Inspired by a great post on Zuky’s blog, I’m going to discuss some of my biggest book review pet peeves. We’re all different, so no offence is intended to anyone who may like these particular things in their reviews. On with the ranting!
1. Rating without reading
I’ve seen this several times now, and I’m always dumbfounded by it. Rating a book on Goodreads that you haven’t even read yet not only doesn’t make sense, but it skews its stats unfairly. It’s weird enough to me when someone rates an upcoming book highly because they think they’re going to love it, but even weirder when it’s a low rating with no justification. As an example, I recently saw a two-star rating accompanied by the text: “I don’t know how I feel about this book as I haven’t read it yet.” *facepalm*
2. Rehashing the blurb
Reviews are all about opinions, right? That’s why I don’t get it when someone includes little or no analysis on the book’s content, and simply recounts details of the plot that the blurb already tells us. It provides no insight, and has nothing to do with whether they enjoyed the book or not.
3. Not marking spoilers
Spoilers are the bane of many a reader’s existence. Sometimes you encounter them accidentally; sure, it’s annoying, but it can’t always be helped. But when it comes to reviews on Goodreads, there’s no excuse. The site literally has a feature that allows you to hide spoilers so that readers will need to click to reveal them, and can’t, as such, accidentally spoil a book for themselves. Even when it comes to reviews on blogs, twitter, etc., I don’t think a simple ‘spoiler warning’ at the top of the post is asking for too much.
4. ‘I don’t like the subject matter’
I want to make it clear that I’m not talking about people who are triggered by specific subjects. If something crops up in a book unannounced that causes you distress, that’s totally fair and valid. What I’m talking about is people who would leave a negative review saying, “I don’t like books set on boats”, on a book that based on its blurb, and cover, is quite clearly set on a boat; or, “I don’t like poetry”, on what is quite blatantly a poetry book. (These are both real reviews I’ve seen.) Perhaps I should be applauding them for trying to read outside of their comfort zone… but I just don’t see how a review that only tells us they knew they weren’t going to like it in the first place is very helpful. Again, triggers aside, I see a similar thing a lot with thriller and horror books, where they are marked down for being ‘dark’, or for having some violent or scary scenes, when it’s made clear in the blurb that’s what you can expect – not to mention that it’s kind of the whole point of the genre in most cases.
5. Attacking readers
We’ve all got different tastes and opinions. Life would be pretty boring if we didn’t. So, whilst it’s totally okay to say you think something is rubbish and to explain why, it’s not okay to say you think people who enjoyed it are stupid or wrong. As long as it’s not hurting anyone, just let people enjoy the things that make them happy, and read on in search of the books you do like.
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What are some of your biggest book review pet peeves?
Excellent points!
Thank you! 😊
I could NOT agree more, Callum, on every one of these points. I almost hate reading reviews lately, because so many of the things you mention crop up. Especially spoilers, or just writing a review that pretty much outlines the entire story. And unless you are required to read a book for a class assignment or the like, why read something in a genre you immediately state you hate? My reading time is way too precious for that kind of nonsense, and I see no sense in reviewing a book you knew well in advance you weren’t going to like. *Facepalm* indeed!! 😀
Ah, it’s a relief to know I’m not alone! It does feel a bit like banging your head against a brick wall sometimes when it comes to book reviews. I suppose it makes it all the sweeter when we come across a genuinely useful, insightful and considered one – if I’m to find a silver lining in all this 😉
Rest assured, you are not alone, and I’m certain many others feel the same way, whether they express it or not. I barely have time to read anymore, so I’m way behind on reviews, but I hope to get back to them one of these days, as I do love sharing my favorite books with people. (I don’t leave negative reviews any longer, because if I don’t like a book, I’m probably never going to finish it, and I don’t like reviewing a book I haven’t read from cover to cover.) But the ones that do it up right ARE the silver lining, for sure. 🙂
I wish I had the willpower to put books down when I’m not enjoying them, but once I’m committed I really struggle to DNF – much to my own annoyance!
On the plus side, I think over the years, most of us get better at hunting out the reads we think we’ll enjoy, so I don’t have to write a truly negative review all that often, thankfully 😊
Wait a few years. When you get to be my advanced age, you don’t have time to waste on bad books. 😀 Heck, I don’t even buy green bananas. 😀 😀 😀
Haha, that sounds like a pretty good philosophy to live by! 😊👍🏼
😀 Thanks for a great post (that seems to have struck a nerve with many of us)!
Connected to (4) but about films: People reviewing things that they didn’t really want to see anyway, and surprisingly (!) didn’t like. And, even more, saying they weren’t bothered about seeing.
This frustrates me immensely, I don’t think it can be classed a review and, furthermore, it baffles me why they put themselves through it!
Absolutely! It feels like some people aren’t content unless they’ve got something to complain about.
Yeah, exactly. But there’s so much more to the world, enjoy what you enjoy, that’s what I think. 🙂
Well said! 😊
Ugh the subject matters thing annoys me so much too! Great post 🙂
Thanks for the inspiration! I couldn’t pass up the chance for a little bookish rant 😉
I have never understood why someone stars a book they haven’t read. It makes no logical sense. And please don’t tell me the entire story! Blurbs that do that are not a favorite of mine either. Why do I need to read it if you just told me the entire story in your review?
I couldn’t agree more!
Exactly! 😀
YES to all of these! I get so annoyed at people who rate books without reading them.
