I receive a lot of review books, but I have never once told lies about the book just because I got a free copy of it. However, some authors seem to feel that if they send you a copy of their book for free, you should give it a positive review.
Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?
You are never obligated to write a positive review. It is certainly unfortunate when a reviewer is harassed by an unhappy author, and it seems to be all-too-common in the internet age. However, think about it this way, when the New York Times doesn’t like a book, do you think the author harasses them?
When I don’t care for a book, I will say so; but I also try to point out aspects that other people may like. For example, I didn’t even finish reading The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, but someone who likes sci-fi may love this book. I just found it too dense. Now, I don’t expect H.G. Wells is gonna come comment on my blog… and I wasn’t required to review it because it was just my TBR pile, but I didn’t feel I had to finish it or like it!
This actually reminded me of a little scuff that Trish @ Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? unfortunately experienced. It’s old news now, but the long-and-short of it is she received a book directly from an author and reviewed it. She didn’t think it was well written, and she substantiated her thoughts with quotes and reasons… but the author got upset. [Here’s the full story if you’re curious.]
November 20, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Completely agree. If you start to lie about one or two of the books because they were free, then you run the chance that people won’t believe you when something is really good.
Honesty really IS the best policy.
November 20, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Selling your integrity for the price of a book is a foolish thing. Please come visit and see my response.
November 20, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Heck no, you shouldn’t give a good review if you don’t like the book just cause it was free. They sent it to you to review…. that means you tell them what you think, good or bad.
Sorry you got bad feedback on it. :(
November 21, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I agree. If an author only wants positive reviews…they should say so up front or not send any books out ever. I say if you only want positive reviews you are out of luck because people who buy things on amazon are going to review it regardless and some may not like it!
November 23, 2008 at 12:29 am
My husband brought up the same point with the New York Times. And Rolling Stones for that matter. :-)
I think honesty is a necessary part of a review. I also think that there is a way to be honest and respectful at the same time.