates on Goodreads. Some authors, myself included, already have insecurities  outside of the writing world. Oftentimes, writing is the one outlet where they feel their contributions matter. Offering unwarranted, unexplained hateful comments because it’s entertaining for you is rude, plain and simple.

Consider How You Would Feel

As a reviewer, I know it’s easy to let your negative take on the book set your fingers aflame on the keyboard with a colorful rant about how terrible the book was. I’ve been there in the past. But, keep in mind that the person who wrote the book may see your review and give up writing. Now, you may be thinking, “Well, tough luck! They’re a published author! They should grow a thick skin!” Okay, let’s turn the table around: how would you feel if your new book, which you worked extremely hard on for months or even  years was met with the following review:

This book has less value than the empty Dr. Pepper can I just threw away. The plot was cheesy and made me want to plunge my head into the sand like an ostrich, it was that annoying! The author has no talent whatsoever and needs to go back to grammar school to learn a thing or two. By far, this is the worst excuse for a book I’ve ever read!

This type of review points out that the book is a stinker in the reader’s opinion, yet doesn’t offer any specific reason as to why they think that! Does my point sink in yet? Now, I have yet to receive a review that hateful and unwarranted, but if I did, I’d honestly cry myself to sleep–or worse–not be able to sleep knowing my credibility has been tarnished. And the sad thing is that there are loads of hateful reviews like this being posted on a daily basis! Why?! Does it make some readers feel superior to tear authors down? I don’t know. But now that I’ve seen both sides of the story, whenever I write reviews now, I keep this old familiar phrase in mind, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” So, how can we write a polite negative review without discarding our promise to be honest?

Writing a Polite, Negative Review

The most polite thing I know to do when writing a negative book review is to offer constructive criticism about what didn’t work for me as a reader. For example, if the story felt as if it were dragging on and caused my interest to wane, I might say, “at a certain point, the plot lost my interest. I feel that if a scene or two [name the scenes] were edited out, this would not have happened.” Or, if the characters felt two-dimensional, I might offer, “[name characters] could have been more developed in the following way.” If there were positive attributes about the book that you really loved, mention those as well to balance out the constructive criticism.

If you happen to come across a book that you can’t seem to find anything nice to say about to balance out the negative, it may be best to follow the old saying and say nothing at all. For readers, I’m not going to advise you to not leave 1 or 2 star ratings (or critically written 3 star reviews); the choice is entirely up to you, the consumer.

On the other hand, for fellow authors, I will advise you that it doesn’t portray you in a positive light when you rant about how much you dislike a fellow author’s book via your author page. A personal objective of mine since I’ve become a published author is to not post reviews for works that I deem to be 1 or 2 star ratings. The lowest rating I will personally post of a book now is 3 stars, and in my opinion, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the book is bad, but could use a little improvement in certain areas to make it better. Fellow authors, keep in mind that your comments can be seen not only by the authors, but by your followers and friends as well. Would you rather be seen as an author comparable to Simon Cowell on his  American Idol run, or an author who is kind to other authors and actively builds them up instead of tearing them down?

Let’s try to keep the Golden Rule in mind: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” – Matthew 7:12 🙂

Share this:

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Writing Negative Book Reviews

#scribendiinc

How to craft a review when you didn't like the book

Have you ever finished a book and felt dissatisfied? It's really no surprise, because even the most enthusiastic book lovers don't enjoy everything they read.

If you're asked to write a review on a book you didn't like, it's important not to feel guilty or intimidated. Instead, think of book reviews as a way to come to terms with what you've read. You'll find there's still a lot to write about, even if you wouldn't recommend the book to other readers.

There's plenty of advice on how to write book reviews , but there are a few extra points to consider when your opinion of a book is mostly negative. Whether you disliked the plot or disagreed with the thesis, it can be harder to remain objective in your analysis. Here are four tips to keep in mind.

1) Be specific and provide examples

A book review is all about self-expression, so you should be open and honest in your writing. It's important, however, to justify any claims you make with solid evidence. For example, if you thought the characterization was weak, be prepared to explain why. Book reviews can be quite short, but you'll have room to discuss at least a few passages that illustrate your arguments. When you have a negative reaction to a book, it's sometimes hard to articulate your feelings, but it's always important to be precise .

2) Consider the author's perspective

Whether you liked a book or not, book reviews are an excellent way to get inside the author's mind. When crafting your arguments, try to consider the author's motivations for writing the way he or she did. Sometimes, this can help you understand or even appreciate his or her perspective on a deeper level. Even if you come away with a negative impression, at least you'll have some insight into the author's creative process, which can inform or even inspire your own work.

3) Balance weaknesses with strengths (when possible)

In any good review, balance is essential because it lends the reviewer more credibility. Even if you strongly disliked the book, a review should touch on both its strengths and weaknesses. If you feel stumped, try creating a list of the book's pros and cons. For every negative quality, jot down a positive one, even if it's only something small. For example, you may have disliked a book's ending but thought the introduction was imaginative and compelling. Or maybe you enjoyed a section of dialogue, even if you didn't appreciate the overall plot. Balanced book reviews are important because they show you can see both sides of the coin.

4) Don't let emotions get the best of you

Books can affect us on a very deep, emotional level. If you feel disappointed or angry after reading something, it can be difficult to remain levelheaded in your analysis. Before you let emotions get the best of you, consider who might end up reading your review. Although you may feel like spilling all your thoughts out onto the page (or screen), the fact is that not everyone will understand your negativity. Book reviews are naturally critical, but just as in a complaint letter , your arguments should always be polite and tasteful. Most importantly, you should never attack the author—or another reader, for that matter—on a level that's too personal.

In book reviews, your voice goes a long way

Book reviews are important to the literary world, so don't shy away! As a book reviewer, you'll be helping other readers understand and appreciate the written word. You may not always love what you read, but that doesn't mean you can't entertain and inspire through your writing.

Have You Read?

"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

Related Posts

Book Review Examples

How to Write a Book Review

Upload your file(s) so we can calculate your word count, or enter your word count manually.

We will also recommend a service based on the file(s) you upload.

English is not my first language. I need English editing and proofreading so that I sound like a native speaker.

I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal.

I have a novel, manuscript, play, or ebook. I need editing, copy editing, proofreading, a critique of my work, or a query package.

I need editing and proofreading for my white papers, reports, manuals, press releases, marketing materials, and other business documents.

I need to have my essay, project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread.

I want to sound professional and to get hired. I have a resume, letter, email, or personal document that I need to have edited and proofread.

 Prices include your personal % discount.

 Prices include % sales tax ( ).

How to Write a Good Review of a Bad Book

By: Author Laura

Posted on Published: 19th December 2018  - Last updated: 12th January 2024

Categories Book Blogging , Books

Want to know how to write a book review? Or, more specifically, how to write a negative review? This guide to bad book reviews will let you in on all my secrets on how to write good reviews.

Can I let you guys in on a secret? I prefer writing negative book reviews to positive ones. It’s not that I take pleasure in bashing other people’s work, I just find bad book reviews so much easier to write. 

Obviously I only pick up books that I think I’m going to enjoy so when they meet that expectation I often don’t feel the need to add to the noise already out there in the form of a detailed book review.

I also find it much harder to express why I love a book in a meaningful way when writing a positive book review. A person’s reaction to a book is very personal and sometimes I like a book just because. 

Maybe that romance gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, or that thriller kept me on your toes, or I simply fell in love with the main character.

Whatever the reason, I find it a harder to go into a lot of detail about these positive aspects and the last thing I want to do is fangirl or reveal spoilers, neither of which are conducive to a good book review. 

On the other hand I find it easy to express exactly why I don’t like something. And that’s why I’m writing this blog post about how to write a negative book review. 

There is a certain method to writing a good review of a bad book in order to avoid coming across as nasty and bashing a book without justification. 

Writing a book review, particularly a negative book review, that doesn’t properly explain why you disliked it does the author a huge disservice. If you’re going to publicly shame their work, the least you can do is clearly explain what went wrong for you. 

Here are my top tips for writing a good review of a bad book:

Don’t be nasty.

This is the most important thing to remember when thinking about how to write a bad review. Just as you wouldn’t turn to a colleague at work and tell them that their idea is stupid and they should bury it with a shovel, nor should you say such things online in a review.

As reviewers rarely have to confront the author in person it can be easy to hide behind a computer screen and type a nasty review.

Don’t.

Be respectful, no matter what you thought of their work. Someone has spent months or years working on a book and they have managed to get it released into the big wide world. That’s quite a feat in itself and even if you hated every word they wrote, there’s no need to be unpleasant. 

Explain what disappointed you.

If you had certain expectations that the book didn’t fulfil, explain these. Was it pegged as the Christmas romance of the season? The new self-help book to change your life? Let your readers know what you expected (and why), then explain what it is about the book left you feeling disappointed.

It’s a good idea to provide specific examples so you could point to certain characters or plot points that you disliked. Alternatively it might’ve been the structure or writing style that put you off. Whatever it is, write it down using examples. 

Here’s a negative book review example:

Whilst Rick Yancey set up a very exciting and unique story back in  The 5th Wave , I couldn’t help but feel that  The Last Star  was a little lacking. The final part of this story takes place over a mere four days and these four days are packed with action, but not much excitement. For me, it felt like there was just more of the same stuff that we’d seen in the previous two novels but with more experienced and hardened characters. The Last Star Book Review , What’s Hot Blog

Try to remain as spoiler free.

There needs to be a balance between providing specific reasons for your negative review and keeping your review spoiler-free. It can be tempting with negative book reviews to reveal all the exact moments that bothered you and pick these apart. However, a good review will analyse what went wrong without spoiling it for any people who still want to read it.

Consider what the author was trying to achieve.

If you think the author fell short on certain aspects but can sense what they was going for when writing their book, give them credit for this.When you read another person’s work you are getting inside their mind and seeing things from their perspective, which is well worth considering before you critique their work. 

For example, if you can see that the book’s aim is to use a story to try and bring certain social issues to light but poorly developed characters dragged the book down, give a little nod to their attempts. 

You may find that once you’ve considered the author’s aims that you feel slightly differently about their work or see more positives than before.

Mention the good parts.

It’s important to mention any positive aspects to the book and how the positive and negative aspects stack up against each other to form your overall rating.

No book is perfect and every story has its flaws. Some have more than others but there’s usually still something positive you can throw in. There may even be whole chunks of your negative book review that speak about positive aspects.

Even if you would not recommend the book overall, it’s still important to mention these aspects, which may appeal to other readers who weigh these factors up differently. A balanced review is infinitely more useful to your readers than one which is wholly one sided. 

Despite this, I will give Marian Keyes credit for constructing a story that doled out plot twist after plot twist. I wasn’t really sure where the book was headed at all until the very last few pages. Keyes builds up a strong cast of secondary characters who are all well-fleshed out and have their own plot threads. This is the only advantage of the length of the book as it does mean these subplots are explored more deeply than they often are.  The Break Book Review , What’s Hot Blog

How could it have been improved?

One reason for writing negative reviews is to dissuade other readers from picking the book up. However, I like to think that something more positive can come from a negative review. 

Reviews are a way of letting an author know what you thought about their work. Whilst in most cases it’s unlikely the author will see your exact review, the general reception of the book will shape how they write in the future.

That’s why in cases where the book had lots of potential but ultimately let me down, I often suggest what would’ve made the reading experience better for me. It might help inform another budding author about how they want to write their own book – who knows!

It would’ve been more interesting to have half the number of accounts but with a little more depth on each person featured. Reading this made me feel like I was simply swiping through a large slideshow deck of similar morning routines. This book is a case of quantity of quality with heaps of accounts of people’s mornings routines but few specifics about how these routines helped these people get to their positions. It’s these crucial specifics that I usually find most motivating so this disappointed me.  My Morning Routine Book Review , What’s Hot Blog

RELATED: 24 Book Review Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing a Review

Consider which other readers may enjoy it.

Lastly, I always try to mention who this book might still appeal to. After all, book reviews are all a matter of opinion and just because I disliked it doesn’t mean every other reader will too.

Let’s say you are disappointed by a young adult novel because the romance took over from the action. There are many other young adult readers who absolutely love the teen romance aspects of these books and so they may adore it.

It’s important to consider what someone else may be able to gleam from this work, where possible. 

There you have my top tips for writing a negative book review. Many reviewers choose not to write negative reviews but personally I don’t think they’re all that scary and they’re a very important part of the book world! 

Pin now, read again later!

If you liked this post, check these out: Book Review Questions to Ask Before Writing a Review Book Blogging: How to Start a Book Blog Ultimate Guide to Affiliate Marketing for Book Bloggers 36 Book Blog Post Ideas All You Need to Know About Bookstagram Hashtags It’s Time for Book Bloggers to Get Paid. Book Bloggers Share their Thoughts on Influencer Marketing Beginner’s Guide to Instagram fo r Indie Author s

Editor of What’s Hot?

Cynthia Mejia

Wednesday 18th of August 2021

Loved your post. I have the opposite problem. I can gush about a book l loved. But writing a review for one I didn’t is much harder. Maybe it’s because of something you mentioned—that a reader’s reaction to a book can be very personal. I do look at negative reviews and very few are usually constructive. Most just seem to bash the book and/or author and those reviews I automatically discount because they don’t seem balanced to me. When I have left more constructive reviews, my goal is not to dissuade anyone else from picking up a book, but just giving them another lens through which that story was experienced. Your post, though, was very helpful! Thanks.

Sunday 27th of October 2019

Thank you so much for this post! I'm still relatively new to reviewing books and I just hate having to give a negative review. I have so much respect for anyone who has written a book that I hate to be one who might bring them down. Your tips are perfect and I'm putting them to use with the review I'm working on now. Thanks again!

You're welcome, Erin! So glad to hear that these tips have been of use to you!

CJ | A Well-Read Tart

Friday 28th of December 2018

These are really great tips to keep in mind, and I'm glad to find I'm already doing most of them! I have written several negative reviews lately (it was #DNFDecember, unfortunately), and while I didn't like the books enough to keep reading, I was still able to point out what WAS good (the author's ability to write well) and what other readers might enjoy that I specifically didn't (e.g., "slow burn" plot development). I feel it's important to be honest but never cruel, like you said. Someone worked hard on a book, whatever I think of it, and as someone who hopes to be a published author one day, I know I would be devastated if someone completely ripped apart my work. Of course, I occasionally DO come across books that make me go "how the EFF did this ever get published???," but I simply stop reading those and don't review them. If I can't say anything nice at all, it's best that I say nothing at all.

Thanks for the great tips!

Thursday 10th of January 2019

So glad you found the tips useful and very happy to hear you're already implementing some of these on your own reviews! Imagining what it would feel like if it was a review of YOUR work is such a great way to visualise what it could be like for someone on the receiving end of your criticism. I also don't think I've ever come across a book that only has negative reviews, which reminds me that it's all very subjective at the end of the day! Thanks for stopping by CJ!

Davida Chazan

Friday 21st of December 2018

YES! I always try to do this with books that don't come up to snuff! Thanks!

How to Write a Bad Review of a Book

Ahh, bad reviews—every new writer’s nightmare! Well, perhaps all writers’ nightmare? I’d like to think that you grow a thicker skin as you get further on into your career, gaining more confidence in your own skills and relying less on the validation of others. Either way, it’s fair to say that, as someone on the other end of reviews, I dread the prospect of getting negative feedback from readers. On the other hand, what else is a reader to do when they really didn’t enjoy a book?

Why you should write a review—even if it’s bad

Reviews are so important; there’s no denying that. They especially matter for new authors because having a certain number of reviews (positive or negative) is what will make our books more discoverable on sites like Amazon, allow us to reach more readers, and grow our careers.

In a world in which we very often make our purchases online, we as consumers are constantly checking the reviews to see if the product we plan to invest in is worth our money. As such, it’s important to leave negative reviews when you’re not happy…right?

Well, as a budding author myself , I have to admit that two contradictory tendencies have been growing inside of me:

1.) Because my own book is out there for the world to pass judgment on, I’ve grown even more uncomfortable about leaving negative reviews. I know so many indie authors like myself hang on every word and so I now think even more about the person on the other side of the feedback.

2.) However, as I read more craft books to hone my own writing skills, I’m learning more about what constitutes good writing. And that’s making me far more critical than I’ve even been about what I read. In the past, it was very unusual for me to ever give out 2- or 3-star rating, but now I do.

So, as someone who does occasionally have negative feedback on books, but who is also incredibly aware that this is a sensitive subject, I’ve realized that I needed to reach a compromise.

I believe we have to write fair, honest reviews whether they are positive or negative, but there are ways to go about doing so that are less nasty than some of the bad reviews out there.

I don’t claim to be an expert at this and I, myself, have committed some of the exact mistakes I’ll warn against here. However, I’m working to improve the way I approach negative book reviews and I hope that you will too. In the past, I just avoided them by not rating or reviewing anything, but this year I want to challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone and be honest about my opinions, without being too mean.

Personally, my choice of reading material is based almost solely on recommendation. I take what others who I trust say at face value and so I recognize that it would be misleading if I gave a positive review to book I truly didn’t enjoy it. I want to give back to the other readers and authors in my community by being honest about what I thought once I finish a book.

Even so, it feels very different to write a negative review about a product as subjective as a book. It’s not a piece of clothing that is objectively made of quality fabric or not. It’s someone’s heartfelt creation and it just may not have resonated with me—but that doesn’t mean it is inherently bad. So, this is how I now approach negative reviews.

How to write a bad review without being a bad person

1.) Actually write a review: This is something I rarely did in the past, but I’m making an effort to get better at it. Especially if you’re giving a low rating to a book, it can be really helpful to share your reasons why. That way, the author and potential readers aren’t left wondering. Instead, they actually know what it is about the book that you didn’t like. It’s completely possible that a writing style, character, setting, etc that you disliked will be someone else’s cup of tea! It’s helpful to pinpoint what it was about the book that made you give it a low score so that others can decide if that’s something they want to take into consideration or not.

2.) Be constructively critical: I think we all know the difference between constructive criticism and plain old makes-you-feel-awful criticism. Instead of saying blatantly negative thinks like “This book sucked” or “The story was so boring,” offer criticism that the author can actually use to improve. Perhaps you can say “The pacing was too slow for my liking” or “I couldn’t connect with the characters.” The more specific you can be, the better! For example, if you know what would have helped you to connect more with the characters, throw out the suggestion. You wouldn’t believe how much we, as authors, will latch on to those suggestions when they are delivered in a positive way. They truly may be used to improve our future work.

3.) Speaking of which, focus on YOUR experience: This is that typical “I” vs. “you” language that can make confrontations go far more smoothly. Instead of attacking the author and saying “She doesn’t know how to write” or “The plot was so predictable,” you can simply flip the script around to focus more on your personal experience. Statements like “I wasn’t a fan of the author’s writing style” or “Personally, I was able to see each plot twist coming” immediately feel far less combative, without actually changing the point you want to make.

4.) Add qualifiers to your review: What I mean by this is that it can be helpful to let others know if there are specifics about your expertise, your experience, your prior reading, etc that influenced your opinion about the book. Did you take three months to get through the book and possibly forget details for the storyline for that reason? Are you a subject-matter expert who might expect something different from the book than the average reader? It’s helpful to point out certain qualities you possess that may have influenced your review (but perhaps wouldn’t be factors for other readers).

Let me give an example: I recently wrote a review of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder in which I said that I enjoyed reading the book and it did keep me wanting to read late into the night. However, because I’ve listened to the podcast Serial as well as watched the TV series Pretty Little Liars , the plot didn’t seem very original to me. For another reader who hasn’t listened/watched those other media, they will probably LOVE the book, but it was disappointing to me as someone who had already engaged with the same stories that I feel inspired the author.

5.) Whenever possible, say something positive: Finally, I find it’s nice to include at least one thing you enjoyed about the book so that your review doesn’t come across unnecessarily harsh. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder definitely kept me intrigued and I appreciated that the ending involved plot twists that I hadn’t expected, so I mentioned that. It’s very unlikely that a book is so bad that I can’t find something honestly positive to say about it.

Note: Whenever possible, I like to “sandwich” my constructive criticism with qualifiers or positive feedback. That way, although the same exact information is delivered, it’s easier to take as a writer and it also comes across as more considerate and fair to other readers. If you’re unfamiliar with the (totally non-technical) term “sandwiching,” what I mean is that I might open my review by talking about what I enjoyed, transition into my constructive criticism, and close with a qualifier or two—essentially keeping the negative “sandwiched” between the positive.

In all honesty, I know getting a 1- or 2-star review will sting no matter how it’s delivered. Still, as a writer, I believe that if these guidelines were followed in a negative review of my work I would not only be less hurt by it, but I would also be more willing to take that respectful, constructive criticism to heart and use it to improve my future work.

To sum up, please keep in mind that these are my personal feelings. We all have our own personal preferences and what I appreciate in a book is not necessarily what the next person will appreciate—the same goes for reviews! What do you think should (or should not) go into a negative book review? I would love to start a conversation about it in the comments below.

Be the first to leave a comment

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related Posts

Protected: writing process journal – q2 of 2023, working with a developmental editor.

Protected: Writing Process Journal 5 – Q1 of 2023

• View on Facebook Page (Opens in a new tab)
• View our Twitter Page (Opens in a new tab)
• View our Instagram Page (Opens in a new tab)
• View our Youtube Page (Opens in a new tab)

How to Write a Useful Negative Review

We all know badly written online reviews benefit no one besides the people who angrily type them out. But every now and then, you may find yourself in a situation that calls for some constructive criticism. Whether you’re reviewing an Amazon purchase, a restaurant, or a former employer, your basic review-writing strategy should remain the same: Make it readable, and make it useful. Here’s how to do it.

Describe what happened—and what should have happened

If you’re considering writing a bad review, you’re probably motivated by at least one specific experience. That should be your focus. First, clearly and objectively describe the bad thing that happened, and stick to the facts—in other words, don’t make shit up. If you’re still feeling worked up about your experience, keep it under wraps. Next, describe what should have happened in the moment—not what you want to happen in response, or what you think you’re owed. This is an important distinction, because it’s basically a test to see if your complaint holds up. For legitimate complaints, it’ll be super easy to say what should have happened: Your former boss should have kept his gross comments to himself, Amazon should have charged you once and not twice for a single item, the server and cook should have left the peanut sauce off your plate after learning you’re allergic, and so on. But for petty beefs that boil down to you feeling insufficiently catered to, the “right” way of doing things will either straight-up not exist or be so outrageous you might as well have opened your review with “Please do not take anything I say seriously! I am working through some personal issues in an unhealthy and ultimately unproductive way!”

