Snarky Reviewers…Where They Be?
Thursday, February 28, 2008Posted in: Adventures with Blog people, Not Another Fucking Negative Reviews post
No, that title isn’t actually as tongue-in-cheek as it may seem.
Janine at Dear Author has a great post, a confession of sorts, up at Dear Author, where she outs herself as an aspiring author.
The post itself wasn’t what I wanted to address. What I want to address is the myth that Romanceland is full of Snarky Reviewers. No. It’s. Not.
It was this comment that caught my eye:
I don’t think there is a backlash per se, at least no yet, but more voices are being raised against reviewers that trash books, irrespective of who the reviewer is (author, reader, etc.). Fact is that quite a bit of snarky reviews out there have gone way overboard.
The subject of reviewing has been discussed a thousand times around these parts, a million times even, and every time we have one of these discussion, the subject of Snarky Reviewers are brought up, as if Romland is full to the brim with them. It. Is. Not.
When I think of ‘Snarky Reviewers, I think of Mrs Giggles, The SBs and possibly me, But beyond that, I start to scratch my head. Amazon reviewers? Do they really count?
Just like the supposed legions of Mean Girl Bloggers that parade around Blogland, I suspect that Snarky Reviewers are becoming a bit of an urban myth. Everybody talks about them, as if they are all over Romanceland, when in actual fact they aren’t.
veinglory
February 28
9:18 pm
I think very few of your or Mrs. G’s review could be called snarky. They give pros and cons and only in rare cases have a bit of a jab. And to be honest sometimes a jab is called for. I would also suggest Teddy Pig and Bookutopua Mom as, the issue of snark aside, not being rainbow and kittens or circle jerk reviewers. Not coincidentally that would round out the list of reviewers whose reviews I regularly read because their reviews [shock, horror] contain actual information about the book.
Kim
February 28
9:45 pm
OOOH OOOH *raises hand* Can I be a member of the Legion of Mean Girl Bloggers? I want to parade around bloglandia. Can I have a sash and a tiara?
Puuullleasse, I hate glittery frou-frou 4 sentence reviews that dont tell me crapola about the book. You know, those reviews that sound like they were a prize out of a cracker jack box. Those don’t make me want to buy a book. I want a reviewer to tell me what they liked about the book and why. I also want to hear what they hated about the book and why.
If the reviewer states what they think is wrong with a book, is that automatically labelled as “snark”?
kirsten saell
February 28
9:50 pm
When did we start to equate honest with snarky?
sallahdog
February 28
9:53 pm
Now I would say that Karens “this books sucks hairy donkey balls” reviews run into the snarky side (which is why they are fun. I don’t think I have ever read a truly snarky review on Dear Author (thoughtful, more in depth than even I want to think about a book, yes,snarky? no)
The SBs can be snarky, usually about cover art.
Bams old reviews are as close as I really come to truely snarky(and thats a good thing) reviews. They were funny, and I still love her ” I can’t quit you LKH!” reviews with a passion…
The mean girl reviews are generally on Amazon, by not bloggers.. Karen would be the only one who comes close, and I don’t take offense to those, because they are about the book, rather than the author personally…
veinglory
February 28
10:24 pm
Oops, I meant ‘Bookutopia Mom’
vanessa jaye
February 29
12:01 am
I was going to bring up Bam, also. I think she did truly snarky/fun reviews. I was going to say the Smart Bitches, but I think their snark is usually reserved for book covers, with only a few reviews dabbling in the snark.
Mireya
February 29
12:30 am
Karen, I was talking about snarky reviews in general, not about how many snarky reviewers there are. I wasn’t even thinking about how many snarky reviewers there are when I made the comment.
I do think that what the few snarky reviewers out there didn’t fully grasp until now is how popular they truly are, which in turn, has put them in a lot of radars… hence the increase in reactions from others (both positive and negative). The whole Cassie Edwards debacle, me thinks, is what brought this forth.
As to frou-frou reviews, well, I guess then that I co-own a frou-frou bi-monthly newsletter … and you know what, I am very proud of it *shrug* Hard work goes into it, more than anyone will ever know. That’s fine that some people don’t like/trust review sites for being too superficial. Hell, there are some review sites out there that make me want to scream (just like I seem to have made Karen want to scream with my comment at Dear Author).
azteclady
February 29
1:40 am
See, up until very recently I only read four romance blogs/review sites consistently: SBTB, Karen, Dear Author and (less frequently) Mrs Giggles. So perhaps *cough* my view is skewed, but I don’t see the “ohmygod, the mean girls eviscerating the authors and their
babiesbooks,. For the most part, I see people discussing the books they read in the genre they love. Sometimes they are funny, some times scathing, in how they express their enthusiasm or their dislike; but hey, it’s their opinion and their virtual living room, so they are more than entitled to both *shrug*I wonder since when, though, the fact that you become popular while indulging your hobby means that you are responsible for how people will take your opinions?
