bookish babbling | on the question of who reviews are for
Apparently there’s been a debate going around social media that I totally missed, which is all about “who reviews are for”? I first heard about this debate from Nicole’s post on the topic over on her blog, Thoughts Stained with Ink. Anyhoozle, I figured I’d share my own two cents on the “issue,” since I think it’s an interesting question that I’ve never really consciously considered. Obviously, this post is my personal take, and by no means do I expect it to apply to all reviewers. Just like we’re all unique readers who bring our own unique perspectives to reading, we’re all unique reviewers who bring our own unique perspectives to reviewing.
I first started reviewing books for two reasons.
- I wanted to get ARCs
- I wanted to share my thoughts on books and have deeper discussions about those books (and I didn’t have any way to do that irl)
My first review was of Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver and it even had an accompanying “discussion questions” post. Even though I’ve drastically changed my reviewing format and style and no longer have separate discussion posts, I’m still really proud of those first few reviews and discussion posts I wrote back as a baby book blogger. Back then, even though I didn’t really know how exactly to review beyond a kind of review similar to an advanced high school literary essay, I still reviewed primarily to grab publishers’ attention, as well as to discuss books with other readers, regardless of whether or not they were other bloggers. But as I grew as a book blogger and refined my reviewing process, format, and style, I’d say my intended audience for my reviews changed a bit.
It’s no secret that for any kind of “book influencer,” reviews are the type of post that typically drives the least engagement, and this is true for book bloggers too. More and more, publishers are relying on promotional post types, typically from booktokkers, but also from bookstagrammers and sometimes still booktubers (rarely from us bloggers, though, unless it’s part of a third party blog tour). So, why, then, do I still write reviews, and who, exactly, am I writing them for???
Well, I can tell you one thing: it’s definitely not for publishers anymore 😂 Mostly it’s still for readers, typically the ones who are other book bloggers, as in my experience most casual or offline readers don’t go to blogs for reviews when they can just quickly scan Goodreads for the down low on books. So I guess I’d say that I now review books for myself when I have something I really feel the need to say about a book and for other book bloggers who are seeking to discuss books.
I will also make a strong note here: I never, ever review books “for” authors! I’ve been reviewing books for eight years now, but I’m far from a professional editor. I know what I enjoy in books, and my reviews reflect that, but I’d never want to generalize my opinions to the masses. I’m grateful when authors recognize my hard work as a reviewer and book blogger in general, but I’d find it extremely awkward if they thanked me specifically for a review of their work, or, even worse, if they expressed upset for my specific review of their work.
So those are my thoughts on the bookish internet’s discussion of the day. I’d love to hear more from y’all about who you think reviews are for.
spill the beans, friends!
- Who do you think reviews are for?
- If you’re a reviewer, has your intended audience changed over time?
I think reviews are very helpful because that way, I can find out what books are closer to my favorite genres instead of reading as book I won’t like at all. Nice post!
very true! even when a reviewer gives a negative review, sometimes i still get a recommendation out of it if the reviewer and i have different tastes! thanks for dropping by, mayim 😀
I found the recent debate on Twitter strange since some authors seem to expect readers to review their books as a form of free critique. I’m sure if an author notices a pattern of perceived flaws mentioned in reviews, they could address that in a future book. But, by and large, reviews aren’t written with the purpose of providing actionable feedback for writers, so I’m not convinced this is a useful way to get revision notes. Also, the book is already published and the author isn’t going to be revising anymore, so all feedback at this point is a bit moot. That’s what editors and beta readers are for–so the author can take writing advice BEFORE publishing!
EXACTLY!! also, like, if you want critique, why would you take it from me, a reviewer with absolutely no formal training in creative writing or editing for creative writing (i’m a physics and anthropology major ffs lmao), or a teen blogger who also has little to no formal training in creative writing or editing for it??? like, wouldn’t you prefer to have an actual trained professional do that instead! further, i assume when an author’s book comes out, they’re already well on their way to finishing their next book, if they haven’t already finished. so what good is my very much non-professional review at that point? like you said, it’s not like you can “un-publish” the book. i just *facepalm*
Yeah, that confused me, too. Of course, plenty of readers are intelligent and thoughtful about what they read. And they can no doubt pick out strengths and weaknesses in a book. But there is a real value in having someone who has expertise not only in critiquing books but also in providing actionable feedback. It’s easy to say, “The pacing was off.” It’s harder to suggest a few concrete ways for the author to change the pacing to improve it. And reviewers aren’t going to give that kind of detail anyway, trained or untrained in editing, because that’s not the purpose of a review.
And, honestly, if someone wants that level of detail in a critique, I think it would be good of them to pay an actual professional for their expertise. Not try to crowdsource free revisions off random strangers on the internet. It’s like such authors are saying the level of skill from professionals and random casual readers is the same, but it’s likely not. And, even if it were, it still feels a bit icky to try to guilt people into doing that kind of detailed, skilled labor free.
I don’t review books for authors either and I don’t mind when they thank me or acknowledge a review, but I’m uncomfortable with anything more than that. I post all my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and I think this is where the publishers want the reviews to be the most. Nice discussion post!
thank you, wendy! i definitely agree—a mild “thank you” can be nice, but most anything else is really awkward!
I write reviews because i love to write them. They are also like book journal for me, for my reference so I can go back to my review to see what I think about the book and if my thoughts can change after some time when I reread the book. My reviews are first for me. But as I often gets review requests, they are also for authors and publishers but most of the time they want honest opinions and that is what they are going to get.
that’s a great way to think about reviews! i guess my blog is also very much like a media journal as well, so my reviews are mainly me talking to myself and my friends about what i enjoyed/didn’t enjoy about a book! when i get review requests, i also let publicists/authors know that they should be prepared for an honest review, because my sagittarius self can’t handle doing anything else lmao!
I think I missed this discussion too lol 😂 That’s a very interesting point you make; I write reviews primarily for readers, but never for publishers. Lately I realized that a tiny part of me have always been reviewing for authors, in a way that yes, my reviews are subjective but I’m also trying to give constructive criticism, if that makes sense? Which is why I almost never (very rarely) do a rant review. I do realize that I am not a publishing professionals or a writer myself, but in a way I think I always try to explain what I didn’t like in a more objective rather than subjective manner 🙂
I’ve always written my reviews mostly for myself, I guess – I love having them as a record of what my thoughts on a book were when I was younger! Although of course, having them as a means to start conversations with fellow readers is almost equally great! 🤗
I would never write reviews for authors or publishers, though. I mean, I have taken review requests, but I still wrote those reviews with the mindset of writing down an honest record of my thoughts while reading – writing something simply for promotion has never appealed to me, so if an author asks me to review their book, they’ll have to be prepared for me to potentially be brutal 😂
I can kind of see the appeal for authors to read reviews of their books in order to improve, though 🤔 I just don’t think it’s ever okay for authore, publishers or other readers to start attacking reviewers for “hurting the author’s feelings”. Giving lots of surface-level praise is not what book reviews are for, in my opinion!
Some great points you’ve raised here! 🙂 I think it’s a mixed bag – plenty of readers already have a good idea what they’re wanting from a novel, but as you said, any critique about the pacing or plot always seems rather “too little, too late” since the author has already published and won’t make major revisions to it thereafter.
Perhaps a more constructive feedback style might lean towards “If you’re a fan of … , … and … , you’ll really enjoy this book” to give like-minded readers a chance to sample it themselves and highlighting its strengths rather than where it subjectively falls short.