Reading is such a subjective experience. I may absolutely love a book while my best friend is bored stupid with it.
Example 1: Mockingjay (the last of The Hunger Games series). Ugh. I loathed it! And many people did too. But just as many people loved it.
Example 2: Audiobook for my award-winning book Torn Canvas. The guy who did this was my dream narrator. When he reads the story, it sounds just like it did in my head as I wrote it.
- One reviewer panned his performance because it was "melodramatic."
- Another reviewer dissed it because they said he was "monotone."
Melodramatic.
Monotone.
The same book but an opposite reader experience. Neither is invalid. Readers experience what they experience.
But, because I understand this, if I cannot give a book at least three stars, I won't review it.
I recognize that I may have had a "melodramatic" or "monotone" experience with a particular book, but that doesn't mean the next person who reads or listens to it won't have a 5-star experience. But if I trash it, they may pass it up and miss out.
This happens to be my personal philosophy. I read 165 books last year (mostly listened to), and I've already done 25 this year. I haven't rated all of them.
Author Beth Revis wrote a humorous blog post that puts it in perspective and helps wounded authors recover from hurtful reviews. And there are always bad reviews no matter who the author is as, as Beth cites in her post.
