New Year New Start!
It's about time I did a fresh blog since it's almost a year since the last.
I don’t do many book reviews though I try to support indie
writers by doing some. I try to be positive and fair in my reviews, concentrating
on a book’s strengths and have erred on the side of generosity.
But I've been thinking - is this helpful to the author? Shouldn’t I also be concentrating on a book’s weaknesses
too? Then again, a review isn’t the same
as a critique. If an author asks
for private feedback about a piece where there are clear weaknesses, I wouldn’t
hesitate in offering it where I felt it was warranted.
That said, I wear two hats: one as writer and one as
reader. And I also feel an
obligation to the reader.
Lovely as it is to receive them, too many glowing five star
reviews does little to profit anyone: neither the author whose book is being reviewed
nor your own integrity as a reviewer.
It cheapens and threatens to patronise.
So from now on, I intend doing my reviews a little
differently, aiming to highlight weaknesses as well as strengths if possible. I may also
amend some reviews I’ve already done where weaknesses were overlooked. This may
be due to too many typos or some other deficiency. I may drop a star here and there (a 4 Star review is still
very worthy) but I want to save the 5 star reviews for my absolute personal
favourites.
Well, that’s the intention anyway. I may revert to type by next week.
