As a book reviewer, I obviously give out a lot of criticism so of course I’m equipped to take a lot of criticism.  I keep an open mind and weigh pretty much everyone’s opinion carefully to see whether it has merit or not.  I listen to the feedback my readers give me through polls and comments as well as read articles about how to improve my blog.  Improving my blog is a constant work in progress, if I’m honest so I do like criticism.  However, there are right and wrong ways to go about criticizing a book reviewer and/or their reviews.

Criticism #1: “[A rebuttal of my review saying that my 1 star rating was not deserved.]  This was written by an entire class of very exasperated middle schoolers who just finished reading the novel.”

There are a lot of problems with criticizing something this way, but the main logical fallacy is this: [x] group of people liked [y] therefore you should.  This is utterly ridiculous and I would have expected better from the teacher (yes, a teacher said this!) who criticized my review of The Outsiders.  That’s like saying lots of middle schoolers a couple of years ago loved Justin Bieber therefore I should like Justin Bieber.  Anyone with a brain can dispute that logic, believe me.

Quite frankly, I don’t give a crap if an entire class of middle schoolers liked The Outsiders.  This is arrogant of me but I think I have slightly more reading experience than they do, considering I have averaged 200 books per year for well over a decade.  Is my opinion more valid than theirs?  No, but it’s certainly more informed.  In the end, what’s wrong with criticizing a review like this is the idea that one group likes something and therefore everyone should like it.  It’s ridiculous. Continue reading →