I recently read a blog post on Cynsations, An Open Love Note to Debut Authors About Hurtful Online Reviews.

My published writer friends have told me that it’s really useless to read bad reviews—especially those that are scathing or get personal. And above all other things, it’s even more useless to reply to the bad online reviews. In the end, when all is said and done, it’s usually the author who turns out looking bad.

But it always amazes me how some book reviews tend to go off on a tangent and start to “review” the author.

I’ve seen some scathing reviews both in official print and online that talk more about the author rather than the book and I wonder exactly what’s going on. Does the reviewer know the author personally? Is there some kind of vendetta or jealousy?

One really ever knows what the reason is behind a really bad review. Maybe the reviewer felt that the author wasted their time and now is bitter or maybe the reviewer really didn’t like the plot or outcome of the book.

But one question that is always in the back of mind: Is the reviewer also a writer?

There are many books that I’ve read that I didn’t particularly like—but the last thing I do is talk negatively about them or the author. My first thought when I read I book that didn’t connect with me: I’m not the intended audience.

Writing is a lonely business. And it’s also takes a long time to create a novel. And no matter what its merits—reading is so subjective—there will always be varying opinions of a book’s worth. And if a novel has made it to publication, there was at least an agent or a editor who saw its potential to reach a specific audience.

So who am I to determine a book isn’t not good just because I don’t like it? It may not be good to me, but it could be great for someone else.

And the last thing I need to do is go online and trash the author because I didn’t like what I read. A constructive critique of the novel’s shortcomings is totally different and may be even beneficial—but to point out subjective shortcomings of the author?

I don’t think so.