I like to skim the reviews on Goodreads of the books that I review and of the books I’m thinking about reading. It’s mostly for fun, to see common complaints people have, to see other people fan-girling over love interests – that kind of thing.
I’ve noticed that there are some people who will take something small from a book and then blow it out of the water – I mean, pitch a major bitch fit over something that no one else in the reviews has mentioned. Like how something in the book doesn’t make sense to them, or how a character did something out of character – and how it just ruined the book.
I’ve learned to take reviews with salt. I mean, go check out the reviews of books you gave 5 stars. See what people complain about.
90% of those complains come from that reader’s personal tastes and expectations of the book. Most of those people are not professional book reviewers, editors, or anything remotely in the line of publishing – they’re just people.
Each reader will perceive a book differently. Some go into a book and accept the story as it happens. Others read the first page and build their own idea of how the story should go, and when it doesn’t go the way they think it should, they say it’s a horrible book. It’s like if a strong female lead falls in love – people rant and rave about how it’s demeaning to the strong female, because apparently love is for weak people, and women aren’t allow be a sexy and strong at the same time.
calming breath
I’ve seen that last complaint A LOT. I guess some people equate a strong female to the idea of masculinity, and if she doesn’t act like a man, then she’s not a strong female – and to act like a girl is to be weak and vulnerable.
Whatever, you know?
You can’t please everyone, and someone is always going to dislike what you’re doing and what you’re writing and someone else is going to be very open about it.
So… best learn to roll with it. Whoo!
Beatrice B. Morgan 