Carl from @pleasereadyourbook and I are buddy reading John Williams’s _Stoner,_ and it is a really fun experience so far (though we have just started the book). He just posted a video of our first discussion about the book, check it out here: th-cam.com/video/hULY4fmNhNU/w-d-xo.html
I really appreciate when people leave both positive AND negative reviews. When someone doesn't like a book that I loved, at least I know that this is a person I can look to for honest reviews. It must be hard for BookTubers because I think on some level they have to decide between not offending anyone ever vs. being true to themselves and their audience.
I do my best to be honest and kind in my reviews, and even when I don't enjoy a book I try to point out things in the book I admire. I obviously never want to offend anyone, so I make sure to make it about the book and not the author, and I lead with honesty and kindness, that seems to be a generally useful approach. Clearly it doesn't work 100% of the time, but this is an outlier case, in my experience.
About 10, 12 years back when I used to blog and self-pub (and KDP) was still fairly new, I had something similar happen in a much more ugly fashion with an author. I posted a review of a self pub an author sent me a review copy for saying it was okay, pointing out pros and cons and generally being ambivalent. The next day I woke up to a very long, nasty email from the author insulting me multiple ways and demanding I take it down. I took it down because that clown was clearly unhinged and who knows if and how things can escalate when someone decides they have a problem with you. Personally, I think you made the right decision to take it down because even though you're perfectly right in that there was no reason why it shouldn't be left up, you never know how stupid people can be about these things. Given what you've said about his book, he's unlikely to succeed with it anyway.
I have had an experience similar to yours with the upset author. I sent my review to a contact who had sent me the book for that purpose. It was a similar issue, lots of typos that distracted from the work itself. I heard back from the contact that the author was upset about my review and asked that it be taken down but the contact defended my review and let me know she was keeping it up. With that context I have 2 thoughts about the situation you experienced: 1) I agree it doesn't hurt anyone by taking it down if it gives the author some peace. 2) On the other hand, I'm wondering if they wrote similar emails to everyone who gave a bad review in an attempt to make their book seem more positively received and influence future buyers. In either case, no matter the author's intent, I think your perspective is valid and would do the same thing in your place. Thank you for sharing!
That's an interesting dilemma regarding the review. I think you did the right thing, even though as you say it doesn't exactly address the underlying issue, however it does alleviate some of the 'pain' for that person.
It doesn't feel good to concede to bullying tactics, especially as he escalated with additional messages after I made this video, eventually threatening me, but it feels like ultimately the best option, in this case. I gain nothing from this fight, and while it doesn't _solve_ any of whatever is really going on for him hopefully it does help give some semblance of relief.
Speaking as an author, my take on negative reviews (and I definitely have some!) is that I should never engage with them. Reviews of my books can occasionally be helpful to me, but, whether they’re positive, negative, or in between, they don’t exist for me. They exist for readers. In fact, reviews are none of my business, and if a reviewer obviously read my book but didn’t enjoy it, I would consider it unethical for me to ask that person to remove their review. It belongs to them and reflects their experience. It’s really none of my business. Also, it’s good to remember something: Even a negative review can be helpful if it’s constructive and steers readers away who might not like what I’ve written. Finally, I would advise that author to stop reading negative reviews. Why torture yourself over something you have no ability to change, namely someone else’s experience of your book?
I agree 100%. Most of us do spend most of our time obsessing over things that are outside of our control, and it never brings any genuine satisfaction. That's easier to say then to learn from, of course... And I don't ever leave purely negative reviews, even in a review for a book that I really didn't care for I go out of my way to identify some things I appreciated in the book. I never have any interest in putting up walls, to discourage reading or writing. I don't know what encouraged this author to come back more than a year after the fact and send me these messages, which eventually devolved into active threats (I had to report the messages to GoodReads and block him, in the end). Whatever is going on, though, isn't about me, I am just a convenient target for it. There is no joy in being "right" for me in this scenario, so I did remove the review entirely... on one hand that feels like giving in to a bully, on the other hand it is the path of least resistance, and hopefully it can bring him at least a temporary semblance of calm.
that's funny. The Noam Chomsky book that says the only way for things to change is if the problem people change their minds. That was what I fist thought when you spoke about the angry author, that they were going through something, after a year lapse. When I first started writing, I got a one-star hate review on Amazon from a local student that didn't even read the book. It was more an attack on me for my opinions than anthing. At first I was mad, but now I don't care and I think it's funny. I am glad it happened now because it really got me over any negative reviews, and now my thoughts are, "One or two stars or four or five stars, please, just no threes."
