Why I Believe Goodreads Can Be Toxic
By: Edie Tuck
Tags: Criticism, Reading, Review, Writing, Goodreads

“Our mission is to help people find and share books they love.” — Goodreads

A fantastic concept and a marvellous mission. When some of my bookish friends told me about Goodreads and invited me to join them on it a few years ago, I was excited. I thought it was an excellent opportunity to become part of the “world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations.” I mean, what self-proclaimed book nerd wouldn’t?

It didn’t take very long for me to realize that what I had considered to be a sacred space for readers, was in fact, crawling with some of the slimiest and creepiest of internet trolls - opinionated and uncensored ‘book critics.’ I put those words in quotations because, frankly, I find the self-proclaimed title to be laughable.

Let me explain. Firstly, if you’re writing these ‘reviews’ for free, it doesn’t automatically make you a critic, regardless of how many books you manage to read in any given week. Secondly, I’m a firm believer that what defines art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

The site states that their platform is a place to “help people find and share books they love.” They don’t go on to add, “and to tear down and slam books they hate.” And this is where it all went wrong, at least in my humble opinion. I feel it’s imperative for us all to remember that there’s a very real difference between offering constructive criticism and being flat-out nasty.

Authors pour their souls, and often many, many tears, into their work. It doesn’t necessarily mean that what they’re writing will be New York Times worthy, but what it is deserving of every single time is respect. Writing is hard. Most writers on this platform will agree that even the articles we write here can be difficult; we often stare at blank screens for hours (days?) on end to come up with sometimes mediocre pieces, sometimes viral-worthy pieces. The point is these are 500 to 2000-word articles, give or take, and they push us to our limits and back again. Now take that and times it by about 40 or 50 to develop an 80,000 to 100,000-word novel.

Spend weeks, months, or even years, pouring out every piece of yourself onto these pages and then be the bravest you’ve ever been, and put it out there for the world to see. Then, a few weeks later, find your book on Goodreads and read the reviews. On second thought, you probably shouldn’t. Not unless you want your soul crushed and your confidence torn to shreds.

Now let me ask you, how is it anyone’s right to tear down someone else’s work simply because they don’t like it? This is taking the whole ‘freedom of speech’ act to a whole different level. Unless I’m a beta or alpha reader, and I’ve specifically been asked by the author to review their work, I have no right to publicly criticize their art.

Just as I would never tell another person not to watch a television show or movie because I think it ‘sucks,’ neither would I ever tell another person not to read a book I didn’t like. Why not? Because there’s an excellent chance that they would enjoy it even if I didn’t!

Sure, I might gripe about it to my best friend and go on about how horrible or poorly written a novel was, but that’s where it ends in that one private conversation, which will never in a million years reach the ears, or the eyes, of the author. I’m not paid to tear down people’s dreams, regardless of whether I think they’re good at them or not. That’s not my job.

Why do we feel entitled to vomit our negative opinions of other people’s hard work all over the internet, breaking down their masterpiece into crumbs and telling them which of the crumbs are edible, which are a little stale, and which are downright mouldy?

I’ll repeat it a third time, “Our mission is to help people find and share books they love.”

Most of us have grown up hearing at least a couple hundred times, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Well, all those mamas were right, weren’t they?

Before you go and leave another nasty comment or write a bad review for someone’s book (or article!), you might want to stop and think of how you would feel if you were on the receiving end of those comments.

Constructive criticism is absolutely essential for growth as a writer, but there’s a way to deliver it that doesn’t offend or hurt. Choose your wording carefully, uplift instead of tear down, and always, ALWAYS put yourself in the writer’s shoes before you hit that publish button.

Share the books you love; leave out the ones you don’t. It’s simple. Be kind.