Reviews...Always tell the truth?

[Joyce S Sherr]

I was recently approached by a book agent to review a book on my blog. I did not like the book, found typos, and the prose was erratic along with some other issues.. I even had someone else read it and they agreed. Rather than post a negative review, I summarized the book. The agent was disappointed but when I told her my negative feelings, she preferred the summary.

What are your thoughts?

Joyce at http://www.jssherr.blogspot.com

 

 

[Sharon Dwyer]

I was approached to review a book from an author I did not know. The person asking for the review was an editor that I did know and agreed to do the review. By page 50 I didn't know if I could read on. The book was awful. I spoke with the editor and explained the problems I was haveing in reading it. I told her I would try to continue reading but so far could not do a positive review. I read as far as page 110 and had to put it away and discussed it with the editor. We decided  not to do the review.

I think a summary is sidestepping the issue. Good or bad, when a review is requested we, as authors, should do our best to fulfill that request. We can usually find something good to say and avoid a really harsh comment, even if the review is less than lukewarm.