But this post is not about Emily Giffin herself. It's not about the importance of negative reviews, either, since I've beaten that horse to death already. What I'm here to talk about is one line from the comment war in particular, from Emily Giffin's husband as he attacked a negative reviewer (click to enlarge, and many apologies for my crappy underlining):
"If somebody hates the book then fine but some of these are not objective reviews."
Objective reviews? Stop right there, buddy. There is, in my opinion, no such thing as an objective review, and let me explain why:
- Reviewers are often right in the thick of the hype about a book, and don't take kindlly to being let down if the book doesn't quite live up to expectations.
- Reviewers have bad days. Maybe their mom is in the hospital. Maybe they're tired, or hate their job. Maybe they're just cranky. But there's all sorts of external reasons a book might not resonate with them.
- We are all individuals with our own likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, triggers, pet peeves, and more. That's what makes us human.
- Like it or not, reviewers are human, and that's the way it should be.
And I'll say it again: That's the way it should be.
Of course, I said all of these things more profoundly on Twitter, as I am wont to do. Discuss any fine point of reviewing there with me anytime, or, of course, in the comments section.
9 comments:
As John Green always says, "Books belong to their readers."
Excellent point, Maggie! I've been shaking my head at this whole Emilly Giffin nonsense, particularly because an author's branding and promotion of their product DOES affect my opinion of their book. If people don't suffer consequences when they act wrongly, how will society tell them what they're doing is intolerable? I'm glad to see someone who tackled the reviewing side of this controvery, and I'm glad to see that person was you.
Hi!
I just came across your site and it is really lovely! I happily followed you and will enjoy reading your updates. You can find me over at Rainy Day Reads, www.rainydayreads.com It would be great if you could stop by and I would love to have a fellow book lover as a new follower.
Christine x
Rainy Day Reads
www.rainydayreads.com
These are all excellent points. By definition, reviews are opinions, and opinions are subjective. I think its a poor choice of words... I would hope I would be able to fight back if my high school nemesis (were I to have one) posted a vicious attack on my book out of spite. But could we call that "prejudicial" instead of "not objective."
I love this post. And your tweets.
This whole reviews mess makes me very grumpy. I want people to feel safe talking about books, and I want writers and readers to get along as a community of people who love stories. All this drama is VERY UPSETTING. *scowl*
Exactly!
If an author behaves badly, I have little interest in supporting their behavior by buying their books. The sooner authors figure this out, the better.
When it comes to art, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, even if we violently disagree with said opinions. That's the beauty of book blogging!
Yes! I want people to feel safe, too. I love the book blogging community for that reason, and it's incredibly frustrating when authors, agents, other bloggers, whoever, infringe on that safety.
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