I am not an expert reviewer. To be honest, I just let my fingers do the typing while my brain dreams of having dumplings for dinner. But, I do think, while we should be true to our feelings about the book at some point do we think we have crossed the line?

 

While the line isn’t a bright pink and painted right in front of your face so you can clearly see it, doesn’t mean we can ignore it like we do with other things in life.

Basically why do we cross this fabulous line and turn book reviews into an attack? I’m seeing this more and more frequently and to be honest it’s more annoying than waking up with a massive pimple before going on a date.

A review is your opinion about the product. Not the creator. Not the creator’s race. Nor the creators culture.

It is honestly that fucking simple people. I don’t understand why people constantly feel the need to attack the authors through their reviews. Is it because they are that self bloody entitled? Or does everything offend them? And if everything offends you that easily, maybe start thinking of yourself as the problem and not everyone else. Seek help for your internal anger and eat a cupcake. Or as aussie as it sounds, have a bag of cement and grow the fuck up.

This offended thing is honestly really getting out of hand and I don’t see where it will end….

 

 

Future humans:

“I feel so violated, the way the Earth spins without my consent.” Can you sue gravity?

“I cannot believe that they made these characters breath, like how annoying. I am soo offended.” Cause without the oxygen in air they would like… you know.. DIE

“I can’t believe the author wrote about space. He clearly hasn’t been there. Its offence to the alien people.” Just go probe yourself.

 

Okay my examples of what future humans might be like is a little far fetch but its midnight here and I neeed meee someee coffee.

 

 

 

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, ‘well I can see that the wheels are spinning but I’m pretty sure the hamster is dead?’ This is my general reaction to seeing some of the things people say and type, but shall I give you some examples of what I have seen??

Let’s start with books being pulled from shelves before its release day. Seriously google this and find how many books have been pulled because of reviewers. There is a list but I am way too tired and ranty to type it out for you. That’s what google is for.

I would hate to say it and my fellow book lover friends would probably smack the nickel out of me but IT IS A BOOK. It’s a fiction book. There is no truth about it. It is an idea that someone had and decided to write about. As reviewers do we have the right to tell an author what they can write about and what circumstance it should be written??? FUCK NO. Honestly just no! Thinking of it simply – if a book offends you, you do realise that you are getting offended by a simple made up story. Next thing we know you will be walking around and telling pre-schoolers that their imaginary friend of a different culture is offensive to you. See where I am getting at? People are getting made over a made up story!!! Like, can you stop being a sensitive snobby prick for a second? That would be nice. Thanks.

You realise that if we start dictating what authors can write about, then not only will they lose their spark for writing, readers won’t be enticed to read and there will be less books published. Umm hello, while books are amazing and we collect them like little lost children (while waiting for Peter Pan to collect them) books still have to compete against technology, which is a booming fucking industry. Technology is only going to grow. And I know, I surprisingly work in this industry and I constantly see the weird things they are inventing and coming out with. But the evolution of books can only go so far. Did we really want to start restricting what publishers and authors produce? If we keep feeling precious about books, it will get to a point where authors will be too scared to write and there goes our future generation of writers. We will literally crush their imaginative little hearts, and not in the fun fantasy way that the Red Queen does, but literally taking their souls and tearing them to shreds.

If you think that I’m pulling this dead rabbit from an old magician hat, then by all means think that I’m making this up. Are you on bookstagram? Do you see how many authors struggle and always express their thoughts and panic over people hating them/their work and their books? Maybe look a little deeper. Any unpublished author will tell you there fear about this, especially since most of them plaster it on their stories.

If an author puts in the research and goes the extra mile for the book, then why are we being little bitches about it? Honestly we are, I see this all the fucking time.

My favourite one of all time was a review on goodreads on a small indie book. Summary of the book, a white country boy falls in love with a dark skinned exchange student. Shouldn’t be that bad right? It actually was amazing. I read it and I love it. And well it has a blue cover and we all know I eat that shit up like chocolate brownies while my gran ain’t looking.

There was a line in the book: ‘I wish all my freckles would join together so I could have skin as dark as hers.’

