Respect is the Key

     Hey book dragons! 🐉 I am going to be writing something a bit different today, so no book review right now... the next one will be out on Wednesday though! Instead, I want to talk about a major thing  I always consider when I write my reviews: respect.

    If you go and look back at all of my past reviews, you will notice there is one thing I never say no matter my opinion on the book. I never say that a book is bad or any synonym of the word. I may say that it was not for me or that I personally did not like something about it, but I never make the generalization that it is bad. The reason for this is quite simple- not everyone will think it is bad. Who am I to say that a book is bad just because I personally did not care for it? You may not think the same as I do. A book I would rate with 2 stars, you may think was so good it broke the rating system. In all relationships, regardless of how well the people may know each other, there is one truth. This truth is that respect is the key. I do not know you or the authors of the books I am reading more likely then not, but I still have some small relationship with you through my reviews, so I must give you the proper respect. Making a generalization about a book being bad is extremely disrespectful in a couple of ways. 

    First, it is disrespectful to all of those who loved the book. It does not allow for an open mind that the book may be good to others, essentially making it seem like those who disagree with you are wrong and/or that their opinion does not matter. I can tell you that I would definitely not appreciate a review that says a book is bad because it is disrespectful to me if I disagree.

    Second, it is disrespectful to the author. Unless you have written a book and gone through the entire publishing process (self-publish or traditional) yourself, you probably do not understand all of the work that authors put into their books. Even I, writing this right now, do not fully understand it. I just know that I can see in interviews and so many other ways that most authors put their heart and soul into their work. To establish that a book is bad in your review is not only disrespectful, it is plain hurtful to the people who spent so much time on that "bad" thing.

    While I cannot control you or what you write, I strongly encourage you to please not say that a book is bad, awful, horrible, etc. Please, always keep in mind that respect is the key. Words can be hurtful, and I am sure that you are a good person who does not want to cause anyone any sort of pain or anger. 

    Here are some phrases you can use in place of 'bad' if you want to:

        - [blank] was not for me.

        - I personally did not like [blank].

        - In my opinion, [blank] could have been done better.

     Let me know if you want me to make a series with tips on writing book reviews! You can DM me on Instagram @the_ya_book_talk or tell me your thoughts here in the comments section. I want to make this blog and my Bookstagram things that you enjoy looking at :)