When making anything for public consumption you have to be able to distance your own personal emotional well-being with how that thing is regarded or critiqued. That doesn't mean being a robot and feeling nothing, and it doesn't mean it is okay for people to leave unfair or intentionally harmful critiques, or to use the review of a book to make personal attacks, but it does mean that the reception of a thing is out of your hands once you put it out there, and you need to calm to terms with that if you're going to make art for public consumption... I am glad you have been able to get over negative reviews, I imagine it makes the experience of being an author much less tense that way. Also, noted, no 3 stars...
Hi there, Lekden I just wanted to stop by and say how much I admire your dedication and passion for books. Your content is always so engaging and inspiring! In fact, I recently featured your channel in a video on my own BookTube channel, highlighting some of the most amazing creators in the community-and, of course, you had to be on that list! 😊 Thank you for everything you do to make BookTube such a vibrant and welcoming space. Keep up the incredible work-you’re making such a difference in the bookish world! Warm regards, Kris (from SmartBookWorms)
Great Wrap-Up! With Teeth was fun but I loved The Rising, such an original take on the Zombie Apocalypse trope. I will definitely catch up on your Long Walk series. This is actually the first book King wrote, not Carrie. I was in a terrible headspace when I DNFd Lisey's Story, will definitely pick it up again, possibly next year. I watch and enjoy both channels you mentioned. I am also doing my own version of the read what you own challenge which is more aligned with how I live my life. I absolutely think you did the right thing. I do not review "many" ARCs for two reasons: I want to read books that I want to read (this is supposed to be fun) and I don't want to receive backlash (like you did) +for being honest in a review. I understand how important it is to promote new and self-published authors but the reason I started is to talk about the books I love. Furthermore, I live in South Africa so authors cannot send me advanced copies of their works except via email, which is not ideal.
Thanks! I am excited to dive into the whole Rising series, it is high in my queue for 2025. It's interesting, in his introduction to The Bachman Books King mentions how he first started _Rage_ as a high school senior, but didn't finish it, then wrote _The Long Walk_ as a college freshman, and then finished _Rage_ afterward. He says that he finished 5 novels before _Carrie,_ but only two of them were good, and those two were _Rage_ and _The Long Walk._ In my opinion _The Long Walk_ is the far better of the two, though both have the kind of (young, brash) cynical energy that is present in all of his Bachman work. Just the level of emotional maturity of the character is so much better in _The Long Walk,_ if nothing else. In some ways there is no distinction at all between high school and college, and in other ways it is a huge gulf, and you can feel that in these books. (Though, while I am incredibly impressed he wrote either at such a young age, I do wonder how much editing they got before being published...) I have never received that kind of feedback before on a review, which is why it was surprising. I make a concerted effort to also find something to praise or celebrate, even in a review of a book I ultimately didn't like. Living in India I also can not ever get physical ARCs, so I read them all digitally. I prefer the experience of reading physical books but love the convenience of digital books, and I don't like owning more things than I need, so most of my library is digital, it is only in the last year I started buying more physical books again (mainly so I can have books to use to influence my niblings). I do like to have more freedom with my reading, but I just over-committed to a few months of ARCs... I will never complain about them, because folks are giving me free books in exchange for an honest review and that's a pretty good deal, and I am just some random guy with barely an audience. But. The difficulty of being a nobody is that you are offered very few ARCs, you have to request them (through NetGalley, primarily, though also BookSirens and Edelweiss, on occasion), and it often takes days to receive a reply. So if you're not careful you can request a bunch of books, anticipating a number of rejections, and then if you're fortunate to get fewer rejections than anticipated all of a sudden your entire reading slate is full. Again, not complaining, just the kind of thing I need to get better at managing!
