Rachel Reviews: To review or not to review?

It's been a strange week for this writer for many reasons, most of them requiring me to draw on emotional reserves that, for the most part, remain slumbering deep in my inner recesses, never needed in the charmed life I lead.

However, being challenged on a number of fronts means that I have had much time for reflection and the best way for me to sort through my thoughts is to write. Unfortunately, not all of the challenges met by me are suitable for public consumption and so I am going to address just the one:

To review or not to review?

I review books. Sometimes I review new books. Sometimes I get approached by poets and authors who have read my other reviews and they ask me to provide a review of their book. I have discussed this before in two previous articles listed below:

And:

Recently, I was contacted by a poet who wanted me to review their work. I was happy to do this, explaining time constraints and that I wasn't sure when I would get to it but I would try and do it expediently.

It's a nice feeling to be approached and I like to spread the word about what I read. I crosspost to many places including Amazon and like to think that my reviews are a fair and honest expression of my opinion of the book. Highlighted and italicised, notice, and that is because that statement is important as it is at the crux of my debate about the poet's requirements of me.

I contacted the poet yesterday to advise that I was in the process of reading their book and that I would get a review back to them as soon as possible. I asked if it had been launched on another website where I write reviews and they advised that it had (although I couldn't find the review).

And then they added this statement:

"...please feel free to post your review on your blog. And Amazon, though if it's not a five-star rating, I'd appreciate it if you would only post on your blog because a lower rating there sinks the book."

For context, I crosspost all of my reviews to Goodreads, Amazon, Reedsy Discovery, Bookbub, Barnes and Noble and my blog. I am starting to publish them on Vocal too.

I do this because it's just my opinion of the book. My opinion. No-one else's. Now, you can either be influenced by that as a potential reader of that book, or not. That is with you as an individual. I am a great believer that we all get something different from our reading of a book, no matter what it contains. I know this because of the discussions that I have had with my husband about reading material.

I loved "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus and waxed lyrical about it after devouring it in very few sittings. His response to it was moderately warm. I gave it 5 stars; I reckon he may have given it between 3 and 4 stars.

Very different opinions - same book.

And so, what to do?

I have to say that I was perplexed by this statement and it did immediately get my hackles up. I don't like the idea of being limited on where I can publish my reviews. I feel compromised. It sounds dramatic but I do.

I have started to read the book. I am quite enjoying it. I don't know how many stars I am likely to give it at this early stage. I do know that my opinion of it will not be influenced by those of others. It currently has 4 stars on Amazon and other people have reviewed it. I have not read those reviews.

I felt this had to be addressed pretty quickly and so responded with this:

"With regard to the rating, and I want to be honest with you at this stage, I don't know if I feel comfortable being limited to where I can post it. I am happy to review it but I do crosspost to multiple places outside of Reedsy and do that for everything I read. It is only my opinion after all.

I don't know what my final rating will be currently as I have not read it all but if you are uncomfortable with receiving anything other than a five star rating and want me to limit where I post the review if it is less than five stars, then I'm not sure that I'm the right person to review it for you.

I'll leave that with you. As you have sent me your poems to review, I will wait to hear from you before proceeding further."

The poet then responded and respectively explained :

"It was not my intention to pressure you into giving a high rating. To be clear, I meant to say I'd be happy to read your honest review on your blog and there would be no need to cross-post, especially if it's not favorable. I hope you understand it is difficult enough to market poetry books. I'd just rather not sink my book further at Amazon. I think it's only fair since it's my book page.

Thanks again for considering my book. As I wouldn't want to take up more of your time, please feel free to move on to the next book for your review."

As you can see, not pleased.

For the record, I never thought that they were pressuring me into giving them a higher rating. That was not my beef.

They're not pleased: I'm not pleased. What to do? I don't want to be responsible for "sinking" anyone but I do feel like I am being persuaded in some way to do something which is against my instinct. I don't want to not review the book; however, I do want to be able to share my opinion wherever I want to publish it.

I was also troubled by the "my book page" bit. I know it's the page where the book is offered for purchase but it is also where independent reviews can be accessed so I was a little unsettled by that statement as well. I don't know much about publishing books on Amazon but the "my page" comment rankled. If other people can honestly offer their review, why can't mine be posted there too?

I responded and I am sort of regretting what I wrote back to them now that I've slept on it and I'll tell you why. Here's what I said:

"Thanks for getting back to me and for giving an honest explanation for your viewpoint about Amazon. I know how difficult it is to get your work recognised.

I'm not in this book reviewing lark to sink people but I do have to find a balance and this means keeping my integrity and providing an honest review.

I tell you what - let's see how I rate it. You can read my review and we can discuss where I post it."

What is it that I regret about this response? I mean, it reads reasonably doesn't it and it offers a compromise that bridges the gap of the disparity in our opinions?

It's true as well. I don't want to "sink" anyone! Why would I want to do that? One of the great things about writing on this platform is all the support that I get offered on a daily basis by readers and fellow writers who I respect and consider my Vocal friends. We should be buoying each other up!

What I regret is that last line: You can read my review and we can discuss where I post it. I regret offering that. The reason: because I have inadvertently offered up my review for their perusal and we will jointly decide where I post it. Nothing has changed - I am still reviewing and I am still giving them the offer to decide. I don't want that autonomy of mine, to publish my words where I want to put them, taken from me.

What I should have said in hindsight is this:

"I will tell you what - let's see how I rate it. You can see my star rating and we can discuss where I post it."

The star rating would have given them a small, probably not sufficient, insight into what I thought of the book. They could then choose whether or not they then wanted the words that accompanied that star rating, my opinion of the book, to be published wherever I saw fit.

And so, I find myself in a dilemma: To review or not to review?

I get it. Nobody wants their work unduly criticised. I never go out to slate someone. I merely express what I thought of the book. I don't do it crassly; I do criticise but I do it constructively. Most writers respond well to this but not all. I accept criticism on mine unless someone writes something about its length - which has happened on Vocal. I don't know what to do with that. What does that mean? Especially when prefixed by a compliment.

I digress.

So, the upshot of this is that I don't know if I'm going to review it and I am asking the advice of my fellow Vocal writers and readers to help me decide what to do.

My initial feeling is to send another email paraphrasing what I wrote above:

"I will tell you what - let's see how I rate it. You can see my star rating and we can discuss where I post it."

The star rating is an indicator. They can say yes or no. If they say yes, it gets published wherever and they get to read it; if no, then it remains safely tucked away in the dusty annals of my computer files. Or I could buy the book legitimately and publish my review? I'm not going to do that, but I could.

Am I being too principled? Would it really affect me that much to sway and just publish it on my blog? Should I trust my gut or be more conciliatory?

VOCAL PEOPLE! I NEED YOU! PLEASE HELP ME!

Thanks for stopping by! If you read this, it is especially important that you comment due to the plea written above. I need your help!