I wonder what the world would be like if everything we ever created was subject to reviews?

   Let’s imagine you spend three full months knitting a complex and detailed adult sweater, but, when it’s finished, you’re required to post that sweater online for reviews. Now, keeping in mind that most of the reviewers are not knitters themselves, what do you think the reviews will be like? My guess is that some people might feel your craftsmanship was exquisite even though they didn’t like the colour, others might love the colour but feel like the cable design was off, still others might love most of it but not like the texture.   

   This is the inevitable nature of reviews, isn’t it?

   People’s likes and dislikes are entirely subjective, and taste varies wildly from person to person…

   I just released my debut novel, The Maiden Ship on February 7, 2020 and this is my first real experience being open to public review as an author. It’s an interesting journey, and for the sake of bringing my point home, I want to share a few of the contrasts I’ve read in the reviews on my own book: one reviewer thought my main character’s pinnacle development moment came too abruptly while another thought he took forever to get there, another said my writing was not poetic enough while another called it too flowery, and while some loved that my novel maintained a male POV (point of view) throughout, some criticized this by saying that a girl (me) should not be writing in a male POV. Talk about variety, hey?!

   Quite honestly it’s impossible to be hurt by any of these, none of them are objective, they’re obviously based on personal bias and taste. I know all you veteran authors out there have this down pat already, but I just want to encourage the newbie authors out there, like me, not to take these reviews to heart.  That’s not to say constructive criticism from knowledgeable professionals should be ignored, not at all, but when it comes to the average online review, you need to take them all with a grain of salt. And NEVER, EVER let them discourage you, SIMPLY KEEP WRITING!

   P.S. I’ve also learned not to trust book reviews for my own reading choices. From now on, I plan to let a book speak for itself and I’ll no longer be turned off from reading something I’m interested in just because of a random two star review that was posted online—who’s to say that what didn’t suit that person won’t suit me? Of course if you still feel like you need reviews then let me suggest you seek out friends with similar tastes instead, that way you’ll be able to trust their recommendations whole heartedly. Happy reading!