What I Learned From a Pair of Two-Star Book Reviews

My memoir and two contemporary fiction books have been out in the world for a while now, and my once frequent checking of Amazon reviews has slowed. I’m still delighted to read the encouraging comments from readers as they trickle in—what character they were drawn to, whether a story resonated with them, or how the writing connected with them emotionally.  

Among the mostly positive ratings and comments, though, there were the not-so-good ratings, too, with their accompanying comments. 

Under the Birch Tree had received a pair of two-star ratings on Amazon. When the reviews posted soon after the publication, I was not only a debut author; I was a debut memoirist. It was a time when my internal dialogue rang with sensitivity, fear, and unworthiness. The slightest suggestion of negativity was sure to set me back as a newbie author, causing me to doubt myself and my work. I wondered if I would ever be published again.

And while I may not have been so delighted with the ratings, admittedly, I was still curious about what the readers had to say.

I wondered if critical comments could be reframed as something positive. It can be tough, especially when it’s your personal story. But I have found that comments can reveal who is reading the book, what readers expected from it, and the perspective they brought to the story.

One reviewer said her love of birch trees had drawn her to the book. She was looking for what she called “birch magic,” but it wasn’t there. I had failed to meet her expectations.

Another reviewer thought that there was too much dialogue for a memoir. From her comment, I understood she was a reader of memoirs, and from the memoirs she had read, mine didn’t fit a traditional memoir where dialogue takes a back seat to a narrative of reflection and lessons learned. She also suggested that there was a generation gap. I surmised she was younger, and I, older, as she struggled to connect with a perspective written by a middle-aged woman about the life of her younger self.

Both reviewers said they wanted more. Perhaps they were looking for answers in their own search to find their places, and I hadn’t given them what they were seeking. Or perhaps they simply read the book expecting something different from what I had written.

All reasoning aside, after receiving the two-star reviews, I learned that my memoir would never be all things to all women. My book was not a book of answers, but a book of what was possible.

The lower ratings also reminded me I wouldn’t have changed a thing in any past work because that was where I was in my life and where my writing was at the time I wrote the book. Also, I didn’t want criticism of one book, written years ago, to influence how I would write a next. To do so would be a step backward. 

I thought of the obvious: someone had read my book. That, in itself, was a positive. Maybe she didn’t like it or wanted something different. Maybe she wouldn’t recommend it. But then again, she might recommend it to a friend with the caveat that it wasn’t for her. That friend might love it and pass it on to someone.

I look back at those two-star reviews now, and I see them differently. They are not something to be disregarded. A negative review can tell an author something about the reader rather than simply something about the book. It can reveal expectations, experience, age, or simply a story a reader hoped to find. It can also show you where you were as a writer and where you are now.

It’s about learning that a writer doesn’t have to satisfy every reader, and learning to stay open to criticism without allowing it to define the work.

Rather than dismissing the ratings with a scroll to the next review, I’ve come to see that a reader’s comments are nuggets of gold, simply dressed as a star or two, that require reframing. Behind the negative façade, there may be a positive take.

As much as I wish for readers to connect to a story and its characters, it would be unrealistic to think that every reader will find answers to their puzzling lives in a memoir, or find everything they want in a novel. Maybe a reader would want more motherly wisdom from my first novel, The Wisdom of the Willow. Or perhaps more details about the accidental shooting of a young boy in my latest, Mercy Town.

Now, I’m grateful for all the comments—even the not-so-good ones. 

And the negative reviews didn’t keep me from publishing fiction.

—

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: How To and Tips