Bookly Gabbing: DNF Books

Bookly gabbing is just a feature here where I ramble about book-related subjects. And sometimes other-related subjects :)

DNF Books

 I know that there are a lot of mixed feelings on the subject of DNF books. Some people review them, some are firmly against them, some don't care who does what with the books they don't finish.

I've always been all for people reviewing them, as long as they can provide reasons behind it. I do not, however, support reviews with no grace, tact, or class. I get so so so angry when people call something like this a book review:

"This was terrible. I've enjoyed smelling dog crap more than I enjoyed this book. I couldn't even finish it because it was like scraping at my eyes with rusty iron nails.The author must have been on some serious drugs when he wrote this piece poo."

 Wow! So glad feelings can't be hurt by something like THAT. I mean, it's not like authors put a lot of time, thought, work, and even a piece of their soul into the book you just trashed. I'm not even kidding, I've seen reviews like that and even more mean than that. And, really, what's the point in bashing the author? Have you ever even spoken to him/her? No? WOW. Glad you somehow know how horrible of a person they are. Oh my gosh, when will people realize that just because a book comes from a writer's soul, doesn't mean that it defines the author. If you have no reason at all to dislike an author, then don't say rude things about them. Or, even better, if you do have a reason to dislike an author, don't make it everyone's business. Book reviews are about the product, not the producer.

My mentality is that negative reviews and DNF reviews are essential to the blogging community. If there is not a single negative thing said about a book, then people will probably end up spending their money and getting their expectations crushed. So, yes, I think negative reviews and DNF reviews can be a very good thing, but that's only if you're writing them to help out your readers. That's what we got into this for, right? To talk about books and help others find books that they adore! Somehow I doubt that using horrible language (I don't mean just cussing, but dropping the f-bomb every other word is not necessary!) and mean GIFs is really helpful to anybody, unless they're looking for a laugh.

I always say that I do review DNF books, but in actuality I have only reviewed one book I didn't finish, but that was because I made a conscious decision to close the book forever. I barely ever do that, because I keep hope that it will get better, or the curiosity of how it ends keeps me in. But there has been a lot more than one book I haven't finished in all the time that I have been blogging. All of those, though, I didn't really mean to not finish. I just wasn't hooked and I guess that one time I closed the book, I never opened it again. I didn't mean to. But I'd start another book. Then another one after that. And I'd keep shoving the book to the side until I forgot about the book that I wasn't really into. I don't review those books. There are probably reasons I can point out for not liking the book, but I think the reasons also have a lot to do with how I felt going into the book, or I just wasn't all that interested to begin with.

So those are my feelings on DNF books and negative reviews. If you have legitimate reasons for putting the book away or not liking it, then by all means, state those reasons in a classy, professional review. If you want. It's completely up to you. There are always going to be more negative reviews by other people, especially if the book is just bad. But please, do bloggers, readers, authors, and any other sort of book-lover a favor and don't sit there and bash a book/author.

What do ya'll think about negative reviews and whatnot? I won't be mad if you disagree with any of my opinions :)