Slightly more controversial, but I also find it irritating when people rate books they didn’t finish and didn’t even make it half-way through. If you made it most of the way before DNF-ing or if the book was offensive (misogynistic, homophobic etc.) then yes, by all means warn others away, but I don’t understand why someone would read a fifth of a book and then rate it.
Oh yes, that’s a great one! As you said, if you felt compelled to DNF a book because it was genuinely offensive in some way, by all means try to warn people, but it really bothers me when I see 1 star reviews that just says something like: ‘DNF at page 24’ 😫 So harsh!
And unfair! Some books do get off to a slow start, but unless it’s just plain unreadable, you should either give it a bit more of a chance, or stop and don’t review it at all.
A GREAT POST. I’m tempted to do one of these myself. I agree with all of your points, especially 4, oh my goodness. Books I don’t like that I didn’t think I was going to like are the ones where I’m most lenient in my ratings, because how can I hold it against the book when I KNEW what I was getting into?? I see that ALL THE TIME with thrillers, where they’re rated low for being ‘too dark.’ No offense but what did you expect???
EXACTLY! If you’re fairly sure you’re not going to like something, and then don’t, it’s not exactly the book’s fault 💁🏼♂️ By all means point out that you were trying something out with your usual taste, but at least be a little more in depth in your analysis than: ‘I don’t like books set on boats’. WHAT DOES THAT TELL ME?
I’d be interested to read your thoughts if you decide to do a post of your own!
Yes to all of these!!
😊
So glad to see that I don’t commit any of these sins (or not that I’m aware of anyway!) I totally agree with reviews that rehash the blurb – whenever I see this, I start skim-reading. That’s why I include the actual blurb itself before my review so that people can read it if they want or they can just skip it and move straight on to my thoughts on the book. And spoilers are the work of the devil!! Great post as always 🙂
That’s definitely a good way to do it! The best of both worlds 😊
Thank you very much, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I totally agree with rehashing the blurb! Like… that’s what the blurb is for! You don’t need to tell me all of that again!
Exactly! Glad it’s not just me.
I whole-heartedly agree with all of these… Although I am utterly shocked that people actually review books they haven’t read. Like, what!? That is not how reviews work!
It bamboozles me every time I see it, but you’d be surprised how often it happens! 🙈
I’ve never seen a book blogger attack readers, but I’m 100% with you on the other concerns. Before Roxane Gay finished writing Hunger, people had added low ratings on Goodreads. I personally wonder why a book is on Goodreads before it’s published (I know there are marketing reasons) because people pre-rate a book to show enthusiasm. Why does Goodreads just have a thing you can click to show you’re pumped about a book?
I’ve seen it a far few times, though more often on Goodreads than blogs. It’s a shame that some people can’t simply live and let live, but alas – the perils of the Internet! 😋
Exactly! I get why books are listed before release, but I’ve often wished Goodreads wouldn’t activate the ability to rate until a book is out. I suppose they don’t because it would throw up problems with ARCs and whatnot, but it’s still a shame that some books are specifically targeted and have their stats unfairly skewed.
Great list.
The ‘I don’t like the subject matter’ one is both hilarious and wtf?! Sort of people that do that watch a TV show they don’t like when they could change a channel, or go and watch a comedian that they know will say things they don’t like and complain. /heavyfacepalm
Exactly! I swear some people aren’t happy unless they have something to complain about.
That’s it in a oner.
And not only that, the internet gives EVERYONE the platform to moan.
Completely agree with you… all these things are super annoying! I would add “lack of detail” to this list. Like, ok, you liked it or you didn’t, great. But why..?
Very true, that one’s a pain as well!
Thanks for stopping by.
All amazing points! I’ve gone on many rants about people who rate a book without reading it. Whether it’s people anticipation a release and giving it 5 stars before they even have it in hand, or people who give something 1 star and put it and DNF… You didn’t FINISH the book! How can you give me a valid opinion on it??
I also agree with the re-hashing of the book. I understand a brief synopsis or something so I know a LITTLE of what the book is about, but I don’t need a play by play of what happens… Aren’t you supposed to be convincing me to READ IT?? I don’t need the Cole’s Notes! (is that still a thing? Or am I just showing my age. Ha ha!) 😂😉🍻
I must say, it is rather gratifying to have others agree so wholeheartedly. At least I know it’s not just me! 🙂
DEFINITELY not!! 💖👍🍻
Spoilers. And people who say how it should have been written–as in “first person is lame, if only they’d…” or “OMG another texting section and I’d have….” I’ve probably done some of this myself, but I do TRY to be conscious of this!
Completely agree with all your points. I think the blurb is really important to a reviewer because it shows how much the author wants to reveal. If its not in the blurb I don’t mention it. However, I would never just rehash what the blurb says. I think some people think that a long review is a good review, it’s not always the case. Sometimes I think ‘there’s no point in reading it now, I know what happens! I think you should say if you liked it and why instead of going into too much detail about the storyline. Also, if someone leaves a bad rating, back it up with a detailed explanation and give a thought for the author!
Exactly! I’d much rather read a brief, succinct review that outlines why someone did/didn’t like a book than a long, verbose one that actually offers little insight.
Thanks for stopping by.
Haha, these drive us crazy too! But I didn’t know that people rate books that they haven’t read. That is pure chaos and I am now questioning all GR reviews.
Haha, glad it’s not just me!