Let’s Talk Bookish – Should There Be A Standard for Book Reviews?

Hi guys and welcome to Let’s Talk Bookish! Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by me, where we discuss chosen topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.

Today’s topic is: Should There Be A Standard for Book Reviews?

My dad suggested this topic, and honestly, it got me thinking, maybe there should be a standard, or a bare minimum requirement for readers who write reviews.

I think that with a standard, reviews will be more “regulated”, and there will be something to make sure that people don’t just write hurtful reviews that have no purpose or that attack the author when it should be about the book, or even glowing reviews, when this person has not read the book.

I know that there are a few rules here and there that people have created, but it would be much helpful, especially for new reviewers, if we collected all these rules and put them in one guide. I remember starting out and wondering if there are things that I should and should not do, or if it’s just, you’re free do whatever you want. It would have been helpful to have a standard or guide to help me out.

However, if there was a standard, I wouldn’t want it to stop people’s creativity. I’m not saying that the standard will have crazy rules like: it has to be between 300-400 words, written like an essay, discuss objectively the points, no negativity, etc. That would be annoying, and I’d probably be the first reviewer to quit. The reason I hated book reviews in school were because of rules that are similar to that. I felt they were more about the book, and not about what I thought about the book, so what’s the point in reading it if they don’t care whether I enjoy it or not?

I also love ranty reviews, just as much as everyone else, and I wouldn’t say we should scrap them because “they aren’t objective” or because “they are very scathing/negative”. To be honest, even in ranty reviews, there are still analysis’ of where the book went wrong, and what was not okay in the book, it’s just written in a more…angry way.

So no, if there were to be a standard, it should not cripple creativity, and it should not be mandatory, but I think that it would be a helpful guide for people who are just starting out.

This Week’s Participants:

Jane @ Blogger Books | Heran @ Be Frisky

And that’s it for this post! What did you think? Should there be a standard, or a guide? Were you also lost when you first started reviewing books? Did you dislike writing book reviews in school? Chat with me in the comments below!