I think it would not be a good decision to stop book reviews because still people search for book reviews and enjoy book review content. So, keep reviewing your own way.
I liked your note about not tagging authors unless it's a 4 or 5 star review. I think this is a great way to boost confidence, and as you said, someone else can colate reviews with fewer stars for more productive feedback. That said, I also think it's important for authors to be aware if their works are consistently rating only a 3 or 3.5 star review so that they can (should they choose to do so) improve future works, or to see if maybe they need to adjust their marketing if, for example, readers expected one thing & got another. (This has no bearing on whether or not to tag them, I think. More just an observation of why it's still important to leave reviews even if they're not 4 or more stars.) /// I actually find plot recaps in reviews to be terribly unhelpful. Often I look at reviews after just having read the synopsis, so what I'm looking for isn't a repeat of the same information, but more in depth detail which will help me determine if this is a good book for me. (In fact I will often skip reviews that start with a recap bc I'm looking for something different that I often don't find in those reviews.) What I *do* find helpful are any notes about tone, vibes, tropes, content warnings, and favorite moments or characters. Listing other media that the book might be similar too can also be helpful, but isn't necessary if the reviewer is able to leave good notes about tropes/vibe/tone etc. Content warnings in particular are a big one for me, especially when going through romance or erotica reviews, but also helpful for a lot of 'chosen one' fantasy where the MC might have a traumatic back story. One other thing which I find very helpful, but which I think few reviewers do (at least as far as I've seen), is a quick note about how well the book is written, grammatically speaking. I'm not looking to skewer an author for typos or the occasional run-on sentence, but with so much self-published work these days, I find a lot of books just haven't been edited *at all*, and can make for a difficult reading experience. I'd like to know in advance if I'm going to be struggling through chapters trying to decipher sentences with missing words, or action sequences which make no sense because the character was simultaneously in three places at once and also somehow had six hands. What are your thoughts on the editing issue vs reviews, Gina?
@@TheLadyKwiller thank you so much for your long comment! I loved it. I agree with pretty much everything you say, authors absolutely should be aware if they're getting lower star reviews to improve future work. Looking at them in terms of Goodreads for example is a great idea, that way you can see both at a glance and in detail what's going wrong. As for content warnings, grammar etc, yep I think all of those things are useful in a review. They are things most people don't include though. The StoryGraph comes with content warnings as a built in review option which is useful but adding that kind of content into your review is extra effort and something most people don't bother with. I don't even do it! Although now I'm thinking maybe I should!
I love reading lots of different styles of reviews. Generally I avoid detailed plot summary reviews - even if people are careful around spoilers it still gives too much away for my liking. I want to find out what happens for myself and only need very top line info about a book beforehand. I tend to read more reviews after I've read the book, this is when I enjoy hearing other peoples thoughts good and bad and seeing the different things people have picked up on - and of course the spoiler don't matter then! 😂
That's very true! Thinking about it, I mostly do the same. I hardly ever read blurbs and like to read a book without knowing much. I'll look at star rating but I won't actually read many reviews until I'm done. Unless someone I trust wrote it, then I'll absolutely read it.
Review bombing is definitely to be wary of it can portray good books as bad ones and bad books as good ones. It's honestly a despicable thing do to, especially when it's a debut book or from a new author what Kate did to these people was so unfair I'm so glad you mentioned the books most impacted. I don't really believe in some of the beliefs Xiran Jay Zhao holds but that hasn't stopped me from adoring Zachary Ying and I'm glad I do because what they did was a noble act especially considering that they could have possibly brought their own platform hate, (I'm not too familiar with who Kate is but if Kate does, in fact, have a large following there will be extremist fans who do such things) It is so easy to take extra measures to prevent such a thing as well I'm surprised a huge platform like Goodreads hasn't done anything. They could easily implement something like having read at least five books or having been a user for at least a week before writing a review on something to deter most of these review bombers. (as for normal reviewing I don't think a person is likely to see a book having 10% one-star reviews without any writing and be deterred from reading it) Having rules like this is amazing for reviewing, not only does it speed up the process and prevent spoilers but you can also easily formulate your thoughts on the book. As for the 'not reviewing books you haven't read,' I believe we should add 'don't review a book if you do not understand it.' I've seen this happen in political fiction or even just non-fiction books. The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida is a great example of this, I'd gotten the copy awhile back but it had been collecting dust after I'd disregarded it only after reading a hundred or so pages. Once I picked it up again I had some trouble understanding it due to the way it is written but also due to forgetting the names of the characters way too often. Sadly most of the one-star ratings it had on Goodreads is due to the reviewer not being able to understand its content while the book isn't much affected by it and is still fairly well-known I believe it was unfair to rate it in such a way. Of course, if you've powered through it without understanding or getting anything and still want it on your profile your free to shelve it but I don't think people should be reviewing it so badly. Ending this comment on a positive note, amazing video once again, you've never failed to make me write such long comments and rightfully so!
