Being critiqued is hard for everybody. It may get even harder when it's a book that you've worked the better part of 2 years to finish and put into the world. I believe that when a critique is well explained and worded nicely it can be a stepping stool to helping you evolve.
I've seen book reviews where the reader starts to shame and be aggressive towards the author for something he/she didn't like that happened in the novel. The book may have been written by that author, but nothing gives you the right to call the author names and make threats.
Instead of making threats and using profane language why doesn't that person list the things that he/she didn't like in the book and how the author could have made it better. That's a much more positive and reasonable approach to the situation.
In my negative reviews, I try my best to critique the story, the character's actions and the writing style. I explain as nicely as I can what bothered me. My hope is that the author sees it and that it helps them make future storyline choices and writing style choices in future novels.
I had an experience with sending an author a bad review in the past. This author has contacted me and asked me if I was interested in reviewing a specific title of hers. I said yes because it sounded very interesting. Two weeks before I had to have the review up I sent her an email with my negative review and explained that unfortunately I didn't like the novel. She replied with a thank you and that she appreciated how I worded it. That was one of the hardest emails I've ever had to send, but I hope we both learned something from it.
Have you written a negative review or do you avoid it?
Let me know in the comments below!
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