@@arockinsamsara I think you will love The Rising, such a unique approach to the Zombie genre. Thank you for the additional information on Rage and The Long Walk, I did not know that or simply cannot remember- it has been 30-40 years since reading The Bachman Books. I am not crazy about Rage, not so much because of the controversy but I just think it is one of his weaker stories. The Long Walk, on the other hand, is an absolutely chilling novel. I am very fortunate to have never received many nasty, unpleasant comments on my videos. There were two or three but they were minor things and easily resolved. I try to be positive in general, and like you, look to give a balanced response to books that do not work for me. I'm afraid I do have a bit of a selfish reason for not accepting ARCs, your audience wants you to talk about authors such as King, McCammon, Barker, Herbert etc... Perhaps in 2025 I need to make an effort to read one (maybe 2) ARCs per month. As mentioned in my previous comment, I would much prefer reading books from authors I choose and trust, rather then receive free books that would, more often than not, fail to hit the mark. A bad book can also send you spiraling down into a reading slump, this has happened to me a number of times. Finally, I am rambling a bit, you are not a nobody! With time and patience your channel will grow. We all have different ways in which we talk books, your audience will find you. Take care and happy reading.
I have never considered reading horror poetry but you've made me curious now. There were a few books you mentioned which sounded interesting and I'll have to try. I just finished City of Last Chances and will be interested to hear your thoughts on it. Regarding the review, what a difficult position the author put you in. It wouldn't sit well with me either to remove a fair and honest review. However I can appreciate your reasons for doing so and would probably have done the same.
I mean, a lot of good horror is quite visceral, and so that kind of dark and embodied experience can translate into interesting poetry... But most of the horror poetry I have read up to now is just a stray poem or two in an anthology. It was definitely eye-opening to engage with these two collections, even if they didn't grab me as intensely as other poetry I have read. I am about 70 pages from the end of _City of Last Chances,_ and really enjoying it! I think I will have a full review later in the month. I already have an ARC of book three, which comes out in March, so I will probably begin book 2 fairly quickly... I have a lot of thoughts but I am going to wait until I finish and can organize them a little before saying more... As for the review, it just seemed like the path of least resistance, given all of the circumstances. It definitely threw me for a bit of a loop, though, to be sure...
Honestly not sure what I would do in that situation regarding the author. With only thinking about it for a few minutes I think I would have left the review and explained why to the author but not engage again after that. Its a tough one for sure though
It is kind of a no-win scenario. Truthfully, though, I lose nothing by getting eliminating the review, and it is the course of least resistance. If this was some really important critique or something published in a well-known review or magazine or website, or the author was incredibly popular or was doing something to draw major attention to themselves, or any sort of extenuating circumstances like that, then, sure, there might be a bit higher stakes. Instead, it is a review of a more or less unknown book on a website that is not much more than a glorified marketing platform. Took me a while to be comfortable with it, but it feels like the right choice, for me.
Regarding the disgruntled author who asked you to take down your review, there could be more than meets the eye going on. Apart from the possibility that he or she is going through some personal problems, the timing of his/her request is suggestive of business-related issues. Some possibilities include poor sales of the book you reviewed, negative feedback from other sources, lack of or reduced editorial interest in his/her future manuscripts, writer's block (linked in his/her mind with your review), and in short, financial issues linked (in his/her mind) to your review. I doubt that his/her subsequent diatribe contained any reference to the real issues he/she is having. Instead, it sounds like the author tried to defend the book with spurious arguments. I can understand your well intentioned decision to remove the review, but I think that if I had been in your shoes, I'd have left the review on Goodreads. Some reasons: first, your review was your honest opinion, and was based solely on your subjective experience in reading the book. What about the book has changed since then that would make you change your mind? Second, I'd argue that a negative review should have actually benefitted the author's future work. Third, does the removal of a negative review, for any reason, set an unfortunate precedent? Keep up the good work! I thoroughly enjoyed this video.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, thanks! I mean, obviously there was more going on for them. In their messages they did message things about their personal life, but it felt more like they were using it to bully me, though they might have convinced themselves of it too. Regardless... I agree with your rationale for leaving the review up, those were the part of the very things I was weighing. But when he started actively threatening me, in addition to saying I was ruining his life, it was clear that it was better for my own mental well-being just to bow out. Yes, he "won," and maybe took the wrong lesson away from the encounter, too. At the end of the day, though, I didn't feel it was worth the fight, especially since he did not seem to be coming from a rational place, or from somewhere he could be reasoned with.
