Let’s Talk Bookish – How Do You Deal With Problematic Books?

Hello, and welcome to another Let’s Talk Bookish post! 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: How do you deal with problematic books?

This post is already late, and I apologize for that. I’m going to make this brief, because I’m not really sure how I feel about problematic books, but I’d still love to hear your thoughts!

I feel like problematic books are kind of tricky. A good number of books probably have something that makes them slightly problematic, so it’s a little unavoidable. We can’t just not read any books, because one small portion is problematic.

I also don’t think that we should rate or review books based on that problematic part alone unless it happens virtually through-out the entire book. Sure, you can reduce your rating because of it, but if the rest of the book is good or well written, I think that you should mention that while also talking about what made it problematic.

I like Vicky’s idea to do it in pluses and minuses, reading a good book for every bad one, and keeping a balance between the two, but I feel like that’s not going to work for some people, like me. I probably wouldn’t notice if something was wrong in a book, unless it’s something I’m very aware of or have experienced (and I haven’t experienced much either so…).

Basically, I don’t know how to deal with problematic books, because I feel like I won’t recognize if something is problematic, until I read someone else’s review mentioning that it is. I also don’t think that we should absolutely condemn those kind of books, unless the whole book is harmful. If we only focus on the bad part, we’ll forget or not notice the good part which is not really fair for the author or the book. It all really depends on what happens, and how it is handled.

This Week’s Participants:

Jane @ Blogger Books | Literary Lion | Megan @ Megabunny Reads | Line @ First Line Reader | Aria @ Book Nook Bits

What do you think? Have you read any books that are considered problematic? Did you notice it while you were reading or afterwards? How do you decide if something is problematic or not? Chat with me in the comments below!