Get to the point

Wordy, overly long reviews are as unhelpful as it gets, so keep yours short and to the point. This will make it possible for a human being to read and absorb what you are saying, which is the entire point of writing any review. As a bonus, sticking to short, declarative sentences will also make it impossible for you to go off on a tirade, so you won’t come off like a scorned narcissist trying to get your way at all costs. (Even in situations where emotional outbursts are totally reasonable reactions, they can undermine your point.)

The bottom line: If you really want your review to make a difference, it needs to be as pointed and easy to read as possible. Tell the truth, make your case, and wrap it up; whoever ends up reading it will appreciate the effort.

Book Reviews

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you write a book review, a report or essay that offers a critical perspective on a text. It offers a process and suggests some strategies for writing book reviews.

What is a review?

A review is a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon. Reviews can consider books, articles, entire genres or fields of literature, architecture, art, fashion, restaurants, policies, exhibitions, performances, and many other forms. This handout will focus on book reviews. For a similar assignment, see our handout on literature reviews .

Above all, a review makes an argument. The most important element of a review is that it is a commentary, not merely a summary. It allows you to enter into dialogue and discussion with the work’s creator and with other audiences. You can offer agreement or disagreement and identify where you find the work exemplary or deficient in its knowledge, judgments, or organization. You should clearly state your opinion of the work in question, and that statement will probably resemble other types of academic writing, with a thesis statement, supporting body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Typically, reviews are brief. In newspapers and academic journals, they rarely exceed 1000 words, although you may encounter lengthier assignments and extended commentaries. In either case, reviews need to be succinct. While they vary in tone, subject, and style, they share some common features:

• First, a review gives the reader a concise summary of the content. This includes a relevant description of the topic as well as its overall perspective, argument, or purpose.
• Second, and more importantly, a review offers a critical assessment of the content. This involves your reactions to the work under review: what strikes you as noteworthy, whether or not it was effective or persuasive, and how it enhanced your understanding of the issues at hand.
• Finally, in addition to analyzing the work, a review often suggests whether or not the audience would appreciate it.

Becoming an expert reviewer: three short examples

Reviewing can be a daunting task. Someone has asked for your opinion about something that you may feel unqualified to evaluate. Who are you to criticize Toni Morrison’s new book if you’ve never written a novel yourself, much less won a Nobel Prize? The point is that someone—a professor, a journal editor, peers in a study group—wants to know what you think about a particular work. You may not be (or feel like) an expert, but you need to pretend to be one for your particular audience. Nobody expects you to be the intellectual equal of the work’s creator, but your careful observations can provide you with the raw material to make reasoned judgments. Tactfully voicing agreement and disagreement, praise and criticism, is a valuable, challenging skill, and like many forms of writing, reviews require you to provide concrete evidence for your assertions.

Consider the following brief book review written for a history course on medieval Europe by a student who is fascinated with beer:

Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600, investigates how women used to brew and sell the majority of ale drunk in England. Historically, ale and beer (not milk, wine, or water) were important elements of the English diet. Ale brewing was low-skill and low status labor that was complimentary to women’s domestic responsibilities. In the early fifteenth century, brewers began to make ale with hops, and they called this new drink “beer.” This technique allowed brewers to produce their beverages at a lower cost and to sell it more easily, although women generally stopped brewing once the business became more profitable.

The student describes the subject of the book and provides an accurate summary of its contents. But the reader does not learn some key information expected from a review: the author’s argument, the student’s appraisal of the book and its argument, and whether or not the student would recommend the book. As a critical assessment, a book review should focus on opinions, not facts and details. Summary should be kept to a minimum, and specific details should serve to illustrate arguments.

Now consider a review of the same book written by a slightly more opinionated student:

Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 was a colossal disappointment. I wanted to know about the rituals surrounding drinking in medieval England: the songs, the games, the parties. Bennett provided none of that information. I liked how the book showed ale and beer brewing as an economic activity, but the reader gets lost in the details of prices and wages. I was more interested in the private lives of the women brewsters. The book was divided into eight long chapters, and I can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to read it.

There’s no shortage of judgments in this review! But the student does not display a working knowledge of the book’s argument. The reader has a sense of what the student expected of the book, but no sense of what the author herself set out to prove. Although the student gives several reasons for the negative review, those examples do not clearly relate to each other as part of an overall evaluation—in other words, in support of a specific thesis. This review is indeed an assessment, but not a critical one.

Here is one final review of the same book:

One of feminism’s paradoxes—one that challenges many of its optimistic histories—is how patriarchy remains persistent over time. While Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 recognizes medieval women as historical actors through their ale brewing, it also shows that female agency had its limits with the advent of beer. I had assumed that those limits were religious and political, but Bennett shows how a “patriarchal equilibrium” shut women out of economic life as well. Her analysis of women’s wages in ale and beer production proves that a change in women’s work does not equate to a change in working women’s status. Contemporary feminists and historians alike should read Bennett’s book and think twice when they crack open their next brewsky.

This student’s review avoids the problems of the previous two examples. It combines balanced opinion and concrete example, a critical assessment based on an explicitly stated rationale, and a recommendation to a potential audience. The reader gets a sense of what the book’s author intended to demonstrate. Moreover, the student refers to an argument about feminist history in general that places the book in a specific genre and that reaches out to a general audience. The example of analyzing wages illustrates an argument, the analysis engages significant intellectual debates, and the reasons for the overall positive review are plainly visible. The review offers criteria, opinions, and support with which the reader can agree or disagree.

Developing an assessment: before you write

There is no definitive method to writing a review, although some critical thinking about the work at hand is necessary before you actually begin writing. Thus, writing a review is a two-step process: developing an argument about the work under consideration, and making that argument as you write an organized and well-supported draft. See our handout on argument .

What follows is a series of questions to focus your thinking as you dig into the work at hand. While the questions specifically consider book reviews, you can easily transpose them to an analysis of performances, exhibitions, and other review subjects. Don’t feel obligated to address each of the questions; some will be more relevant than others to the book in question.

• What is the thesis—or main argument—of the book? If the author wanted you to get one idea from the book, what would it be? How does it compare or contrast to the world you know? What has the book accomplished?
• What exactly is the subject or topic of the book? Does the author cover the subject adequately? Does the author cover all aspects of the subject in a balanced fashion? What is the approach to the subject (topical, analytical, chronological, descriptive)?
• How does the author support their argument? What evidence do they use to prove their point? Do you find that evidence convincing? Why or why not? Does any of the author’s information (or conclusions) conflict with other books you’ve read, courses you’ve taken or just previous assumptions you had of the subject?
• How does the author structure their argument? What are the parts that make up the whole? Does the argument make sense? Does it persuade you? Why or why not?
• How has this book helped you understand the subject? Would you recommend the book to your reader?

Beyond the internal workings of the book, you may also consider some information about the author and the circumstances of the text’s production:

• Who is the author? Nationality, political persuasion, training, intellectual interests, personal history, and historical context may provide crucial details about how a work takes shape. Does it matter, for example, that the biographer was the subject’s best friend? What difference would it make if the author participated in the events they write about?
• What is the book’s genre? Out of what field does it emerge? Does it conform to or depart from the conventions of its genre? These questions can provide a historical or literary standard on which to base your evaluations. If you are reviewing the first book ever written on the subject, it will be important for your readers to know. Keep in mind, though, that naming “firsts”—alongside naming “bests” and “onlys”—can be a risky business unless you’re absolutely certain.

Writing the review

Once you have made your observations and assessments of the work under review, carefully survey your notes and attempt to unify your impressions into a statement that will describe the purpose or thesis of your review. Check out our handout on thesis statements . Then, outline the arguments that support your thesis.

Your arguments should develop the thesis in a logical manner. That logic, unlike more standard academic writing, may initially emphasize the author’s argument while you develop your own in the course of the review. The relative emphasis depends on the nature of the review: if readers may be more interested in the work itself, you may want to make the work and the author more prominent; if you want the review to be about your perspective and opinions, then you may structure the review to privilege your observations over (but never separate from) those of the work under review. What follows is just one of many ways to organize a review.

Introduction

Since most reviews are brief, many writers begin with a catchy quip or anecdote that succinctly delivers their argument. But you can introduce your review differently depending on the argument and audience. The Writing Center’s handout on introductions can help you find an approach that works. In general, you should include:

• The name of the author and the book title and the main theme.
• Relevant details about who the author is and where they stand in the genre or field of inquiry. You could also link the title to the subject to show how the title explains the subject matter.
• The context of the book and/or your review. Placing your review in a framework that makes sense to your audience alerts readers to your “take” on the book. Perhaps you want to situate a book about the Cuban revolution in the context of Cold War rivalries between the United States and the Soviet Union. Another reviewer might want to consider the book in the framework of Latin American social movements. Your choice of context informs your argument.
• The thesis of the book. If you are reviewing fiction, this may be difficult since novels, plays, and short stories rarely have explicit arguments. But identifying the book’s particular novelty, angle, or originality allows you to show what specific contribution the piece is trying to make.
• Your thesis about the book.

Summary of content

This should be brief, as analysis takes priority. In the course of making your assessment, you’ll hopefully be backing up your assertions with concrete evidence from the book, so some summary will be dispersed throughout other parts of the review.

The necessary amount of summary also depends on your audience. Graduate students, beware! If you are writing book reviews for colleagues—to prepare for comprehensive exams, for example—you may want to devote more attention to summarizing the book’s contents. If, on the other hand, your audience has already read the book—such as a class assignment on the same work—you may have more liberty to explore more subtle points and to emphasize your own argument. See our handout on summary for more tips.

Analysis and evaluation of the book

Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into paragraphs that deal with single aspects of your argument. This arrangement can be challenging when your purpose is to consider the book as a whole, but it can help you differentiate elements of your criticism and pair assertions with evidence more clearly. You do not necessarily need to work chronologically through the book as you discuss it. Given the argument you want to make, you can organize your paragraphs more usefully by themes, methods, or other elements of the book. If you find it useful to include comparisons to other books, keep them brief so that the book under review remains in the spotlight. Avoid excessive quotation and give a specific page reference in parentheses when you do quote. Remember that you can state many of the author’s points in your own words.

Sum up or restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book. You should not introduce new evidence for your argument in the conclusion. You can, however, introduce new ideas that go beyond the book if they extend the logic of your own thesis. This paragraph needs to balance the book’s strengths and weaknesses in order to unify your evaluation. Did the body of your review have three negative paragraphs and one favorable one? What do they all add up to? The Writing Center’s handout on conclusions can help you make a final assessment.

Finally, a few general considerations:

• Review the book in front of you, not the book you wish the author had written. You can and should point out shortcomings or failures, but don’t criticize the book for not being something it was never intended to be.
• With any luck, the author of the book worked hard to find the right words to express her ideas. You should attempt to do the same. Precise language allows you to control the tone of your review.
• Never hesitate to challenge an assumption, approach, or argument. Be sure, however, to cite specific examples to back up your assertions carefully.
• Try to present a balanced argument about the value of the book for its audience. You’re entitled—and sometimes obligated—to voice strong agreement or disagreement. But keep in mind that a bad book takes as long to write as a good one, and every author deserves fair treatment. Harsh judgments are difficult to prove and can give readers the sense that you were unfair in your assessment.
• A great place to learn about book reviews is to look at examples. The New York Times Sunday Book Review and The New York Review of Books can show you how professional writers review books.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Drewry, John. 1974. Writing Book Reviews. Boston: Greenwood Press.

Hoge, James. 1987. Literary Reviewing. Charlottesville: University Virginia of Press.

Sova, Dawn, and Harry Teitelbaum. 2002. How to Write Book Reports , 4th ed. Lawrenceville, NY: Thomson/Arco.

Walford, A.J. 1986. Reviews and Reviewing: A Guide. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

Why I Write “Negative” Reviews (And Why You Don’t Have To)

Posted September 16, 2019 by Sammie in book review , chat with me , discussions / 53 Comments

The question that has plagued book bloggers since the dawn of the Internet: to post or not to post negative reviews?

At some point, every blogger needs to make this decision for themselves, and sometimes it’s a tough one. Everyone approaches it differently, and none of them are definitively “Right,” just right for that blogger.

Spoiler alert: I post “negative” reviews on The Writerly Way.

Because I’m the Wicked Witch of the … South. Where I melt with heat, rather than water, and my glittery shoes are black, like my heart. Or, you know, because those are the reviews I value the most, I suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But being a witch sounds like more fun.

Also, I totally put that in quotes because when I think of negative reviews, it’s more rant reviews and flames, which I don’t do. Flames are best left for s’mores and sick burns, in my opinion. Oh, and dragons, obviously.

So … what is a negative review?

I think the most commonly accepted view is that a negative review is one that is 1 or 2 stars and may even be 3 stars with a lot of negative comments . So that’s what I’m using as my definition in this post.

Why low ratings can be important.

❧ Too many high ratings can be unrealistic and look fake . Obviously, all writers want solid five-star ratings, and you’d think that would be great, right? But all those pages on Amazon with five-star reviews and gushing praise oozing everywhere? I side-eye those so hard. They scream of paid advertising or false reviews. That’s mostly because some amount of low-star reviews is normal and expected because …

❧ A book doesn’t fit every single audience. Naturally, someone’s not going to like the book. Even if you would die a thousand deaths and sacrifice your firstborn child for a copy of the sequel, there will still be several people that hated it. I know, I don’t get it either. But still.

❧ Trigger warnings and sensitive content are a thing. Setting aside whether or not you personally agree with it, people rate books low because they don’t like the content, whether that be cursing, graphic sex, abusive relationships, or a myriad of other things. This is their attempt to warn others who may have the same triggers . Which serves a vital function, because there are definitely things that some people don’t want to read. Everyone has a line somewhere that they don’t want to cross. Even if it’s only 10 light years shy of being sucked into a black hole and suffering some unknown, inescapable, probably horrific fate.

❧ Sometimes a book just … isn’t that good? I mean, it’s heartbreaking to say, but that’s the honest truth. There’s a reason self-publishing has a bad name and a stigma attached to it, even if it’s unfairly so (and shout-out to all the fabulous self-pubbed authors out there). The fact that anyone can publish their work is amazing . But also, anyone can publish their work . Yikes. There’s some work out there that you just can’t unread, no matter how hard you try.

❧ There’s no such thing as bad buzz. Allegedly. I mean, yeah, okay, there are definitely some examples. But putting aside rants and flames, a well-rounded review, even one with a low star rating attached, does a great job of spreading the buzz, which is ultimately the point, right? Your review still gets the book attention and in front of eyeballs that may decide it sounds great.

Why I write negative reviews

❧ I value honesty above pretty much everything else. This is true in everything I do in life, and it’s the one thing I always aim for, is to be honest. So I do, because it’s that important to me. Sometimes, honesty is hard, and it’s often not-so-pretty. I want to be honest in how I represent myself and in the reviews I present, and sometimes that means I simply didn’t enjoy a book. It doesn’t mean the book was bad, just that it wasn’t my cup of tea. Probably because I prefer coffee.

❧ I assume people reading my blog have similar tastes, which means they, too, might not enjoy the book. This isn’t anything about the book, but life is about choices. Since we don’t get to live forever (for some reason?!) and we’re not allowed to read any time we want (blasphemy, I know), everything is a trade-off. Sometimes one book has to hit the chopping block to make room for something you want to read more. But also … reading is supposed to be fun . So why read something you’re pretty sure you’re going to hate?! I’m extremely picky about the books I read and try to only pick up ones I really think I’ll enjoy, but sometimes I miss the mark. It happens.

❧ My negatives could be someone else’s positives. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? Just because something doesn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it doesn’t work for someone reading this blog! I’m actually surprised by the number of times I’ve debated about posting a negative review and did, only to have someone say they’re adding the book to their TBR because of my review because they love a trope I hate . The whole point is that if a book isn’t for me, it still is for someone .

❧ Two-star and three-star reviews are the ones I value the most personally. Sure, I glance through the four and five star reviews to see what people really like about the book. But for me, I want to know what really bugged people. Is it unlikable characters? Good. This book is for me, probably. I stack their gripes up against the things that are important to me in a book, and if it ticks a box for something that I just don’t enjoy reading … I don’t. Better for everyone involved, and we all live happily ever after.

❧ I write reviews for other readers . And wow, this is also often a point of contention in the book world because authors are trying to stick their hands in our cookie jars. *swats them with a rolled up newspaper* Those are our cookies. Yours are over there, baked with our tears and anguish, okay? My goal when writing a review is simply to help a reader make an informed decision about whether they believe they would enjoy a certain book. Period. Hard stop. End of story. If I’ve done that, huzzah! Mission accomplished. Knowing the pros and cons is important in any decision-making process.

❧ I strive to write rounded reviews, which means positives and negatives. So yeah, that book got two stars, but there’s still positive things I have to say about it. If I’m just 100% not feeling a book, it goes on my DNF pile and doesn’t get a star rating or a full review. So if I finished it, I didn’t hate it. I just didn’t love it as much as I’d anticipated.

Why writing negative reviews is hard

❧ If I picked up the book to start with, I obviously thought I would love it, so yeah, I’m a bit disappointed. Which usually has nothing to do with the book and everything to do with me. I don’t start a book to not enjoy it, but that does inevitably happen from time to time. It’s a bit like the one that got away. I thought we were meant to be together, but you chose Sharon from accounting instead. </3

❧ I write myself and can 100% confirm that authors sacrifice their hearts, souls, blood, probably a good chunk of their liver, their sanity (if they ever had it), many a night, and maybe a neighbor or two in order to write a book. Obviously, all writers deserve 10/10. I want to love this thing that’s taken so much time and energy and work. It’s a labor of love and tears and ugliness sometimes, but also ends in something that’s truly amazing and beautiful. Why would anyone want to write something bad about that?! But reviews aren’t for the authors. It’s for other people who might potentially pick up the book and are trying to make that final decision.

❧ I would much rather be screaming from a rooftop about a book and throwing it at others insisting they read it … because really, that’s just more fun. Spoiler alert: negative reviews are kind of a downer. If I didn’t love a book, it’s sort of a sad experience that I don’t want to relive, even if there were things that I did genuinely enjoy about it. The feeling of loving a book so much that you want everyone else to love it feels so much better.

❧ I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I pretty much legit hope that authors don’t read my two-star reviews, because I don’t want to be that person who discouraged someone. And again, that review isn’t for you. Get back to your own dang cookie jar and leave ours alone.

Why some people choose not to

❧ If you’re an author, it can get a bit awkward to potentially work with or meet people who you’ve given negative reviews to. There’s no way of knowing how people will handle it, and authors all handle negative reviews differently. I mean, I’ve grown a pretty tough skin personally. You know that saying, “Who needs enemies when you’ve got friends like this?” Yeah, pretty sure my friends invented that. And they were bragging when they said it. They are brutal . In a good way. (Remember that thing I said about honesty, yeah?) But some people want to avoid the potential resentment or issues it may cause, and that’s probably super smart business sense.

❧ Sometimes, it’s just better, or even necessary, to focus on the positive aspects of life. There are a myriad of reasons someone might decide to do this, but hey, being positive is never a bad thing, right? Some people just want to talk about books they love, or they only want positive vibes on their blog, and that’s totally admirable. Each blogger/reviewer has to do what feels right for them.

❧ Some people don’t want to dwell on the negative. Totally a respectable thing to do, and it goes with the previous idea. Being negative can feel icky, plain and simple. Or if you’re already struggling with mental health problems, putting yourself in a negative frame of mind can be detrimental or just drag you down. Self-care is important. Know your limitations.

Chat With Me

Where do you fall on this do you write negative reviews, or only positive ones what’s the reason for your preference, share this:.

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

53 responses to “ Why I Write “Negative” Reviews (And Why You Don’t Have To) ”

Great post, Sammie! I write negative reviews when I have to, but man I hate doing it! I want to love everything. But that’s not realistic, and I’d rather be honest about my feelings. But I do try to find positives in everything.

I don’t know many people who enjoy writing negative reviews. I’d much rather love all the books I read. Wouldn’t that be so much more convenient and enjoyable? xD I love your reviews, though. I really look for reviewers who are honest with their feelings, because it seems like it shows when someone’s just trying to be falsely positive about a book they didn’t really like.

I really love this post and agree with everything. I write bad reviews when I’m really really disappointed as you’ve said. And I hate leaving them and I especially hate when the author sees it…Ugh, an author actually liked a negative review of mine the other day and I felt so bad but I have to be honest. I always try to find positives. I could always stand to be nicer however, so I’m working on that.

What you said about seeing all these glowing reviews puts your guard up I can relate to all too well. It makes me feel as though maybe I won’t enjoy the book as much.

Sigh, the burden is too much sometimes. *dramatic hand clap over eyes*

I think it’s a good sign, though, if the writer is able to like it, because it means they’re not off fuming in a corner, poking pins in little voodoo dolls that look vaguely like you. xD Some writers can handle that and aren’t worried about it, and I think that’s great.

I think it’s a really fine line between honest and nice, and sometimes you have to not be nice in order to be honest. xD

This year, especially, I’ve been really burned by books that were super hyped and received a ton of five-star and four-star reviews, and I ended up not being a huge fan of them (either low rating or DNF all together), so now I’m always suspicious of that. Clearly, I’m broken in some way that the majority of the public doesn’t have to worry about lol.

Isn’t it? I’m just not sure my delicate sensitivities can handle the pressure. *swoons super dramatic-like onto a couch*

You have such a well thought-out reviewing style. I couldn’t agree with your reasoning more.

Two and three star reviews are the most helpful for me as well. Yes, reviewing is a subjective process in a lot of cases. What someone else hates I might love (and vice versa). It’s so interesting to read people’s explanations of why something didn’t work for them. Sometimes I’ll agree, and at other times I won’t.

On the other hand, there are certain things that no book should contain like tons of grammatical or punctuation errors. It’s always nice to get a heads up about more objective criteria like that, too.

Thank you so much! Yes, I love when people go in depth, versus saying “I loved this” or “I didn’t like this”. If they give more explanation, I can usually suss out whether I’ll feel the same or not.

I definitely agree about that, too. I just physically cannot read books filled with typos and obvious incorrect punctuation. It makes me all twitchy.

I 100% write negative reviews. I don’t actively like writing them, but I don’t dislike writing them either. I think they just come with the territory.

It’s important, though, to remember to review the book and not the author. I think that’s where I’ve seen the most backlash about negative reviews. (I haven’t seen my blog friends do it, but I know there are reviewers who do lash out at the author instead of sticking with reviewing what’s actually in the book.)

But I love your reminders that not everyone likes the same things, and that no matter how good a book is, there will be someone who doesn’t like it for some reason. I’ve found some great books based on other people’s negative reviews.

That’s a good way to look at it. It’s part of the “job”, so to speak.

