Tuesday Truth–Reviews

I’m taking a page from my friend Virginia Cavanaugh. She’s decided to have a few theme days on her blog, and Tuesdays are going to be Truth or Teasers days. I’m going to join her. At least for today. I really need to blog more often. We’ll see how long my resolves sticks. 🙂  Today my truth is:

     I like reviews

5 star raves, 3 star blahs, 1 star rants, they’re all good. Naturally, I prefer the 5 star reviews that make me feel all warm and fuzzy. The 1 and 2 star reviews are sometimes a little bit harder to enjoy. But doesn’t a reader have the right to express his or her reactions to a book they’ve read? A recent review of one of my books hurt me. Not because the reader who wrote the review was rude or insulting. Not at all. I thought this person wrote a good review, briefly explaining what it was that disappointed her. I was sorry she wasn’t able to enjoy it more. I hope other readers will have a better experience than she did.

Sometimes it’s easy to think a review is a letter addressed to the author. But they are not. A review is usually intended for other readers, to let them know what one particular reader thought about the book. If a reader wants to let an author know what they thought of a book, they can probably find the author’s email address on their website, or post on their Facebook page.

What are your thoughts about reviews?