NetGalley Addicts Support Group discussion

I'm reading a book from NG, and my rating after 20% of it is between 2 and 3. The flaw is in the style, not the subject. It's an easy read, though (while the book is presented as a sociological research), so I'll finish it. Would you post a review on GR/Amazon with 2 stars rating? Considering the fact that my review will be the first on both platforms.

Yes. I don’t see a problem with posting critical reviews. I often buy a book because the elements someone hated are things I would love

Yes, as long as your review includes the reasons you gave that rating.

I post negative reviews on Goodreads but with clear reasons about why the book didn't work for me. I don't post a negative review on Amazon.

RoshReviews wrote: "I post negative reviews on Goodreads but with clear reasons about why the book didn't work for me. I don't post a negative review on Amazon."
If I rate a book below three stars, I'd post it on Goodreads but not Amazon. But usually if it is below three stars I bail, life is too short for reading books which don't interest you.

That's true, Jim. I still need to learn how to DNF books without guilt. :-) But I review a lot of ARCs and I prefer to leave an honest feedback about everything I read. I like to think that I saved someone else's TBR with my reviews. :-D

Here's the thing.... Amazon does not rate the books as much by the star rating as they do by the amount of reviews/purchases on their products. Even a negative rating will help an author/seller be promoted more to others on the site with the algorithm Amazon uses.

Then on the other hand reviews help other readers decide whether they want to try a book or not. Things that bother one reader might not bother others but the review is there so everyone can make their own choice so hiding negative reviews doesn't benefit your fellow readers at all.

What Carrie said - volume of reviews is what promotes a book on Amazon's site. So yes- even critical reviews are helpful.

As long as the review is honest about what you liked and didn't like, and how much of it you did actually finish - I would say it's fair to post.

If I don't finish a book, then I post why I couldn't finish on Goodreads and NetGalley and move on. If I finish a book, then I post my review in all of the places that I would post any other review. I feel like I would lose some credibility as a reviewer if I treated a book that I didn't care for differently than one that I enjoyed. The only thing that I do differently if refrain from sharing much about the book on social media.

I will totally post a negative review if it is honest. It will also give the publisher feedback so they can pick better books.

Audrey, I am simultaneously reading two books of the same publisher. The publisher is a university. One book is five stars, this one - I am not sure yet

I've posted some epic negative reviews. Here are the rules I set for myself:
* Never, ever say anything negative about the author! It's about the book.
* Be explicit
*If there's anything good that can be said, then I will do that, unless I am just truly offended by the contents (which has happened.)
*If I am posting a negative review, then the next one I post has to be a positive one, even if it means I have to wait till I'm done reading a good one. This is partly to avoid frightening publishers, but it's also a personal ethic. I don't want to become someone that is always negative.

Donna wrote: "I've posted some epic negative reviews. Here are the rules I set for myself:
* Never, ever say anything negative about the author! It's about the book.
* Be explicit
*If there's anything good that..."

Those are really fabulous points, Donna. I try to incorporate most of those in my reviews but I didn't think about spreading out my negative reviews amid positive ones. I'll try to do that now.

I strongly believe that low star reviews should be uploaded to NetGalley, GoodReads, and anywhere else that you post your reviews. The publisher needs to know that there are some possible issues with that book. The potential purchaser should be informed also.

I agree with Carrie above, if you give the reasons, the readers of the review can decide if they will be issues for them. I do that for every purchase of an author with whom have none or little experience.

One interesting fact is that the NetGalley review of mine that has received the most helpful votes on Amazon is a two-star review. Therefore, I believe that low-star reviews are of value to post to all of your regular locations.

I also do not worry about uploading two low ratings in a row, but I've never been confronted with that issue. Of the 119 reviews of NetGalley books on Amazon, only four three-stars and four two-stars. My median reading time for all my books is eight days, so I need to be very picky on selecting books that I will like, so I do not have many low star reviews.