And I don’t understand how the fact that Dear Author and the SBTB and Karen and whomever else are “in a lot of radars” equates with the sweeping generalization that there are ‘oh so many meangrrrrlll bloggers’
Jane
February 29
2:04 am
Mireya, I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but can you point to some snarky opinions/reviews? I really would like to see them so that I can get a sense of what is considered to be “over the line.”
Sarah Frantz
February 29
2:15 am
I’m with Jane. I want to see what people consider “snarky.” I read DA and SBTB and Karen because they’re honest, they’re funny, and they’re GOOD, dammit. Writing reviews that are honest and funny and good is damned hard, and I have yet to think that any of these reviewers/sites go overboard or cross any line.
SB Sarah’s recent review of the happy vampire book might be considered snarky, I guess, but, people, it’s just her opinion! I think the Carol Lynne reviews were closer to “snarky” than anything else I’ve read, but, Jesus, I’ve read two (ghods help me) of her books, and they’re truly godawful, they really really are.
And I think the Cassie Edwards posts and revelations were NECESSARY, not a debacle. Her books are debacles, not the revelation of her plagiarism.
Shiloh Walker
February 29
2:42 am
You, Mrs. G, the SBs. Some of the DA reviews have had some snark, but not all. Maybe Bam once upon a time?
I think the whole ‘mean girl’ thing is silly. Mean isn’t about having an opinion or a smart-ass or blunt way of presenting it. If it is, then I’m definitely way beyond mean.
Mireya
February 29
11:23 am
Well, I didn’t say either that it was their responsibility how people take their opinions. Sorry ladies but this is as far as I will go on this. All I wanted was to explaing to Karen where that came from. I have been mostly lurking, and intend to go back to just do that. Obviously, the more I say and the more explanation I try to give, the worse it is going to get. I will try to email you privately, Jane. Thanks for the opportunity, Karen. Appreciate it.
Jennifer B
February 29
1:36 pm
You’re dead on as usual. Reviews that are heavy on the sarcasm are few and far between. I cruise blogs exclusively for reviews and find the bulk of them to be straight-on descriptions or narratives–with more apology than insult whenever a book fails.
sallahdog
February 29
2:04 pm
I would say for true snark, no one ever beat Bam (especially with her LKH reviews)… but see, snark is actually good, in my view, and has made me read more than one book that was snarked upon….
I guess I want to see, a truly “mean girl” review that isn’t from Amazon… Karen’s Carol Lynne book review probably would come closest, but even in that one, she wasn’t attacking the author, but the book.. Not comfortable for Ms Lynne, I am sure, but hardly a reason to take up arms.
bam
February 29
3:12 pm
I don’t think snarky reviewers exist at all.
Heh.
Ally Blue
February 29
7:37 pm
Snarky = sharply critical; cutting; snide (according to my way-cool dictionary widget *g*). Based on that, hm, even Mrs. G (whose reviews I LOATHE, btw, for other reasons completely, sorry and please don’t kill me!) isn’t always snarky. So maybe Bam’s right!
😛
Teddypig
March 1
5:43 am
I’m washing my hair dang it!
You rang?
Teddypig
March 1
5:45 am
P.S. Bookutopia Mom rocks!
Show her some love people!
bam
March 1
4:04 pm
BookUtopia Mom does rock. I like her reviews.
vanessa jaye
March 1
5:23 pm
I tried to post previously asking why everyone was going on like snark was bad. But my comment got eaten. (Karen I swear you blog hates me, this happens fairly frequently, for me, at least. I tend to give up and just lurk.)
Snark done well is not a bad thing, it’s smart, insightful and funny, poking fun at something to make a pertinent point. Now maybe that poke is ‘sharp’, but it’s not damaging or hateful.
The definition Ally mentioned made me think, perhaps i have a wrong handle on ‘snark’ because ‘sharply critical, cutting and snide’ is not appealing to me at all. On the other hand, I went over to good ole Merriam-Webster’s and found a efinition more in line with what I’d expect:
“sarcastic, impertinent, or irreverent in tone or manner”
This is why, Bam, came immediately to mind. 😉
Snark done *wrong* sucks. It is ‘hyper-critical, cruelly cutting and/or snide’ and seems mainly for the purpose of showing how funny/clever the poster is, rather than raising relevant points of concern in an amusing–albeit biting–fashion.
No, I don’t have examples of this latter(wrong) type of snarky review. They are few and far between, and I tend to move on and forget about them.