Please Remove Your Review Of My Book- I Don't Want It There

This is the third article, maybe fourth, that I've written about book reviewing on here and it would seem that I'm likely to have plenty of fodder from this quarter into the future; if I continue reviewing, that is.

I have to admit that I am becoming a little disillusioned with it all and probably won't choose ARCs to review anymore except where I think I may benefit. Selfish, I know but it seems like a whole lot of effort for aggravation at times and as you don't know how your review is going to be received, why take the risk?

The upshot is, at the moment, I don't feel that I receive much from doing it and it would also seem that unless the review is 4 or 5 stars, the author is likely to be irked at what you write about their book.

I'm never cruel in book reviews. I try to convey my feelings in such a way that I get my point across without tearing the book or its writer apart. I'm not in the business of bringing people down.

However, I will not lie about the book to give a higher star rating because I also have integrity and I'm not giving that up as it seems that there is a grave worldly shortage of it anyway.

Recently, I reviewed a book to which I have given 3 stars. To me, 3 stars means that it is alright. It has moments of greatness with some good points whether that its characters, plot, action, etc., etc. It is generally well written in terms of its flow and I've been interested enough to finish reading it.

It's not a bad book but it's not got the wow factor either.

I crosspost. Yes, readers, I spread my literary self about a bit. I do this in a lot of places: here, Medium, Amazon, Bookbub, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, my blog. I share links to it on social media. I don't get a lot of traffic but I don't do it for the praise: I do it because I can and because this is easy to do and I want to put it out there. People may read it; they may not. I hope they do and enjoy it but I am also aware that I am a pebble on a beach of pebbles and am not likely to be picked up any time soon.

I wasn't approached to do this review. I chose the book and as I've said, it wasn't bad.

I had a feeling about it though. I had a feeling when I posted my 3 star review that this was likely to come back and bite me in the bum. And I was right. But the review was written and I was prepared to submit it in time for its launch date on Discovery and so, standing by my rating, off it went, through the wires/waves/however the internet works, to be published.

That was a few weeks ago.

Today, I have had an email from the site which provided me with the means to access the book which goes like this ( I have removed personal info as well as the name of the site for privacy's sake):

Hi Rachel,

(Representative) from (site) here, I hope you are doing well! I'm reaching out on behalf of (author), author of (name of book). You recently reviewed (author's) book and posted the review on Amazon.

(Author) is kindly requesting you to please remove the review from Amazon as a goodwill gesture. While we understand it is entirely up to you, (author) would appreciate it if the review is removed since they are barely sorting out their marketing strategy and have not had the proper chance to promote the book on Amazon properly.

Let me know what you decide, of course, this is entirely up to you and we will respect your decision.

I appreciate your time and let me know if you have any questions.

I read this and pondered it for a moment. Here we are again, I thought. Those of you who subscribe to me may remember this:

In it, I discussed how someone had approached me to review their book of poetry but wanted to restrict where I posted it unless it was a 4 or 5 star.

I objected to this for the same reasons that I will probably cite here and that is that my review is my review.

Here is my reply:

Dear (representative),

Thanks for your email.

The whole point of a review is that it is a personal reflection of my view of the book.

Can I ask why (author) wants me to take it down from Amazon? Because I don't think your explanation is sufficient and I'm not sure that it strikes at the core of the reason (author) wants me to remove it.

Have you read my review? I'd love to find out what you think of it. I gave it three stars and engaged with it fully. I also wonder if this request would be made if it was given four or five stars?

I have to ask: What is the point of having an opinion of a book if you are to be restricted on where you post it?

It's also relevant to note that I thought (site) actively encourages reviewers to share their reviews on Amazon. Am I to understand this is only to apply if they're considered "good"?

This is the second time that I have been asked to take down a review I have crossposted by authors I have reviewed on (site).

I do wonder about the expectations of these writers.

Anyway, all that expressed, let's get to the matter at hand. (representative), I'm not going to take it down. I don't think it's right to ask either. I don't want (author) to be upset but reviews are important in that they should be unbiased. Books are an individual experience. It is up to the reader to decide what they think of it.

From my standpoint, I'm becoming very disillusioned with being a book reviewer. It seems that people only want what they see as "good" reviews and are not prepared to accept that their book might not be received well by everyone and I find this sad, that they want to censor the views of those who do not express what they want said about their work.

Please feel free to pass this reply onto (author). (Author) can reach out to me directly too and I'll happily explain my view to (author). Like I say, I'm not making a stand to wound but I don't think reviews should be cherry-picked. I get that it hurts when someone is luke warm about your work - I write too - but to restrict them in their expression of it is just wrong.

Thanks,

Rachel

There are a number of points that I made that I would like to highlight:

1. The whole point of a review is that it is a personal reflection of my view of the book.
2. I also wonder if this request would be made if it was given four or five stars?
3. What is the point of having an opinion of a book if you are to be restricted on where you post it?
4. I'm not making a stand to wound but I don't think reviews should be cherry-picked.

Firstly, it is just my opinion. It may or may not sway others. I understand that the star rating is an indicator of whether the book is good or not but you should always read things for yourself to form your own opinion. Unfortunately, there are so many books now that trying to be seen above the crowd is very, very difficult indeed. Not being given a chance by the star rating is, I can imagine, very dispiriting; but you can't govern the reviews you are given and to expect to do so is, I think, a very entitled viewpoint.

Secondly, I don't think that the author would have asked if the review was 4 or 5 stars. I don't. Why would you? And if your book is available on Amazon, even if it is a relaunch, I can publish a review, can I not? That's all I've done.

Thirdly, a review is a review and where it is placed should not be restricted in my opinion.

Finally, you can't pick and choose. Everyone is entitled to cite their opinion. You may not like it but a review should be released into the world unfettered.

We exchanged emails and the representative was supportive of my view, which was gratifying. However, it still begs the question of why an author thinks it's acceptable to remove a review when it is the right of the reviewer to post it?

Personally, I would never ask this of a reviewer. I wouldn't like it if the review was bad but I wouldn't ask someone to take it down unless it was abusive or untrue but then I think that those would be justified circumstances.

So, the review remains.

I don't want to be paranoid but this morning when I woke up, I had an email thanking me for signing up to match.com. My user name is Maryliny apparently. I have informed match.com that I have not signed up for this account but the question remains hanging:

If not me, then who? Could this be the spiteful retribution of a vengeful author?

Or some other prankster?

I'd love to know your views on this as fellow writers as it is not in my nature to be confrontational but if I feel like I am right in something, completely adamant, then I fight for it and in this, I feel I am right.

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by! If you do read this, please leave a comment as I love to interact with my readers.