by Elaina Lyons

The other day, someone posted that they’d read an indie author’s book and it was brilliant. They absolutely loved it! But, they said, it had a couple plot holes, a few formatting issues, and a couple typos. And, because of those issues, the poster said, they were forced to give the book a poor review on the platform on which they’d purchased it.

Now, this struck up a bit of a debate. The poster said the book itself was “brilliant.” They said, overall, the author hit the ball out of the park. Well, to me, if that’s the case, a few issues here and there shouldn’t lead to a bad review. If anything, the reader should leave an honest review that highlights the good and the bad, and let other readers decide for themselves.

As for a star rating, I think if a book is classified as “brilliant,” anything below 3 stars isn’t fair.

Here’s the thing: I don’t agree with false positive reviews. And I also don’t agree with false negative ones. Reviews, to me, should be honest and reflect the book in its entirety.

I recently read an outstanding indie fantasy book. I gave it 5 stars. Was it completely error-free? Nope! It had a few typos here and there, and some formatting problems that cropped up occasionally. But the writing was so good, and the story so gripping, I felt it wasn’t fair to penalize the author for a few errors.

Here’s the thing: I don’t agree with false positive reviews. And I also don’t agree with false negative ones. Reviews, to me, should be honest and reflect the book in its entirety.

Bottom line: We all make mistakes. When you’re leaving a review, try to keep that in mind. Even best-selling authors have mistakes pop up in their work sometimes.

Don’t lie in reviews (please!). Average out the good and the bad, and let other readers decide if they want to take a chance on it.

At the end of the day, reviews are for readers anyway.

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