To me, there isn’t a problem with that. As one of the nations fucking palest person ever, I have always dreamed of having darker skin. This doesn’t make me a racist btw! There is nothing negative and inappropriate about that comment. As a person that got sunburnt inside a fricken café because the sun reflected off the drink fridge near where I was sitting, I would love to get a tan, have darker skin. Instead I have two shades: translucent white and tomato. There ain’t no in-between. I don’t even go off white. Or dark white. Just the same shade of white all over. Wishing to have darker skin is not a racist comment, it just means that you admire that color. And when did it become a crime to positively admire someone’s skin?

On goodreads someone used this comment from the book and said that it was racist and how dare they?! I read it and thought that it was over dramatic. Especially when this white author’s dark skinned wife commented that there was no problem with it at all. In my opinion this reviewer only read 10% of the book and stopped because of this one comment and missed out on a good five star read.

There are going to be books out there that have racists characters, or racist views but can we keep in mind that if these are work of fiction, it is the author wanting to tell a story. And sometimes that hate that is expressed against a race/culture/sex/orientation at the start of the book is merely a build up to show you how our main characters are struggling, not the fact the author is racist/sexist?

Another one is when an author writes about a different culture, sex or disability. If the author is putting in the effort and doing the research, should we attack them on it??

I just finished The Hand, the Eye and the Heart which is written by a white woman but it is based on Chinese culture and is a sort of retelling of Mulan. I rather enjoyed the book but if you go on goodreads you can find the following comments:

“The author is a culture vulture and can’t take the legit criticism of this book”

“Update: Fuck this author:

“White author writing culture not her own”

“cis author writing nb story line” – I have no idea what the translation of this is but it probably ain’t nice

“Author is shitty”

If you actually have the book in your hand and do the research you can see that she credits those in the Chinese culture that aided her to write this story.

Not only do the above cross the line from reviewing the product to dishing the author because their lives are sad pieces of shit that the want to bring down others to their dung heap of a level. Honest to Satan’s bleached asshole I don’t think anyone is that important that they can actually attack someone like this? What gives them this right? Is it passed out at church with the priest’s blessing? “Here child, you shall be allowed to attack an author you have never met nor read her work. Just attack them until they sit in the shower uninspired and giving up on life.”

Just hold the fuck up. Not even the queen has attacked anyone online over a book, and that bitch has a real fucking crown, not something you buy on ebay. The queen waves happily from her balcony and doesn’t attack a single person online, what a fucking legend with her little corgi’s. Don’t be fly turd, be like the queen.

I think there needs to be a real life girl in the well ring situation going on. Instead of watching a video and dying within 7 days. I think if you unnecessarily attack an author then within 7 days someone shows up at your house, slaps your face and washing your mouth with soap until you learn some manners. I volunteer. I love slapping bitches. But I’m going to use organic soap because I don’t use anything that is tested on animals.

The sky is blue. The grass is green. Insulting an author just makes you lame. Actually worse than lame. It makes you soo sad and pathetic and I actually wonder if you have given up on the world and therefore the world has given up on you.

Honestly, I get that some people don’t like it when people of other race/sexuality or orientation write books about something that you may experience in life every day. But we can we stop and remember that these are work of fiction?

 

We want to keep encouraging authors to keep writing and we want the future generations to keep reading. We want to book industry to never die. So can we stop attacking authors for fiction work (especially if they did the research)

Can we stand down from our offensive fiction tower and drop the snobby attitude?

 

I know that there are books out there that not everyone is going to like. We have unique and wonderful personalities and different interests, but at no point should we attack an author because we don’t like their work. We need to make a positive impact on the world and not be led by Derry Downers whose souls are warped out of misery.

 

If you don’t like a book – share your opinion but don’t attack anyone for it.

Don’t attack an author because you live a sad life and need thick skin

Bring me dumplings

Encourage all authors to keep writing and research their work

Don’t be a knob-head

Be kind to one another

 

 

 

Love Blue xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above rant is my view and my view alone. The comments were taken directly off Goodreads and if they are your comments and you are upset about me using your words without your permission, welcome to the wonderful world of the internet. BOOOM BITCHH!!! What you say is out there in the world and you can’t hide from it. You also can’t hide from me if I ever find the owners of those comments I will get a stool, stand on and bitch slap some fucking manners into you. Again, I’m not here to apologise if I offend you, *shrugs* mehhh.