A Whole New World

Today I entered into a strange new world.
A world where people tell other people what they think of a book and think their opinion will matter.
And the strange thing is, somehow these complete stranger's opinions actually matter to other complete strangers.
I entered into the world of book reviews.

Today I was reviewing the book I've recently finished called Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. And writing a review on both Goodreads and Amazon is actually quite a bit more difficult than I anticipated!

I read reviews. I pondered. I stared questioningly at a rating system based on five stars. Yet, I was still at a loss. These two platforms are connected, yet still so different and strange. They both offered varying reviews of this book I read. Some reviews I agreed on, and others made me question what I believed. Some were so outlandish that I wondered how these people function on a normal basis, and others were so thoughtful and insightful that I became intrigued in the writer of the review, that led to possible people stalking, following their reviews, and even friending a couple of whom I became so taken by. (I've still yet to hear back from a couple of them. They're probably sitting at home wondering who this strange girl is that their only connection to is a book that's well over 100 years old)

I learned that reviews should be informative of basic things to expect from the novel, as well as opinions on why or why not these are important. I learned that while opinions are much needed in a review, they should still be respectful whether or not the work was liked. Just because Joseph Conrad isn't alive to read it doesn't mean he can't come haunt you for pulling personal attacks on him. And plus when you just say you hated it with no reasoning or backup, you sort of end up sounding like an idiot and your review helps absolutely no one. And I also learned that sometimes people like to post a review as long as the novel. 

And then it came my turn.

I came to certain conclusions about how to handle my reviews. One of them being that although Goodreads and Amazon are connected, they actually do serve very different purposes.

Amazon is sort of like giving to charity. You really get nothing back from it, unless of course you just find immense satisfaction from ranting or praising at intense levels. You're basically just providing a short opinion to help others make a decision about whether they should buy this book. Because of this, I ended up giving my review on Amazon a shorter review, and a higher rating as to encourage others that this book does have something to offer.

But on the flip side, Goodreads is a social act where others can give back to you by engaging you in a discussion based on what you've said in your review. They also take your rating to base recommendations for future reading upon. Because of this, I left a longer review, and a slightly lower rating. While I appreciated reading the book, I don't totally fancy Goodreads recommending me to others that are so much like it. But I left a longer review as a way to (hopefully) still encourage others to read it, while giving backup to why it's an important book without me necessarily loving it. I'm also hoping that there will be interaction on my review, and that others will find it helpful (or not) and give me opinions on how I could better improve my experience with the book.

Overall, I believe that no matter where the review is being posted, it should still be informative, without being overbearing. And while it should be personal, it shouldn't personally destroy the author or the work.