Imagine you’re scrolling on BookTok and come across an interesting book. You decide that it’s promising enough to check it out, so you venture onto your Goodreads. But when you start to read the reviews, it seems that everyone is busy arguing about whether the author is vegan instead of actually reviewing the book. Every reader knows this routine, they look at book reviews to help them get to know the book and help introduce them to new pieces of work, but instead they witness unruly and inhuman comments that don’t even remotely relate to the book. It makes us wonder whether book reviews are actually being used for their intended purpose or are they just a way for individuals to spread hate and disregard valid criticism.
What started out as a useful, harmless, informative method to understand whether to read a book or not has slowly turned into a way for people to spread hate, judgement, and overlook constructive criticism of the book itself. The actual purpose of book reviews is for people to be able to share their opinions and thoughts about the story and help other readers find new books that interest them. They are meant to be an honest yet respectful praise or criticism of the author’s work.
When you browse any type of reading platform, you will find comments that criticize or make fun of the author or publisher rather than the contents of what they are reading. Many people also use the comment on review websites to massively defend a book just because they like the author and have no good reasons to back it up. A great example of these shifts is with the reviews of Haley Pham’s debut book Just Friends which follows two main characters, Blair and Declan as they develop their relationship. The book has received many mixed reviews, with many criticizing the writing style, character development, and overall romance. However, there were multiple instances where readers started commenting on Haley Pham herself instead of the book. One reader wrote, “I’m also going to say it is so obviously written by a religious person I was actually laughing at how there was never one single ‘oh my god’ it was always gosh or goodness.“ While this comment on the outside may be only criticizing the writer’s choice of words, once you dive deeper, it is quite obvious that the comment was specifically made about Haley Pham herself being religious. They are making the assumption that someone’s religious background is the reason they decided to use a certain word choice and criticizing them for it without knowing whether it is true or not. Although there were valid reviews and criticisms for the book, if there was a good review many people in the comment would respond by saying that the reader is only saying they like it because they are being sponsored or are friends with Haley. This disregarded the fact that they could have actually enjoyed reading the book.
Overall, book reviews have strayed too far from their actual meaningful purpose. One reader of Haley Pham’s book stated, “For the love of god let people read & rate the books they want, the way they want. The amount of people I’ve seen in other people’s reviews of this book bashing people for their opinions when it’s literally none of your d***n business.” As this reader stated, book reviews are not supposed to be extremely serious and unchanging. They are people’s opinions and are only supposed to serve as available help for others.
When writing book reviews, individuals should remember that besides showcasing their opinion, they are also representing the reader community. Instead, readers should focus on actually giving feedback and respectfully sharing their opinion about the book itself instead of bashing the author. They should come to the realization and accept the fact that not every reader will enjoy the same book. As Bryant H. McGill says, “One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.”