Update: I have read that some independent authors, only romance authors to date, have been vengeful. I have only asked and received one from an independent author and not a romance author. Based upon the claim being cut off, I will admit that it appears that it can occur with independent authors. As for me, I will find out in two months when it comes up to be read.

yes i post negative reviews - at one stage I was the only 1 star review for a self-published book and the author was so incensed he wrote an article about how I as a romance reader obviously couldn't have appreciated his work of art - to which I got called a failed author by other self-pub'd...

and you know what - it honestly made me double down on posting negative reviews because there has to be someone out there not willing to blow smoke up authors asses....not every book is great and even Charles dickens/Jane austen get bad reviews

My reviews are always honest, whether positive or negative. I do try to make sure that the criticism is constructive so the author or other readers understand why I didn't like it. That's what reviews are for right? To find out what other people think of the books.
I don't usually post negative reviews on my Instagram, but everything goes on my Goodreads.
I post on Amazon if I bought it, got it from NetGalley, or was asked to post there by the author when approached about reviewing.

Darya Silman wrote: "I'm reading a book from NG, and my rating after 20% of it is between 2 and 3. The flaw is in the style, not the subject. It's an easy read, though (while the book is presented as a sociological res..."

My view is that I am given an ARC to post an opinion, therefore it is worse to not post an opinion than to post a negative opinion. I often find negative opinions more informative than positive ones, eg I didn't like it because it was too long, or a slow-burner, or too much sex - those things might make me want to read them! Or if the reviewer compares the book unfavourably to an author whose work I detest - again that might make me want to read it. Or maybe they say, reads like an updated version of X, I might say, "but I love X bring it on".
Authors need reviews, positive or negative, the more the better so I say post. I can tell you that I post 1 star reviews all the time where I can't bear to finish the book (after several tries), and I rarely post 5 star reviews, yet I often get emails from publishers offering me links to ARCs (I also get rejected a lot too).

Alison. I posted my review anyway (it got 4 stars in the end)

I generally will post negative reviews (1 or 2 stars) to sites such as Goodreads, Litsy, etc but tend not to post them on Amazon. I’m quite lucky in that I tend to pick books I enjoy enough for at least a 3 stars rating so my 1 or 2 star ratings are very low in number.

I do post a negative review on Goodreads. I try to be honest and give my reason why. Amazon does not let me post reviews because I don't purchase enough from them. I had two bad experiences early on in Netgalley ... a author emailed me demanding I change my 3 star review to 5 star...and a fan sent me an insulting post and insisted I change my review to 5 stars saying it was the best book ever written! When I said no to both requests I was hassled until I basically quit reviewing for almost two years.

Diana wrote: "I do post a negative review on Goodreads. I try to be honest and give my reason why. Amazon does not let me post reviews because I don't purchase enough from them. I had two bad experiences early o..."

Both of them violated protocols, and they deserved to be reported. Also: I'd bet ten to one that the "fan" in question is actually the publicist, or possibly a relative.

I am curious as to how the author even obtained your email, unless you were reviewing a self-published book.

I have had push-back occasionally, and I've also known the hubris, more than once, of having hated a book that then went on to win allll the awards (but I hate those books still.) I generally either stand my ground, or fire back with both barrels. I've had a personal attack or two, not on NG, but here on GR, and depending on the situation, I've either deleted their remarks or reported them. Mighty rare, though, considering how often I post.

Hey guys, I am wondering if anyone else has ever experienced a critical 'negative' review of theirs being suppressed on Amazon, by which I mean you notice all the other reviews being approved are 4 stars and up and when you check yours it says it is being reviewed. It has happened to me once before and again this week.

It is not a matter of desperately wanting my opinion on amazon, but more that the arc requires a link to that review being shared before I can archive it, so now I'm three days late to that. Also it worries me that in the future when I am considering buying a product off of amazon and consult the reviews there may be some censorship at play.

My review does not contain any spoiler, foul language or personal attacks, it criticizes solely the book in respects to it literary shortfalls in an analytical way. This doesn't happen with every negative review I post so maybe I am overthinking it and they are just approving everyone else's reviews first by a matter of chance or I did something else wrong that I am missing and if that is the case please let me know.

Ｓｈｉｆｒａ wrote: "Hey guys, I am wondering if anyone else has ever experienced a critical 'negative' review of theirs being suppressed on Amazon, by which I mean you notice all the other reviews being approved are 4..."

Delays just happen sometimes when posting to Amazon. I've had 4 & 5 star reviews sometimes take up to a week to post, so it's not just negative ones that it happens to. There's no rhyme or reason why it happens, it just does. So I wouldn't worry about it until it's been over a week without it posting. At that point you could contact Amazon CS to have them manually look into it.

