Now I want to read them.Lately I've been watching a lot of Booktube, just because. I mean really, I did make a resolution for 2019 that I would be more active in the bookish communities (specifically Bookstagram, but overall in the bookish community). As I watch more, I will do a post specifically recommending certain Booktubers, so if you have recommendations, let me know!! I'd love to check out more. So, as I was watching Booktube, I was watching a few videos on the worst reads or unpopular opinions on books, and I realized something. The bad reviews on books I haven't read almost made me want to read the books more than a good review would have. Hear me out. I love book reviews because I went on such a reading hiatus when I was in school, so now I'm SOOOO behind on the bookish trends! I also went to a high school that had a not-great English teacher at the time, so I haven't read a lot of "classics" either. So now, to get through everything I've been missing out on, I'm prioritizing by listening to and reading reviews to put things on my ever-growing and seemingly never-shrinking TBR. On these bad reviews I listened to, I was intrigued. There were books that had a bad review from a Booktuber that I have already on my TBR list, and hearing the bad review made me want to read them more! Some of the bad things they ranted about were things that are definitely very subjective, so they didn't turn me away from the book when they brought those up. Other aspects that they didn't like about the books actually made me want to read it, just to see if it was true. For example, one bad review was on The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen, but when she summarized the book, I started to get interested, and then she talked about all of the action that happened (though apparently didn't move the story forward?) and I wanted to read it! Mainly, I'm just curious if she is right and if my opinions match hers about the book. Why does this happen?In my very unprofessional opinion, this is probably a psychological thing. Kind of like the idea that when you're told not to do something, it makes it that much more tempting to do it. Another thing: I know that these reviews are opinions. So I am fully aware that the person giving the bad review doesn't expect everyone to dislike it. They don't hold the same opinions as others, and so they know their review will not be fully true for the next person either. These reviewers (just like me and any other person who ever recommends against books) just wants to give yet another opinion and add their voice to the conversation. Sometimes that means bashing a book that everyone else seems to love (like my opinion on City of Bones) or on a book that had/has a lot of hype around it or on a book that you were SUPER excited to read because of the previous two items mentioned. That doesn't mean anyone is right or wrong. It just shows the different opinions, and honestly, I love to get all sorts of opinions (both bad and good!) on some things. It helps you know what you're getting into! Now I'm going to go business nerd for a sec.Listening to or reading bad reviews on books that so many people seem to have strong opinions on can be a great thing (and sharing those good and bad too!). It makes me think about the problem called groupthink. Groupthink (if you don't already know what that is) is when people with similar ideas/opinions/backgrounds/etc. get stuck when they are planning or discussing an item because the opinions are all too similar. The ideas get nowhere or are unsuccessful because there are no diverse perspectives to challenge and improve the idea. That's why I loved hearing A Clockwork Reader talk about 13 Reasons Why (which I loved!) even though she hadn't liked it. I was interested to hear her opinions and learn more about why specifically she didn't like it. 1) it challenged me to (in my head) defend some of the reasons I disagreed as well as 2) it brought up some bad things that I didn't necessarily see when I was reading it because I was so blown away by how much I loved it, and I found there were some things I actually agreed with! So all this to say...Listen to diverse opinions. Even if it doesn't agree with your own, challenge yourself to explore more diverse opinions so that you can either learn to defend yourself or see it from another perspective.
And, if you have any bad book reviews or unpopular bookish opinions you hold, I'd love to hear them! Leave 'em in the comments below!
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AuthorJust sharing my passion of reading through my passion of writing. Archives
May 2020
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