Yes! I’ve seen those, and that definitely crosses a line for me, but then again, bullying doesn’t surprise me, even in the bookish world.

When I start feeling down about my writing, I like to look up my favorite authors on Goodreads, read their one-star reviews, and then fume with righteous indignation about how anyone could one-star what is obviously one of the greatest works of all time. xD How dare they! It’s a nice reminder that not everyone will love what you do lol.

I wish I could say that bullying didn’t exist in the bookish world, but alas.

I never thought to look up 1-star reviews of my favorite authors or books. That sounds like a great pick-me-up!

Excellent post and great points. If it comes to it, I write negative reviews as well. I like to be honest. Plus, something I disliked might be something someone else might love.

Very good points! I think it happens more often than people think that someone picks up a book because of a negative review revealing something they love about books. :3

Yeah- I totally write negative reviews. I do feel bad about it if the author is someone more likely to be affected by my review, but at the same time I find negative reviews easier to write.

It’s easy for me to pick out what I didn’t like about a novel and sometimes less so what I did. Like if I liked it- the characters were great! The plot was great! The writing was great! Read this! lol.

Great discussion topic.

Oh- and I’m with you on valuing 2 and 3 star reviews the most- I also find them to be the most helpful!

Oh, that’s also true, and a really interesting other discussion to have! Positive reviews where you just loved everything are so hard, because it’s really just a dozen different ways of saying “read this.” I’ve written a handful of just overly positive reviews where I had no complaints at all, and I always just wonder if my review even helps, because it’s just one big long fangirl gush. xD

Love this post, you have totally nailed it! I agree completely on pretty much all counts. I confess, I *love* negative reviews. Love reading ’em, love writing them. But I feel like a garbage person for feeling this way! I absolutely know that this is the author’s blood, sweat, and tears (often literally!) and I just feel awful thinking that they could see it somehow! Though you’re right, they shouldn’t seek them out, and I think I am very good about keeping my reviews in reader-centric grounds. But I think they really DO serve a purpose and definitely have helped me decide TO read a book, so. Definitely see the value, no question!

I think it’s sort of natural to love negative reviews to some extent. I do admit that I totally seek them out from time to time when I just want to read something bookish that doesn’t make me think.

I think my TBR would be 1,000% more manageable if there were less reviews floating around out there in the blogosphere. xD

I don’t even understand the issue. People should be free to express their opinion, including negative opinions. Some people simply prefer not to post negative opinions because they want everything positive on the website, but if they do not say what they think because they are afraid of other people or because they feel pressured to only post positive reviews – than I think it is simply not right. People’s right to express themselves should be defended. We cannot all think the same about a book and even authors want to hear sometimes critical comments. I wrote negative opinions and will always write them – and to be frank all your reasons why people do not write negative reviews or why they are hard to write never entered my head. – last reason: not to hurt anyone’s feeling? omg, what are we? we are honest reviewers and critics here not fairy godmothers giving opinions to five year olds. I hope an author reads my two star review of his or her work – why not? that will be very productive and he or she will know that side of how a book is viewed. Why live in la la land? It means his or her readers are not clones.

There are many sides to this reviewer business, and I agree that anyone should feel free to express their opinions if they want. But there have been reviewers attacked by writers/fans sometimes (which is, frankly, crazy to me, but it happens). I also know people who choose not to post negative reviews on their blogs only because they want to focus on the positive side of life. They want their blog to focus on books they love, and I 100% respect that.

As an author myself, I totally understand how hard it can be to read negative reviews on your work, and honestly, 99.99% of them aren’t helpful. Amazingly, a lot of writers suffer from depression and imposter syndrome. We’re such a fickle community. I mean, I don’t know any writers who don’t expect negative reviews (unless, yeah, they’re delusional, I guess), but most just don’t read their negative reviews because, again, the reviews aren’t for the authors and, second, knowing your own mental situation and what you can handle is healthy.

Thanks for your thoughtful comments!

Love this post! I’ve been told off for writing negative reviews in the past, too, because I’m a writer primarily – but if you aren’t going to be honest, what’s the point of writing anything at all? When I first started (about 8-9 years ago) I used to read some friends’ books that I thought were pretty bad, and give them the non-committal 4 star, but I don’t do that anymore. If I don’t like a book, I just stop reading it – though I do review for a book blog that takes submissions, too, so am sometimes committed to reading work that needs serious editing or a re-think. Here, we are encouraged to give honest reviews – the review policy states that ‘all positive’ reviews are not guaranteed.

Getting bad reviews is never easy, but from a writer POV I’d rather have honesty than a load of gushing rubbish – how can you continue to learn if everyone tells you you’re wonderful as you are?

I’m sorry that you were told off for that. It’s a shame. As long as you’re not attacking that author, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect that not all of your friends will enjoy your work. That’s unrealistic.

Continuing to learn is definitely one plus! Maybe something you can do differently in your future novels. But even if you don’t need to learn, if you’re the best writer of all time, there will *still* be negative reviews because maybe somebody doesn’t like how your character curses too much, or they don’t like the enemies-to-lover trope, or they don’t like insta-love, etc. xD There are some things you just can’t control, no matter how great a writer you become.

I write negative reviews to help readers and if the author wants to read them they may also learn why I didn’t love their book. I’ll only post reviews that are 3* or above on my blog, but I’ll offer an author my feedback if the book is going to fall below a 3*. Feedback can be tricky, some authors welcome it, some are only interested in a review. But you can’t please everyone all of the time. When I read reviews of other books, I like to see a good range of star ratings and I’ll read the 3* ones first as you can usually find the nitty gritty about a book from them. Then I may still decide to buy that book, if a reviewer’s niggles don’t worry me. Thanks for this post.

I don’t tend to review a whole slew of India authors, and the big name authors really only want a review, so I honor that. I’ve posted 2* reviews before, but I think all the books that I’ve given 2* to have been books that just aren’t genres I enjoy with slightly misleading summaries. Which is something the author doesn’t really have a whole ton of control over.

3* reviews are for sure the nice middle-of-the-road option, and I usually look to them as reviews that will probably have positives and negatives, which makes it easy to decide!

Thank you for a great post! Writing an honest review is important and sometimes very difficult! I try always to be kind when I need to write a review that isn’t complimentary.

Thank you! I agree that wording can be just as important as honesty. Even with books that I rate low, I still have positives, because I did feel compelled to finish the book, after all. 😉

Great words here. I do write if I don’t like a book I haven’t done a 1 or 2 star yet. But like you if I don’t like it I have to say so but always in a constructive way. I’m never having a go at the writer or their writing. For me it’s usually the characters, or just that little something missing, where your mind starts wandering when you are reading because you are not completely engaged with the story, but then it picks up a bit, but goes down again in the next chapter. Some books may be over describing something that doesn’t add to the book, then you wonder if it’s just padding it out. If you can take that bit away and it doesn’t take anything away from the story and doesn’t add anything either, then don’t put it in. I don’t actually think I’ve had one book yet that warrants 1 or 2 stars but I guess there will come a day when I come across one, I just hope it’s not one of those books that everyone else absolutely loves and I don’t. There are some out there that I have seen over rated and I’ve bought it and I sit there thinking ok what are they reading that I’m not. But we all know that reading is subjective and we all like different things. So as you say what one person hates another may absolutely love.

So many good points in your response! I’m currently reading a book that falls into the “is it just padding?” category, so that feels so relevant right now. xD

I’ve had a few 2* reviews (not many), but I think they usually tend to be books whose synopses were a little misleading. I thought I’d love them, but they ended up being heavily about genres I didn’t care so much for (like a historical fiction/fantasy that was light on fantasy and mostly just historical fiction).

That happens a lot to me, too. I’ve sort of become more careful about what hyped books I pick up, because it seems like I tend to enjoy them less than all the others, because clearly something is wrong with me.

I totally agree with what you are saying, some of the hyped books I have picked up because everyone else says how great they are tend to fall quite flat for me at times, I know I like a faster paced book so that it holds my attention more. But it is so true that we all like different books. I hate it when people are a little pretentious and only read really high brow novels, for me that’s not for leisure or relaxation. I know a lot of people are loving The Testaments but I am not into dystopian novels which seems to be the next trend. But I think there are plenty of books out there to suit everyone. We are lucky to have so much choice now. There are some great new writers coming out all the time. I think if by reviewing a book if we like it and give a good review it may help that one person get more buyers for their book, which in turn enables them to write another book which may be even better than the first.

I love dystopian novels. xD And I tend to be really picky with books, but sometimes I just want a silly, easy book and I love it for relaxation and fun, just like you said! Not every book has to have deep philosophical meaning lol.

I definitely agree that we’re so lucky to have the sort of access to books we do, though. 🙂

The only thing is when I have picked what I call lighter reading, I feel embarrassed to write a review which is crazy as these books appeal to lots of readers. We don’t always want something heavy going.

Exactly! Reviews for them are important. It’s sometimes a bit harder to write those sorts of reviews for me, too, because I usually don’t feel as strongly as other books, but man, they also play such an important role! As much as I love it, it can’t be doom, gloom, and death all the time.

That is so very true, sometimes you want something to lift you up. I think that’s why I enjoyed the Christina Dodd trilogy I recently read, I used to read all of her books. Then started reading other things, but I do enjoy her writing. I think when we lost our local Borders shop which I used to spend hours in as you could take books into the coffee shop, so I would pick a handful then go upstairs have a coffee and decide which books I wanted, as they were mostly written by American authors that I can mostly now only get on Amazon. But the recent trilogy it had me laughing out loud as well as being a contemporary suspense thriller she has this ability of adding humour, which I loved, I was a little disappointed in the final part, but the first two book were excellent. In between the crime books I read it was like indulging in a bar of chocolate having the romance and drama together. Lol if that makes any sense.

That sounds like a great series! I’ll have to check it out. My fluffy go-to series is the St. Mary’s Chronicles. The plot is really nothing to write home about, in my opinion, and it often frustrates me in that regard, but I just love the characters and the humor and how much things can go wrong. It always makes me laugh out loud. So I try to pick those up when I’ve had enough of the dark, heavy books. It’s always nice to have a go-to like that. :3

Definitely agree with you there, give Christina Dodd a go I think they are the Cape charade trilogy as I say the first two were excellent the last was at times a little flat but still finished it off nicely, characters are good, with the first one you are maybe left guessing a little more. There are reviews for the three on here.

I don’t really publish negative reviews. I point out things I didn’t like, but I always list the good first. That’s simply the way I live my life, trying to find the good in everything. I’m sure it’s a bit Pollyanna of me. Haha

If I’m not able to give at least a 3-star rating, I contact the author or publisher that requested the review and explain to them why I’m not posting the review. It’s then in their hands to either give the go ahead or not. Sometimes, they want any review to up their count so they can begin advertising with Amazon.

For books that I pick up on my own (not from a review request), I find it easier to leave a negative review. However, if I finished the book, I usually found something in it I liked.

I try to do the same. I always start my reviews with sort of an overall summary of my feelings, then the positives, then the “sticking points,” because I don’t even want to say they’re bad or wrong. They just didn’t work for me, personally. xD But hey, there’s nothing wrong with trying to find the good in things! It’s pretty admirable.

I’m very much the same. If I don’t like something where there’s not really many positives to say, it’s basically a DNF anyway. If I’ve finished it, then yeah, there’s some good things I have to say about it.

Great post! I think it’s so important to leave honest reviews, whether you liked the book or not! I always try to discuss the good and bad bits of a book honestly, if I didn’t like something I would say! I just steer clear of reviewing books I know I won’t like so I’m not forced into giving a negative review.

I try really hard to filter the books I pick up and I’m really picky, so anything I start, it’s because I think I’ll enjoy it. I don’t always succeed at that, though, unfortunately. I do think a well-balanced review is important, though!

These are great points. I wrote a post explaining why I feel the opposite but it’s my personal choice for my own reasons and I think it’s important for people to do as they chose.

I know several people who won’t post negative reviews, and I love their reasons, too! If it works for you, I fully support it and think that’s fabulous. I follow quite a few blogs that straight up are honest that they only post about books they like, and I have no qualms with that whatsoever. 🙂

I feel the same both ways. As long as the negative reviews are constructive and fair

I love this post. I also gravitate toward the 2-3 star reviews like ooo…. what made them rate it like that? I too post negative reviews if I genuinely didn’t like a book- When The Light Goes Out comes to mind.

Thank you! I do enjoy reading the five-star and four-star reviews sometimes, especially if there aren’t a lot of reviews, but I feel like they don’t really touch on anything that might be problematic for me, so usually I just check those out to see what things I’m going to love about the book. :3

Great post! I am a book blogger who writes about the way a story was told rather than dissecting the story itself; the prose used, the balance of positive and negative personality traits in the characters, the narrative and pace, you know the sort of thing. I always give my reasons why things don’t work for me. I know exactly what you mean about self publishing; I toss and turn when I have to give a negative review because I just can’t believe family and friends hadn’t told them they should polish their manuscript some more before publishing it.

Oh, that sounds so unique! I love the idea of that in how to review a blog. Sounds so helpful to really dig down into the bones of the story.

Unfortunately, the problem is that some of these people *were* told and chose to ignore it because they were so sure their story was great. =/ But I mean, on the other hand, I’ve found some great self-published work that I really enjoyed and have met quite a few friends that way, too. It really is just a mixed bag.

My take on a negative review? As a writer, my first thought is, at least they read my book! Really, getting any review at all gives me a thrill! Seriously, I don’t get upset at someone’s honest opinion though I do get a little confused when someone says they didn’t finish the book because how can you give a complete review if you didn’t finish it? (I’ve seen a few reviews on other authors’ books where the “reviewer” said they didn’t read it at all and gave it a one star!) As a reader, yes I read the negative reviews first but I also consider what exactly was in the review; did it discuss pros and cons or did it just say “I didn’t like this book” without saying why. Same for positive ones. You can’t get a good idea if the review says simply “I like this book”, besides, even a positive review can list pros and cons.

It’s so funny to hear what writers think sometimes. Because I’m totally in that wheelhouse with you, like heeeey, they read my work!

I’ve seen those, and I guess the logic is that if you didn’t like it enough to finish, then it’s a one-star review. For me, personally, I won’t leave a star rating for DNF books. I just post a little thing on Goodreads saying why it was DNF for me.

I think you’ve pretty much nailed the heart of it: reviews aren’t helpful if there’s not detail! Going on about how much you love or hate a book isn’t really all that helpful for others looking for details.

I found your post because Pages Unbound linked it on a recent post of theirs, and I’m so glad they did! Your writing style made me smile — it’s sassy and funny.

I write negative reviews, but I’m in a funny middle place.

On the Reader Side: Just recently I did not finish THREE books. Two were recommended by a blogger I (no longer) follow (I feel betrayed!) and one was (thankfully) from the library. My beef is that I only buy books to support certain kinds of authors. For instance, I read books about fat women that don’t nag incessantly about how miserable, lonely, and single the person is because she’s fat. I want to see these women represented realistically, like me and my friends. If an author purports to give me a realistic experience about a fat woman, I buy the book to support the author. Thus, when people soften their reviews, they’re really “tricking” me into spending my money where I should not have. That makes me SO angry.

On the Writer Side: I went through an MFA program and made loads of connections. Sometimes, when I read a book I’m super aware that I KNOW this author, have possibly met and hung out with him/her, but we’re not really friends. I mean, I don’t know this person’s kids and pets, and we’re not hanging out on the weekends. But I’m afraid of a confrontational email. I try to soften such reviews by noting that I know this author to some degree and that makes me biased.

My MFA programmed focused on innovative writing, which means we’re dealing with small-press publishers. That group is so incestuous that when you go on Goodreads, most of their books are reviewed by other small-press writers cheerleading their friends to pieces. You get this weird 5 star/1 star split between the cheerleaders and regular people who bought the book or got an ARC and hated it. I wish the small-press world would get some beta readers who AREN’T friends with the writer or publisher so they get some real feedback and improve.

I do write negative reviews if they are arcs of if I have something to say specifically. Some books are just meh and I have nothing to add to that haha.

I definitely feel that sometimes. I think I’m more likely to pass if I find a random book in the wild and don’t have much of an opinion on it. I always do full reviews on ARCs (unless they’re DNFs), though, like you said.

[…] A thorough look at what negative reviews are and why a blogger might write one. While I have decided only to write reviews for books I can give three or more stars to, the reasoning here resonates with me. (Via Rennie St. James) https://thebookwyrmsden.com/2019/09/16/why-i-write-negative-reviews/ […]

[…] Sammie from The Writerly Way  talks about why she writes negative reviews. ⌘ Alicia from A Kernel of Nonsense shares new and upcoming releases from Latinx authors. ⌘ […]

[…]                 Follow me on Goodreads ✦ Why I Write “Negative” Reviews (And Why You Don’t Have To) ✦ Books I Was Hesitant to Read (But Loved Anyway) ✦ Books On My TBR I’m Avoiding (Ft. Me […]

Very interesting read! I am an author who got into writing reviews because I simply felt a need to ramble about the books I read that much.

Where do they fall in terms of positivity/negativity? Well, I don’t rate my reviews. That is, I almost never rate my reviews, because, by and large, I can’t figure out how I’d do it. I’d drive myself insane trying to rate every book I read, and it wouldn’t make any sense at least to me. So I don’t do ratings.

Generally, I review a book because I had something to say about it. I’m not afraid to mention things I don’t like, and I’m a very passionate, emotional reader. So I have feelings about books. But I pretty much only review a book if I actually had a lot to say about it. Which I think is a good thing. And, honestly, my reviewing style is a bit all over the map. But I would say emotionally passionate, for good or ill, but also I’m trying – not always successfully – to talk about the book, not myself.

Sounds like you’ve got a solid process for writing reviews that works well for you! Needing to ramble about the books you read is a perfectly legit reason to want to write reviews. Goodness knows the rest of us do it. xD

I know quite a few bloggers who also don’t do ratings. Personally, when I *read* reviews, I always look for a rating to get an initial feeling for how the reviewer is feeling about a book overall (or some sort of overall reaction to it) before reading the review, so that’s why I include ratings. I had considered going rating-free several times, but ultimately, I want to know myself when I read reviews, so I just stuck with it. It’s definitely one of the hardest parts of writing reviews, though!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Call : 1-877-977-3779

9 Methods for Handling Negative Book Reviews

Ann O'Brien

August 4, 2022

Writers are known to be a hearty bunch as they learn to listen to their inner voice, capture concepts and stories to use in their work, and work tirelessly on crafting engaging stories for others to enjoy. But one thing that sets writers apart from other professionals is that they spend real time with their work in ways that others don’t. They craft characters with painstaking detail, agonize over word choice and phrasing, and think endlessly about how their book’s story or structure is designed.

In a way, authors are intimately connected to what they write. So when negative book reviews pop up, it’s easy for a writer to take them personally. Instead of letting bad book reviews ruin your outlook or sour your taste for writing, let’s look at a few ways to survive those inevitable negative book reviews and come out stronger and more resilient on the other side.

Remember That Everyone Gets Negative Book Reviews (No, Really, They Do)

Books are like ice cream: there is no way to predict what flavor you might fall in love with or the ones that you just don’t really like. When authors are on the receiving end of bad book reviews, remember that even the most accomplished authors get them, too.

The venerable Chicago Tribune once disparaged Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby as “no more than an improbable anecdote,” but the renowned tome has gone on to become a beloved book that still captures the hearts of readers to this day. While not every author will reach the level of fame that Fitzgerald’s book enjoys, the reality is that there is always someone that won’t find your writing their cup of tea, Knowing you are in good company might reduce the sting a little bit.

Let Your Emotions Out

Being emotionally invested in your writing is natural, so feeling strong emotions when negative book reviews happen can be unavoidable for most writers. Before dealing with the reviews, let yourself feel the sadness, anger, surprise, or other emotions fully instead of suppressing them only to have them surface later. Cry into your pillow, confide in a friend, or drown your sorrows in an endless pot of coffee – whatever helps you to feel all the feelings. Allow yourself to experience your feelings and then prepare to deal with the aftermath in a constructive, meaningful way.

Stay Professional

Above all, remember that writing is your work whether it is your full-time job or closer to a labor of love hobby. Keeping your responses and actions on a professional level means not responding directly to a reviewer in a negative way. Once you have tweeted, responded on a book reviewing site, or hit send on an email, your words and actions are forever captured in the cyberworld.

You might have some fellow fans who support your response, but odds are that many others will end up siding with the reviewer and feel your response was a personal attack or unprofessional at the least. Not responding at all is usually the best course of action, because readers know that not everyone likes every author’s work all of the time.

Look for the Positive

While egative book reviews may not appear to be helpful, one way to cope with them is to look for the positive nuggets inside of (some of) them. Not every negative book review has an upside of containing potentially helpful content, but some do. Authors can look for the thread of truth woven through a negative book review and use that information in some way.

• Constructive Criticism. A negative book review may contain unpleasant or unfair descriptions of your writing. But sometimes this type of negative feedback may also include concrete, workable ideas you can apply to your writing or style. This type of constructive criticism might be difficult to suss out of a negative book review, but finding something helpful in an otherwise unenthusiastic assessment of your work can help you turn a potentially upsetting situation into one you can learn from.
• Is there any truth to it? Instead of dismissing negative book reviews as baseless or unfounded, honestly evaluate if there is even a small shred of truth to the negative comment. The reviewer may not have a kind way of expressing that something could have been done differently, but their honest (if critical) assessment might be able to help you hone your craft in some way.

Is This a Keyboard Warrior or an Army?

One bad review might sting a little but what if a whole host of negative book reviews show up? Authors who have received a few bad reviews may want to see if there is a common comment or topic shared among negative reviews.

When one reviewer mentions some aspect of your writing they didn’t like, it’s easy to chalk that up to personal preference or a stylistic concern expressed by a lone keyboard warrior. And it is easier to dismiss the singular reviewer’s concern. But when a whole army jumps on the same bandwagon, authors are wise to take an honest look at what the reviewers have to say.

Laugh It Off

When all else fails, taking a lighthearted view of negative book reviews may be the way to go. Not every book reviewer has a logical train of thought or makes insightful points about what they have read. As a writer, choosing to simply not worry about those kinds of reviews can be good for the soul and provide a hearty laugh as well.

Get Back on the Horse That Bucked You Off (Keep Writing)

Don’t let one (or many) bad reviews keep you from doing what you love. Feeling paralyzed by a poor review of your work should only be temporary at best. Because the realization that not everyone loves all types of writing rings true for famous, experienced authors as well as for you. So jumping right back onto the bucking bronco by continuing a writing project, finishing an ongoing project, or planning for the next book is a great way to put aside any negative feelings generated from a negative book review.