Thanks Melanie for your reply, that it has happened to you with positive reviews is comforting; it had only happened to me with negative reviews during their initial publication so that is why I grew suspicious. I'll try to be patient for a week before I hatch my next tin foil hat conspiracy theory.

Ｓｈｉｆｒａ wrote: "Thanks Melanie for your reply, that it has happened to you with positive reviews is comforting; it had only happened to me with negative reviews during their initial publication so that is why I gr..."
I'll never figure the algorithm out. Doesn't seem to matter what kind of rating I give a book, some get approved right away and others take days. I posted a review this week on Tuesday that just got approved. Meanwhile, I posted 2 yesterday that went through right away. It is the ones that violate some rule that bug me when I can't figure out what it could possibly be.

I post all my ARC reviews to Barnes & Nobles and Amazon and my library reviews to Amazon no matter the star rating. For the most part, I'm a gentle reviewer so no scathing critiques of books.

There are some reviews that might take a week to post and I don't really know why but it can happen when I have to six or so books publish on the same day so the first few go through quickly and the last couple might lag a bit. If I happen to be up at 3am on publishing day, posting a review then seems to go through almost instantly but I try to avoid being up at 3am.

Knock on wood, I seem to have been able to avoid the censoring mechanism on each site for a while now 😒

Renee wrote: "Ｓｈｉｆｒａ wrote: "It is the ones that violate some rule that bug me when I can't figure out what it could possibly be.."

That has happened to me only on Barnes & Noble and I usually have to edit down my review a ton because they don't specify what they object to. One time my review finally went through when I deleted just the word 'buckaroo' from my review. I think they have a wonky bad word detector where it flags any unusual word for fear its new urban dictionary type lingo. Thats another one of my crazy theories, you see. I've got plenty.

MarilynW wrote: "If I happen to be up at 3am on publishing day, posting a review then seems to go through almost instantly but I try to avoid being up at 3am."

I've noticed that too! The early bird to review gets the worm.

Thanks for commiserating by sharing your experiences with the mercurial amazon approval system, and to update my review is still not up. Thanks, Bezos!

yes if the book is awful I tell it how it is.

Shifra, I've had plenty of unhappy reviews posted on Amazon. I agree with Renee, Marilyn, and Melanie. Once in awhile a review just seems to get stuck and it takes days, or even a week to be approved and posted. As long as we stay within the guidelines, which it sounds like you have done, they'll post it. And if they decide against posting it, you will be notified. They won't just disappear it without content. These reviews are a very important part of Amazon's success story. They won't shoot you down over a negative review.

Yes. I will also post my review good or bad, even if I won't finish it. The only books I won't review are those I couldn't get into at the time, but they had potential and I would like to try again. But if I try again and still can't get into it, then I will review it.

*but if it's a NetGalley book or an ARC that is not mine, and I lose access to it, even though I wanted to try again, I won't review it, 'cause I won't buy it to try again.

I can't remember the last time my Amazon review was approved right away. It seems the waiting period gets longer and longer. I submitted a 5 star review of an ARC on Wednesday, now is Saturday

Darya Silman wrote: "I can't remember the last time my Amazon review was approved right away. It seems the waiting period gets longer and longer. I submitted a 5 star review of an ARC on Wednesday, now is Saturday"

Amazon never lets me post a review for a book that hasn't been released yet. But those I do are usually posted within a day or two

It seems to me that once Amazon starts approving your reviews, it does get easier. At the outset, it took awhile, but now I often find the approval in my inbox before I have even finished my social media postings. (I always go to Amazon first, unless the book isn't released yet, in which case I put a note on my calendar to come back on the book's pub date.)

Yes. If I am having trouble reading a book especially a Netgalley one I check the reviews to see if others have the same issue. I hate DNFing Netgalley picks but I will do so on my own reads. At the beginning of my Netgalley journey I had two bad experiences. I had an author email me asking me to change my 3 star review to a 5 star because her book deserved it ( I liked the book and said so...I just didnt love it) and a 2nd review a fan of the author ripped me to shreds for giving another 3 star review...I quit reviewing for over a year I was so upset. When I restarted I really carefully tried not to rock the boat but then saw some of the other reviews and started to write the way I felt.

