Savvy Sunday

Sundays are reserved for bookish related discussions, anything related to bookish items, clothing, tv shows or just books!

The dare behind writing a review, sounds kind of silly unless you’ve been the target of some serious trolling via Goodreads or any other social media platform. The amount of trolling that goes on in social media boggles me, simply because a person cannot see another suddenly makes them brave and makes them act out in a fashion they [maybe,] wouldn’t in person. The internet, specifically social media, has created soap boxes for many, but I digress this isn’t about that. Not really anyway.

A few months ago I received a not so nice comment via Goodreads and was so taken aback by an individual’s cruel comments in regard to my 1. Inability to read properly. 2. That I lack any writing skills. None of which were called for. I gave a particular book a 2-star rating and with every reason why it didn’t work for me. I don’t believe in absolutely tearing a book to shreds, instead, I highlight the points which I did not agree with or which just didn’t work for me. I did this and received some serious hate comments because the person didn’t agree with what I had to say.

Whether this particular person was a close friend of the debut author or not I don’t know and it shouldn’t matter. I expressed my honest, unbiased opinion and gave constructive criticism to the author. She may not have been keen on a 2-star rating but I offered her some food for thought, I think, anyway.

When it comes to writing a review it is our job as the readers/reviewers to express how the book made us feel, did it work for us? Why didn’t it work? How was the world, the mood, the emotion, the overall experience? Is it new? is it tired? Did it inspire you? We are writers, too. We are the ones who can make or break a purchase for the author and the prettier our words are – or at least the reviews with the most conviction are the ones who receive the likes and urge someone to buy a book.

There are opinions a-plenty, the internet has definitely shown us that and there is a reviewer out there for every reader’s taste, too. Which is why it’s imperative to buddy up [follow,] a trusted reviewer you often share opinions with. Some reviewers are more thick-skinned than others and can laugh off troll attacks via text on a screen and some others lose their confidence with every single stroke of the key that is hurled their way.

The bottom line is that while authors and publishers cringe at those 1 and 2-star ratings, they need the unbiased and honest reviews. They need to know what works, what didn’t work, what they should change [if they can,] and what they can prevent in one of their next works.

There is a book for everyone. There is an opinion on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

Just don’t be the one who cuts another one down for expressing their opinion. We, for the most part, are trying to inform others in regard to the book.

Food for thought on this Savvy Sunday!