Book Reviews. (Ugh).

Book reviews.

Ugh.

Some authors will tell you not to read them. Most, if not all, will warn you not to obsess over them. But book reviews can be valuable, to a reader and to an author, even the not-so-good ones, because in fiction, and even more so in a thriller, there's no accounting for taste. Do we all like the same outfits? The same romantic partners? The same artwork? The same political leaders? 

Um. No.

Why would we all like the same books? It got me thinking. Why do bad reviews sting so much? And I realized, it's not bad reviews that sting, it’s the mean ones. I am fortunate to have gotten so many supportive, wonderful reviews. People reaching out to me telling me what my books meant to them. But I've also gotten some nasty ones. Ones that make me feel like giving up. Haters gonna hate, and it’s easy to find reviews who trash book after book.

But a less than glowing review, not a mean one, can be valuable, if the reader explains a little about what they liked or didn’t like, so that the right reader can either skip it or try it. The very reason one reader didn’t like it might be the reason another reader does.

Comp books or authors are really great to help the right readers find a book they will enjoy, such as “If you like Shari Lapena domestic suspense,” or “If you liked The Housemaid, you might like this book.” TV shows or movies work well, too.  I recently gave a review of my friend’s book and described it as X-Files meets Amityville Horror.

 As a reader trying to pick a book, reviews about the pacing or tone or setting—it’s a slow-burn, or a popcorn page-turner, or creepy and atmospheric—also help. I love when readers give details about a book I'm considering, like “not too graphic,” or “has drops of dark humor,” or “super dark and grisly," or even "too dark or too much romance or too slow for my taste," etc.

Some people might not buy the book due to comments like those, and that’s exactly the point. A book can’t be all things to all people, it just needs to find its audience, and that only comes from the author and reviewers being honest about what the book delivers. Personally, the ones that are too hyped up and full of superlatives I tend to gloss over when I'm choosing my next read.

So, review honestly, and with aloha. Authors are people, too. Well, at least most of them.

For more on that, see my previous post on AI…