Plan for the Future

When you are on the receiving end of less-than-stellar reviews, one of the best ways to cope with the unexpected critiques is to plan how you will respond to any bad reviews or commentary that comes your way again. Planning for how you will respond to a negative review can help you deal with a bad review without letting it derail your confidence or your writing momentum.

1 Remind yourself to let your writing go when it is published . Once you have sent your final draft off to the printer, no more changes can be made even if you wanted to make them or if a reviewer didn’t like something in your book. Decide to be content with your finished book.

2 Decide if you want to look at future reviews (or not) . Some authors simply don’t read reviews as it causes them too much stress or anxiety. Deciding ahead of time if you will read reviews can calm your anxieties. Even having a friend or family member read reviews and let you know when they see one you might like or need to know about might work for some writers, too.

3 Consider how you can see reviews as constructive in the future . Having a growth mindset instead of being disgruntled when reading negative commentary about your writing can be freeing for even the most seasoned of writers. Decide how you will look for the good in negative book reviews before they happen so you will be prepared to learn from them.

4 See opinions for what they are . When a reader just doesn’t like your writing style, decide ahead of time to not take it personally.

Get Started on Your Next Book

Once you have put a negative book review behind you, it’s time to begin working on your next writing project. Partner with a trusted printing company like Publishing Xpress so you won’t have to worry about the quality of your book as the focus of a negative book review. Next, engage the services of an expert cover designer so your upcoming book will stand out from all the rest. Choose the best binding option for your project and consider hiring a professional editor to catch the details that keep a good book from being a great one.

Once you have completed the final draft, be confident that your love of writing and your professional approach to book writing will shine through and result in a fantastic book that you can be proud of.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2024 Publishing Xpress. All Rights Reserved.

Helping Writers Become Authors

Write your best story. Change your life. Astound the world.

• Start Here!
• Story Structure Database
• Outlining Your Novel
• Story Structure
• Character Arcs
• Archetypal Characters
• Scene Structure
• Common Writing Mistakes
• Storytelling According to Marvel
• K.M. Weiland Site

8 Tips for Dealing With Negative Reviews of Your Book

A few months ago, when I asked what you’d like me to write about , one question that immediately popped out to me was from Sionnach, who queried not just about negative reviews but about “unfair” reviews:

How do you learn to live with reviews that are patently unfair? My last book had mostly good reviews. Two, however, were two stars who were upset about graphic content. I always include content warnings about violence and steam level. I write the first sentences of my blurbs to include words/phrases that suggest violence if it’s in the book.

I really don’t know what else to do. The steam level is similar to other books in my genre, and the violence/gore would barely receive an R rating if it were a movie. All I can think of is just live with the reviews, but it’s hard. I know writers are supposed to have thick skins, but I hate reviews that just seem unfair. They get in my head while I’m writing and alter things.

As writers, we write for many reasons , but two predominant ones are wanting to put something of ourselves out into the world and to have that something be received. As such, writing is a supremely vulnerable act. The fact that it is almost inevitably partnered with rejection at some phase only makes it more so— and our courage in doing it anyway even more boundless .

Certainly, I have received my share of negative reviews over the years. Some of them stung because they were a little too true. Others stung exactly because they were anything but true. Part of my arc as a writer, and a person in general, has been learning how to understand my own reactions to negative reviews, to manage the personal damage, and to mitigate future effects. To some degree, this involves improving as both a writer and a marketer. Mostly, it comes down to looking within and working on my own expectations and identities.

6 Possible Reasons You’re Bothered by Negative Reviews of Your Book

In a minute, I will share some tips about dealing with negative reviews of your book, based on what I’ve learned through my own experience over the years. But first, I want to examine a few different reasons why negative reviews of your book may be impacting you. Each scenario can have a slightly different effect on you and require a slightly different perspective in re-centering yourself.

1. The Reviewer Is Making Good Points

Ultimately, the reason negative reviews of your book hurt is because they  may be true. No author is perfect. Every story will legitimately deserve criticism of some facet.

Ironically, sometimes these are the sort of reviews that hurt the least. If you can recognize the validity of the criticism, at least you can do something about it . Even if it’s too late to correct the current book’s problems, you can at least learn from the advice and apply it to the next story.

2. The Reviewer Misunderstood the Book/Missed the Point Entirely

As Sionnach noted, perhaps the most frustrating type of negative review is the kind in which the reviewer seems to have misunderstood your intentions as a writer, or even entirely missed the point of the story. In response to Sionnach’s comment, Sara K. wisely noted:

I can’t tell you how to live with unfair reviews. However, as someone who has read tens of thousands of Amazon book reviews, I can tell you that getting a small percentage of unfair reviews is inevitable. (By “unfair” I mean books which say in the description “this has x” and a reviewer complains “this book has x.”) You’re not alone.

These reviews are frustrating because, really, what else are you gonna do? You can work to refine your presentation to create the correct expectations, but you will always encounter people who failed to pick up on the clues, however overt.

3. The Reviewer Was Cruel

Sometimes people are just mean. Even kindly worded negative reviews can hurt, but everything escalates when a reviewer’s language becomes personal, nasty, or even violent. Occasionally, these reviews can be easy to dismiss, when it’s obvious the reviewer is out of line and probably has a personal axe to grind that very likely did not originate with you or your book. Still, the effects of cruelty can linger long after you’ve rejected the person’s logic.

4. The Reviewer Made You Doubt Your Ability

This one is perhaps the most dangerous. Especially when you’re starting out, negative reviews (regardless of their merit) can make you feel invalidated as a writer. This is the single most important effect for writers to work through because you will  encounter negativity. Some of it will point straight at parts of your writing that genuinely need improvement; some of it will be nonsense. Part of the challenge of growing as a writer is learning to recognize the difference and to be threatened by neither—both because you can  and should improve where needed and because part of that improvement is learning to recognize when someone’s criticism is irrelevant.

5. The Reviewer Called Into Question Your Intentions

On occasion, reviews can get personal. This happens when a reviewer goes beyond simply analyzing your writing to making assumptions about you . Sometimes this is appropriate or at least unavoidable, depending on the nature of your writing. But sometimes reviewers will go so far as to assume that because “xyz” shows up in your story, you must be condoning it.

Even worse is when a reviewer makes negative assumptions about a writer based solely on the quality of the writing. For example, we sometimes see reviewers indicating that a writer must be “stupid” or “immature” or “shallow” simply because the reviewer found the style of writing lacking. When these comments are patently ludicrous, they may be easier to dismiss; other times they can hit home and stick around long after they’re welcome.

6. The Reviewer Is (Perhaps) Endangering Future Book Sales

Finally, there is the practical concern of fretting that a review of your book may negatively impact your sales. After all, potential customers  do factor in ratings and reviews when deciding whether to purchase.

The good news here is that negative reviews can actually work in your favor. For one thing, they may serve to warn off future “wrong” readers who wouldn’t like the book anyway. Second, they can lend credibility to a book, proving the good reviews are more likely to be legitimate.

You won’t have a marketing problem as long as the negative reviews don’t outweigh the positive reviews. If they do, that points to other problems that need rectifying.

All right, so you’ve received a negative review of your book. You’ve analyzed the review and your response to it to determine which of the above categories it best fits into. But it still stings. You still can’t get it out of your head.

What do you do now? Do you listen to and try to make course corrections? Or do you ignore the review and keep right on as you were?

The answer will be subjective to both you and the situation. To help you out, here are eight tips based the lessons I have learned in interacting with my own negative reviews.

1. Get Very Clear on Your Motives and Intentions

When a negative review bothers you—and I mean  bothers you—it’s a sign you’ve lost your own sense of center. In order to know which negative reviews to listen to and which to ignore, you need to get very clear on your own motives and intentions .

• Who are you as a writer?
• What are you here for?
• Why are you writing in general?
• Why did you write this specific story?
• What is your definition of success for this story?
• What were you trying to achieve with it?
• What did you already know was less than perfect about it—and you’re fine with?

Answering these question is not always a straightforward process. But the clearer you are in refining your own desires and goals for your writing, the clearer you will be in responding to other people’s opinions. If you know you want to write grimdark fantasy or cozy mysteries or lush literary fiction—and a reviewer doesn’t like that—then you can know they simply weren’t the right audience for your book and, as such, their opinions don’t matter that much.

2. Don’t Overthink It

If you’re keen on using negative reviews of your book to improve your writing, then good for you. But don’t overthink it.  Or overfeel it. Listen to your gut—aka, your intuition.

True intuition is neutral, without emotional defensiveness. If your initial response is anger or hurt, that’s not your gut telling you it agrees with the reviewer. Rather, your intuition is the quiet, confident voice that knows whether the criticism has merit or not.

For example, when someone says your romantic subplot didn’t work, you will  know at some level whether you agree with that or not. Either you realize they have a point, or you know that, in fact, your subplot worked exactly how you wanted it to. If you decide on the latter, don’t overthink your response. Trust your gut.

(However, there is a caveat. If you hear the same criticism again from a second source, that’s a sign you may want to revisit it.)

3. Don’t Give Other People More Authority Than You Give Yourself

The key to the above point is remembering that reviewers don’t automatically know more about writing and storytelling than you do.

Now, it’s absolutely true reviewers know themselves and their reaction to your story better than anyone. They know when they like something and when they don’t. But not everyone knows  why they don’t like it. Although they may complain about your writing, the real problem may in fact be that they had a bad day, something in the book tweaked their own personal triggers, or they’re just pompous and want others to  think they know what they’re talking about.

It’s also totally possible your reviewers do know more about storytelling and writing than you do. Many readers these days are very experienced and knowledgeable about story, even if they are not writers themselves.

The point here is that, either way, you don’t automatically have to believe that the opinions of negative reviewers deserve to have authority over your own understanding of story in general and this story in particular. Often, reviewers will be just plain wrong. Going out of your way to believe these reviews does no one any favors, you least of all.

4. Don’t Entertain Disrespect

The review format is a legitimate forum in which people can share honest opinions about books. There is nothing disrespectful about this. (Indeed, authors who bite back or complain may themselves be the disrespectful ones.) But there are lines. You do not have to entertain, even for a second, the opinions of someone who is not bothering to be respectful of you as a person or an artist.

It’s important to note that just because they dislike your book, this does not mean they are being disrespectful of you. But abusive language, name calling, shaming statements, unsolicited and patronizing attempts to “help” you, and bullying, among other inappropriate behaviors, don’t deserve a second glance.

If you feel shame or any of the other emotions that such reviews might be projecting onto you, that’s something for you to work on within yourself. It is not something that you should necessarily respond to (in 99% of instances, you’re probably wiser not to), but it is also not something you need to internalize or consider.

5. Examine Your Triggers

Negative reviews only hurt when they strike a nerve. Otherwise, they’re either a neutral background hum or useful information that can help you improve. Our own personal triggers can get in the way of both. Either we surrender authority to others without questioning the validity of their statements, or we become defensive to the point that we may be rejecting helpful advice that could improve our craft.

Regardless, the only way to work on this is to work on ourselves . Whenever a review stings, make it a practice to look within. The insecurities you’re feeling may have to do with your writing, but they may also have to do with pain points that did not originate with your art. Perfectionism is a common bane among writers , and when a review suggests a story is anything less than perfect (which it always  is), the pain we feel in response may have less to do with the story’s problems and more to do with an inner sense of shame that needs to be recognized and rehabilitated.

6. Calm Your Nervous System

If you’re triggered by negative reviews, for whatever reason, it is important to not only work through your discomfort logically and emotionally, but also within your nervous system itself. Many people these days suffer from anxiety that is specifically triggered by social media and other online conversations—of which book reviews are certainly a part.

One way to honor your nervous system is to remove as many of the negative stimuli as possible. In other words, simply stop reading reviews. If this isn’t possible (and even if it is), you can also work with techniques to retrain your nervous system. Some methods that have been successful for me include daily meditation and breathwork, tapping, and affirmations.

One technique that has been particularly helpful is that of mentally revisiting triggers while holding the tips of my fingers to my forehead. This keeps blood flow in the front of your brain, reversing the flight or fight response and retraining your nervous system to realize it’s okay even in the presence of triggering stimuli.

7. Up Your Writing Game

Of course, the best way to avoid negative reviews of your book is simply to write a better book . Use negative reviews as incentive and, where appropriate, guidance for improving your writing and your marketing. Although it’s important to fully acknowledge your mental, emotional, and physical responses to negative reviews, it’s also important to work through the difficulties. Use negative reviews as motivation to keep improving.

8. Take a Look at the Negative Reviews for Your Favorite Book

Finally, if all else fails in helping you feel better after a negative review of your book, take a minute to look up your favorite books on Amazon. Go read the one-star reviews. Particularly if it’s a popular book, there will be many . This can help bring perspective to the fact that art is subjective . Not everyone will like every book. Even books you think are perfect will have legitimate detractors. So the next time you face down a negative review of your own, you can remind yourself you’re in good company!

Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! What’s your best advice for dealing with negative reviews of your book? Tell me in the comments!

Click the “Play” button to Listen to Audio Version (or subscribe to the Helping Writers Become Authors podcast in Apple Podcast or Amazon Music ).

Love Helping Writers Become Authors? You can now become a patron. (Huge thanks to those of you who are already part of my Patreon family !)

Sign Up Today

Related Posts

K.M. Weiland is the award-winning and internationally-published author of the acclaimed writing guides Outlining Your Novel , Structuring Your Novel , and Creating Character Arcs . A native of western Nebraska, she writes historical and fantasy novels and mentors authors on her award-winning website Helping Writers Become Authors.

So many helpful thoughts.

I’ve always liked “Don’t entertain criticism from people you wouldn’t go to for advice.” We simply don’t know who might post a review, so any attention we give them is an act of trust — and that can *always* be more than the review deserves.

This is such a solid point. It sounds intuitive, but it’s something many of us have to consciously work on. I was raised in environment that taught me (particularly as a female) to distrust myself in favor of other people’s opinions. The lesson that I don’t *have* to listen to everyone’s opinion was transformative and liberating for me, as both a person and a writer who receives reviews.

Here’s another problem: negative rankings on Amazon with no review words at all. Yes, I know that most Amazon readers who enter a rating do not include review words, but why would someone enter 1 or 2-stars? It feels like being trolled. I do worry it will hurt sales and hope the lack of words will encourage potential-readers to disregard the low rating.

BTW… I’ve noticed Amazon adding the ranking from Goodreads next to some book ratings. Has anyone else seen that?

On the whole I like that Amazon allows ratings without reviews, since I think many people are more inclined to leave a rating than a review. But it’s definitely a system that’s less accountable and therefore open to more abuse.

I haven’t noticed the Goodreads addition. I’ll have to take a look.

Great post! I took your advice & read some negative Amazon reviews of one of my very favorites, The Once and Future King. Wow, check this out:

“Once upon a time when I was much younger and stupider, I read this book and liked it. It seemed terribly moving…However, upon rereading this book in my middle age, I realize that I hate it and despise its author. Why? Because he took possibly the greatest tragedy of all time and turned it into a cross between a Monty Python sketch and a soap opera. No, not even Monty Python, because they were actually funny and could pull off a spoof. The humor here, despite its veneer of midcentury upper crusty English charm, is more like an ’80s sitcom. All it needs is a laugh track.”

I believe this falls into the “Misunderstood the Book/Missed the Point Entirely” category!

Hah! Perfect example.

With regard to criticism from random people, I’m of the opinion that these should always be ignored and the bad ones should elicit a similar emotional response as the the good ones. These people don’t know you or what your intentions are and yet they feel free to spew their ire because in their opinion you’ve crossed some imaginary line. It was their choice to read the book and if they were offended by anything you wrote that’s on them. They should do what any normal person would do when they encounter something not to their taste, put the book down and acknowledge they made an unfortunate choice in selecting it. Otherwise, you are allowing random people with different intellectual and moral backgrounds to affect you and that is just not right. There are choices to be made in every moment of our lives and those have to be left up to the individual. I may not ever want to see an X-rated movie but I would defend the rights of others to see whatever movie they wanted with my last breath. Otherwise, we are all Nazis. All writers, in my opinion, should be true to themselves and to their followers by writing what is genuinely in their hearts and minds, and the devil take the hindmost. What would happen to the human intellect if writers allowed random religious or other zealous fanatics to curtail the exploration of human motives and characteristics through censorship. The world would be a most boring and intolerable place.

“All writers, in my opinion, should be true to themselves and to their followers by writing what is genuinely in their hearts and minds, and the devil take the hindmost.”

I agree. At the end of the day, our authenticity is the only true gift we bring to the table. But presenting it is often easier said than done!

I had a review where the reader complained that it was an e-book and she didn’t read e-books. It was a verified purchase so the mistake was hers. I also had someone who thought “damn” was profanity. Sometimes you just have to laugh.

Yes, there are those reviews that are just so off-base that they tickle your funny bone. :p

Actually, that word *is* profanity to certain people. Including me. But still, not a reason to poorly rate the book. How many times was the word used in the book? ‘Cause if it was only a couple times, that’s not worth a bad review.

I, too, would like to say here that what constitutes profanity is not the same for everyone. Personally, I wouldn’t throw out an entire book or give it a bad review for a few “damn’s.” But on the other hand, many readers appreciate knowing ahead of time exactly what a book contains so they can use their own criteria for purchasing. We writers need to keep our intended audience in mind. Since books don’t have a rating system like movies do, a frank reviewer who points out certain issues is (hopefully) doing so as a service to others.

Actually the word “damn” appeared exactly once–the rest of the language was squeaky clean.

“O, the humanity!”

These are most useful, especially I think for writers who may still be fairly new in the published world and haven’t yet built up a thicker skin and developed the tools to assess clearly others’ comments.

Simply put, consider the source. If the comment has merit, learn from it how to improve your work on your next story. If the comment has no merit, dismiss it. Comments that are personal, nasty, unrelated to your book (in cases where the “reviewer” never read the book, which happens), or whatever else don’t deserve the time of day from you.

I posted an essay online many years ago, in which I explored the progression of the tomato from being considered a deadly fruit to its acceptance as an important addition to our table. The essay was sparked by a 19th Century newspaper account of someone announcing that he would eat tomatoes in public to prove that they were not poisonous. I found loads of similar articles and ended up likening the whole story to the game of “Telephone” or “Gossip,” in which a spoken piece of information is whispered from ear to ear and gets corrupted beyond recognition. I included links to all the references I had found. It was a fun romp. But someone blasted me for posting such hateful, vicious material (?). I found it both amusing and sad – amused by his absurd reaction, sad that his reaction was so violent. Over a story about the history of the edibility of the tomato. He must have been having a really bad day to be triggered like that.

I don’t know, tomatoes are a pretty volatile subject, if you ask me. (Just ask the one that exploded all over my shirt…) 😉

Yes, trying to cut tomatoes sometimes results in an explosion of sorts. (You really need a razor-sharp knife.) I blame that on the newer cultivars – growers prefer tougher skins on tomatoes for more intact shipping to market. This year, I’ve noticed that the skins on apples resemble cellophane – I can chew them forever, and they remain undamaged. I think it’s because of the drought conditions this year, apples being from a perennial plant.

But I digress …

Some bad reviews can actually sell your book. I have purchased a number of books because a reviewer complained about an aspect of it and that aspect happened to be something I enjoy reading about. Negative reviews can tell potential readers important info about what they’re considering reading and it may work in your favor.

Many years ago, a man who had appointed himself Lord High Reviewer gave everyone and everything the worst possible reviews. He panned the elementary school basketball team for poor plays, and the high school band for hitting the wrong note once or twice. He criticized the latest movies as all bad. He never had a good word. Calling him a pompous ass would be a compliment. As a result, everyone avidly read his columns in the paper for his invective du jour. The worse his review, the more eagerly people flocked to see or read or watch whatever he shredded. It didn’t help his cause when he peppered his column with high-falutin’ words that didn’t mean what he thought they meant, often resulting in adjectives that contradicted each other and their nouns.

He certainly entertained the whole county, although that clearly was not his intent.

You quoted me.

I’m blushing.

*scurries away.*

Thanks for sharing good thoughts! 🙂

Another great blog, Katie. Hey, y’all, count any review as a blessing! It means you’ve been published and those naggy negs are just jealous. Getting serious, though, it’s really important to remember none of us will please everyone all the time. My debut is coming out next year and I’ll be seventy. Though I am a sensitive soul, my hope is that at my age I’ve gained enough insight to embrace constructive criticism, ignore that which is off-base, and roll on. This has to be awfully hard for younger authors. People can be wickedly cruel. Just remember cruelty reflects badly on them, not on you.

I wrote a post a few years ago, musing on why audiences (myself included) take stories so personally. When we view a story as unsatisfactory, our response is often outrage on a personal level. I try to remember this when I’m on the receiving end, even though it can seem so unfair when you’re the creator.

Before I became an author, I did commissioned art work. I learned quickly that people’s opinions were just that, opinions, and not all would like my work. That didn’t mean it was bad, just not their taste. Artists and authors, and any endeavor, improves with practice. The more we do, the better we become. For reviews, it’s just their opinion, unless there is some validation to their comment.

Reviews can be tremendously validating, especially when you’re first starting out. At a certain point, however, you realize that if you’re going to invest your self-worth in the good reviews, you have to do that with the bad ones too–and you start taking them all with a grain of salt!

This post is solid gold!

It’s not worthwhile to worry about readers being swayed by unfair bad reviews; most people are not as dumb as they’d have to be for the unfair reviews to be an issue. If a reader says he hates mysteries, his 1 star review on a mystery matters little. If a reader loves mysteries, but thinks a particular one is badly written, and offers substantive objections, his 1 star review matters more.

If the weirdo who missed the point or thinks you’re endorsing evil is the only reviewer on your book, they may seem more threatening. But most people aren’t going to be swayed by the one review. Just like they won’t be swayed if the lone review is praising the book. To me the reviews have to reach a certain sample size before they pass the margin of “your best friends or ex-boyfriends are posting these reviews.”

In the tradpub arena, this is why publishers send out ARCs, so they can have advanced reviews ready to go when the book hits the streets. This is how those books have blurbs and endorsements from famous authors or book review columnists on the jacket. One thing I miss about my old newspaper is the bookcase with all the ARCs. Free books! I discovered several authors that way.

Indie writers can do similar with book bloggers, especially if you trust their reviews, and the reviewer likes the type of story you’re writing. That may be one way to combat the specific situation of the sole review being wrong or unfair. But otherwise, learn, laugh, or move on as applicable.

When I browsing for books to read and looking at reviews, I tend to put more stock in the four- or three-star reviews. Five-star reviews that gush and one-star reviews that hate are both interesting, but usually aren’t going to align with my own experience if I choose to read the book.

Thanks for a great post – very relevant to me I’d say.