Diana wrote: "Yes. If I am having trouble reading a book especially a Netgalley one I check the reviews to see if others have the same issue. I hate DNFing Netgalley picks but I will do so on my own reads. At th..."

As a self-published author, I can understand the heartache when someone gives your book a low rating. I've had a few and I felt it like a stab in my chest, but I didn't go after the reviewer, I took what they said about what they didn't like and went back to the book and read it to see if I saw what they did. And yes, I did see what one said, another I just ignored because the reviewer was just nasty and anyone looking at it would question her real intentions. Authors should look at what the reviews are saying so they know what people like and dislike and make their next book better! You know the saying, "Learn from your mistakes." That's what I try to do.

But no respectable author, or person, should ask you to change your review. If an author, or even a fan of that author, did that to me, I would go back to my review and make a note of it so the world would know!

There are some very dishonest people out there! And I don't respect that.

Diana, Rock the boat as long as you do it honestly and respectfully! Don't call the author names and be rude, say what you did like and didn't. New and seasoned authors need to get that thick skin because not everyone is going to like what they write. And there are some very vicious people out there, and they know how badly words can hurt.

There are times that I'm leery about posting an unfavorable review of a popular book or author, but I'm honest. That is what the job of a reviewer is: to voice their honest opinion.

Everyone has an opinion and it's your right to express it, but always do it respectfully.

And to end my rambling, I hate DNFing all books, including NetGalleys, but I always try for at least 50-100 pages, but if it's that bad or if it's just not pulling me in, (having that problem at the present time) I'll DNF it and say why, but I always try to include some positive.

Diana wrote: "Yes. If I am having trouble reading a book especially a Netgalley one I check the reviews to see if others have the same issue. I hate DNFing Netgalley picks but I will do so on my own reads. At th..."

Billie is totally right, and it's also a whopping violation of GR policy for an author to pressure you to change your rating! I would flag and report that BS right away. Usually if there's push back, it's from a "friend" (which is usually the publicist, or the author's spouse, or someone else that isn't impartial,) because the author is less likely to feel the wrath of GR powers that be.

Also worth noting: if you get a nasty comment left after you write a review--and I've had a few, though not often--you can delete it. I figure if we're only debating the merits of the book, I leave their conflicting opinion up, because I do so love the First Amendment, but when they get personal, speculating about my character and capacity to understand what I have read, I flag the remark, and later I go back and delete it, too.

Not sure if this is the place to say this, but re: Amazon posting, it's worth knowing that if you trip the Amazon no-no computer and they notify you that your review won't get posted, that's the last notification you'll ever get on the subject. I'm not at all sure what upset the Amazon censors in my recent review of Chevy in the Hole; I deleted the brief reference to "through hell or high, toxic water" before submitting it the first time, so perhaps the paragraph that mentions the social issues that appear within the story...?? Well anyway, my point is that I trimmed that review way down to where it wasn't nearly as interesting, or potentially controversial, heaven forbid, and resubmitted it, and within a few hours, they posted it; but THEY DON'T TELL YOU they are doing that, so you have to keep checking the site to see if your review shows up, so that you can cut and paste the link back into NG. If you don't check, you'll never know.

Diana wrote: "Yes. If I am having trouble reading a book especially a Netgalley one I check the reviews to see if others have the same issue. I hate DNFing Netgalley picks but I will do so on my own reads. At th..."

This is why I stopped reading/reviewing ARCs from authors in the indie romance genre. The amount of run ins I had with badly behaving snowflake authors (and their rabid fans) that couldn't take criticism and attacked my reviews, and ME personally was crazy.

Now I stick to places like NetGalley where you can actually express your honest opinion about a book without all the drama attached.

Thanks everyone. It was years ago and I deleted the two reviews. I feel much better with my reviews and I also have had positive feedback from the authors. My concern lately has been that I have been in several book funks with being stuck at home during the pandemic (be careful what you wish for lol)...so am really careful to give books a 2nd or 3rd chance before DNFing them

Diana wrote: "Thanks everyone. It was years ago and I deleted the two reviews. I feel much better with my reviews and I also have had positive feedback from the authors. My concern lately has been that I have be..."