"The Last Word" by Taylor Adams is a book that starts out with the same negative-review-angry-author situation you described! Some of what that author said to you sounds like it could've been quoted from that book! The author was totally in the wrong in that situation. While many authors take reviews into consideration, reviews are for readers. A review-in so many words-is to help potential readers decide whether to invest their *time* and *money* in reading a certain book. You're wise in seeing that the author's accusatory rant had nothing to do with you. Hooray for reading Stoner!!! 🤍
Interesting, maybe I will have to read _The Last Word_ and see how my response matches up. It escalated since making this video, unfortunately. I had removed the review but left the star rating up at the time of making this video. Since he then he messaged me again, with another harassing and slightly unhinged message demanding I remove the entire review. I ignored him and a day later he messaged me again, threatening me. I did respond to that one, but calmly and in a way I hoped would deescalate things, but it didn't, he responded with another harassing and threatening message. So I reported the messages to GoodReads as harassment, blocked him, and just totally removed the book from my shelf. Hopefully whatever fires were lit in his brain that precipitated this outburst can calm down a little bit. Whatever is going on, even though it isn't my fault, I don't need to be part of it. Especially if he interprets my existence as some sort of antagonism. I am about 4 chapters into _Stoner_ so far, and really enjoying it... Though I am not sure that I am having the same experience of it as many of the reviews I have watched online. I have been saving your review to watch until after I finish it, so I don't know who we might align on it, but I will find out in a week or so!
@@arockinsamsara That's awful! That is most certainly harassment, and it sounds like he has major problems. Stoner is a slice-of-life book about an ordinary man. It doesn't have any plot twists or anything like that. I'll keep my thoughts quiet until you finish, but I hope you find the book rewarding!
@@Johanna_reads So far it is rewarding. I think I question, a little, the idea of "ordinary," given what he has experienced so far and the choices he makes/stumbles into.That is what I mean when I say that I don't know if I agree with everyone. But that hasn't detracted from my enjoyment, and I still have 2/3 of the book to go, so it is mighty premature to make any bold proclamations 😂
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Carl from @pleasereadyourbook and I are buddy reading John Williams’s _Stoner,_ and it is a really fun experience so far (though we have just started the book). He just posted a video of our first discussion about the book, check it out here: th-cam.com/video/hULY4fmNhNU/w-d-xo.html
I really appreciate when people leave both positive AND negative reviews. When someone doesn't like a book that I loved, at least I know that this is a person I can look to for honest reviews. It must be hard for BookTubers because I think on some level they have to decide between not offending anyone ever vs. being true to themselves and their audience.
I do my best to be honest and kind in my reviews, and even when I don't enjoy a book I try to point out things in the book I admire. I obviously never want to offend anyone, so I make sure to make it about the book and not the author, and I lead with honesty and kindness, that seems to be a generally useful approach. Clearly it doesn't work 100% of the time, but this is an outlier case, in my experience.
About 10, 12 years back when I used to blog and self-pub (and KDP) was still fairly new, I had something similar happen in a much more ugly fashion with an author. I posted a review of a self pub an author sent me a review copy for saying it was okay, pointing out pros and cons and generally being ambivalent. The next day I woke up to a very long, nasty email from the author insulting me multiple ways and demanding I take it down. I took it down because that clown was clearly unhinged and who knows if and how things can escalate when someone decides they have a problem with you. Personally, I think you made the right decision to take it down because even though you're perfectly right in that there was no reason why it shouldn't be left up, you never know how stupid people can be about these things. Given what you've said about his book, he's unlikely to succeed with it anyway.
I have had an experience similar to yours with the upset author. I sent my review to a contact who had sent me the book for that purpose. It was a similar issue, lots of typos that distracted from the work itself. I heard back from the contact that the author was upset about my review and asked that it be taken down but the contact defended my review and let me know she was keeping it up. With that context I have 2 thoughts about the situation you experienced: 1) I agree it doesn't hurt anyone by taking it down if it gives the author some peace. 2) On the other hand, I'm wondering if they wrote similar emails to everyone who gave a bad review in an attempt to make their book seem more positively received and influence future buyers. In either case, no matter the author's intent, I think your perspective is valid and would do the same thing in your place. Thank you for sharing!