I don’t mind a negative review if the person states why they didn’t like my book. Within reason. Recently someone posted a nasty personal review and I was annoyed and a bit upset. But then (in response to a question on Twitter about negative reviews) I began to think … you know what, who is this person and what gives them the right to be so downright mean?

The other thing is, if they thought the book was sooooo bad why on earth did they read the whole thing all the way to the end? Jeez – I wouldn’t. Life’s way too short.

So then I settled into a comfortable feeling of “they have no talent, therefore they’re just jealous”. Now, I have no idea if that’s true or not, and I don’t know the person anyway, so my feeling were completely internal and that made me feel better straight away.

Later, I wrote a short story called, “Death of an Amazon Reviewer” and that was great fun. Cathartic.

Your point about recognising the criticism may be true was also very accurate. So what do you do about that. Well, in my past I was a training consultant and I always asked for feedback to see if anything about the training course needed to be changed or improved or even taken out. I heard this piece of advice:

If one person calls you a horse, that’s their opinion and they’re entitled to it. If two people call you a horse, there might be something in that so go away and give it some consideration. But if three people call you a horse – go out and buy a saddle.

Thanks again for posting. Take care. Harry.

Thanks for sharing that little ditty. I’ve always said (as I do in the post) that “if two people agree” (and one of them can be me), then I need to take note. But I’m going to steal this for the future. It’s much pithier. 🙂

I look at one star reviews before buying a book. Why? Because it tells me what people disliked about it and I can decide if it is something it will bother me too. Nevertheless, with my favorite authors, I never check reviews but they earned my trust.

Totally. Once I’ve discovered an author I like, I don’t *want* to look at the reviews before I read it. I want my experience with the story to be mine alone.

As a writer, I found this post very interesting, informative, and helpful, especially in view of the fact that I just wrote a review of a fellow author’s ARC that I don’t know whether she will consider “negative” or not. I really wanted to encourage her, yet I felt bound to express honestly what I didn’t like. Why? Because, as a reader, I appreciate the negative reviews as much as the positive ones. The purpose of a review is to enlighten potential buyers, not necessarily to praise the writer. It’s SO helpful to know ahead of time if a book I’m considering investing $ in is, for example, poorly-written or -edited, basically erotica, full of language or violence, or in some instances, marketed as “inspirational” when it’s not. On the other hand, I also gave this book 5 stars because on the bottom line, I loved it! I just felt that both the writer and other readers would like to know where the story fell flat for me. It’s really hard to be balanced and fair to everyone, isn’t it?

Yes, once you’ve received reviews of your own, writing reviews for others becomes a whole new ballgame. For the most part, I no longer publish reviews for books that I rank as three stars or less. This is totally a personal decision, but particularly because I tend to review based on subjective factors (my experience with the story) rather than objective ones (overall quality of writing), I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day unnecessarily.

I don’t so much mind people complaining that the book includes something the author said it included – at least they’re not giving other potential readers a false idea of the book. What gets my goat is people complaining about the book based on things the book does not in fact contain.

For example, the main character in my first novel is an overprotected princess who is forbidden to use the stairs by herself – inspired by the Kensington System inflicted on Queen Victoria as a child. Of course she rebels & disobeys, but that didn’t stop one reviewer announcing that the main character is a pathetic person not capable of using stairs unaided.

Totally true. Misrepresentation is the toughest to deal with, because what are you going to do?

Thanks for the great article.

Thanks for stopping by!

One thing I learned from negative reviews is to properly set expectations on the cover or blurb. Most of the negative reviews I’ve received is because people were expecting something other than what I wrote.

Totally. I’ve learned this too. Many negative reviews can be avoided if a reader’s expectations are properly set up from the beginning.

Recently while listening to the editor of a small press, he said (in terms of one’s writing, not personally),, “Most people won’t like you.” It sounds disheartening at first, but it became a great lifter of weight of my shoulders, saying ‘Write what you want to write.’ And logically, think of it this way-most people therefore don’t like Stephen King. What? But he’s sold millions, probably earned a billion or more. But still. If you consider ALL readers all over the world and their tastes, it’s still true that most people won’t like him. So just keep writing, and hey, if you get a bad review, good, because at least someone read your book 🙂

This is a great reframe. It’s true: once you realize you *can’t* make everyone happy no matter what you do, you suddenly have the freedom to do what you want. The beautiful part is that, in doing so, you’re more likely to draw in the *right* readers for you anyway.

Thank you so much for this article! You’re so wonderful. I’m going to try everything, but I’m going to apply the forehead technique to my life at large.

My pleasure! Thank you for the post idea. I hope you have as much success with the technique as I have. I’ve made it a part of my morning practice for the last six months or so.

I once received a 2star review of my science fiction novel. Most of his critique was fine. His opinion, etc. But he also accused me of using friends to post all the positive reviews I’d received. I analyzed my reviews and broke them down into 3 categories: friends, acquaintances and strangers, showing that fully half of my strong reviews were by strangers. When I sent him that reply, he modified his review to remove the accusation. It was still 2 stars, but now I was okay with it. Out of 60+ reviews, that was my only 2star review.

Yeah, that kind of thing is just annoying and almost always out of line.

These are things every creative person needs to understand. Every point is excellent. Thank you for this article!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Super! Thanks.

Glad it was useful!

The “miss the point entirely” reviewer probably stresses me out the most (other than outright harassment) because it kicks fears about other people not getting me, however hard I am trying to communicate. Meghan Duam wrote an essay on this called “The Joni Mitchell Problem” that I found really interesting.

I could not read this immediately because it was TOO relevant and I was hopping mad. Now that I’ve read it – wonderful ideas.

My situation is I have a six book series, and the first book got it’s Amazon listing boogered up. Entirely 4-5 star reviews but I didn’t realize the problem immediately and by the time I gave up on Amazon ever fixing it, I needed a new edition and ISBN. Blank. No reviews. Previous edition not showing up in searches unless you use ISBN. Have to read the first book first. So there is a funneling effect – no one will find the other books unless they get to the first one.

And – BAM. A woman who took a local class from me and found the link to Book 1 in my email sig, paid her 99 cents for the privilege of posting a 1 star rating. No review because she only read enough to discover a POC/Muslim protagonist. I know her, she’s a raging MAGA-head. Now my whole series is cooked, cuz no one will have book 1 Recommended To You in Amazon with a 1-star average. I needed a couple of days to emerge from homicidal and come up with solutions: a video to attract anyone who wonders by, by accident and -most importantly – the ARC’s who are sending me emails about how much they love this that or another thing are being pressed to say it publicly with 4-5 stars. Those algorithms are math and we all know what a skew a 1 gives to an arithmetical mean.

Yeah, mean. Been writing books for a lot of years and never ran into such determined, vicious meanness before. Our times….

There are so many horror stories. I wish you the very best. There are few solutions to fight the crazies out there. My wish is that Amazon would do away with ratings/reviews completely. Let the description be the guide.

Victoria, I’m so sorry that happened to you. Amazon sucks sometimes, and mean people are always horrible.

What to do when the book review site owner has something against people with neurological disabilities….and they change aliases for their review site so they can spit bile only about these disabled authors? Danika Ellis at The Lesbrary does this about autistic/neurodivergent authors….all you have to do is find the negative reviews and then go to those authors’ websites and see that they are neurodivergent. What has she got against us?

With people like that, it’s not about you – whoever or whatever you may be – it’s about gaining attention because their souls have a gaping hole in them. They’re jealous of anyone else, including you, who has accomplished something good, like writing a book (an astonishing accomplishment in and of itself). They hate themselves, therefore they hate everybody else, so they strike out at anyone within reach. You just happen to be their victim-du-jour. No serious reader who sees what they post will give them the time of day. It’s painful, but it’s a waste of time, energy, and mental health to try to counter them, for they will not be reasoned with. (Think: Scrooge or The Grinch, both of whose hearts needed to grow a few sizes.)

I’m impressed with the abilities and insight of many autistic individuals. They all continually surprise me. They all have a great deal to share with the world. My younger brother is on the lower end of the autism spectrum – change is difficult for him, and he prefers one-on-one friendships – but he consistently shows me great resilience through his challenges.

Go well, my friend!

My ebook has been on Amazon for two years and the paperback for a bit less than that. I’ve considered it a success within my definition of success. It wouldn’t be Stephen King’s definition, but I felt good about my accomplishment and my handful of good reviews. Then came the dreaded review. It wasn’t even a bad review about my book but a bad review about a readability issue. She claimed there were blue highlights throughout the book, making it unreadable. That was bad enough, but the tone of the words were attacking me personally, alleging I didn’t bother to proofread my book and shame on me. I contacted KDP not just once, but three times and every time they verified to me there were no blue highlights. I asked for a copy of my conversation to verify there were no issues with my book. KDP suggested it might be with the device the reader used and she could contact them to troubleshoot that. It was already affecting my sales. Who is going to buy a book they can’t read. My mistake was in thinking I could appeal to the reviewers sense of fair play by informing her there were no issues with the book and that she might be able to talk to Amazon to fix the problem. I emailed her with a copy of the report and told her that her words hurt me personally and affected my sales. This was met with more hostility from her and another accusation that quality control was my responsibility. I think contacting KDP three times for a review of the book qualifies as quality control. She updated her review to say I sent her a scary email. Amazon won’t take down the review. I know life isn’t fair, but this isn’t a matter of an opinion about a story. It’s a falsehood that has killed my book. The fact there is no recourse is doubly disheartening.

Barbara, that’s terrible! It’s almost never good to contact the reviewer, though. They just get their back up even more. When I first started out, I wrote to a reviewer on GR who attacked me personally. All of her friends ganged up on me. I cried. Some people are just awful. I’m so sorry that happened to you for something she should have worked out herself.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

• Novel Outlining
• Storytelling Lessons From Marvel

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Write Your Best Book

Check out my latest novel!

( affiliate link )

Free E-Book

Subscribe to Blog Updates

Subscribe to blog posts rss, sign up for k.m. weiland’s e-letter and get a free e-book, love helping writers become authors.

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2016 · Helping Writers Become Authors · Built by Varick Design

• Writing & Editing

Essential Tips for Dealing With Negative Book Reviews

Being an author is a great profession, and it allows you to let loose your writing talent, and earn money at the same time. However, as inviting as writing is, the profession could also be quite challenging. This is especially if you are releasing new content such as a book or an article through your online platform.

If you are thinking of being an author, you should expect to get bad reviews from readers. You should also know how to write a book review . This is a part of being a writer, and if you don’t know how to handle rejection, your will to write may get damaged.

Why do you get negative reviews?

Negative book reviews are a pain to deal with. These negative book reviews will not only make your work look bad to readers, but also can damage your self-esteem as a writer. Before you go out and confront the reviewer (which you should never do) you should at least wonder why you got the negative review, and decide for yourself whether the review was warranted or not.

1. Your writing

Before you start getting angry, you should take a long hard look at your work, and then the book review. If the book review called into account your grammar, spelling or overall writing style, then you should not overlook this. Maybe your writing could use a little bit of tweaking before you release another book.

2. Bad research work

Yet another reason why writers get bad reviews is bad research work. This is especially true for works based on history and other fact-based content. Contents that are not based on facts are usually easy to spot, and a major pet-peeve by many reviewers.

3. Your book layout and cover design

While your writing might be good, don’t think that this is the only thing that reviewers will scrutinize. If your book’s layout and cover design are lacking, book reviewers will not hesitate to call this out.

4. Personal issues

While this may be rare, there may be times where you will receive negative reviews because of personal reasons. Is there a fellow writer that you have problems with personally? Are they the type to hold a grudge? Would they go that far to sabotage your writing career? This may seem farfetched at first, however, there is a chance that this may occur during your writing career. If you have acquaintances who wish to ruin your writing career, then you should take this into account. They may write a negative book review just out of spite, and to sabotage your work.

5. Expectations that are not met

While marketing your book may be a good idea, this may also do harm to you in the long run. Your work may not meet up to the expectations of your readers, and they may write book reviews about your work in response.

6. Your choice of topics

Book reviewers do not limit themselves to scrutinizing the author’s writing style. They will also check the book’s topic, and the may sometimes criticize it if they do not like it. This is more likely if you are writing about topics that are controversial. If you are going to write about such a topic, you should be ready to get unfavorable book reviews in return.

How to get fewer negative reviews?

Getting negative reviews is a normal part of being an author. However, you should not take this as a matter of fact.

1. Take it as a part of the job

While it may hurt to get a bad review, you should remember that it is part of the job. Being a writer, you are expected to show off your work to the rest of the world. If you are easily discouraged, then you are in the wrong business. The negative review may feel bad at first, however, you should not let it lessen your motivation to write. This is merely an occupational hazard, and should not be taken as a personal attack against you. If you put too much attention on the negative review, this will just distract you from your writing, and you won’t get any work done.

2. Adapt a different mindset

Getting a bad review has always been a great fear of many writers, and they will do almost anything to avoid it. This is a common reaction, because negative reviews always sting. The stress could even damage your confidence as a writer. The best way to counter this feeling, is to have a new mindset. Instead of being defensive and offended by the book review, your mindset should be to accept the review and any criticism of your work. Don’t think of it as an attack, but as just a part of your journey as a writer, and also as a means to improving your work. Having a new mindset will allow you to get through this challenge and actually evolve further as a writer.

3. You are allowed to feel bad

A bad review is always an unwelcome thing for many writers. It not only points out your shortcomings, it also makes you feel inferior as a writer. This is further emphasized if your book review is posted online for other writers to see. While you should not let the stress damage your confidence, you should not ignore your feelings. You should allow yourself to feel bad. Getting bad reviews of any sort will always hurt, and you will feel bad. What’s important is that you feel bad, absorb the feeling of disappointment, and then move on.

4. Learn from the bad reviews

As you receive a negative review, you may feel that it is an injustice, and that the review has no warrant. However, you should ignore this impulse and remember that reviewers usually don’t give out negative reviews because of malicious intent. They usually give out bad reviews because they want the author to improve his or her writing style. Take the time to look through the review. What did the reviewer actually say about your work? Were there any pointers on how to improve your work? If there are, then take them to heart and use them to improve your future works.

5. Talk about your feelings

A negative review is always a very painful experience. It could harm your confidence as a writer, and cause you to lose your motivation to write. If the effects of the negative review still persists, you should not hesitate to talk to someone. If you have a friend who is also a writer, he or she should be your first choice. Because he or she will know exactly what you are going through, and know how to comfort you through it all. If you don’t have any writer friends, any family member or friend will also do.

Now that you have recovered from the shock of the negative review, it is time to move on. Dwelling on the negative review will not only hurt you further, it will also hamper your progress as a writer. Letting go of the feelings of hurt and insecurity may be a bit difficult at first, however, if you want to continually evolve as a writer, it is important that you let go and move on. Start on a new writing project, and strive to be a better writer.

How you can make some negative reviews go away completely?

No matter how hard you try, there will be times where negative reviews occur. As a rule, you should know how to handle, and address the book reviewer.

1. Answer negative reviews respectfully

If you still feel bad about the negative review, it is not a bad idea to answer the negative review. However, you should never under any circumstances be aggressive towards the reviewer. This will not really help your case, and will make you look petty and insecure. The best way to answer reviews is to be inquisitive, and ask for advice on how to be a better writer. Be respectful, and address him or her in a formal tone. If you feel that one of the points in the review are a bit unfair, you could call it to attention, however, you should not be confrontational and ask for an apology. Just defend your point of view, and give some justification why your work and methods are like that. You should not really expect an apology or any type of new review for your work. Think of this as a way to get in touch with the reviewer, and also gain closure for your book review.

2 . Answer them as soon as possible

Once you get a negative review, you should not waste time. Try to make contact with the book reviewer as soon as possible. The sooner you respond to the review, the more effectively you will be able to address the issue.

3. Each response must be tailor made for each reviewer

If you are going to respond to reviewers, it is important that you respond to each of them with a message that is specifically made for each of them. If you just create one response, and then send them to all the reviewers, this will just make you sound insincere and won’t really help in solving the issue.

4. Don’t answer the review online

Most book reviews are done on various online platforms, which makes them embarrassing if the book review is negative. If you are going to respond to the book review, you should resist the temptation to do so online. You don’t want to have the whole world see your messages to the book reviewer. Readers may think this overly aggressive, and instead of defending your work, you will just air out your dirty laundry for the rest of the world to see. The best way to adress book reviewers is through email and other private messaging options. This will help you keep your privacy.

5. Follow up is key

Once you send out your message, you should make sure to follow up. This will show the book reviewer that you are sincere, and give you a chance to address whatever issue they have on your work.

6. Make sure the reviews are removed if they are malicious

While a negative book review is a part of being a writer, this does not mean that the book reviewer could go out and insult you. As a writer you should know the key differences between a constructive book review, and a malicious one. If the review has no constructive criticism and malicious in nature, you should not hesitate to have it removed. Remember that you should be patient, but that does not mean you should let yourself be bullied.

A key aspect of being an author is the ability to take rejection. Remember that sharing your work with the world will leave you open to bad reviews or rejection from readers. This is common, yet this does not make it any less painful. With these key tips, you’ll be able to handle negative book reviews no matter how harsh it is.

Become a Self-Published Author in 3 Simple Steps

Powered by Experts, Published by You. Reach 40,000+ Retailers & Libraries Around the World. Concierge Service. Tailored Packages. BBB Accredited Business. 100% Royalty Program.

Related Articles

Promoting yourself as an author isn’t just about building up that credibility your readers will look up to. You have to learn that people must recognize you as an author, and not a bookseller.

If you are thinking of writing your own novel, you should make sure that you lay the groundwork first. If you just jump into the writing process without any prior planning...

Get started now

Privacy Policy: Writers Republic will not give, sell, or otherwise transfer addresses to any other party for the purposes of initiating, or enabling others to initiate, electronic mail messages.

Privacy Policy

Privacy commitment to our authors, effective date:.

Writers Republic abides to every author’s personal information being entrusted to us. And with that, we have stipulated a privacy policy that will show the processes of our ways in collating our clients’ personal details as needed in the publication process. As an established publishing company, our prohibitions strictly includes sharing, selling, or any illicit transactions of personal information from our clients.

Personal Details Needed:

• b) E-mail Address
• c) Phone Number(s)
• d) Physical/Billing Address
• e) Book Information

Authors can find our privacy policy through all forms of compiled and submitted information to either the company’s employees, through e-mail and phone, or from our website www.writersrepublic.com.

Information Usage

The use of the author’s personal information will take place in completing registrations, necessary materials to be used in publication arrangements with our specialists, and payment transactions that will be accomplished from our services and packages.

Registration Process

Users must fill out and complete any registration form before they can access anywhere in the Site as they wish to. These include the services, promos, blogs, and rest of the facets they can explore once they are registered to the system. The authors are entitled to a free publishing guide to give you a brief idea about self-publishing. Relevant features also include the Authors’ Lounge that teaches you some publishing tips you will be needing during the procedure.

Providing the user’s contact information like his/her name and email address during the registration will be necessary for our specialists in keeping in touch with the client anytime in regards to the manuscript submission, publishing, and finally, expanding his/her book’s publicity by any means. Our registered authors are free from accessing the website with his/her personal data or they may reach our customer service representatives through telephone or e-mail for further information and updates on our services. Aforementioned, all of the author’s personal data submitted to us will be kept confidential.

Information Sharing

Sharing of the client’s personal data to third parties is considered a violation unless it is conducted in a way it is indicated strictly in the privacy policy. Authors must understand that we are required to provide their personal data to other businesses that will to provide the required assistance in succeeding the publishing procedure, the following involves payment processor or a third party vendor benefit. These associated firms has established the consent to use the client’s personal data for necessary purposes of providing a quality service to Writers Republic.

In any case that Writers republic will conduct a union with associated companies, procurement, or sale of all or a share of its properties, authors will be notified through a notice in our website or sent through email of any ownership change or the utilization of the user’s personal data, in addition to the selections provided regarding his/ her personal information.

The company solely shares the collected information to the firms we do business with to acquaint them with the services or assistance needed for the publication. The data required plainly comprises with order completion, payment transactions, and the rest of the necessary processes. We can guarantee our users that the submission of these information will not be concomitant to any confidentialities that will identify a person’s identity. Privacy rules include prohibitions of sharing, or keeping of any private information for unrelated businesses to our company.

Data Protection

Our authors’ confidentiality comes first all the time. We follow the widely accepted preference in safekeeping the user’s personal data during its transmission and by the moment it is stored in our system. Writers Republic ensures both online and offline security of all information provided by our authors through the website. Any electronic transmittal over the internet may not be overall safe, hence the company cannot commit to an absolute protection.

The client’s agreement entails his/her responsibility in sustaining the account access, any personal information, benefits, company’s services, logins, and passwords. The author’s adherence to these sanctions include acquainting Writers Republic through phone, e-mail, or any means of communication, should there be any inadmissible access to the author’s account and all the applicable company data and services. Any direct, involuntary, minor, or distinctive damages caused due to client’s failure to adhere and/or inefficiency in utilizing the company’s site, services, and transactions will not be held liable to Writer’s Republic.

Any messages received or consequences resulted due to the user’s technical unfamiliarity or insufficient knowledge will not be held accountable to Writers Republic. Furthermore, any damages incurred due to negligence to the information entered or impermissible access will leave no liability to the company. These reparations may denote to but not restricted to revenue loss or reduced profit from the entire process.

Electronic Tracking Tools and Site Traffic Usage

Writers Republic website collects SSI (Standard Statistical Information) about the site visits and keeps a record of it as much as other websites do. Please be advised that the IP addresses, browser information, its timestamps, and referred pages are tracked for the sole purpose of maintenance and to construct the site noticeable and valuable as it can be. No accumulated data is joined routinely to other information we collect from our users.

The site server gathers fundamental technical data from our site visitors which include their IP address, domain label, and referral information. Alongside with the said above, the site also tracks the total count of the site activity from our online visitors for the intention of analyzing the flows of our site traffic. For our statistic intents, we may incorporate the information from one visitor with another into group facts, which will probably be shared on a cumulative base.

The technologies in particular: beacons, cookies, tags, and scripts are utilized by writersrepublic.com, our publishing & marketing associates, publicity service providers. These innovations are used in examining trends, website managing, tracking users’ navigation anywhere on the site and to collect public data about our user in entirety. We may obtain news founded on the utilization of these innovations by these firms on an individual as well as on an accumulated basis.

