Should I give a book a bad review?

What to do with a ‘bad’ book. 
Sometimes I read a book that I really think is not great. I’m not talking about a story that’s just not for (though that can be hard to differentiate – more on that later) but a book that is just badly written. Maybe the plot has obvious gaping holes, maybe there are huge factual inaccuracies or there has been no editing, leaving many tiny grammatical and spelling errors, but whatever the reason, you feel the book really is bad. And then what?

I see authors on social media daily begging for reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and numerous other sales and review sites. I understand that reviews are vital, it shows the book is being read and assuming the reviews are good it will encourage new readers. On some sites just having reviews can increase the chances of the book being promoted on the site as it looks ‘popular’, and promotion leads to sales and authors need sales (because like most humans – they need to eat, pay rent, wear clothes etc – it might be art darlings, but even artists die if not fed and watered)

So I’ve read a book and I really hated it. What now? First off remember I said it can be hard to know why you hated a book? Maybe you love crime drama and that’s what you thought the book would be, but it turned into a fantasy story with dragons, or a romance with kissing; in those cases the book might not be bad, you might just not have liked it. It is fine to not like a book. You can still review a book while being clear it wasn’t your thing, you can explain, without spoilers, why you think other readers might like the bits you didn’t. Maybe the dragons were beautifully described or the kissing stuff was written with great care and excellent use of language (unlike most of this blog post), so you can comment on that. It’s OK to give the book lower than 5 stars too – but I wouldn’t give lower than average just because I didn’t like it – unless the star rating specifically separates into how well written the book was and whether you liked it. I might also mention that I don't read many books like it so my review will not be based on much background knowledge.

Once you have decided that the book really was ‘bad’, then what? You have a few options.

• Don’t review the book. Ignore it altogether, spare the author your painful critique and just move on. This only works if you bought the book yourself and were not asked to review it, and if you haven’t told all and sundry (including the author) that you are reading it.
• Give the book low stars and a terrible moany review. I frown on this approach. It is mean spirited and unhelpful. It will hurt the author while offering no insights into the problems.
• Privately contact the author, point out the issues you have with the book (politely) and ask them if they still want you to review it. This is a risky approach as the author may still be hurt. But it gives them a chance to respond and maybe even address the issues, perhaps they can correct things (particularly in an electronic book) or at least be aware of them for future writing.
• Give a low star review and list the reasons politely and with ways they could have been improved. You are now setting yourself up for replies and criticism, but as long as you are not rude and remain honest, this seems fair. You do not have to write a long review and can keep it brief. Try the old ‘shit’ sandwich approach too. Start with a nice thing about the book, follow with some issues and how you would have liked them to have been sorted, followed by a positive ending.
• Lastly, you could lie. Give the book five stars, be really vague and tell everyone it was great and they should read it. The author will be happy and anyone who reads the book and hates it will think you are an idiot. Other people may lie too and, like the Emporer's New Clothes, it could be years before some brave soul points out that the book is actually terrible.

I don’t know what you do when you read a book you think was bad, I think I use a mixture of the methods I’ve outlined above (all authors I’ve ever reviewed and given 5 stars to will now panic and wonder if I secretly hated their books). I asked authors on twitter for their thoughts and the vast majority said that while they hate a bad review it keeps reviews real, and constructive criticism can be useful. Luckily, reading a book I think is poor doesn’t happen very often. I seem to either be good at judging a book by its cover or I have a low threshold for ‘poor’. I read a variety of books and styles and usually enjoy them.

@tattooed_mummy A review is, hopefully, an honest response. We can't expect only good reviews.

— Louis Barfe (@LFBarfe) January 6, 2016

I shall continue to read and review books whenever I can. I hope you do too. And share what you read on social media too, spread the word.

Happy reading …and don’t forget – authors love reviews. Some authors even love bad ones.

@tattooed_mummy It hurts when someone kicks your baby, but yes as long as the criticisms are valid and thoughtful.

— Wombat (@wombat37) January 6, 2016

@tattooed_mummy sure, if it's genuinely constructive. I had one really helpful review for my first book that influenced some stuff I wrote

— Girl on the Net (@girlonthenet) January 6, 2016

@tattooed_mummy constructive criticism is the key

— Dee (@Deewritenow) January 6, 2016

How to choose a new book or a new author

After reading a comment on facebook I was put into a thoughtful mood about how I (and maybe other people) choose a new author to read. I realise we are all different, so I’m really writing about me and what I find, I’d love you to comment if you agree or not though! I am happy to hear other ideas.

I don’t usually go for hyped books, big posters tend to make me shy away, grand advertising campaigns and movie tie ins usually (though not always) turn me off of a book. I don’t read any news papers so review pages there don’t even get a look in.

But I often buy books, I love to read real paper so while I do have a Kobo reader and have various reading apps on my iPad and Android devices, paper wins for me. I like to have signed books too – and you can’t sign a Kobo.

So with that in mind I prefer to browse a book store or a library than the digital world, and I often judge a book by its cover! I found the fabulous Elizabeth is Missing in just such a way, but the reason I was in the book shop at all was because a friend on twitter had suggested I read a specific book.