That's an interesting dilemma regarding the review. I think you did the right thing, even though as you say it doesn't exactly address the underlying issue, however it does alleviate some of the 'pain' for that person.
It doesn't feel good to concede to bullying tactics, especially as he escalated with additional messages after I made this video, eventually threatening me, but it feels like ultimately the best option, in this case. I gain nothing from this fight, and while it doesn't _solve_ any of whatever is really going on for him hopefully it does help give some semblance of relief.
Speaking as an author, my take on negative reviews (and I definitely have some!) is that I should never engage with them. Reviews of my books can occasionally be helpful to me, but, whether they’re positive, negative, or in between, they don’t exist for me. They exist for readers. In fact, reviews are none of my business, and if a reviewer obviously read my book but didn’t enjoy it, I would consider it unethical for me to ask that person to remove their review. It belongs to them and reflects their experience. It’s really none of my business. Also, it’s good to remember something: Even a negative review can be helpful if it’s constructive and steers readers away who might not like what I’ve written. Finally, I would advise that author to stop reading negative reviews. Why torture yourself over something you have no ability to change, namely someone else’s experience of your book?
I agree 100%. Most of us do spend most of our time obsessing over things that are outside of our control, and it never brings any genuine satisfaction. That's easier to say then to learn from, of course...
And I don't ever leave purely negative reviews, even in a review for a book that I really didn't care for I go out of my way to identify some things I appreciated in the book. I never have any interest in putting up walls, to discourage reading or writing. I don't know what encouraged this author to come back more than a year after the fact and send me these messages, which eventually devolved into active threats (I had to report the messages to GoodReads and block him, in the end). Whatever is going on, though, isn't about me, I am just a convenient target for it. There is no joy in being "right" for me in this scenario, so I did remove the review entirely... on one hand that feels like giving in to a bully, on the other hand it is the path of least resistance, and hopefully it can bring him at least a temporary semblance of calm.
that's funny. The Noam Chomsky book that says the only way for things to change is if the problem people change their minds.
That was what I fist thought when you spoke about the angry author, that they were going through something, after a year lapse. When I first started writing, I got a one-star hate review on Amazon from a local student that didn't even read the book. It was more an attack on me for my opinions than anthing. At first I was mad, but now I don't care and I think it's funny. I am glad it happened now because it really got me over any negative reviews, and now my thoughts are, "One or two stars or four or five stars, please, just no threes."
When making anything for public consumption you have to be able to distance your own personal emotional well-being with how that thing is regarded or critiqued. That doesn't mean being a robot and feeling nothing, and it doesn't mean it is okay for people to leave unfair or intentionally harmful critiques, or to use the review of a book to make personal attacks, but it does mean that the reception of a thing is out of your hands once you put it out there, and you need to calm to terms with that if you're going to make art for public consumption... I am glad you have been able to get over negative reviews, I imagine it makes the experience of being an author much less tense that way. Also, noted, no 3 stars...
Hi there, Lekden
I just wanted to stop by and say how much I admire your dedication and passion for books. Your content is always so engaging and inspiring! In fact, I recently featured your channel in a video on my own BookTube channel, highlighting some of the most amazing creators in the community-and, of course, you had to be on that list! 😊
Thank you for everything you do to make BookTube such a vibrant and welcoming space. Keep up the incredible work-you’re making such a difference in the bookish world!
Warm regards,
Kris (from SmartBookWorms)
This is incredibly kind, thank you so much!
Great Wrap-Up! With Teeth was fun but I loved The Rising, such an original take on the Zombie Apocalypse trope. I will definitely catch up on your Long Walk series. This is actually the first book King wrote, not Carrie. I was in a terrible headspace when I DNFd Lisey's Story, will definitely pick it up again, possibly next year. I watch and enjoy both channels you mentioned. I am also doing my own version of the read what you own challenge which is more aligned with how I live my life. I absolutely think you did the right thing. I do not review "many" ARCs for two reasons: I want to read books that I want to read (this is supposed to be fun) and I don't want to receive backlash (like you did) +for being honest in a review. I understand how important it is to promote new and self-published authors but the reason I started is to talk about the books I love. Furthermore, I live in South Africa so authors cannot send me advanced copies of their works except via email, which is not ideal.