Oh my goodness what a comment! Thank you so much for posting it. I don't think Cait had too much of a following. I think that's why she thought she could get away with it honestly. Because nobody would notice. Sad really.
i love this! how brilliantly put! i completely agree about the DNF one, you made me realise about the resolutions bit! i’m definitely implementing that to my future DNFs 😆😇 thank you so much! 😊
Really enjoyed your video and thought it was very good. However, one point that I disagree with you on is what is considered a positive review! If I give a book 3 ⭐️, I consider it to be a good book (however, I don’t tag authors in any of my reviews tbh) and a positive review. I rarely give out 5⭐️ (I’m sorry, I’m a tough critic!), so generally 3 & 4 stars are my overall positive reviews.
Yeah I agree, 3 stars for me is still a pretty good book. But I don't think an author would feel the same or would want to see it. As soon as I read Gideon the Ninth, I found it difficult to give out 5 stars because nothing compared to it 😅
I think this is more of an Amazon review issue, but always dislike when the negative reviwlew talks about the book being damaged, lost in shipment or the type was the wrong size. This does nothing to tell me if the book is actually good or not. I also assume it can impact the author who has no control over those issues.
To be fair: Fallout 76 absolutely deserved the terrible reviews. But there are lots of other games that have had unfair review bombs. The Last of Us: Part II was a particularly nasty example brimming with misogyny. The author story is wild though. I need to read into it more as I want to know how that other author figured it out!
I would think some of these would not apply if you were reviewing a book by a deceased author who cannot take offense at negative or bask in praiseworthy reviews.
What do you think people should stop doing in their book reviews?
I think it would not be a good decision to stop book reviews because still people search for book reviews and enjoy book review content. So, keep reviewing your own way.
Reviews that say " unputdownable" or even worse"totally unputdownable."
I immediately ignore those books. No such book exists.
Uhhh ... for me .. I have occasionally stayed up all night absorbing a book that (for me) was unputdownable. Maybe it's a character flaw ....
I liked your note about not tagging authors unless it's a 4 or 5 star review. I think this is a great way to boost confidence, and as you said, someone else can colate reviews with fewer stars for more productive feedback.
That said, I also think it's important for authors to be aware if their works are consistently rating only a 3 or 3.5 star review so that they can (should they choose to do so) improve future works, or to see if maybe they need to adjust their marketing if, for example, readers expected one thing & got another. (This has no bearing on whether or not to tag them, I think. More just an observation of why it's still important to leave reviews even if they're not 4 or more stars.)
///
I actually find plot recaps in reviews to be terribly unhelpful. Often I look at reviews after just having read the synopsis, so what I'm looking for isn't a repeat of the same information, but more in depth detail which will help me determine if this is a good book for me. (In fact I will often skip reviews that start with a recap bc I'm looking for something different that I often don't find in those reviews.)
What I *do* find helpful are any notes about tone, vibes, tropes, content warnings, and favorite moments or characters. Listing other media that the book might be similar too can also be helpful, but isn't necessary if the reviewer is able to leave good notes about tropes/vibe/tone etc.
Content warnings in particular are a big one for me, especially when going through romance or erotica reviews, but also helpful for a lot of 'chosen one' fantasy where the MC might have a traumatic back story.
One other thing which I find very helpful, but which I think few reviewers do (at least as far as I've seen), is a quick note about how well the book is written, grammatically speaking. I'm not looking to skewer an author for typos or the occasional run-on sentence, but with so much self-published work these days, I find a lot of books just haven't been edited *at all*, and can make for a difficult reading experience. I'd like to know in advance if I'm going to be struggling through chapters trying to decipher sentences with missing words, or action sequences which make no sense because the character was simultaneously in three places at once and also somehow had six hands.
What are your thoughts on the editing issue vs reviews, Gina?
@@TheLadyKwiller thank you so much for your long comment! I loved it. I agree with pretty much everything you say, authors absolutely should be aware if they're getting lower star reviews to improve future work. Looking at them in terms of Goodreads for example is a great idea, that way you can see both at a glance and in detail what's going wrong.
As for content warnings, grammar etc, yep I think all of those things are useful in a review. They are things most people don't include though. The StoryGraph comes with content warnings as a built in review option which is useful but adding that kind of content into your review is extra effort and something most people don't bother with. I don't even do it! Although now I'm thinking maybe I should!