Finding books for me is based on a few things and while I love to browse a book shop I think I find more ideas via social media than anywhere else. I use Goodreads, a really useful site where people share their thoughts on books (although you do have to watch for spoilers – some people seem clueless in how to write a review without revealing vital plot points! I could write a whole other post on that subject I think) I also use Amazon reviews, where again spoilers can be an issue, coupled with people that use the review section to complain about their delivery driver.

The main issue with these sites is that while they do offer a few ideas they don’t really sell a book to you and so you just see book after book of the sort you already read. To find a really new book or author I prefer twitter. I love to find an author and follow them there, find insights into their daily life and the book writing process, to see a book gradually created and then finally the day of publication.

I will often buy books based on what can only be described as a ‘buy my book’ tweet. Not the awful automated Direct Messages that fakely welcome you for a follow and by the way BUY MY BOOK, but the more friendly and personal sort of tweet that says something like, “I’m so excited, I’m finally a published author I can’t wait for you to read ….” Or “If you like stories about ……. And …… then I think you’d love my book ….” Etc and of course the offer of free books or signed books is great too.

Because the thing about social media is that it’s …well, sociable. An author that chats to his or her fans and new followers alike can rapidly find a group of friendly people not only willing to read a new book, but to actively promote it on social media too, often for free. No one forces you to follow anyone on twitter so an author’s followers are people that are already keen, an almost captive market! And an author that can engage, be witty, be friendly, AND promote their book will have eager buyers and equally important will have people keen to retweet and share.

On twitter I follow several publishers and book sellers that offer regular competitions but also information on new authors. I use Facebook too, but am less active there as it seems more cluttered with games and adverts and weird videos.

So I think the way I really find new books is by suggestions and recommendations on social media (blog links to reviews are my favourite) and by authors who converse with their readers on social media, and by covers that grab my attention when I go down to the book shop to get the books that have been suggested!

Of course we all have favourite authors and buying their new book is a given, but how do you choose new books, new authors?

And authors, does it work? Do you find social media drives sales? Or is it just me?

Stuck for ideas on what to read next? My brother has just published a book...just saying

Written in the Stars by Ali Harris - Book Review

I had vowed to read more and tweet less this year, I'm not sure how that is going if I'm honest but I have managed a few books so far.

I started this one after a couple of reads that had left me rather tearful, they had both been about old age and life changes and sad dark pasts so it was with some excitement I started reading Written in the Stars by Ali Harris. It looked like just the thing, something light and fluffy, about young people, romance, futures.

As I like to do I immediately checked to see if Ali Harris was on twitter, I love the ability to see what your favourite authors are up to and to send them messages, getting a reply is just amazing. I am a self confessed 'author-groupie' so following authors on twitter is the best thing (after following bearded men...bearded authors.....mmmmmm ... sorry where were we..).

Right, yes, so I found that Ali did indeed have a twitter account and I told her I hoped her book would cheer me.

About to start Written in the Stars by @AliHarrisWriter I hope it's not a weepy book. I need some smiles
— Tattooed_Mummy (@tattooed_mummy) February 15, 2015

Well, the story is a 'sliding doors' style 'what if' sort of book and it started cheerily enough. Light and fluffy as I wanted but soon it became obvious that there was something darker in the history of the characters and the excellent writing began to tease and draw the reader (me) in.

 "as her wedding day approaches, her years of indecision are weighing heavily on her, and she can't help but wonder, 'What if, what if, what if….'
What if she hadn't upped sticks and moved to London? What if she hadn't grabbed the first job that came along and settled down with the first guy who showed an interest? But all of her questions are silenced when she slips while walking down the aisle and is knocked unconscious. In this split second her life splits into two: in one existence, Bea flees back down the aisle and out of the church. In the other she glides blissfully towards her intended."

The book initially spent a chapter on one side of the split life and one on the other, alternating so that each life mirrored the other, this made the story easy to follow but as the book continued the alternate chapter idea became less pronounced and sometimes 2 chapters followed one story. This initially threw me a bit but only because I'm a lazy reader, or maybe Ali hoped to trick us? Whichever it was I soon got back into the swing of things and found the story moving and gripping.

Is Bea's marriage happy? Is she happy single? Who can she live without and who can she love? Can her mum love her as she needs to be loved? and what of Bea's job, will she find the perfect job when single, or when married?

There were constant twists and turns as the two alternate 'what if' lives of our heroine gradually marched toward their inevitable conclusion.

It did make me cry. There were some deep and dark past memories for several key characters that were brought gasping to the surface. And the way that the characters could grasp the nettles of the past and move on to a new and calmer garden was beautiful. Friendship, love and family, as well as confidence, strength, growth and individuality seemed to be the themes of the book.

And my mixed water and plant metaphors in the paragraph above? Deliberate, water and gardening are big themes throughout the story.

I hope I've intrigued you without giving away any spoilers. A deceiving book, with more depth than its cover hints at. Well worth a read.