Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this author is unreasonable?

87 replies

shumway · 13/10/2018 09:55

I have been using the Goodreads website since 2008 with no problems and have rated 1282 books in that time. I use it mostly as I like to keep a record of what I have read. I use the star rating system so 1 means did not like it, 2 stars means it was ok, 3 I liked it, 4 really liked it, 5 stars it was amazing. Obviously it's down to personal taste and I probably rate most books as 2 or 3 stars with some 4 stars and an occasional 1 or 5.
I have received a message from an author of a book I rated recently that says "You have given my book a 2 star review. TAKE YOUR REVIEW DOWN NOW. You have no idea what this does to published authors."

OP posts:
Womaningreen · 13/10/2018 11:05

agree with Wasabi

I also have author friends and I think if you are a professional, you have a professional attitude towards reviews. Of course it's annoying if someone writes something that isn't constructive etc but you have just given your opinion and stuck to the rating criteria set by the site.

BookMeOnTheSudExpress · 13/10/2018 11:06

The review will be bad for their sales...so what? That's what reviews are for, surely.

Definitely don't take it down, and send a message to the site managers saying you've received a threatening message from the author.

Tbh, if the saddo has only 4 reviews and they're all stellar, that'll be himself under a pseudo, his mammy, his daddy and his Aunty Doris.

kmc1111 · 13/10/2018 11:13

So firstly, the author was BU messaging you.

However I wouldn’t give a bad review (and 2 stars is a bad review on Goodreads) to a book that only had a few reviews, unless it was so truly dire I didn’t think anyone could possibly find any enjoyment in it. If there’s only a handful of reviews then it’s very very far from being a popular or profitable book. A few 5 star reviews is likely all the author got out of it, so I see no need to ruin that.

It’s like leaving a bad review of a restaurant or B&B when you can already see they’ll be out of business imminently. No need to kick someone when they’re already down.

Juells · 13/10/2018 11:15

problembottom

I agree with you WasabiSpring, sometimes I pay to download a book based on reviews and it's a load of dross.

I never (well, rarely) buy a book until I've downloaded and read a sample.

splishsplashshow · 13/10/2018 11:17

I’m an author.

YANBU.

Ignore them. They’re going to need a thicker skin if they want to keep publishing books.

I’m actually quite angry on your behalf. How fucking dare they.

mostdays · 13/10/2018 11:24

I'd add the author's silly message to the review... well I probably wouldn't if they left it whether but if they harassed me again I would.

I don't read books based on how many stars some random on goodreads has given them. I doubt that many people do, really. It would be a strange way of deciding what to buy- opinion is so subjective. People have different tastes. The same book can be lauded by one critic and panned by another and both reviews are valid, because different people like different things.

If you think the book is a 2 star book then that's what you think. Authors are not entitled to good reviews and high scores, no matter what they believe. There's no point in a rating site if giving honest reviews isn't allowed in case the author gets upset.

HollowTalk · 13/10/2018 11:28

Please don't publicise their message. This author has embarrassed herself enough. What goes online stays online and you really don't want to show her up for the rest of her life because she was naive and upset enough to write to you.

Sowhatifidosnore · 13/10/2018 11:32

I still want to know what the book was though!

continuallychargingmyphone · 13/10/2018 11:34

I like reading critical reviews. Even if I personally enjoyed the book it’s interesting to know why other people didn’t.

GenericHamster · 13/10/2018 11:36

Silly author.

I use goodreads a lot and often read the more negative/lower scored reviews to get a good overall feel for a book.The positive ones tend to be ott (generalising hugely) whereas in the more middling scores you get a better sense of both good and bad points in a book.

I'm sure a low score has hurt her feelings, but she also needs to get over it. Part of being an author is selling your work to the public and having no control over their opinion of it.

If she only has a handful of reviews then she's either self-published/indie press or it's only just come out and lots more reviews will follow.

Juells · 13/10/2018 11:40

mostdays

I don't read books based on how many stars some random on goodreads has given them.

Good for you. I joined goodreads to see how many stars other randoms have given books, and to add my ratings as a random. It's how I find books to read.

HollowTalk · 13/10/2018 11:43

I would rather read the reviews on Amazon as people are more likely to have bought the book. There are a lot of bloggers and reviewers on GR who have had the book for free and really go all out when they criticise it. They have such a lot of power and can do such a lot of damage. They're not all like that, but plenty are.

HollowTalk · 13/10/2018 11:45

What I mean about paying for it... I think if you've gone onto a review site like NetGalley and requested books for free, you can request books you wouldn't usually buy. Then, if you don't like them, you can leave a really bad review on NG and GR. That's not altogether fair. On Amazon, readers tend to have bought the book and so they've thought it would be something they'd like - a bad review there means they were disappointed with their purchase.

KeiTeNgeNge · 13/10/2018 11:47

I bought some self published books based on a handful of reviews - all five star good reads reviews. They turned out to be appalling trite fan fiction that made Twilight look hi brow (no offence to fan doc - I love it). My one star review must have irked the author but she managed not to respond. I would report.

PlinkPlink · 13/10/2018 11:58

That's mad. Ignore that message. If you don't want your book to be rated with stars, don't publish it with a company that uses that system.

You don't harass readers into changing their star rating!

Eesh.

Can you report him/her at all? Very inappropriate.

DorothyBastard · 13/10/2018 11:58

You read ten books a month?

SpoonBlender · 13/10/2018 12:01

Everybody commenting on the star values:
GoodReads has them defined as the OP posted in the first post! The definition of each is shown on mouseover when you go to choose the star rating!

FrancisCrawford · 13/10/2018 12:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

StableGenius · 13/10/2018 12:05

Do NOT take down your review! I am an author and this whole Goodreads thing drives me insane.

There are lots of authors (almost all with small indie presses or self published) who have their little 'gang' of fellow authors and will all five-star each other's new releases in a quid pro quo arrangement. The more five star ratings a book has, the higher its visibility, with the knock-on effect on sales.

I can understand that, when you work with a publisher with no marketing department, it's very difficult to get your work 'out there', but the result of this is that a lot of very poorly written, barely edited nonsense has five star ratings to burn. It's so dishonest and so unhelpful for readers - the very people for whom this site was set up.

Mind you, Amazon's no better.

Jaxhog · 13/10/2018 12:06

Author was a little out of order, and as a fellow author I wouldn't be happy with a 2 star review either. But I wouldn't ask someone to take it down! Having said that, a 2 star review is generally considered to be negative.

KeiTeNgeNge · 13/10/2018 12:13

But Jaxhog op is using Goodreads system!

Technonan · 13/10/2018 12:24

A problem with this kind of rating is that each reader has their own interpretation of what the stars mean. I would assume a 2-star review meant the book was pretty crap, 3-stars meant it was OK. I think most people would say a 2-star review suggested the book was poor. I'm a writer, and though I think the author shouldn't have contacted you, I can sympathise with her - this is kind of her baby, and you just said - as she sees it - that it was crap. I don't review books I don't enjoy, simple as that. If I can't give it at least 3-stars, why bother? People are mostly looking for books they will enjoy, and just because I didn't enjoy something, it doesn't mean others won't, so I don't want to put them off (also, I don't want to hurt a fellow author).

FrancisCrawford · 13/10/2018 12:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Technonan · 13/10/2018 12:56

I think most casual readers of GR reviews see 2-stars as pretty negative.

jesapey · 13/10/2018 13:15

Don’t take it down! They’re being ridiculous, the whole rating system is pointless if only positive ones are “allowed”. Report her message to GR.