I love reading lots of different styles of reviews. Generally I avoid detailed plot summary reviews - even if people are careful around spoilers it still gives too much away for my liking. I want to find out what happens for myself and only need very top line info about a book beforehand. I tend to read more reviews after I've read the book, this is when I enjoy hearing other peoples thoughts good and bad and seeing the different things people have picked up on - and of course the spoiler don't matter then! 😂
That's very true! Thinking about it, I mostly do the same. I hardly ever read blurbs and like to read a book without knowing much. I'll look at star rating but I won't actually read many reviews until I'm done. Unless someone I trust wrote it, then I'll absolutely read it.
Review bombing is definitely to be wary of it can portray good books as bad ones and bad books as good ones. It's honestly a despicable thing do to, especially when it's a debut book or from a new author what Kate did to these people was so unfair I'm so glad you mentioned the books most impacted. I don't really believe in some of the beliefs Xiran Jay Zhao holds but that hasn't stopped me from adoring Zachary Ying and I'm glad I do because what they did was a noble act especially considering that they could have possibly brought their own platform hate, (I'm not too familiar with who Kate is but if Kate does, in fact, have a large following there will be extremist fans who do such things) It is so easy to take extra measures to prevent such a thing as well I'm surprised a huge platform like Goodreads hasn't done anything. They could easily implement something like having read at least five books or having been a user for at least a week before writing a review on something to deter most of these review bombers. (as for normal reviewing I don't think a person is likely to see a book having 10% one-star reviews without any writing and be deterred from reading it)
Having rules like this is amazing for reviewing, not only does it speed up the process and prevent spoilers but you can also easily formulate your thoughts on the book. As for the 'not reviewing books you haven't read,' I believe we should add 'don't review a book if you do not understand it.' I've seen this happen in political fiction or even just non-fiction books. The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida is a great example of this, I'd gotten the copy awhile back but it had been collecting dust after I'd disregarded it only after reading a hundred or so pages. Once I picked it up again I had some trouble understanding it due to the way it is written but also due to forgetting the names of the characters way too often. Sadly most of the one-star ratings it had on Goodreads is due to the reviewer not being able to understand its content while the book isn't much affected by it and is still fairly well-known I believe it was unfair to rate it in such a way. Of course, if you've powered through it without understanding or getting anything and still want it on your profile your free to shelve it but I don't think people should be reviewing it so badly. Ending this comment on a positive note, amazing video once again, you've never failed to make me write such long comments and rightfully so!
Oh my goodness what a comment! Thank you so much for posting it. I don't think Cait had too much of a following. I think that's why she thought she could get away with it honestly. Because nobody would notice. Sad really.
But you're right, your Goodreads ideas are good ones. Just a few small features could prevent a lot.
i love this! how brilliantly put! i completely agree about the DNF one, you made me realise about the resolutions bit! i’m definitely implementing that to my future DNFs 😆😇 thank you so much! 😊
It took me a while to start doing it too. In fact I still have older books I marked as DNF with star ratings.
Woo first comment! (It's Ryoko9219 not sure why I didn't use that name here.)
Honestly never considered how leaving a review could be damaging.
Oh my gosh hi!! Thank you so much for being the first comment and for coming on over here in the first place 🥹
Really enjoyed your video and thought it was very good. However, one point that I disagree with you on is what is considered a positive review! If I give a book 3 ⭐️, I consider it to be a good book (however, I don’t tag authors in any of my reviews tbh) and a positive review. I rarely give out 5⭐️ (I’m sorry, I’m a tough critic!), so generally 3 & 4 stars are my overall positive reviews.
Yeah I agree, 3 stars for me is still a pretty good book. But I don't think an author would feel the same or would want to see it.
As soon as I read Gideon the Ninth, I found it difficult to give out 5 stars because nothing compared to it 😅
I think this is more of an Amazon review issue, but always dislike when the negative reviwlew talks about the book being damaged, lost in shipment or the type was the wrong size. This does nothing to tell me if the book is actually good or not. I also assume it can impact the author who has no control over those issues.
That's so true! I didn't even think of that! Must sway ratings quite a bit but you're right, absolutely unfair on the author!
I mostly just rate books and seldom write reviews.
To be fair: Fallout 76 absolutely deserved the terrible reviews. But there are lots of other games that have had unfair review bombs. The Last of Us: Part II was a particularly nasty example brimming with misogyny.
The author story is wild though. I need to read into it more as I want to know how that other author figured it out!
Absolutely do! And you know what, I'm not sure myself. I don't think they ever said.
I would think some of these would not apply if you were reviewing a book by a deceased author who cannot take offense at negative or bask in praiseworthy reviews.