Diana, when I am not sure whether I want to DNF a book, I get the audio version from the library and let it run while I do laundry or clean the kitchen. If I still can't stand it by 25% or 30% of the way in, I know I'm done. (Of course, by the time I can do this, pub date has come and gone, but oh well.)

("This is why I stopped reading/reviewing ARCs from authors in the indie romance genre. The amount of run ins I had with badly behaving snowflake authors...")

Yep. Same reason why I stopped reviewing under my author name. Sadly, there are some very dishonest and vindictive indie authors out there and they give the honest ones a VERY bad name.

When I first started self-publishing around ten years ago I found this out. There was a lot of 'you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours.' And if you wouldn't play the game, they'd run your name/books through whatever pile of poo-poo, they found or even made up. There was one who'd do the same if you were in her genre and getting better reviews than her, even if you never reviewed her books.

There was also the 'rumor' that authors were creating 'other' profiles just to review their books favorable and others not so much and having their friends and family do the same. Good reasons for Amazon to get stricter with their reviewing process, barring reviews if you didn't buy the book.

And no, I have NEVER reviewed the books I wrote under this name.

Billie wrote: "("This is why I stopped reading/reviewing ARCs from authors in the indie romance genre. The amount of run ins I had with badly behaving snowflake authors...")

Yep. Same reason why I stopped review..."

The industry definitely is cesspool that needs a major overhaul. But considering the problematic authors are never held accountable. It goes on, and on, and on...

hello everyone! recently i received an ARC of a lead title/anticipated sequel from a major publisher via NetGalley, and since i absolutely hated it, i posted my 1 star review on goodreads. however, for some reasons it kinda blew up and my review is now one of the top reviews for this book rn on grs. i have heard several stories about people (esp small reviewers) who rated books negatively then never receiving another ARC from that publisher again. from my experience, will this review affect my chance of receiving future ARCs from this publisher?

I've wondered that myself. I've rated many books 1 or 2 stars and DNF a couple but have yet to notice not being approved, but I don't pay close attention to the publishers, just the books blurbs, but maybe I should.

I'm not sure there is a real answer. I have wondered when I sent a book back how that affects what I get. I'm not sure I will ever know. I do follow a personal if possible mention something good, sometimes it's about the cover. If a book is bad for me, it will be good for someone else. I do get denied books on NetGalley. I checked my profile and I'm not a teacher, blogger, YouTuber. I'm a reader. I've wondered why I'm sent an email asking for reviewers and then get denied.

lisa (nicolibby's version) wrote: "hello everyone! recently i received an ARC of a lead title/anticipated sequel from a major publisher via NetGalley, and since i absolutely hated it, i posted my 1 star review on goodreads. however,..."

normally if i'm going to 1 star (or DNF) a netgalley copy i let the publisher know - i post the review, but i also leave a note on the netgalley record so they can see - its not stopped me from getting review books from them in the future

lisa (nicolibby's version) wrote: "hello everyone! recently i received an ARC of a lead title/anticipated sequel from a major publisher via NetGalley, and since i absolutely hated it, i posted my 1 star review on goodreads. however,..."

The only way that is likely to occur is if you develop a track record of consistently rating books poorly. The reader that just never likes anything isn't going to get a lot of sought-after galleys. But obviously, that's not who you are.

I'm in my 9th year of reviewing for Net Galley, and I have written some scorching reviews; some of them are quite recent, in fact. You owe your readers the truth; you only owe Net Galley, and publishers, an honest review that tells what it is that you liked and/or didn't. My own rule for myself is to follow a negative review with a positive one, which is usually what would happen anyway. If I do finish reading two bad ones, I sit on the review for the second one until I am ready to review one I liked before the next bad one.

Here's something that's worth a chuckle: my very first auto-accept publisher is a small press for which I published a very snarky review. It was the first review I'd posted for them, and they autoapproved me immediately afterward. Here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

In a nutshell, you can rest easy.

Hopefully my review of the audio version of this book wont ruin my reviewing chances??? I actually just put the bit about the audio book in the notes for the publisher rather than on the Netgalley review as they hadn't sent me the audio version, but as was a bit late reviewing and trying to catch up, bought the audio version and wished I hadnt!! My advice to the publisher was to re-record the audio with another narrator!!!

Just finished The IT girl by Ruth WareRuth Ware

4* for the book but less than 1* for audio version

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...