Given that I wrote a less than glowing review for a book this week, the topic of negative reviews is a timely one. I believe that reviewers should be honest in assessing a book's merits or lack thereof. Nevertheless, I have a hard time posting reviews where the majority of what I have to say is negative. I know some book bloggers chose only to post reviews of books they've enjoyed. No author wants to be on the receiving end of a negative review, yet as a reader it is lower starred reviews that I find the most useful. The reason for this is that a well-written 2 or 3 star review that clearly articulates why the reviewer gave the rating he or she did help me to determine whether or not I should read a book, especially those that I'm unfamiliar with.
How do you feel about negative reviews? Do you write them? As a reader, do you find them more useful than positive reviews?
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