After Saturday’s lively discussion some interesting points were brought up in the comment thread that I’d like to address while talking about some of the wider talking points surrounding one star reviews.  It’s in no particular order but I think it is important to address some of these today:

Most reviewers aren’t targeting you personally. There’s a difference between criticizing a product and criticizing the person behind the product, which I consider author-bashing.

1.  Giving a one star review does not mean you’re being rude or disrespecting the effort the author put into a book.

Unless you’re author-bashing I see no reason why a one star review can be considered rude as long as it’s your honest opinion and aren’t utterly reveling in taking down the book.  When I do a book review I generally try to follow a format where I point out what I liked/disliked and why (generally)…