Thanks! I am excited to dive into the whole Rising series, it is high in my queue for 2025.
It's interesting, in his introduction to The Bachman Books King mentions how he first started _Rage_ as a high school senior, but didn't finish it, then wrote _The Long Walk_ as a college freshman, and then finished _Rage_ afterward. He says that he finished 5 novels before _Carrie,_ but only two of them were good, and those two were _Rage_ and _The Long Walk._ In my opinion _The Long Walk_ is the far better of the two, though both have the kind of (young, brash) cynical energy that is present in all of his Bachman work. Just the level of emotional maturity of the character is so much better in _The Long Walk,_ if nothing else. In some ways there is no distinction at all between high school and college, and in other ways it is a huge gulf, and you can feel that in these books. (Though, while I am incredibly impressed he wrote either at such a young age, I do wonder how much editing they got before being published...)
I have never received that kind of feedback before on a review, which is why it was surprising. I make a concerted effort to also find something to praise or celebrate, even in a review of a book I ultimately didn't like. Living in India I also can not ever get physical ARCs, so I read them all digitally. I prefer the experience of reading physical books but love the convenience of digital books, and I don't like owning more things than I need, so most of my library is digital, it is only in the last year I started buying more physical books again (mainly so I can have books to use to influence my niblings). I do like to have more freedom with my reading, but I just over-committed to a few months of ARCs... I will never complain about them, because folks are giving me free books in exchange for an honest review and that's a pretty good deal, and I am just some random guy with barely an audience. But. The difficulty of being a nobody is that you are offered very few ARCs, you have to request them (through NetGalley, primarily, though also BookSirens and Edelweiss, on occasion), and it often takes days to receive a reply. So if you're not careful you can request a bunch of books, anticipating a number of rejections, and then if you're fortunate to get fewer rejections than anticipated all of a sudden your entire reading slate is full. Again, not complaining, just the kind of thing I need to get better at managing!
@@arockinsamsara I think you will love The Rising, such a unique approach to the Zombie genre. Thank you for the additional information on Rage and The Long Walk, I did not know that or simply cannot remember- it has been 30-40 years since reading The Bachman Books. I am not crazy about Rage, not so much because of the controversy but I just think it is one of his weaker stories. The Long Walk, on the other hand, is an absolutely chilling novel.
I am very fortunate to have never received many nasty, unpleasant comments on my videos. There were two or three but they were minor things and easily resolved. I try to be positive in general, and like you, look to give a balanced response to books that do not work for me. I'm afraid I do have a bit of a selfish reason for not accepting ARCs, your audience wants you to talk about authors such as King, McCammon, Barker, Herbert etc... Perhaps in 2025 I need to make an effort to read one (maybe 2) ARCs per month.
As mentioned in my previous comment, I would much prefer reading books from authors I choose and trust, rather then receive free books that would, more often than not, fail to hit the mark. A bad book can also send you spiraling down into a reading slump, this has happened to me a number of times.
Finally, I am rambling a bit, you are not a nobody! With time and patience your channel will grow. We all have different ways in which we talk books, your audience will find you. Take care and happy reading.
I have never considered reading horror poetry but you've made me curious now. There were a few books you mentioned which sounded interesting and I'll have to try.
I just finished City of Last Chances and will be interested to hear your thoughts on it.
Regarding the review, what a difficult position the author put you in. It wouldn't sit well with me either to remove a fair and honest review. However I can appreciate your reasons for doing so and would probably have done the same.
I mean, a lot of good horror is quite visceral, and so that kind of dark and embodied experience can translate into interesting poetry... But most of the horror poetry I have read up to now is just a stray poem or two in an anthology. It was definitely eye-opening to engage with these two collections, even if they didn't grab me as intensely as other poetry I have read.
I am about 70 pages from the end of _City of Last Chances,_ and really enjoying it! I think I will have a full review later in the month. I already have an ARC of book three, which comes out in March, so I will probably begin book 2 fairly quickly... I have a lot of thoughts but I am going to wait until I finish and can organize them a little before saying more...
As for the review, it just seemed like the path of least resistance, given all of the circumstances. It definitely threw me for a bit of a loop, though, to be sure...
