Monday, June 20, 2016

DISCUSSION: Easier to hate than to love

Have you ever noticed that it is so much easier to hate on a book than to love on it?
Here's what I mean: I have discovered that it is way easier to write a book review about a book I hated than a book I loved.

Last week, I read a book that I loved and I swear, the review took forever to write. I mean, what am I supposed to say?
I LOVE THIS! YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK ASAP!!

Let's face it: there are only so many ways I can think of to tell you just how much I adored a certain book. At some point, my brain runs out of ideas and I can't thin of enough synonyms for awesome and earth shattering.
But then when it comes to books I disliked . . .  just try and shut me up.
I read a book that I had very strong (negative) feelings for this week and I am kind of worried that my review may be too long.
It's just so much easier to think of all the things I dislike about a book and all the reasons why the book may not be the best one for you.

So if my rave reviews seem a little on the short side to you, please don't take it as a sign that I didn't enjoy the book enough. You should actually take shorter reviews as a sign to READ THE BOOK IMMEDIATELY!

Does anyone else have this problem? Do you find it easier to review books you disliked than books you loved?

22 comments :

  1. *raises hand* Sometimes, if I know the specific things I adored about a book, I can rave about them in a sort of list and then I have stuff to write. Actually, my reviews are like that now so that it's easier. It's still tough when I just LOVED the book, as a whole, or just every freaking individual part of it, but I try. Now, books we hated, man do we go armed with gifs to express our rage XD You're so right about this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pamela, I really need to start making lists for my reviews. I love lists so I feel like that would be so much better, whether I am loving it or hating it. Great idea!

      Delete
  2. Yeah it's so much easier to explain why you hated a book as opposed to why you liked a book. For like reviews it's basically just a verbose version of "JUST BECAUSE". For dislikes it's basically an evisceration of the book followed by a scathing and sarcastic closing comment. :)

    Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rachel, yeah when I love a book the only thing I can say is: READ THIS BOOK!! That's all I got. :)

      Delete
  3. YES. Like you said, it is so hard to say "GO READ THIS BOOK" in so many ways. And when I'm reading a book I really like, I don't really pay attention to WHAT I like. I just like...everything. And then I can't write my review. Whoops.

    It's also so much fun to write about books I hate. It's so easy to pinpoint what went wrong... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Valerie, so incredibly hard. I am so glad you feel my pain on that one! When I love a book, I just want to say "characters - great; plot - great; dialogue - great; JUST READ THIS BOOK DAMMIT!!" Hahahaha.

      Delete
  4. I'm ok with writing a review if I felt strongly about it, so loved or hated are fine. Those books where I'm middle of the road though, that's so much harder for me to write about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trish, oh you are so right about that one. I have had issues with those as well. If there is a book that I just feel blah about, how do I express that? So very true.

      Delete
  5. SO MUCH YES. I could write about the shit I hate twenty different ways. I think because what I hate usually varies? But what I LOVE doesn't as much maybe? And also, I think a lot of times when we LOVE a book, part of it is a feeling that you can't even explain, whereas since we don't *try* to hate a book, it's much more logical and analytical. And now I have to check Goodreads to see which book we hated 😂

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shannon, we are so alike again! Blogging twins! Hahahaha. I swear, when I love a book, the only thing I feel like saying is: READ THIS BOOK NOW DAMMIT!! Hahahaha And I'm 99% sure that we agree on the dislike of most books.

      Delete
  6. I totally agree with you! Some of my longest reviews are my ranty 'here is everything I hated about this book' reviews, whilst the ones for books I loved are pretty much 'er...yeah, it was good. You should read it.' :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura C, EXACTLY! How many ways can I tell someone I love it?? :)

      Delete
  7. I really struggle to write positive reviews because I WANT everyone to read the book and am afraid that I won't be able to convince them. When I write a negative review, I don't care whether the person agrees with me or not and I'm fine if they choose to read it anyway.

    My Most Recent Discussion: Make New Friends, but Keep the Old: ReReading

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Got My Book, you are so right. I just want to push all the books on the people and it can be hard to find the words to explain that. :)

      Delete
  8. I even feel like this within reviews sometimes. I always list things I liked and things I didn't like, and I SO often find that my explanations of the negatives are way longer than the positives, even if I really liked the book overall. So, then I have this need to go back and TRY to think of more positives to say to balance it all out!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nicole, that is true too. I can write a paragraph about the stuff I liked and the stuff I disliked can take up practically a page. Crazy.

      Delete
  9. Totally agree!! When I love a book I probably sound like a moron saying how I love everything without as much explanation as I should give. When I don't like a book I could go on and give in detail reasons why lol. So I get you on this one!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Grace! So glad we are on the same page with this one. :)

      Delete
  10. It's easier for me to write about the negative things in a review, so that's why I write them first; though, in the actual review, I save them for the end. However, when I really love a book, it's just as easy to write a review as when I really hate a book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jess, I really wish that I could find as many words in a rave review as a bad one. So glad you don't have that issue. :)

      Delete
  11. Reviewing a book I disliked or hated is 100X easier to review a book I loved. I have no idea how to review The Star Touched Queen, but I was able to review All the Feels in just a matter of minutes. Why is the world so unfair??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lyn, there just aren't enough words to describe how much I love certain books! So unfair.

      Delete