Before I get into the actual topic, I want to emphasize this article is about good-faith bad reviews. I know, sometimes it feels like that's a bit of a contradiction, I'll get into that later. I just want to emphasize things like the Cate Corrain scandal or using review bombing bots are always unacceptable. Always. End of story.
Now with the disclaimer out of the way, on to the reason you're here:
I have always been a relatively chill book reader. All I want are relatable characters, an engaging plot, and parts that will make me laugh. That's it. These requirements transcend genre, I can be reading a cozy fantasy one day and a quirky mystery the next. As a result, it's rare I don't like a book. and it's even rarer I don't finish one.
That being said, when I was younger, I struggled with the idea I could just not finish a book. I remember this anxiety starting at some point in middle school. I decided to read the thickest book we had in the fiction section of the school library. I told myself it was a challenge, though I'm not sure who I was trying to prove things to. The book was incredibly boring and is number two on my "worst reads" list. But looking back, I think I would have grown out of the "I have to finish any book I start" phase naturally, if it wasn't for my English teacher I had the next year.
I had moved, and being the new girl in middle school was tough. I had no idea how to fit in with any of my classmates, and it caused me to become very isolated. I only had a few friends, and I was well aware there were plenty of people making fun of me behind my back. So, I ended up latching onto a story that gave me comfort: The Lord of the Rings. I read the trilogy about twenty-three times during the year, a fact I am still proud to share in all my nerd circles. My English teacher was not thrilled. In a parent-teacher conference, she stated she was concerned the trilogy was the only thing I was willing to read, and forced me to read something else. That book is number one on my "worst reads" list. She had assured me it was similar to The Lord of the Rings and I would love it - it wasn't even a fantasy novel! It was historical fiction set in World War II Germany. Maybe she thought because Tolkien fought in one of the world wars there would be overlap, but I can assure you there was not.
I remember telling my teacher I wasn't enjoying the book, and she responded that I had to read it anyway - a reminder that sometimes we have to read things we don't enjoy. This is true, there are plenty of things we don't read for fun. But with it, my teacher accidentally taught me a lesson: reading for fun is not always fun. And if you start a book, you absolutely have to finish it. There were plenty of books I should have stopped reading over the years, but I powered through them, just like my teacher taught me. And as a result? I stopped reading for years.
My story is very common. So many adults talk about how they lost their love of reading in Middle School or High School because not only did they have to read the Classical novels assigned to them instead of books they're interested in (which is an article for a different day - I have strong opinions about this), but because the books they did read for fun were replaced by an authority figure who said they needed to read something else.
Once I started reading again, I approached it differently. And ironically, it was publishing my book that unlocked something in me, letting me start to unlearn the lesson my teacher taught. When thinking about how I would react if my book got a bad review, I realized I would be okay with it - because not all books are for everyone. And that is when it dawned on me: I am a part of everyone. And that means not all books are for me.
That realization is why bad reviews and DNF (did not finish) lists are important! Once you find people with similar tastes, it'll give you a heads-up if a book is worth reading. For example, I have a friend with an insanely similar taste in reading to mine. Recently, she read a book that has been on both of our TBR lists - and she hated it. And that was enough for me to take it off of mine because if Jess hated it, I knew I probably would too. Her review kept me from not enjoying something, so instead, I could read a book I loved.
Bad reviews help us understand if a book is to our taste I have read bad reviews that convinced me to read a book because what they didn't like were things in books I love! I've also read good reviews that convinced me not to read a book. That's what reviews are for, to let us know whether or not something will be to our taste. You are allowed to love a book others don't, and you're allowed to hate a book others do. In the end, if you're having fun, then it's a book worth reading.
And to be honest, I still struggle with this concept. My anxiety likes to try and convince me a bad review is a personal insult to the author. It's not, I just wasn't the intended audience. So take those words, and release yourself from any guilt over not finishing or liking a book. Yes, even if the book is one that everyone else seems to love. Reading is for enjoyment, so find the books you cherish, find book friends with the same tastes, and go out and explore the different worlds that fiction has to offer.
And teachers, if a student is reading a book you don't necessarily like for fun - let them. You don't want them to accidentally learn the lesson I did. Because while I started reading again, so many people don't. And a world without books is one nobody should have to live in.