Writers Republic affiliates with third parties to offer positive features on website or to exhibit advertising based upon your web navigation activity also uses Local Storage Objects (LSOs) such as HTML 5 to gather and keep some data. Browsers may provide their own administrating tools in taking out HTML LSOs. To manage LSOs please click the link provided: http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html

Removing or Updating Your Information

Don’t hesitate to reach us directly anytime when you want to delete, update, or correct information you give over the phone or e-mail. For safety purposes, Writers Republic takes functional regulations in authenticating your identity before we grant you the access in changing and updating personal details. Your personal record and other data will be kept so long as you stay active as our site user or as necessary to offer you services. Please note that we’ll be using your information for necessary compliance of lawful commitments, imposing of agreements, and determination of disputes.

Contributors

Writers Republic will be requiring your contributors’ names to be indicated in the book publication when you opt to add them as contributors for your book publishing service. We will store your contributors’ personal details for the sole purpose of fixing their names on one of the pages of your book. Your contributors may reach us at [email protected] to request for removal of personal information from our system.

3rd Party Sites Link

Our company recommends you to carefully go over to the privacy policy of any website you visit or send personal information to. Our website comprises links to other sites whose norms and privacy regulations may contrast to ours. Accordingly, providing of personal data to these websites is administrated by their privacy rules and not ours.

Social Media Features & Widgets

Writers Republic website involves social media features such as: Facebook “Like” button and widget, such as the interactive mini-programs that run on our site or the “Share This” button. Please note that these features may set a cookie to allow the feature to appropriately function. It may also collect your IP address and which page you are visiting on our site. Your interactions with these features are either presented directly on our website or by a third party.

Announcements and Newsletters

Writers Republic will be inquiring your e-mail address if you’re interested to subscribe from our self-publishing updates, newsletters, articles, or periodic product and service announcements. You may choose to unsubscribe by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” button at the end part of the mail sent to you should you no longer want to receive emails from us.

Discounts and Promos

We offer promos and special deals on out publishing and marketing services from any given point of time. Thus, we may request for your contact details that includes your name, shipping address, demographic data, and educational attainment which will be utilized to inform the winners and prizes. Participation in any contest and promo is voluntary. The purpose for our promos, discounts, and contests, will be employed to assess and enhance eminence of or services to our clients.

Policy Changes

Any modifications or changes to be applied in our Privacy Policy will oblige Writers Republic to provide a notice on the website or by email before the change will take effect. Therefore, we recommend you to go over this page for any probable alterations and updates on our privacy norms. You may send us an email at [email protected] for all concerns, queries, and updates of personal details such as your email and mailing address. This also serves as your alternative to reach us if you want to withdraw your service or if you no longer want to receive any updates from our end.

Writers Republic will not be held accountable for any check payment issues, apart from the checks that are delivered to the address indicated below.

Writers Republic Publishing 515 Summit Ave. Unit R1, Union City, NJ 07087, USA

Looking to publish? Meet your dream editor, designer and marketer on Reedsy.

Find the perfect marketer for your next book

1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy. Come meet them.

Blog • Book Marketing

Posted on Feb 20, 2020

Ten Ways to Handle Bad Book Reviews

Alex J. Cavanaugh works in web design, graphics, and technical editing. Online, he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group . He’s the author of Amazon Best-Sellers CassaStar , CassaFire , CassaStorm , and Dragon of the Stars . The author lives in the Carolinas with his wife. Learn more about Alex by checking out his website , following him on Twitter , or heading to his Bookbub profile ! In this guest post, he shares his tips for handling negative book reviews.

1. Refrain from responding to the reviewer

As much as you might want to respond (either politely or with harsh words), don’t do it. Once you’ve left a comment, sent out a Tweet, or posted to Facebook, your negative response will be out there for everyone to see. You might get a few fans to rally to your cause, but most people will view you, not the reviewer, as the villain. Even if you later delete it, the damage is done. Even sending an email is a bad idea as well. So refrain from adding fuel to the fire and keep your grumblings private.

2. Know that it’s part of the process

Guess what? We all get negative and unflattering reviews. It goes with the territory. Remember, you created art. Art is subjective and not everyone will like your book. You can’t please every reader. (And if you do, then you really didn’t say anything of value.) Shake it off and move on.

3. Laugh about it

What are you going to do — cry? Might as well laugh about it! Often a bad review is poorly written or so far-fetched, it makes no sense. So turn the tables and have a good chuckle about it. (Besides, it’s really difficult to stay angry when you’re laughing.)

4. Remember bad reviews add validity to good reviews

What do you think when a book has nothing but five-star reviews? You start to wonder, don’t you? Friends and family of the author, maybe? Paid reviews, perhaps? A couple of bad reviews means some readers were honest — which means the rest of the good reviews are probably honest as well. (Plus, sometimes people want to know if the book is really that bad, so they ended up reading it to find out!)

5. Look for constructive criticism in the review

Often two and three-star reviews will offer constructive criticism. Look for it. Is there any validity to what was said? Can you see areas where you can improve or issues you need to address? (Several reviewers didn’t like the fact there were no women in my first book. I listened and made sure there were several women in the next one, including a female main character. That book garnered better reviews than the first.) Learn from the bad reviews and write an even better book next time.

6. Don’t focus on the negative

We tend to focus on the negative. Even obsess over it! We can have a hundred great reviews and one bad one. Which one gets our attention? The bad one! Who cares? What do we do when calculating averages? We drop the top numbers and the bottom numbers. Do the same: ignore that bad review and don’t even factor it into the equation.

7. It’s just one person’s opinion

Everybody has an opinion. And they are just that — opinions, not facts. So one or two people didn’t like your book? Big deal! Out of millions of readers, that’s not even a drop in the bucket. (Unless all of your reviews are bad, of course!)

8. Don’t let bad reviews stop you

Yes, putting a book out there is scary and nerve-racking. It’s a creative endeavor, which makes it a little more personal. We can’t take reviews personally though. We have to believe in ourselves and not let bad reviews stop us. Have you ever encountered a jerk at your work? Did it cause you to give up and stop working forever? No! So don’t let a negative review from someone you’ve never met stop you from writing.

9. Write the next book

This is the best thing you can do! Just hunker down and write your next book. Show those naysayers that you are a great writer. Take your experience from the previous book and pour it into the next one. Really focus. You’ll be so busy writing, you won’t have time to worry about bad reviews.

10. Kill off the reviewer in your next book

If all else fails, just put that reviewer into your book as a murder victim or monster that's slain by the hero! You’ll feel so much better.

What other creative ways can you handle bad reviews? Leave your tips in the comments below! Or, if you're looking for ways to get  more reviews, check out our directory of blogs that focus on book reviews ! 

2 responses

Heather says:

21/02/2020 – 02:48

It's so important not to take this stuff personally! Great article! Heather

cie the ornery old lady says:

24/02/2020 – 01:02

I already responded to this post at the Insecure Writers' Support Group but just wanted to give Alex kudos. He has a lot of great advice. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who can get ten good reviews and the bad one is the one that will stick with me. In order not to make my or my family's lives miserable, I refrain from reading any of my reviews, good or bad.

Comments are currently closed.

Continue reading

Recommended posts from the Reedsy Blog

The Differences Between Book Marketing and Publicity: Credibility Versus Control

Book marketing and book publicity comprise two main pillars of book promotion. Check out this post by Kellie Rendina to understand their differences.

Developing Your Author Brand: 6 Ways to Showcase Your Unique Writing Identity

An "author brand" can be a pretty vague concept. Learn how to successfully develop yours in this post by Harry Bingham.

How to Make Your Book Newsworthy: 5 Tips from a Publicist

How can you earn media coverage for your book? Book publicity takes some preparation and watchfulness, but it can help your book become news.

Affect vs. Effect: How To Always Pick the Right Word

Affect is usually a verb that means “to create a change” in something, while effect is usually a noun that describes “a change that is caused” by something. In other words, an affect produces an effect.

Amazon Editorial Reviews: An Indie Author’s Secret Weapon

In this post, we’ll explain why Amazon editorial reviews matter, how to secure them, and how to use them to impact your launch.

An Ode to Independent Bookshops: Lessons from the Road

How can independent bookshops and self-published authors support each other? Hear about a Reedsy author's book tour.

Join a community of over 1 million authors

Reedsy is more than just a blog. Become a member today to discover how we can help you publish a beautiful book.

Is your book ready for Discovery?

Find out with our one-minute quiz.

1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy. Come meet them.

Enter your email or get started with a social account:

• FACEBOOK ADS
• CORE SERVICES
• DIRECT SALES
• INTERNATIONAL
• MEET OUR TEAM
• BOOK A CALL

Why I Sometimes Write Negative Reviews & Why You Should Consider Doing the Same

By Melissa Storm/ Today, I'm going to talk about a very controversial topic among authors:  Whether or not it's okay to write negative book reviews.

I say yes, yes, a thousand times yes .

Many people consider this bad manners, because “as authors, we understand all that goes into writing a book, and it's just not fair to tear apart all that hard work.” Others may feel compelled to write bad reviews but feel as if their hands are tied, either for fear of backlash against their own works or because they worry they may lose a friend by being too honest.

Well, I say, “It's time to stop living in fear!”

Do I write negative reviews to be mean? Of course, not. Do I like writing negative reviews? No, not really–but I'm also not afraid to do so when warranted.

But before you start to think of me as an Internet-age villain, allow me to explain myself…

First, I enter each reading experience with excitement and open-mindedness. I love reading, and I want to enjoy my reading selections. I don't even leave negative reviews all that often. I know, because  I've been logging my reviews on GoodReads for years and now have quite a bit of data on my hands.

In fact, I've marked a total of 402 books as “read” on GoodReads. 107 of these may or may not have reviews, but they have no ratings–these are either my own books, those of my close personal friends, those of my clients, or those I read too long ago to really remember. This leaves us with a sample size of 295 rated books.

Of that 295, I've assigned 13 1-star ratings, 18 2-star ratings, and 57 5-star ratings, which means 3- and 4-star ratings account for the remaining 207 titles. Put another way, 19% of my books are rated as “amazing, among my favorite books ever” and only 10.5% of my books are ones I either slogged through or just couldn't bring myself to finish. Oh, and my average rating is 3.59 across all reviews–totally respectable.

See, I think we should read as readers, write as writers, and review as reviewers . That's why I actually use all 5 points on the review scale, and here's how I interpret each place on that scale:

• 1 – Couldn't finish
• 2 – Finished, but with great difficulty
• 3 – Liked, but had some issues along the way
• 4 – Really liked and will readily recommend to friends
• 5 – Near flawless, among my favorite reads

Sure, it can be hard to completely separate the writer from the reader or reviewer–that's why I will comment on things like editing, characterization, and pacing in my reviews from time-to-time. And maybe my experience is different from others, because I started out as a reviewer–by writing a column for the local newspaper–more than two years before I became an author. By then, my reviewing style was well ingrained.

Okay, enough about me. Here are some reasons why writing negative reviews (when warranted) can actually be a good thing …

Reviews help readers

Let's not forget the main point of reviews. They aren't to stroke the author's ego; they're to help potential readers decide whether a certain book may or may not be for them. Without reviews, all we have to go by is the cover, the synopsis, and the sample chapters (if that's a step we're willing to take). When I'm looking into purchasing a new book, I want to believe that my dollars won't be wasted. I want to commit my time to a book with the hopes that the time will be worth it, that I'll find what I'm looking for, be it an entertaining romp or a thought-provoking journey. Sure, I'm not compatible with 100% of books (even those I think I might like), but when I find a reviewer whose tastes match mine, it makes the whole process that much easier.

Reviews help authors

You may think leaving a bad review does nothing more than break an author's spirit, that you're telling them, “Give up, because you suck at this.” But that's just not true. As an author, negative reviews can hurt, but I always appreciate them (the real, textual reviews, I mean, not those left by trolls that often have nothing to do with a book–but that's a topic for another day and probably for another blog). Although my first novel, Farsighted , launched to overwhelming praise, I paid the most attention to what those who didn't enjoy the book had to say. And you know what? They had some really great points:  the ending came on too quickly, Alex's mom's actions weren't 100% believable, and the resolution needed more time to play out. Rather than mope, I decided to take action–and with the help of a new editor, I improved upon these issues and released a new edition. My book was so much better for it!

Using the full review scale makes others trust your judgment

How do you feel about reviewers who offer all 4- and 5-star reviews, without fail, regardless of genre? Would you go to that person for a book recommendation? I wouldn't. I like to take my recommendations from people who use the full scale, who focus on reading just a few genres and know those genres well. If I want a humor book, I know I can trust my husband for a good recommendation. For literary fiction, I might ask my editor. For science fiction, my friend Pavarti sure knows what she's talking about. None of these folks are afraid to discuss why they didn't like a book, and they're all able to do so in a way that makes sense and may even leave me wanting to read a book they didn't like. And that's because, they know, just as well as I know, that…

Reviews are opinions, not be-all end-all statements on a book's worthiness

Just because I don't like a particular book does not mean:  No one else could possibly enjoy it; It doesn't deserve to be published; the author should be stoned to death. Yes, some reviewers take something as simple and straightforward as sharing an opinion to this dark and cruel place. Those people are called trolls. I recently gave 2-stars to the YA novel, Uglies , but I know many fans of lower YA will like it–I didn't, because I was looking for something a bit deeper. I somewhat infamously rated the cyberpunk classic, Neuromancer , as a 1-star read, but I've told my husband I think he'll like it. I absolutely detested 50 Shades of Grey on so many levels, but I understand and appreciate that legions of readers love it. My opinions aren't any more worthy or even any more accurate than anybody else's. They're just that–my opinions. Yours may or may not match up, and that is A-OK.

Using the full review scale speaks to your integrity as a reviewer–and as an author

I like to think that my voice matters, that there are some people out there who actually care whether or not I enjoyed my latest read. To that end, my opinions, voice, endorsements CANNOT BE BOUGHT. Will I give 5-stars to a book because the author is a 5-star friend? No. Will I give a 5-star rating, because the author gave one of my books a 5-star rating? No, and I make that clear upfront if a friend chooses to read something I've written. After all, if your endorsement can be bought, what does it mean anymore? What's the point of reviewing at all? And if you're in the business of trading reviews with friends, how can readers trust any of the reviews on your books? This is probably going to make some of my indie author friends angry, but they can't. They can't trust you . I know it's hard when a friend excitedly asks you to review her latest title, and you hate it. I've gotten myself into that very situation before, and it's awkward as all get out. That's why I no longer let friends know if I've decided to read their books. This gives me the opportunity to quit reading and bow out gracefully without hurting the feelings of someone I care about. Sometimes, if I have a good enough relationship with someone to avoid pettiness, I will contact her in private to discuss some of the issues I found with her book and how she might go about fixing them. I don't often review friends' books anymore, but on the rare occasion I do, that friend will know any positive review has been earned by giving me an enjoyable reading experience, not by being a super cool person.

Reviews aren't and shouldn't be personal

In the end, reviews are about books–not authors, not anything else–books. Just like bad reviews shouldn't call for a lynching of the author, good reviews also shouldn't be based on anything but the books they're about. Like other authors, I hate this new prevalence of trolls and sock puppets. So what's the best way to defeat them? By showing them how it's really done, by being true to your feelings, and sharing your honest recommendations.

So, hey, what's your opinion worth?

About the Author

Mel Storm INC

Book a session now!

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

How to Deal with Negative Book Reviews

As of this writing, at Scribe we’ve worked with more than 1,000 authors, whose books have combined to receive more than 50,000 reviews (across all platforms).

Most of those reviews have been overwhelmingly positive…but of course, not all of them.

I know more than the average person about negative press. I’ve personally written 4 New York Times bestsellers, and all of them were “controversial” (at least to certain people). Because of this, I’ve endured my fair share of negative press.

In this blog post, I will outline some of my strategies for dealing with negative attention.

An Email to an Author

Before I get into specific tactics, this is a real email I wrote to one of our authors who got some negative attention. He is a vet who got criticism from other vets, so some of this is specific to his situation, but if you are dealing with negative attention, feel free to read this as if it is specifically for you:

“I don’t know what it’s like to get negative Amazon reviews, that’s NEVER happened to me:)

Yo man, your scribe told me that you’ve had some haters throwing shade at you. I get it man. Lemme give you some tips and tactics I’ve used for this in the past:

-First, understand that if no one hates what you have to say, then you aren’t saying anything worth saying. Having haters is, at its core, a GOOD thing. It means you are challenging a belief that others hold dearly—and is probably wrong. Lean into that and be proud.

-Second, never EVER apologize for speaking your truth. Fuck anyone who tells you that you cannot or should not speak YOUR truth. How dare they? Can you imagine that, telling someone they can’t say what they believe? Shit man, isn’t that the reason people join the military, to fight FOR that freedom?

-Third, it’s OK to admit you feel shitty when people say bad things about you. Even if what they say is wrong and unfair and even if they are straight up lying about you—that shit can still hurt. Its OK to feel it, don’t think you have to block it out and pretend it doesn’t bother you.

Now, let’s talk tactics.

First, I’d go on Amazon and respond to the hater posts. I know, I know—normally, that’s not the case. But in this case, I think it makes sense.

I read the two hater posts, and I think not responding to them might make people think they are true. Responding gives the people rooting for you something to latch on to, and it also helps the people in the middle without an opinion see both sides.

Now, as to HOW you answer—be careful. Don’t get stuck in all the details about every mission and patrol. No one cares. What you want to do is “win” the argument, not have the most facts. This means worrying about the big ideas and making sure you win those points.

For example, instead of responding point by point to their details, drop one or two major fact bombs, and then attack them back. Question their motives, call out their service, and put the onus back on them to defend the fact that they are criticizing a decorated vet.”

General Lessons for All Authors

These are general lessons for all authors on how to handle negative book reviews.

1. Negative Reviews Are Inevitable, So Expect Them

This is just a part of life. Negative people exist, and what makes them negative is that they spread their negativity to the rest of the world. That’s just how it works.

The only true defense against any sort of negative review or criticism is not publishing. You can do that, but I would not recommend it. Don’t let the negative people win.

2. Negative Reviews Indicate You Stand for Something

If your book can’t be criticized, you aren’t saying anything. No one cares about a book that says the sky is blue. We know that.

As I told the author above, having haters is, at its core, a good thing. It means you stand for something. It means you are challenging a belief that might not be right. Every single belief that we hold dear now was, at some point, considered a deep heresy.

Slavery used to be the norm. It took courage to stand up and speak for freedom. Female oppression used to be the norm. It took courage to stand up and speak for equality. Huge numbers of people fought against the abolition of slavery and the equality of women.

If people are upset by what you are saying, it is often a sign that you are onto something important. It often means that you are challenging something that needs to be challenged. Nothing important was ever won by just saying things everyone agrees with.

3. It’s OK to Admit That Negative Reviews Make You Feel Bad

Many authors feel guilty or ashamed that negative reviews make them feel bad. They almost feel that they’re supposed to be “above” them.

That is nonsense. It’s OK to admit that you feel bad when people say bad things about you. That is a natural and normal human reaction. In fact, our brains are literally hardwired to pay greater attention to negative feedback—it’s called negativity bias . Basically, we evolved to avoid pain first, then seek pleasure second.

Even if what they say is wrong and unfair and even if they are straight up lying about you—that can still hurt. In fact, that almost hurts worse than fair criticisms.

It’s OK to admit that this hurts and to let yourself feel all the terrible feelings that come with that. The human brain is designed to interpret social violence in the same way as physical violence. For real.

It’s OK to feel it. Don’t think you have to block it out and pretend it doesn’t bother you. Have the emotion that it causes, then move past it.

4. Consider if the Negative Reviews Hold Any Lessons for You

I like to read negative reviews of my books and think about them as if I were NOT the author. I evaluate them from a totally objective perspective, and ask myself, “Does this person have some kind of lesson for me? Are they right about anything?”

It’s hard to do this without getting defensive, but if you can do it, it can prove invaluable. One of my favorite sayings is, “You only hear the truth from your worst enemies and your best friends.”

Some of the best “advice” I’ve ever gotten in my life came from negative comments about me that actually had a good point in some way or form. I have learned about more of my weaknesses this way than from any other place.

For example, I used to use a few words improperly. I only saw this through negative reviews. And I had a tendency to ramble about a specific topic—again, only my haters pointed this out. Those two pieces of criticism made me a better writer.

This is not easy to do, but if you can emotionally manage it, reading negative reviews from the objective perspective can help. Note that the best way to train to do this is to pick a book you like, but did not write, and then read the negative reviews of that book. It’ll help you learn to be objective and not emotionally attached or defensive to the tone of the review.

5. Put Negative Reviews in Context, and Contrast Them with the Positive

This is where people get stuck in a spiral; people give the negative reviews way more weight than the positive ones. We’ve had authors with 100 positive book reviews and two negatives—and they obsess over the negative ones.

This actually was an issue with an author I’ve worked with, and I told him this:

“I have entertained millions of people, literally millions, but from some of the Amazon reviews I get, you would think my job was to punch babies in the mouth. That’s the shitty part about the internet and anonymous feedback, is that you tend to hear from extremes, those that either love you more than is reasonable, or those who are just spreading toxicity.”

Remember to keep things in perspective. If a tiny number of people have a negative response, then give it the weight it deserves—very little.

And make sure, if you are looking at the negative reviews, to give the same amount of weight to the positive ones that you give to the negative. If you can’t do this, then consider that these are your insecurities speaking up, and address them.

After all, if your book is helping way more people than not, those are the people you should be focused on—the ones who it helps. They are the ones who matter.

6. You Can Answer Negative Reviews…but Be Careful

For most authors, I think ignoring negative reviews is the best way to go. There is no upside in responding to toxic people who are just hateful.

But for some reviews, it can make sense. You just have to be careful. Responding to negative reviews is a double-edged sword. I don’t recommend it to most authors, but if people are unfairly attacking you, it can be done well.

Don’t argue about the details about your book (unless the reviewer just gets everything totally wrong). Most people are not focused on the details, and facts don’t win arguments.

The best way to approach someone who is unfairly attacking you is, ironically, to attack them back. This is very much fighting fire with fire, and it is a skill. That’s why I don’t recommend most authors use this tool, as it can backfire and make you look defensive and bad, overall.

For example, if someone calls you a liar, make the accusation back to them. If someone questions your motives, question theirs. This is called “framing” and the best way to win this sort of “battle” is to go on the offensive and accuse the other party of something negative as well.

(If you want to see an example of this in a media interview, this is one of the most extreme examples I’ve ever seen of framing battles).

The other approach is to just be positive and answer them all in that manner, which some authors like to do. That’s never been my approach, but if it resonates and helps you, do it.

Again though, I would avoid this in most cases. The less attention you pay to negative reviews, the less other people will pay them.

One Last Word on Negative Reviews

I hope this post helps you. Most importantly, I hope this helps you publish your book , or write your next book . What matters is helping people, and books do that—negative people don’t.

