Question for reviewers
I have a newbie question for everyone who gets books for review. If you would normally give up on a book because it is not engaging your interest or it is just not good, what do you do when it is a book you have received to review? Do you keep reading and review anyway? Do you abandon? And if you do abandon, do you let the author or publisher who sent it to you know?
I would love to know what you do in this situation.
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This has happened to me a few times and so far I've always finished the book and reviewed it. (I also said in my review that I probably would have abandoned the book had it not been a review copy.) However, I do think it's OK to abandon a book that's really not to your liking, even if you're supposed to review it. And yes, I would let whoever sent it to you know.
ReplyDeleteDitto.. Just do the best you can, write your honest opinions. What did you like, not like, & why? I abandoned more than one book by the way.
ReplyDeleteLife is short, and you are bound to no book. Writers only hope that readers will find resonance. We all understand, however, that it won't happen every time.
ReplyDeleteI review a lot of books through Amazon Vine and there have been a couple that have been horrible. I really try to get through the book if I can. Although there was one book I abandoned because I just could not get through it.
ReplyDeleteI think if a book is really so awful you can't read it, then you can give up on it and just write that in your review. The fact that you can't even read a book says a lot about how good it is!
www.karissabooks.blogspot.com
This has been my problem with two books I received for review. They were not extremely bad, so I forced myself to finish them. But had they not been review books I would've abandoned them. I think they're the two only negative reviews in my blog. Lol. I mostly have positive reviews because I only finish books I like.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to be very careful with getting books for review now. Anyway, I think it would be okay if you didn't finish, just state in your review the reasons why.
I totally agree - try to finish if you can. I've run into that problem too. I try to slog through, but sometimes it takes me absolute ages since I just don't care about the characters or plot. It's such a bummer to waste time on a book I don't like just to review it, but I figure a promise is a promise, and I should do my best to fulfill my end. I've become much more picky about review books after a few bad experiences.
ReplyDeleteI always let the author/publisher know that I may choose not to review the book if I don't like it. This way I don't feel guilty about reviewing a book badly. But like everyone above said, I do try to finish the book. Just in case it gets better in the middle. :)
ReplyDeleteI try to review most books received (not always timely unfortunately) however, I have found a few books, I just could not read as they would have resulted in a poor review. I emailed the author and let them know that I was unable to connect with their book and as a result I chose not to post a review.
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough one isn´t it? I struggle with what to do in this situation as well. For me, it really depends on who sent it. If I get it directly from the author (or it is for a book tour) then I read the whole thing no matter what. But if it is further removed from the author, then I don´t feel as bad about giving up on it.
ReplyDeleteI've always muddled through, even if the book is bad. I accepted a free book, so they should get a review. Only one time, after I finished the book, did I contact the publicist and offer to publish no review at all because it was going to be really bad. She told me to publish it anyway!
ReplyDeleteBecause I feel like I should finish even the bad ones, I rarely accept free books anymore. No more than one a month.
You should do whatever you feel comfortable doing. As long as you make your policy clear it is all good :)
Thanks everyone. All great points and gives me stuff to think about while I decide what to do.
ReplyDeleteI've never come across an unfinishable book for review, but I tend to be a compulsive finisher even of regular books, so...
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think I'd post a review saying you couldn't finish it, and explaining why, and then (double check with the publisher that this is okay), offer it up to another blogger who might have a better time with it than you did.
I always finish a book if it's for a review.
ReplyDeleteThat's only fair to the author and publisher. That's why I only agree to review books that looks like they will pique my interest.
I have no qualms about abandoning a book :) Shannon of Books Worth Reading put it really well in this post:
ReplyDeletehttp://readmorebooks.wordpress.com/2009/08/16/why-it-pays-to-be-picky/