You get a lot of advice as an author. One of the most ubiquitous pieces is to not read reviews. It’s spoken so much that it’s almost accepted as gospel. Even when breaking it, authors will begin with ‘I know I shouldn’t read reviews…but…’

So here’s the thing. I read reviews. I probably don’t read all of them, but I do read most. I even read them on Goodreads, where there are some…interesting…takes on a lot of books.

Like most writing advice, I think it’s overly general at best, and bad at worst–the whole ‘Don’t read reviews’ thing. I think if you’re the sort of person who is going to be seriously affected by them, then sure, you may want to limit the damage, or at least control it so that you’re consuming that stuff at a time when you’re in a mental place that can handle it.

That’s just it, though. It’s really about you. Some people really can’t (or shouldn’t) read reviews. And while there are definitely times where I shouldn’t be reading them (mostly when I need to focus on creating something new) for the most part, they don’t bother me. Perhaps I would feel differently if I had gotten a lot of bad reviews right away (I was fortunate to get some very positive reviews up front, so when the bad ones came they didn’t sting as bad.) But I think I’d still be fine. If you write a review, it’s your opinion, and that’s fine. We may or may not agree.

In fact I think I prefer getting a review to just getting a star rating. With a star rating, it’s like, 2 stars, no reason. That’s confusing to me, because did you not like it because it’s just not your thing, or do you think that I am a horrible writer, or what?

My favorite reviews say something clever. And I hesitate to say this, because I think there’s an industry in people who write one star reviews and try to be snarky about it, and those people are mostly assholes. It really only works if it’s heartfelt, not performative. (At this point, Mike stopped to curse out Word Press, which is telling him that performative is not a word. Mike gives Word Press’s editor function 2 stars.)

I got a one star review that was just so over the top in his hatred for my book that I had to stop and admire it. I go back and read it from time to time, just because I think it’s awesome. I don’t recall the totality of it, but the thought was that he was sad that he bought it on kindle because if he had it in paperback, he could at least burn it. I have to admit, I was tempted to respond to that one (NEVER DO THIS) and suggest that he go purchase a paperback, just to give himself the satisfaction of lighting it on fire, because hey, a sale is a sale. Honestly, though, it just makes me smile to read it.

Then there are the ones I don’t understand. I got a one star review on audible that said it was too slow. I’m like…I don’t even know what to say to that one. I am flawed in many ways in my writing, but I don’t think slow is one of them. In fact, most people who don’t like my work would probably say the opposite.

And of course there are clever reviews on the other end of the spectrum, too. One of my favorite five star reviews of PLANETSIDE said: “This is amazing. Solid hard SF. And the ending just blew me away. I just sat going fffuucckkkkkk.” I immediately quoted it to my agent and asked if we could work to get that put on the cover.

I also take special pride in something I’ve seen in a number of reviews, mostly on the theme of ‘I didn’t really expect to like this, but I did.’ Because HA! I got you! You’re a sci-fi fan now. Or not. But in my mind, you are.

Then there are the reviews where the person got something that maybe you thought people wouldn’t get, and that’s pretty special. One reviewer mentioned that I subverted Conrad, and I was like ‘YES! You get it! You and I are the only ones on earth who got that, but that’s really cool!’ (There are others, but I don’t really want to call them out, because spoilers. Plus, things like that are things that shouldn’t be pointed out, so that if you come to see them on your own it can be one of those really cool reader moments that one gets from time to time.)

And of course the best reviews, for me personally, are those where I know and respect the reviewer, usually from their previous review work. I got a review recently (a good one) from a guy that I follow for his reviews. He pointed me to Nicholas Eames’ books via his reviews, so I’ve got a solid respect for his opinion, and it means a lot that he liked PLANETSIDE.

Probably the biggest disparity in reviews of PLANETSIDE are the thoughts about the ending. There are a lot of different opinions, and they are, in some cases, very passionate. Some people absolutely love it. Some hate it. Some think it’s okay, but that it developed too fast. And the fact that there are all those different opinions is awesome, because when I wrote it that’s exactly what I thought was going to happen. The fact that there are widely different views on it just tells me that I was right. (Admittedly, I was worried that more would hate it than like it, and that doesn’t seem to be the case, which is nice.)

In the end, here’s why I read reviews: Because you took the time to write it. Regardless if you liked the book or you didn’t, you cared enough to share your opinion about a book with other people. Maybe a lot of people read your review. Maybe it’s just two friends. It doesn’t matter. You were invested enough in the experience to care, and that’s a great thing. When I read books, I want to tell people about them. That you do too means we have that in common, and that’s pretty cool.

Tags: Planetside, Review