Reiji asked Elise Kova:

Do "I did not finish the book but here is my rating" type reviews annoy you?

Elise Kova "Judging" other people's reviews is a hard gray area I struggle with. It's your opinion, their opinion. Opinions are never "right" or "wrong" and no one has the right to really say the method someone reached that opinion is incorrect either.

But, I figure you want a "real" answer.

So, short answer, it doesn't annoy me if they explain WHY they didn't finish the book.

Was there something horribly offensive to the person that other readers could want to know about? I try to be sensitive to "triggers" and as a result work to be very transparent on what's in Air Awakens as a result. Never the less, I expect people not to see those notes from me, and put more weight on what other people say.

Or, if the book wasn't "good enough" for them to get through, fine. But I think that the reviewer should disclose that fact and explain it through. Was the character development off? Was the world not what you expected? Was the pacing so abysmal that you couldn't take those last 5 chapters? I want to know this as a reader and I bet other readers do too. Now, personally, when I see reviews like that I take them with a grain of salt and look for other reviews. But, it is good insight.

I think the best reviews are the ones that are honest, fair, and written to genuinely help other people, not just rip on the source medium. As long as it's coming from that place then I usually think it's on-track.

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