I’ll leave you with the iconic Teddy Roosevelt quote, because nothing better has ever been said about the courage it takes to actually do something brave (like write a book):

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

The Scribe Crew

Read this next.

3 Secrets to Writing a Book People Can’t Stop Recommending

What to Do (and Not Do) in a Book Launch Social Media Campaign

How to Measure Book Launch Success

• Write for us
• Self-Publishing

Home → Marketing

Constructive ways to deal with negative book reviews.

If you are an author, you’ll likely have to deal with negative book reviews at some point in your career. Even if you’re an excellent writer, you’re never going to please everyone. There will be readers who post a negative review on Amazon or on social media.

James Bryce said, “The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.” You probably can relate to this quote by James Bryce. You’ve poured your heart and invested a lot of time and effort into writing your book. Then you hope that readers will find value in it and carry away a specific message or feeling after having read it.

Yet, there will be readers who find fault with your work, and you’ll have to find a way to deal with those negative reviews in a positive and productive manner. Consider the following ways that you can constructively handle those bad reviews and move forward in your writing career.

Remain Calm

The best thing you can do when reading negative book reviews is to stay calm. Don’t respond to negativity. Read the review, but then put it aside and focus on remembering why you became an author in the first place. Don’t allow the negative review to stagnate your creativity from continuing to create future books.

Read the Positive Reviews

When you get a negative review, read it but then reread some of the positive reviews you’ve received in the past. That can help you from spinning out and getting depressed over the negative review. Reading positive comments from readers can help you to take the negative review with a grain of salt–and realize that you’ll likely have many more positive comments than negative ones.

Revisit the Negative Book Review

After the immediate shock has worn off from reading the negative review, revisit it in a few days. Maybe you can now see some truth to what the reader has written. Staying open to constructive criticism can become a powerful and invaluable tool in your writing career. Just remember, that you shouldn’t continue to read the negative reviews over and over. Take any productive constructive criticism from it that you can and try to implement those changes into your next writing project.

Increase Your Determination

Make a decision to always grow and develop as a writer. When you commit to that, great things can happen in your career. If you think you’re the best writer in the entire world and don’t have any room for improvement, you’ll be in for a bumpy ride as an author. True success can happen for you when you cultivate a desire to continue to grow each day in your field as an author. Determine to grow and succeed as a writer no matter what types of reviews you get.

Continue Writing

It is very easy to get stuck in a rut when you get a negative book review. Those types of reviews can be demoralizing. They can stop you from getting started on your next writing project. You have to protect yourself from taking on the full weight of those negative reviews. Read them. Take the good. Throw out the bad. Then get started writing again. Your next book might be the one that will change the reader’s mind. Maybe they’ll give you another chance and read that next book. Maybe they won’t. Yet, there are so many potential readers out there. Continue writing and sharing your heart.

Productively Review Your Book Reviews

You have a choice to make when reading any reviews of your books. You can keep an open mind, or you can have a negative reaction. If you want to remain steady and productive in your writing career, it’s important to be open-minded. Read what your readers want to communicate with you. Take the constructive criticism and then move on to continue to grow as an author.

You May Also Like

How To Use Goodreads To Promote Your Book

Best Email Marketing Software for Authors

13 Simple Book Promotion Ideas To Make Your Book Sell

Booktubers To Follow This Year

How to Write a Book Review: A Comprehensive Tutorial With Examples

You don’t need to be a literary expert to craft captivating book reviews. With one in every three readers selecting books based on insightful reviews, your opinions can guide fellow bibliophiles toward their next literary adventure.

Learning how to write a book review will not only help you excel at your assigned tasks, but you’ll also contribute valuable insights to the book-loving community and turn your passion into a professional pursuit.

In this comprehensive guide,  PaperPerk  will walk you through a few simple steps to master the art of writing book reviews so you can confidently embark on this rewarding journey.

What is a Book Review?

A book review is a critical evaluation of a book, offering insights into its content, quality, and impact. It helps readers make informed decisions about whether to read the book.

Writing a book review as an assignment benefits students in multiple ways. Firstly, it teaches them how to write a book review by developing their analytical skills as they evaluate the content, themes, and writing style .

Secondly, it enhances their ability to express opinions and provide constructive criticism. Additionally, book review assignments expose students to various publications and genres, broadening their knowledge.

Furthermore, these tasks foster essential skills for academic success, like critical thinking and the ability to synthesize information. By now, we’re sure you want to learn how to write a book review, so let’s look at the book review template first.

Table of Contents

Book Review Template

How to Write a Book Review- A Step-by-Step Guide

Check out these 5 straightforward steps for composing the best book review.

Step 1: Planning Your Book Review – The Art of Getting Started

You’ve decided to take the plunge and share your thoughts on a book that has captivated (or perhaps disappointed) you. Before you start book reviewing, let’s take a step back and plan your approach. Knowing how to write a book review that’s both informative and engaging is an art in itself.

Choosing Your Literature

First things first, pick the book you want to review. This might seem like a no-brainer, but selecting a book that genuinely interests you will make the review process more enjoyable and your insights more authentic.

Crafting the Master Plan

Next, create an  outline  that covers all the essential points you want to discuss in your review. This will serve as the roadmap for your writing journey.

The Devil is in the Details

As you read, note any information that stands out, whether it overwhelms, underwhelms, or simply intrigues you. Pay attention to:

• The characters and their development
• The plot and its intricacies
• Any themes, symbols, or motifs you find noteworthy

Remember to reserve a body paragraph for each point you want to discuss.

The Key Questions to Ponder

When planning your book review, consider the following questions:

• What’s the plot (if any)? Understanding the driving force behind the book will help you craft a more effective review.
• Is the plot interesting? Did the book hold your attention and keep you turning the pages?
• Are the writing techniques effective? Does the author’s style captivate you, making you want to read (or reread) the text?
• Are the characters or the information believable? Do the characters/plot/information feel real, and can you relate to them?
• Would you recommend the book to anyone? Consider if the book is worthy of being recommended, whether to impress someone or to support a point in a literature class.
• What could be improved? Always keep an eye out for areas that could be improved. Providing constructive criticism can enhance the quality of literature.

Step 2 – Crafting the Perfect Introduction to Write a Book Review

In this second step of “how to write a book review,” we’re focusing on the art of creating a powerful opening that will hook your audience and set the stage for your analysis.

Identify Your Book and Author

Begin by mentioning the book you’ve chosen, including its  title  and the author’s name. This informs your readers and establishes the subject of your review.

Ponder the Title

Next, discuss the mental images or emotions the book’s title evokes in your mind . This helps your readers understand your initial feelings and expectations before diving into the book.

Judge the Book by Its Cover (Just a Little)

Take a moment to talk about the book’s cover. Did it intrigue you? Did it hint at what to expect from the story or the author’s writing style? Sharing your thoughts on the cover can offer a unique perspective on how the book presents itself to potential readers.

Present Your Thesis

Now it’s time to introduce your thesis. This statement should be a concise and insightful summary of your opinion of the book. For example:

“Normal People” by Sally Rooney is a captivating portrayal of the complexities of human relationships, exploring themes of love, class, and self-discovery with exceptional depth and authenticity.

Ensure that your thesis is relevant to the points or quotes you plan to discuss throughout your review.

Incorporating these elements into your introduction will create a strong foundation for your book review. Your readers will be eager to learn more about your thoughts and insights on the book, setting the stage for a compelling and thought-provoking analysis.

How to Write a Book Review: Step 3 – Building Brilliant Body Paragraphs

You’ve planned your review and written an attention-grabbing introduction. Now it’s time for the main event: crafting the body paragraphs of your book review. In this step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the art of constructing engaging and insightful body paragraphs that will keep your readers hooked.

Summarize Without Spoilers

Begin by summarizing a specific section of the book, not revealing any major plot twists or spoilers. Your goal is to give your readers a taste of the story without ruining surprises.

Support Your Viewpoint with Quotes

Next, choose three quotes from the book that support your viewpoint or opinion. These quotes should be relevant to the section you’re summarizing and help illustrate your thoughts on the book.

Analyze the Quotes

Write a summary of each quote in your own words, explaining how it made you feel or what it led you to think about the book or the author’s writing. This analysis should provide insight into your perspective and demonstrate your understanding of the text.

Structure Your Body Paragraphs

Dedicate one body paragraph to each quote, ensuring your writing is well-connected, coherent, and easy to understand.

For example:

• In  Jane Eyre , Charlotte Brontë writes, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.” This powerful statement highlights Jane’s fierce independence and refusal to be trapped by societal expectations.
• In  Normal People , Sally Rooney explores the complexities of love and friendship when she writes, “It was culture as class performance, literature fetishized for its ability to take educated people on false emotional journeys.” This quote reveals the author’s astute observations on the role of culture and class in shaping personal relationships.
• In  Wuthering Heights , Emily Brontë captures the tumultuous nature of love with the quote, “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” This poignant line emphasizes the deep, unbreakable bond between the story’s central characters.

By following these guidelines, you’ll create body paragraphs that are both captivating and insightful, enhancing your book review and providing your readers with a deeper understanding of the literary work. 

How to Write a Book Review: Step 4 – Crafting a Captivating Conclusion

You’ve navigated through planning, introductions, and body paragraphs with finesse. Now it’s time to wrap up your book review with a  conclusion that leaves a lasting impression . In this final step of “How to write a Book Review,” we’ll explore the art of writing a memorable and persuasive conclusion.

Summarize Your Analysis

Begin by summarizing the key points you’ve presented in the body paragraphs. This helps to remind your readers of the insights and arguments you’ve shared throughout your review.

Offer Your Final Conclusion

Next, provide a conclusion that reflects your overall feelings about the book. This is your chance to leave a lasting impression and persuade your readers to consider your perspective.

Address the Book’s Appeal

Now, answer the question: Is this book worth reading? Be clear about who would enjoy the book and who might not. Discuss the taste preferences and circumstances that make the book more appealing to some readers than others.

For example:  The Alchemist is a book that can enchant a young teen, but those who are already well-versed in classic literature might find it less engaging.

Be Subtle and Balanced

Avoid simply stating whether you “liked” or “disliked” the book. Instead, use nuanced language to convey your message. Highlight the pros and cons of reading the type of literature you’ve reviewed, offering a balanced perspective.

Bringing It All Together

By following these guidelines, you’ll craft a conclusion that leaves your readers with a clear understanding of your thoughts and opinions on the book. Your review will be a valuable resource for those considering whether to pick up the book, and your witty and insightful analysis will make your review a pleasure to read. So conquer the world of book reviews, one captivating conclusion at a time!

How to Write a Book Review: Step 5 – Rating the Book (Optional)

You’ve masterfully crafted your book review, from the introduction to the conclusion. But wait, there’s one more step you might consider before calling it a day: rating the book. In this optional step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the benefits and methods of assigning a rating to the book you’ve reviewed.

Why Rate the Book?

Sometimes, when writing a professional book review, it may not be appropriate to state whether you liked or disliked the book. In such cases, assigning a rating can be an effective way to get your message across without explicitly sharing your personal opinion.

How to Rate the Book

There are various rating systems you can use to evaluate the book, such as:

• A star rating (e.g., 1 to 5 stars)
• A numerical score (e.g., 1 to 10)
• A letter grade (e.g., A+ to F)

Choose a rating system that best suits your style and the format of your review. Be consistent in your rating criteria, considering writing quality, character development, plot, and overall enjoyment.

Tips for Rating the Book

Here are some tips for rating the book effectively:

• Be honest: Your rating should reflect your true feelings about the book. Don’t inflate or deflate your rating based on external factors, such as the book’s popularity or the author’s reputation.
• Be fair: Consider the book’s merits and shortcomings when rating. Even if you didn’t enjoy the book, recognize its strengths and acknowledge them in your rating.
• Be clear: Explain the rationale behind your rating so your readers understand the factors that influenced your evaluation.

Wrapping Up

By including a rating in your book review, you provide your readers with additional insight into your thoughts on the book. While this step is optional, it can be a valuable tool for conveying your message subtly yet effectively. So, rate those books confidently, adding a touch of wit and wisdom to your book reviews.

Additional Tips on How to Write a Book Review: A Guide

In this segment, we’ll explore additional tips on how to write a book review. Get ready to captivate your readers and make your review a memorable one!

Hook ’em with an Intriguing Introduction

Keep your introduction precise and to the point. Readers have the attention span of a goldfish these days, so don’t let them swim away in boredom. Start with a bang and keep them hooked!

Embrace the World of Fiction

When learning how to write a book review, remember that reviewing fiction is often more engaging and effective. If your professor hasn’t assigned you a specific book, dive into the realm of fiction and select a novel that piques your interest.

Opinionated with Gusto

Don’t shy away from adding your own opinion to your review. A good book review always features the writer’s viewpoint and constructive criticism. After all, your readers want to know what  you  think!

Express Your Love (or Lack Thereof)

If you adored the book, let your readers know! Use phrases like “I’ll definitely return to this book again” to convey your enthusiasm. Conversely, be honest but respectful even if the book wasn’t your cup of tea.

Templates and Examples and Expert Help: Your Trusty Sidekicks

Feeling lost? You can always get help from formats, book review examples or online  college paper writing service  platforms. These trusty sidekicks will help you navigate the world of book reviews with ease. 

Be a Champion for New Writers and Literature

Remember to uplift new writers and pieces of literature. If you want to suggest improvements, do so kindly and constructively. There’s no need to be mean about anyone’s books – we’re all in this literary adventure together!

Criticize with Clarity, Not Cruelty

When adding criticism to your review, be clear but not mean. Remember, there’s a fine line between constructive criticism and cruelty. Tread lightly and keep your reader’s feelings in mind.

Avoid the Comparison Trap

Resist the urge to compare one writer’s book with another. Every book holds its worth, and comparing them will only confuse your reader. Stick to discussing the book at hand, and let it shine in its own light.

Top 7 Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Writing a book review can be a delightful and rewarding experience, especially when you balance analysis, wit, and personal insights. However, some common mistakes can kill the brilliance of your review. 

In this section of “How to write a book review,” we’ll explore the top 7 blunders writers commit and how to steer clear of them, with a dash of  modernist literature  examples and tips for students writing book reviews as assignments.

Succumbing to the Lure of Plot Summaries

Mistake: Diving headfirst into a plot summary instead of dissecting the book’s themes, characters, and writing style.

Example: “The Bell Jar chronicles the life of a young woman who experiences a mental breakdown.”

How to Avoid: Delve into the book’s deeper aspects, such as its portrayal of mental health, societal expectations, and the author’s distinctive narrative voice. Offer thoughtful insights and reflections, making your review a treasure trove of analysis.

Unleashing the Spoiler Kraken

Mistake: Spilling major plot twists or the ending without providing a spoiler warning, effectively ruining the reading experience for potential readers.

Example: “In Metamorphosis, the protagonist’s transformation into a monstrous insect leads to…”

How to Avoid: Tread carefully when discussing significant plot developments, and consider using spoiler warnings. Focus on the impact of these plot points on the overall narrative, character growth, or thematic resonance.

Riding the Personal Bias Express

Mistake: Allowing personal bias to hijack the review without providing sufficient evidence or reasoning to support opinions.

Example: “I detest books about existential crises, so The Sun Also Rises was a snoozefest.”

How to Avoid: While personal opinions are valid, it’s crucial to back them up with specific examples from the book. Discuss aspects like writing style, character development, or pacing to support your evaluation and provide a more balanced perspective.

Wielding the Vague Language Saber

Mistake: Resorting to generic, vague language that fails to capture the nuances of the book and can come across as clichéd.

Example: “This book was mind-blowing. It’s a must-read for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Use precise and descriptive language to express your thoughts. Employ specific examples and quotations to highlight memorable scenes, the author’s unique writing style, or the impact of the book’s themes on readers.

Ignoring the Contextualization Compass

Mistake: Neglecting to provide context about the author, genre, or cultural relevance of the book, leaving readers without a proper frame of reference.

Example: “This book is dull and unoriginal.”

How to Avoid: Offer readers a broader understanding by discussing the author’s background, the genre conventions the book adheres to or subverts, and any societal or historical contexts that inform the narrative. This helps readers appreciate the book’s uniqueness and relevance.

Overindulging in Personal Preferences

Mistake: Letting personal preferences overshadow an objective assessment of the book’s merits.

Example: “I don’t like stream-of-consciousness writing, so this book is automatically bad.”

How to Avoid: Acknowledge personal preferences but strive to evaluate the book objectively. Focus on the book’s strengths and weaknesses, considering how well it achieves its goals within its genre or intended audience.

Forgetting the Target Audience Telescope

Mistake: Failing to mention the book’s target audience or who might enjoy it, leading to confusion for potential readers.

Example: “This book is great for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Contemplate the book’s intended audience, genre, and themes. Mention who might particularly enjoy the book based on these factors, whether it’s fans of a specific genre, readers interested in character-driven stories, or those seeking thought-provoking narratives.

By dodging these common pitfalls, writers can craft insightful, balanced, and engaging book reviews that help readers make informed decisions about their reading choices.

These tips are particularly beneficial for students writing book reviews as assignments, as they ensure a well-rounded and thoughtful analysis.!

Many students requested us to cover how to write a book review. This thorough guide is sure to help you. At Paperperk, professionals are dedicated to helping students find their balance. We understand the importance of good grades, so we offer the finest writing service , ensuring students stay ahead of the curve. So seek expert help because only Paperperk is your perfect solution!

What is the difference between a book review and a report?

Who is the target audience for book reviews and book reports, how do book reviews and reports differ in length and content, can i write professional book reviews, what are the key aspects of writing professional book reviews, how can i enhance my book-reviewing skills to write professional reviews, what should be included in a good book review.

Order Original Papers & Essays

Your First Custom Paper Sample is on Us!

Timely Deliveries

No Plagiarism & AI

100% Refund

Try Our Free Paper Writing Service

Related blogs.

Connections with Writers and support

Privacy and Confidentiality Guarantee

Average Quality Score

Literary Everything

Writing a Negative Book Review

Confession: I like reading snarky negative book reviews especially when it’s laced with humour. However, I don’t like writing negative book reviews. When we started our blog, we were only going to review books we liked and would recommend, but my good friend advised that it would be better to give our honest opinions about…

Confession: I like reading snarky negative book reviews especially when it’s laced with humour. However, I don’t like writing negative book reviews.

When we started our blog, we were only going to review books we liked and would recommend, but my good friend advised that it would be better to give our honest opinions about any books we read. Besides, we also started getting review requests so we could no longer escape writing negative book reviews.

The easiest negative book reviews to write are “this book was a waste of my time” or “don’t bother with this book, it’s boring…” Yet, these don’t tell the reader or author much. So, whilst it works for some, it doesn’t work for me. I think if you are going to leave a negative book review, then it’s worth stating what you don’t like about the book, even if it’s only a couple of sentences. It’s also helpful to point out what, if anything, worked in the book.

We are aware of how much effort some authors put into writing their books. But we don’t think that should deter us from giving our honest opinions on the books we’ve read. In the end, we hope members of our community and indeed, the authors find our opinions useful.

Do you write negative book reviews? How do you feel about writing them? Let’s talk in the comments section.

Share this:

12 responses to “writing a negative book review”.

Hey loved your blog. I too love books and hope we can share our passion for books with eachother. Followed you. I am new here so plz visit my blog and let me know your thoughts 😃😃

Like Liked by 1 person

Thanks and welcome to blogging. Will check your blog out.

Excellent topic! I don’t like writing negative reviews or book bashing, but I do like to share my honest opinions. It’s very difficult, isn’t it? Especially when someone asks you to read their book, but honesty is best and I agree with your friend. 😉

Thanks! Yes, it is a lot more difficult when an author requests for a review. It’s easier when we buy the book ourselves even though we still struggle with writing a negative book review.

Exactly how I feel!

Writing negative reviews can be hard. And you are doing a tremendous job.

Like you said, writing “this book is trash” or “this is a total waste of time” isn’t the best way to approach writing negative reviews.

I always start with positives, even if the book is indeed trash. There must be something positive about the author if not the book.

For example if a book is a one star, I’ll write something like . This author attempted to tackle a topic that is usually very hard to, and that’s admirable, however, he/she failed to…

Or There have been some positive reviews by other readers about this book, but i’m Not one of them. I didn’t get the way the author or characters…

It’s a kind of feedback strategy I’ve been learning called the pendulum approach. What do you think went well, what do you think went badly, what would you change.

This is because, no matter how badly you hate a book, there’s someone who would love it tremendously.

So, your opinion should always be honest, but brutal honesty may not a,ways be the best way. Artists’ egos are fragile.

Thank you! And I totally agree, no matter how much one hates a book, someone else may love it and you’re left wondering… wait what?! It pays to remember that reviews are opinions. Also, that someone is behind the work being reviewed.

Tough one. I wrote a negative movie review, though I understand it’s much different for books as the author might take it personal. Still, I think it’s necessary, as long as the review is constructive; the author will actually benefit from it the most. Plus they’d probably get positive reviews from someone else because of how diverse our interests are.

Yes, there are so many involved in making and getting credit for a movie but with books it’s mainly the author who gets the credit or flack.

“This is because, no matter how badly you hate a book, there’s someone who would love it tremendously.” Comment by Obiamakaazie, here

The comment above is very true. I always think that one should be very careful when it comes to reviewing books, literary criticism and the like. Worldwide, critics would disagree in opposite lines/perspectives on merits or demerits of a work. We know Wole Soyinka is one of the best writers in the world, yet he has an army of critics who delight in pulling his works down. Even William Shakespeare, world’s best ever, has never been untouchable, I remember reading somewhere that a critic said about him: “Our (English) language sunk under him”!! . Another problem is that we all have our pet themes….call me ruthless if you wish, but I for one dislike any works on Romance!! For decades.

Well, we all have genres we prefer. I don’t like science fiction, fantasy or young adult books. So it’s understandable that you are not a fan of romance which I love. Sometimes, a book is just really poorly written, at other times, it’s just a matter of taste and preferences. Reviews are subjective.

[…] ✨Erica ✨ Ambi ✨ Heather ✨ Cate ✨ On the Bookpage ✨ Alex ✨ Lady B ✨ Shyla ✨ Megs ✨ […]

Author of the Week — Chinedu Achebe

The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi by Chinedu Achebe

Author of the Week – Ukamaka Olisakwe

Ogadinma by Ukamaka Olisakwe

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

Get the Reddit app

Discussions about the writing craft.

How to handle negative book reviews?

I'm in the final stage of finishing my draft, it's currently at 92k words and the story is almost wrapped up. When I think about the next steps, my biggest fear is not the endless rewriting/editing, neither is it not being picked up by a publisher (I'll just self-publish it), but the reaction from the readers. I've read that early negative reviews can permanently tank a book. In addition, it's my debut novel so I'm sure it has its fair share of flaws, and I'm not exactly good at taking criticism. I read reviews often on goodreads and many of them are quite harsh, even towards well-written books.