Honestly not sure what I would do in that situation regarding the author. With only thinking about it for a few minutes I think I would have left the review and explained why to the author but not engage again after that. Its a tough one for sure though
It is kind of a no-win scenario. Truthfully, though, I lose nothing by getting eliminating the review, and it is the course of least resistance. If this was some really important critique or something published in a well-known review or magazine or website, or the author was incredibly popular or was doing something to draw major attention to themselves, or any sort of extenuating circumstances like that, then, sure, there might be a bit higher stakes. Instead, it is a review of a more or less unknown book on a website that is not much more than a glorified marketing platform. Took me a while to be comfortable with it, but it feels like the right choice, for me.
Regarding the disgruntled author who asked you to take down your review, there could be more than meets the eye going on. Apart from the possibility that he or she is going through some personal problems, the timing of his/her request is suggestive of business-related issues. Some possibilities include poor sales of the book you reviewed, negative feedback from other sources, lack of or reduced editorial interest in his/her future manuscripts, writer's block (linked in his/her mind with your review), and in short, financial issues linked (in his/her mind) to your review. I doubt that his/her subsequent diatribe contained any reference to the real issues he/she is having. Instead, it sounds like the author tried to defend the book with spurious arguments. I can understand your well intentioned decision to remove the review, but I think that if I had been in your shoes, I'd have left the review on Goodreads. Some reasons: first, your review was your honest opinion, and was based solely on your subjective experience in reading the book. What about the book has changed since then that would make you change your mind? Second, I'd argue that a negative review should have actually benefitted the author's future work. Third, does the removal of a negative review, for any reason, set an unfortunate precedent? Keep up the good work! I thoroughly enjoyed this video.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, thanks!
I mean, obviously there was more going on for them. In their messages they did message things about their personal life, but it felt more like they were using it to bully me, though they might have convinced themselves of it too. Regardless... I agree with your rationale for leaving the review up, those were the part of the very things I was weighing. But when he started actively threatening me, in addition to saying I was ruining his life, it was clear that it was better for my own mental well-being just to bow out. Yes, he "won," and maybe took the wrong lesson away from the encounter, too. At the end of the day, though, I didn't feel it was worth the fight, especially since he did not seem to be coming from a rational place, or from somewhere he could be reasoned with.
"The Last Word" by Taylor Adams is a book that starts out with the same negative-review-angry-author situation you described! Some of what that author said to you sounds like it could've been quoted from that book!
The author was totally in the wrong in that situation. While many authors take reviews into consideration, reviews are for readers. A review-in so many words-is to help potential readers decide whether to invest their *time* and *money* in reading a certain book. You're wise in seeing that the author's accusatory rant had nothing to do with you.
Hooray for reading Stoner!!! 🤍
Interesting, maybe I will have to read _The Last Word_ and see how my response matches up. It escalated since making this video, unfortunately. I had removed the review but left the star rating up at the time of making this video. Since he then he messaged me again, with another harassing and slightly unhinged message demanding I remove the entire review. I ignored him and a day later he messaged me again, threatening me. I did respond to that one, but calmly and in a way I hoped would deescalate things, but it didn't, he responded with another harassing and threatening message. So I reported the messages to GoodReads as harassment, blocked him, and just totally removed the book from my shelf. Hopefully whatever fires were lit in his brain that precipitated this outburst can calm down a little bit. Whatever is going on, even though it isn't my fault, I don't need to be part of it. Especially if he interprets my existence as some sort of antagonism.
I am about 4 chapters into _Stoner_ so far, and really enjoying it... Though I am not sure that I am having the same experience of it as many of the reviews I have watched online. I have been saving your review to watch until after I finish it, so I don't know who we might align on it, but I will find out in a week or so!
@@arockinsamsara That's awful! That is most certainly harassment, and it sounds like he has major problems.
Stoner is a slice-of-life book about an ordinary man. It doesn't have any plot twists or anything like that. I'll keep my thoughts quiet until you finish, but I hope you find the book rewarding!
@@Johanna_reads So far it is rewarding. I think I question, a little, the idea of "ordinary," given what he has experienced so far and the choices he makes/stumbles into.That is what I mean when I say that I don't know if I agree with everyone. But that hasn't detracted from my enjoyment, and I still have 2/3 of the book to go, so it is mighty premature to make any bold proclamations 😂