Breaking News
Hello fellow bloggers, readers and authors.
The Divas Book Blog are sad to say that we have come to a point in our blogging career where we are absolutely speechless. A bloggers duty is to read a book and write an honest review. Period! We started this blog because we wanted to read books and let other readers know what we really think about it.
What we will tell you might not shock you, but it´s rude as hell and we think this shouldn´t happen.
We´ve been seeing alot of Blog Tours lately who offer ARC´s in exchange for an honest review, but are ( at the same time ) not willing to support a review with less than a 3,5 rating. Seriously? Who came up with that?
Let us put this in other words for you guys:
We get invited to join a Blog Tour…we accept….we review….but then we get an email saying ” If you can´t rate this book with more than 3,5 stars, let us know…”. And then we get a chance to either ditch the Tour and post our review anyways, or we ditch the review and let the hosts give us something different to plaster on the internet just so there WON`T be a review with less than 3,5 stars.
We´re not trying to piss on anyone´s leg here…..we just don´t understand why we´re not permitted to be honest when a blogger should be nothing but!
Yes. We understand that authors struggle and want nothing more than to ” get out there”. Authors depend on reviews. Honest reviews.
Bloggers depend on their followers / readers who trust a bloggers opinion. It´s a devilish cycle….isn´t it?
So why would someone refuse to receive an honest opinion if they want one?
Surely, when a blog participates in a Blog Tour, the won´t rip the author / book apart. That´s rude. All can be said diplomatically so no harm can be done.
Our definition of Honesty:
Honesty means being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere. It also means being straighforward and truthful.
The Divas Book Blog have been nothing but honest in our reviews. It´s really simple: If we liked a book and rated it with 5 stars, then that´s what we thought the book deserved. If we rated a book with 3 or less stars, then the book wasn´t good enough for us. Which brings us to the fact that OUR ratings are OUR personal opinions.
We understand that when we give a 3 out of 5 star rating for a book, it will not look picture perfect for the novel or author. But…has anyone ever noticed that 3 out of 5 is actually more than half? It´s a decent rating and no book blogger should be afraid to rate with honesty! What will happen if a blogger actually rates with 3 or less stars?
pssst…..come closer and I´ll tell you…..NOTHING HAPPENS! It´s your honest opinion. Nothing more, nothing less. If an author isn´t happy with a 3 or less rating? Not a bloggers problem. If a blogger has built a friendly relationship with an author and gets asked to do an honest review….then be honest! No one, not even the author, would appreciate a lie. But if a blogger is afraid they might jepordize the relationship with a ” bad ” rating….then maybe….just MAYBE a blogger should just give up blogging. What´s the point in lying? If a blogger knows the author won´t like the truth…then maybe the author should give up too! This business is based on honesty. So why not stick with that? If a blog rates a book with 5 stars and really thinks it only deserves 3….and we as avid readers find that out…..then we feel fucked over!
There is no way in hell that a book will only receive 5 star ratings. Not possible. Because…somewhere out there….there are people who spend their precious time reading a book, in hopes it will be a fab read and get disappointed. What seemed to be great turned out not so great. Then the reader spends even MORE time and writes a review of that ” not so great” book and ends up rating it with 2- 3 stars. Should someone get mad? No. Not at all.
The Divas depend on reviews when wanting to read a new book. No matter where we read reviews….we like to read the good and bad ones. Why? Because we love to see different opinions. Maybe the reason why a reader didn´t like a book is the reason we would love it!
Now…back to the honesty thing…..
We´re honest reviewers because we believe there are people out there who appreciate that.
A bloggers main purpose is not to work for an author and make sure that person is 100% happy, bloggers mainly work for readers and help promote an authors work! It´s a hard job to do, but we think it pays off when we invest time and love and give our honest opinion.
So, why in God´s name isn´t it allowed on some blog tours to give an honest review?
Are we taking this blogging business to serious? Maybe. But everyone should never forget that an author wants to make money and they probably will at some point. But a blogger usually doesn´t get paid. So we think it´s only fair we get to be honest. If you do something…then do it right and not only half. That´s stupid.
When someone can answer that one for us….let us know. We´re dying to know your thoughts on the subject!
Much love,
the Divas xx