So my question is: how do you guys handle negative reviews and keep an optimistic mentality to continue? I think I'll be heart-broken if my book is poorly received.

Things you buy through our links may earn  Vox Media  a commission.

Against ‘Women’s Writing’

Rachel cusk’s gender fundamentalism fully surfaces in her latest novel, parade..

This article was featured in One Great Story , New York ’s reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly.

In Outline, the first book in Rachel Cusk ’s astonishing trilogy of novels, the narrator, Faye, has dinner in Athens with a celebrated feminist author. Angeliki apologizes for arriving late: She has only just escaped from a reception plus a quick detour to put her son to bed. She has been away from him, she says, as a consequence of her international book tour. Her novel, which concerns a painter who feels torn between her children and her desire to be free, is very popular in Poland, where she met a journalist whose lifeless egalitarian marriage had left her so ugly and serious that she was barely recognizable as a woman at all. Angeliki has discovered that her own husband and son do not need her the way she once thought they did, and this distance from their need has made her reconsider her own freedom. She does not want childbirth to be her greatest act of creation, but neither does she wish to become a desexed professional who loses touch with her female essence. The painter in her novel fails to resolve this dilemma, ultimately diverting all her artistic energy to her children.

The scene unfolds like nearly every other scene in Outline : Someone talks, Faye listens. The latter, a divorced novelist of few biographical details, serves as a kind of Grecian urn into which her conversation partners eagerly pour the metaphors that rule their lives, delivering reflections on art, marriage, and family in the same tone of Spartan clarity. Critics hailed the Outline trilogy as a reinvention of the novel, though Cusk saw it as the natural evolution of her long-standing preoccupations. For the first 20 years of her prolific career, Cusk largely wrote domestic novels about young women who long to shelter in, and escape from, the trappings of bourgeois family life. Saving Agnes, Cusk’s debut from 1993, opens with the image of a house sinking into the earth. The same themes animate Cusk’s nonfiction from this period. Her 2001 memoir, A Life’s Work , was savaged by the British press for its frank portrayal of the desolation of early motherhood. Then, in 2009, Cusk divorced the father of her two daughters — an experience she later described as a devastating expulsion from the possibility of narrative. “We’re not part of that story any more, my children and I,” she writes in her 2012 memoir, Aftermath , peering with envy and disgust into the lives of her suburban neighbors. “We belong more to the world, in all its risky disorder, its fragmentation, its freedom.” Out of this dispossession emerged Faye, a recessed female presence whose exile from domesticity allows her — supposedly — to view life with greater objectivity.

The results are extraordinary. Faye is not absent, like Godot; she is withheld, like a judgment, and through Cusk’s ingenious structure of reported monologues, Faye becomes the most substantial of all the characters in the trilogy. But the claim to objectivity bears the bruise of exaggeration. Divorce or no, Faye is still a bourgeois British woman who quietly goes from having a loan on her countryside home to being an honored guest at literary festivals across Europe. The parallels with the author’s own life were both intentional and carefully repressed. In effect, Cusk wished to have it both ways. She wanted Faye’s emotional distance and biographical vagueness to place her in a more authentic relationship to truth. Yet she wrote Faye as specifically female voice, one which spoke through the narrative vacuum that Cusk had come, through divorce, to associate with all women.

Now Cusk’s gender politics have taken center stage. Her new novel, Parade, is a small clear prism of a book that refracts the lives of half a dozen artists all named G, most of whom are fictionalized versions of real artists like Louise Bourgeois and Norman Lewis. There is an abiding interest in formal experiment: Cusk flings abstract nouns onto the page with little mediation by plot or character, much as the action painters once did with their paints. The risk in this approach is producing what the art critic Harold Rosenberg once called “apocalyptic wallpaper,” on account of its cheap facsimile of depth. “In formlessness she discovered power, and also a freedom from limitation,” a narrator says about their mother in Parade — a beautiful sentence until one realizes that any of the nouns could be rearranged without injuring the impression that one is reading an awful truth. As in Cusk’s previous novel, the feverish melodrama Second Place , the old themes of domesticity and maternal guilt have returned in full force — but now their delivery is cold and explanatory, to the extent that much of Parade reads like catalogue copy for an unseen art exhibit. In a telling echo of Angeliki’s novel in Outline, the only G without a clear historical counterpart is a talented female painter whose professional success separates her from her young daughter. With this G, Cusk poses a question that has obsessed her for years: Can women make art?

It is a false question. Yet Cusk treats it with fatal solemnity. The artist Georg Baselitz , whose upside-down paintings appear in Parade, told an interviewer in 2013, “Women don’t paint very well. It’s a fact.” One should call this what it is — crude misogyny — and crush it underfoot. Instead, Cusk obscures it under thick layers of weak mysticism, much as Baselitz once painted over his pictures with a deadening black paint. That, on balance, female artists face more institutional obstacles than male ones, that they are more likely to be unjustly reduced to their particularity by critics, that the gender division of labor continues to take an enervating toll even on many affluent white women — none of this can be denied. Nor is any of it the subject of Parade, which is given over to cryptic pronouncements about the “violence underlying female identity.” For years, Cusk has warned ominously of the “confusion of male and female values” that has accompanied women’s gains in political equality with men — a typical example of the inscrutable private language that has allowed her flatly essentialist views about gender to pass for the feminist avant-garde. We learn in Parade that the female condition is “unlasting yet eternal,” that behind its “volcanic cycles of change” there lies something “darkly continuous” yet “unknown.” The female artist, we are told, must reckon with “the mystery and tragedy of her own sex.”

What Cusk really means is that women must make art about being mothers. If they refuse to do this, they are effectively neutering themselves, disavowing their “female biological destiny” in the doomed pursuit of “male freedom.” The latter appears to be identical with regular freedom in every way except that, when exposed in a woman, it is proof of a grotesque and self-defeating identification with men. One cannot, I think, have a high opinion of women if one is to believe this. It is like defining the air as male and bravely refusing to breathe.

The wild young painter G marries a lawyer she meets at a gallery opening. He disapproves of her: In this, she recognizes a form of heterosexual authority that she craves. G adapts to his life, lets him rule over her, and becomes pregnant with his daughter. “A dreadful truth, the truth of her female caste, came slowly and inexorably into view, with its smouldering fires of injustice and servitude,” writes Cusk. G’s husband, taking off work, claims their daughter for his own, while G is marched back into the studio to pay the bills. She feels inferior to her male colleagues; she makes one female friend, another painter, noting with discomfort that this friend lacks any “desire for male freedom and prestige.” Then G’s husband goes away to care for his dying father, and for the first time G feels free of his influence. She becomes warmer, more maternal, making pancakes for her daughter and allowing her into her studio; she imagines what it would be like not to work. One day, G’s daughter looks up and casually asks why men need to exist at all. The question horrifies G, who realizes that a world without men would be a world without the freedom she desires. “Men are great,” she answers, though she cannot say why.

The story of G has the quality of a parable or a fairy tale. It contains the broad strokes of Cusk’s theory of the woman artist . It seems that, in claiming her freedom from the sphere of need, the woman artist must learn to pass as an “honorary man.” Yet she remains attached, as if by umbilical cord, to the home life she tries to leave behind; ultimately, she is consumed with rage at her emasculated husband and guilt over her abandoned children. Cusk regards this as a dead end for the female artist. “A book is not an example of ‘women’s writing’ simply because it is written by a woman,” she claims in a 2009 essay on Simone de Beauvoir and Virginia Woolf . “Writing may become ‘women’s writing’ when it could not have been written by a man.” But what such a “female sentence” would look like is deeply unclear. Genuine women’s writing, Cusk argues, would abandon any claim to “equivalence in the male world” and concern itself “with what is eternal and unvarying, with domesticity and motherhood and family life.” Evidently, to paint a female painting, the woman artist must integrate her need to express herself artistically with “the very roots of female identity : continuity, stability, the capacity to nurture.” In short, she must let her child into the studio.

That the female artist has a child is treated as an established fact in Parade. Of feminism, Cusk knows very little, and she is eager to prove it. In the essay on Woolf we encounter the preposterous claim that there is “no public unity among women”; more recently, Cusk has said that she is too old to think of gender as “ open to examination .” (She is 57.) In a baffling profile of the painters Celia Paul and Cecily Brown from 2019, Cusk is so convinced in advance that her subjects must be professionally crippled by their own biology that she takes it upon herself to break their legs. “Motherhood is an inextricable aspect of female being,” she declares after Brown quite sanely suggests that parenting and painting might make irreconcilable demands on one’s time. “It is one thing,” Cusk writes, “to choose not to have a child at all, but if you can do both, be both, then surely the possibility of formulating a grander female vision and voice becomes graspable.” The assertion is brittle and accusatory. How can one avoid concluding that any female artist who refuses motherhood as her subject, much less her life, is essentially betraying herself? (In general, Cusk is clueless on politics: An essay on Brexit ends with the idea that everyone should be more polite, like Jesus Christ.)

One senses that Cusk is berating herself. In one essay in Aftermath , she recounts how her ex-husband — like G’s husband, a lawyer turned photographer — performed the bulk of the domestic responsibilities while she, like G, wrote novels to pay the bills. In that arrangement she discovered a false equality: She gave up her “primitive maternal right over the children,” while her husband saw his contribution merely as “helping.” In her own assessment, the marriage was doomed because its egalitarian structure forced her to deny the “long pilgrimage of pregnancy with its wonders and abasements, the apotheosis of childbirth, the sacking and slow rebuilding of every last corner of my private world that motherhood has entailed.” Instead, Cusk reverted to the “adulterated male values” she had learned from both her father and mother — professional ambition chief among them — while forcing her husband into the role of housewife. “My notion was that we would live together as two hybrids, each of us half male and half female,” she writes. But Cusk grew to hate her husband’s dependence on her and influence over the children, and she began to feel like neither an honorary man nor an authentic woman. “I am not a feminist,” she concludes. “I am a self-hating transvestite.”

A startling metaphor! The essay in question was first published in 2011 — one of the last years before the idea of transvestism would be drained of any remaining metaphorical potential in English letters and reduced to a sheer monstrosity. Cusk has never told us what she thinks of her fellow transgender people, though one is free to guess. What we do know is that her fiction is chock-full of female characters who harbor, or are accused of harboring, a secret desire to be men. The desperate writer in Second Place admits to disguising herself in the “borrowed finery” of masculinity, to the extent that “some aspects of me do seem in fact to be male.” An overqualified teacher in Arlington Park had “forgotten she was a woman” until she met her husband, while the breadwinning wife of The Bradshaw Variations “craved it, her opposite, masculinity.” In The Lucky Ones, a feminist columnist tells a housewife that she wants to be “the same” as men; the housewife is disturbed. The erstwhile crush of In the Fold now has a “coarse shadow of black hair” on her upper lip; her sister-in-law speculates that she “doesn’t actually want to be a woman.” One night, the eponymous heroine of Saving Agnes has a dream: “She had found herself in possession of a giant penis like an elephant’s trunk and was forced to bundle it up beneath her skirt like a dark and terrible secret and walk around in mortal fear of its discovery.”

What to do with all these troubled hermaphrodites? “I always thought it was better to be a man, and I wanted to be a man my entire life,” Cusk told her fellow novelist Sheila Heti in 2020. There is nothing immoral, irrational, or even unusual about penis envy — it is generally better to be a man, as far as history is concerned — but Cusk has taken this desire and pathologized it so intensely that it has turned her into the paranoid custodian of an idiosyncratic gender fundamentalism. Men must be men; women must be women. A character in Parade remarks of the sculptor G that she “treats both sexes as doomed by gender, as almost interchangeable in that sense, so that a third sex emerges in which the man and woman have merged into each other and become neutral.” This G is clearly based on Bourgeois, who late in life created a series of sculptures of two nude human figures intimately embracing. In one such piece , made of polished aluminum, the two figures are almost entirely mummified in the tentaclelike coils of hair coming from one of their heads. This hermaphroditic mass with its suggestion of the simultaneous presence of male and female parts — this is the horrific fate that we are to believe awaits every female artist who tries to claim male freedom for herself.

There are so many poor assumptions here that the simplest may be the least obvious: It is not clear that Bourgeois’s couples always consist of a man and a woman. But Cusk can scarcely imagine a world beyond the heterosexual family. Divorce did not cure her of that weakness. The dissolution of a marriage is simply the closest that most middle-class women ever come to experiencing the social death of queerness. In Cusk’s case, it seems to have fed her belief that outside heterosexuality there lies only an unfathomable void. She regards her few gay characters with slow bewilderment. “It took Julian a long time to piece together the nature of their relationship, two grown men living in luxury together without a woman in sight,” she writes in Transit. This is the narrow sense in which Cusk can conceive of gay male life: as the absence of female dependency. Lesbians, meanwhile, are nearly unthinkable. In Outline, a famous lesbian poet reports an outlandish dream about a group of women who are too drenched in menstrual blood to go to the opera. Cusk has the poet conclude that the dream expresses the “disgust that exists indelibly between men and women” — and not, as one might also conclude, the cost of failing to imagine what women might have in common outside their biological destiny. The irony is that the poet, being a lesbian, should know perfectly well what else women might share.

Few readers will notice, I expect, that the titular parade of Parade is intended to be the Parisian equivalent of the Pride March. I myself would not know this had Cusk not volunteered it at a launch event recently. Yet now it is hard to miss the patronizing shift from march, with its residual connotations of political struggle and moral authority, to parade, which suggests frivolity and heavy traffic. As the sun sets on gay Paree, a groaning fleet of garbage trucks is dispatched to clean up the mess; behold, we are meant to think, the cost of freedom! Meanwhile, several heterosexual characters navigate their way through the chaos to a brasserie nearby, where they discuss whether the late artist G “missed the opportunity to love women.” What they mean by this, Cusk does not say. What is clear is that the queers, in their “fantastical costumes,” are now crowding up the restaurant. “It’s the parade,” says one woman apologetically, “that has confused everything.”

It is interesting to note that Cusk has looked to Beauvoir and Woolf for inspiration. Neither was heterosexual, and neither gave birth. Both pursued at certain points in their lives a kind of thwarted, ecstatic, sometimes tragic lesbianism that strongly informed their theories about female art. But there was an important difference between the two. When Beauvoir claimed that van Gogh could never have been born a woman, she meant that such a woman, having scarcely begun to posit herself as a free and authentic being, could never have taken the human condition onto her tender shoulders. When Woolf wrote that no woman in Shakespeare’s time could have possessed Shakespeare’s genius, she meant that a woman of the same raw talent and background would have lacked the money, education, and legal right to stride onto the stage of the Globe. Between these two arguments there lies an almost infinite gulf. The female van Gogh is the victim of an existential foreclosure, one that can be overcome only by a transcendent act of will that Beauvoir left perilously nebulous. By contrast, Shakespeare’s sister, as Woolf called her, is simply the victim of a shut door. It is no great mystery what keeps her on this side of it: Someone has gone and locked it.

Anyone genuinely invested in the fate of women artists must learn to separate, whenever possible, the material questions from the existential ones. To confuse them is disastrous. From the standpoint of history, there are many real reasons a woman might fail to be an artist — the unpaid reproductive labor she is often expected to perform within the home, for instance. From the standpoint of existence, however, there can be no barrier whatsoever: She is a human being. Early on in A Room of One’s Own , Woolf recounts a fictionalized encounter with the guardian of a university library who informs her that women are not permitted entry unchaperoned. “That a famous library has been cursed by a woman is a matter of complete indifference to a famous library,” Woolf tartly remarks. In this one sentence you will find more truth about the woman artist than in all of Parade. Cusk has surveyed those privileges historically appropriated from women by certain men — wealth, institutional power, freedoms of movement and expression — and mistaken them for the ontological enfeeblement of the female sex. Women have, I think, enough problems already; there is no reason to invent more.

The really challenging idea is not that female artists, when finally given all the advantages of male ones, will make art equal to that of any man but that women, when they are finally given all the advantages of men, may cease to be women altogether. One cannot say for sure: It has never been tried. But the metaphysics of sex will remain the pastime of fools and bigots until the full redistribution of wealth has taken place. I sympathize with Cusk’s fear: that material equality will result, even if only by accident, in the abolition of women. (I am surely fonder of them than she.) “Wouldn’t it be a bit boring if everyone was the same?” asks the skeptical housewife of The Lucky Ones. Even Woolf did not want to see the two sexes reduced to one — but this was because she longed for more sexual difference than the duality of male and female could provide. “If an explorer should come back and bring word of other sexes looking through the branches of other trees at other skies,” she wrote, “nothing would be of greater service to humanity.” One remembers that Woolf wrote A Room of One’s Own shortly after her novel Orlando, whose eponymous hero changes sex with a kind of blithe serenity that could not be more foreign to Cusk’s self-hating androgynes.

Now it is true that Woolf called for women to write “as women write, not as men write.” By this, she meant that the classical literary forms — epic poetry, for instance — had been so clearly shaped by male experience as to be more difficult for a woman to bend to her will. Hence the cleverness of a writer like Austen, who found the novel “young enough to be soft in her hands.” This is perfectly sound: To the extent that the lives of men and women still contain many generalizable differences, one may justly speak of male and female sentences. But to ask the female artist to make art that only a woman could make is to ask her to make no art at all. As Cusk herself has suggested, the novel is a kind of objet trouvé, mute as a slab of marble ; it takes a witness to make its cold neutrality catch fire. In itself, the sentence has neither sex nor gender — nor, for that matter, sexuality, race, class, religion, or nationality. Not a single blot of paint in the Tate Modern repels the female soul, though the £84 annual membership fee may dissuade some female wallets. “Literature is open to everybody,” Woolf writes. “Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”

I know Cusk knows this. She has made no secret of her admiration of art by men; half the G’s in Parade are male artists in whose work she has discovered something real or true. When the first G’s wife sees his upside-down paintings , she instantly feels that they elucidate the tragedy of female being. The paintings crush her; they are acts of unbearable authenticity and theft. A female novelist who visits G’s studio feels the same, exclaiming with remorse that she wishes she could write novels upside-down. “G was not the first man,” Cusk observes, “to have described women better than women seemed able to describe themselves.” But why should the theft go only one way? Cusk characterizes G’s breakthrough as casual and inadvertent, the product of a vague desire to “make sense of his time and place in history.” G’s wife consoles herself with the knowledge that the paintings would not exist if not for her own creation of a nourishing domestic environment. Yet it is G’s wife who, just by looking at them, impregnates the paintings with her own ideas about freedom and need. Even their annihilating force reflects the power of her mind. She steals the paintings every time she looks at them: They are hers.

To question the possibility of female art is, ultimately, to question the possibility of female thought. In both cases, one wonders how hard Cusk is really looking. She ends Parade by considering several oil paintings by the 17th-century Dutch painter Jacobus Vrel . In one, a black-clad woman sits in an otherwise empty room, hunched over a large tome in her lap, while through the dark window behind her one can just barely discern the beseeching face of a small child. For Cusk, it is a stunning portrait of female immanence, female withdrawal, female nonbeing — and painted by a man! “This woman was alone in a way that was nearly impossible to represent,” observe the narrators, who are mourning their late mother. But the woman’s chosen solitude, her indifference to the demands of domestic labor, has been represented quite clearly: She is reading a book. That we do not know what she thinks of it does not mean that female being is tragically excluded from the realm of freedom or narrative or identity. It just means she hasn’t told us.

Cusk, I’m afraid, is one of those rare writers whose genius exceeds the depth of her own experience. She has taken some fine observations about bourgeois motherhood under late capitalism and annealed them, through sheer intensity of talent, into empty aphorisms about the second sex. In so doing, she has wasted an enormous amount of energy on making the idea of female freedom unthinkable — an ironic choice for a writer who has achieved something like canonicity within her own lifetime. If Parade is women’s writing, let us hope it is the last of it. Another kind of novel is possible. When Angeliki tells Faye that she regrets not putting more about her characters’ “material circumstances” in her novel, I think we are meant to find this vaguely funny. But it’s a good idea! At least it would be better than banging on about female destiny while ignoring the lives of actual women. One must never mistake a defect of the imagination for a hole in reality.

• vulture homepage lede
• newsletter pick
• hard paywall
• rachel cusk
• new york magazine
• book review
• one great story

Most Viewed Stories

• Cinematrix No. 96: June 30, 2024
• The 15 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend
• Let’s Talk About The Bear ’s ‘To Be Continued …’ Ending
• The Bear Season-Premiere Recap: Perfect Means Perfect
• Hanya’s Boys

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

Advertisement

Supported by

Anthony Fauci, a Hero to Some and a Villain to Others, Keeps His Cool

In a frank but measured memoir, “On Call,” the physician looks back at a career bookended by two public health crises: AIDS and Covid-19.

• Share full article

By Alexandra Jacobs

• Barnes and Noble
• Books-A-Million

When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.

ON CALL: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service , by Anthony Fauci, M.D.

In his new memoir, Dr. Anthony Fauci bares all. After he’s unthinkingly opened a typewritten letter containing a mysterious white powder that could be anthrax (treatable with Cipro), ricin (almost certainly fatal in an Agatha Christie kind of way) or perhaps confectioner’s sugar, guys in hazmat suits arrive and order him to strip.

Following a “Silkwood” shower, Fauci has a few tense if resigned hours with his wife, Christine Grady, a nurse and bioethicist, and adult daughters before getting the all-clear. Having personally eased many patients’ passage into the Great Beyond over his almost six-decade career, he writes, “I do not fear death.”

Aside from this episode, “On Call” is a well-pressed gray flannel suit of a book with a white coat buttoned over it: a calm reply to deranged calls for this distinguished public servant’s head on a pike . Is it measured and methodical in sections? Sure. So is science.

These days, Fauci is most closely associated with Covid-19, hero or rogue depending on your political persuasion, under repeated and heated scrutiny for his messaging about masks, vaccines and the lab-leak theory . (“We must keep an open mind to the origin of Covid,” he writes with seeming weariness. “As I do.”) People blame him for their bad pandemic experience, as if he’s a waiter who served them the wrong meal and might be hiding what is going on in the kitchen.

Gently, “On Call” reminds us that Fauci oversaw an entire Seder plateful of plagues, from AIDS to Zika, as the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Washington, D.C., saving millions of lives around the world before stepping down in 2022.

He speeds through his early background. Born on Christmas Eve 1940, to first-generation Italian immigrants living in Bensonhurst, with a sister three years older, Fauci recalls the “extraordinarily soothing” sounds of foghorns in Gravesend Bay and his mother crying over photos of the mushroom cloud on the front page of the New York Daily News after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .