Let’s Talk is a meme originally hosted by I Swim For Oceans and now hosted by the team at Smash Attack Reads and A Book Obsession.
It’s guided discussion on anything and everything to do with books and more!
Please drop by Smash Attack Reads or A Book Obsession to find other participants in Let’s Talk!
This week’s topic:
What do you consider the most necessary things to include when writing a review? Should there be something emphasized more in the review such as reading experience, the characters, or the writing style? Are spoilers or minor explanations of the plot to be omitted from a review?
I personally believe that reviewers can write whatever the hell they want on a review. They can say ‘This book sucked so much and tastes like assssssss’ if they want. Because reviewing shoudn’t be about numbers, or followers, or free books or even helping authors out by critiquing politely. It’s about sharing an opinion. I feel that reviewers can say whatever they want, because my tastes are personal and my own opinion varies as well. If I don’t like the way you write your reviews, I won’t read them.
Personally I prefer to read spoiler-free reviews, but sometimes I’m not looking for the next book to read, I’m just reading for entertainment, so I’m happy to read spoiled reviews. The same with plot explanations: if the blurb is vague and I’m doing research, a plot overview is awesome, but if I’m reading reviews to be entertained or of books I’ve already read, then I don’t need an overview. It depends what I feel like at the time.
So this is why there’s no one way to write a review, and why many unique voices and personalities is so awesome.
Even if I’m looking specifically for beautifully written books with almost flawless prose, well, my opinion of a technically brilliant book will be different to another’s.
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About Nemo
A lover of kittens and all things sparkly, Nemo has a degree in English Literature and specialises in reviewing contemporary, paranormal, mystery/thriller, historical, sci-fi and fantasy Young Adult fiction. She is especially drawn to novels about princesses, strong female friendships, magical powers, and assassins.
Kelly L.
I agree, we should definitely be able to say whatever we want in our reviews. Sometimes, I can’t control myself and I rant on and on about how bad a book is because I read through the entire book and I want to share how I suffered.
However, I strongly don’t like it when someone bashes the author in their review. It’s fine if they hate on the book, but to bring it onto the author just doesn’t sit well with me because writing a book is a lot of work.
And I rarely put spoilers in my reviews, but when I do, I put it in a spoiler tag because I don’t want people to accidentally read it when they don’t mean to.
Nemo
I don’t agree with bashing authors either, but unfortunately a lot of people think that criticising, especially technique, is a personal attack. I also don’t agree with being nice just because someone wrote a book.
I try to keep my reviews spoiler free but sometimes it’s hard to talk about it without spoiling.