Let’s talk bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by J.R. @Eternity Books , here different topics will be discussed.
This weeks topic is ‘do bloggers/reviewers have to review every book they read?’
No.
I don’t. Sometimes I just have nothing to say about a book. I often have this with books I find mediocre. With books I’m loving I can point out the reasons why (most of the time), or if I’m hating a book I can also tell the reasons why. But sometimes with books that I don’t love or hate, and don’t have strong feelings whatsoever, I struggle with reviewing the book. I don’t want to write a review saying ‘this book was okay’, without being able to point out why. I’m not saying this happens with all my 3 stars reads, since I think 3 stars is my most used rating, and I definitely review most of those books. I also sometime struggle with writing a review for a book I loved, sometimes I struggle with pointing out exactly why I loved a book, since most of the time it is just the combination of everything!
I feel like that paragraph was all over the place haha. Basically I don’t think you have to review every book. If a review is just going to say ‘I love/hate this book’ without any reasoning, then how will I be able to judge if I will love/hate it as well?
I really like reading reviews were people have strong feelings about a book, because I think it is fun to read but also it makes it easier for the reader to decide if they want to pick up the book or not.
I can see why people would say ‘yes you need to review all of them’ since than the reader of the reviews can see of their reading tastes are more similar. But I still think if you have nothing to say about a book, you don’t have to review it
I totally agree with you!! It’s annoying to write reviews for books that I don’t have much to say about. Great post!
Thanks 🙂
I just don’t feel right reviewing a book I didn’t finish. I review every book I finish. If I am asked to review the book or I get an ARC for it, I will contact the author directly and explain why I didn’t finish the book. Great blog.
Yeah I can totally see that!
Thanks 🙂
I have a similar issue in being unable to review some books that I absolutely love. I mean… how many times can you say I LOVED IT and READ IT NOW without boring people? My infatuation with a book will usually mean I can’t form many convincing and coherent sentences about it 😛 Aweosme post Evelyn!! Jen
Haha exactly!
Tanks 🙂
I review most books I finish. I don’t review my DNFs, because I don’t usually have anything useful to say other than “I really, REALLY didn’t like it.” I also tend to skip books that are 7 or 8 deep in an established series (unless it was an ARC) because by that point it’s pretty much “If you like this series, congrats, you’ve got another one!”
I feel you on DNF’s, I only review them if I feel like I can explain why I didn’t like it but I think others would!
And yes indeed if you’re 7 books into a series, you probably don’t need me to tell you to continue haha!
I usually review every book I read. I only started doing that a couple years ago though. I definitely don’t think bloggers need to review every book, but I do enjoy reading or skimming them. I rarely review graphic novels unless it’s an arc or something a bit longer. I reviewed Pumpkinheads because I knew people were curious about it.
I think graphic novels are quite hard to review! Especially since most of the ones I read are longer series..
I agree that you don’t have to review every book that you read. Sometimes I will only just rate on Goodreads and maybe type a sentence or two.
Same!
I do review every book, but not all books get full review on my blog. If I don’t have anything to say on the book, I’ll just give star ratings on goodreads (which is also a review for me!). Sometimes I add a short sentence on why I don’t have anything to say. If it’s an ARC, in which I feel the obligation to say something, I post some mini reviews or bullet point reviews on my blog. The rest got a blog post haha, maybe a full screaming review or gif/aesthetic review to spice things up 😀
Yeah I always do start ratings on Goodreads, even if I have nothing else to say! I mean it kinda shows how you felt about a book, so why shouldn’t it count as a review?!
I agree … I don’t review every book I read either. Mangas and comics are my ‘no review’ zones. I do like a sentence on Goodreads but that’s is. Great post! Good for discussions!
Oh yeah those I almost never review! (I think I did short reviews for 3 or something..)
Thank you!