Should Bloggers Review All Books? || Discussion

~ Kay @ Hammock of Books

I’m so sorry for the republishing!! I made a mistake and accidentally scheduled this one earlier than I meant to, and it wasn’t edited enough for me to feel okay putting it on the internet!! Here we are, a week later though!!!

 

 

Hey friends!! I’ve been thinking a lot about how many books bloggers are obliged to review lately, and so I wanted to write a discussion post about it!!

When I first started blogging, I reviewed literally every single book I read. Seriously. Something like the first 40 books I read this year (I started my blog in January) I reviewed. Dutifully. Every single one.

 

But then it got to feeling like reviewing was more like a chore. When I finish a book, I usually don’t really want to review it, and put it off for a few days. Especially when I want to read another book, which I always want to do more than I want to review. And then it ends up that I’ve piled up 10 books I’ve read but not reviewed, and then it’s just overwhelming and none of them get reviewed.

So lately, I was thinking about whether bloggers are under an obligation to review their books. I feel like bloggers should definitely review every ARC they get. Those are marketing tools, given them for a review, not just for the free book! But what about the non ARCs?

 

At first, I’m inclined to say that there’s no obligation to review the book at all! Of course this isn’t our job! But also, sometimes I constantly hype up books. I talk about them constantly on my Weekly Wrap Ups and how much I adored them, or how much I can’t wait to read them, listing all the great things I’ve heard about them! I’ve had several people comment on those posts something along the lines of I can’t wait to read your review, and can’t help but feel a tinge of guilt when that review never comes.

So in this case, I think that if bloggers are constantly hyping up and talking about a book, we should really make an effort to review it. Definitely prioritize it over other books not really mentioned. But, at the end of the day, if we don’t get around to reviewing it, that’s totally fine! We have to do what’s best for us, first, at the end of the day.

Let’s Chat

Do you think bloggers should review all the books they talk about? How about all the ARCs they get? I’d love to hear in the comments below 🙂

40 thoughts on “Should Bloggers Review All Books? || Discussion”

  1. I definitely don’t think we are obliged to review every book we read. Personally, I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t enjoy blogging anymore. On top of that, I have noticed I don’t read a lot of reviews. So I definitely don’t expect another blogger to review every single book they read.
    Now I do monthly wrap-ups where I give mini reviews of every book I read in one post. I think that’s enough for most of my followers. If I really have a lot more to say about a book, I’ll review it. That only happens rarely though. I’m happy with this system 😃

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  2. I think we definitely don’t have to review every book we read ever, but just do our best for ARCs. I know that not all book speak to every reader, and if this is the case, it’s important to say so in a review. It’s great feedback for authors and that’s just a way for us to give back to the publishing industry.

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  4. I don’t review every single book that I read. I’ll be crazy if I do hahahha. I categorized the books I read;Leisure and Review. So everytime I mention a book in a monthly wrap-up or a tbr post,I will say in which category a book is so that the readers will now if I will post a review for that book.

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  5. I’d say if you want to write a review, go for it. If you don’t, it’s okay, don’t force yourself to or you’ll end up hating blogging or reading books.
    Every time I finished a book, I like to write at least one or two sentences, like it’s just a note to myself on Goodreads. So when I look back, I knew why I gave it 2 stars or 3 stars.
    If I’m really passionate about it, like it’s a really good book or it’s a really bad one, I’ll write at least a 500 word review to express my thoughts. It’s not good keeping your thoughts inside when you are passionate, you just gotta put it down. 😉

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  6. I’ve reviewed every book I’ve finished so far but lately, I’m thinking that I don’t have to do it for all of them. Books I got for review I’ll definitely review because I’m obligated to. But the books I buy? Sometimes, a book can be just okay or so meh I can’t find much to say about it. It makes it a real chore to write a review. In that case, I might as well just not write a review.

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  7. Okay, this might be an unpopular opinion but I think It’s impossible to not get burned out and lose inspiration if you review every book read. I know when I first started blogging back in 2016 I would review literally everything and eventually my posts lost their voice and they became almost robotic as it became a chore to write. Nowadays I try to review most books but if I have nothing to say I’m happy to just skip on to the next. Usually I review a book I’m either super passionate about, in awe over or one that I actually despised. If feel that way my reviews and posts are more authentic and I have so much fun writing them (which is how it should be) 🙂 ❤

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  8. I only review the books that I feel I have enough to say about! I honestly read way too many books to keep up with reviewing every single one of them, and I’d feel really pressured, and lose a lot of my love of reviewing, if I did.

    This is such an interesting topic of discussion, though, I really enjoyed reading the comments here. 🙂

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  9. Sometimes I review in detail and sometimes I don’t. If I am blocked for words I put up a 4 line review on other sites and not on blog. Though a part of me thinks no harm in writing a 4 line review on the blog too. So still in dilemma, but sometimes I don’t review at all. No particular reason. I just want to keep reading and not think about Reviews and writing. I just don’t want to get out of my bookish world.

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  10. I ‘review’ all the books I read, though in my case it’s more thoughts than reviews, so I keep it quite short. I do it mainly for myself, so I remember how I felt about a book. I certainly don’t do reviews as in-depth as many book bloggers out there that are much better at it than I am. That’s not really my thing. All I know is how I felt about a book 🙂

    I certainly do not think a blogger should be obliged to review every book they read. That is up to each individual. I like reading reviews, but I can enjoy short ones just as much as in-depth ones.

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  12. Hmm I tried reviewing every book I read and I also started feeling like writing reviews was no longer fun. I’m also just not in the mood for writing a review sometimes. I think bloggers definitely don’t have to review all the books they talk about because it’s a bit unrealistic to expect that considering time is limited. If I have to choose between reviewing a book and reading a book, I’ll always pick the latter.

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  14. I agree with doing reviews for ARCS or books that you have been given by an author or someone of that sort. I tend to do one book review a week, so I certainly don’t review every book I read. What I have started to do is do a tiny little mini review for every book I read through my WWW Wednesday posts. That way I still give a nod to the book without having to dedicate an entire post to it.

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  15. I have struggled so much with ARCs and Indie review requests… I think we should review books based on request/job of course XD (this doesn’t count ARCs) haha but for personal reads… only if you feel like either sharing the love or the hate… XD

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  16. i write at least a lil something for most every book i read, but that’s just on goodreads. when it comes to blogging, i post full reviews of fewer and fewer books. at this point, my main goal is to keep having fun with reviewing/reading/blogging and never make myself feel like any of the three is anything before fun!

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  17. Reviewing should definitely be done at whatever pace you feel comfortable! There should me no obligation to review everything, and I know I wouldn’t want to put something in a review I 100% couldn’t back up, so sometimes they sit there until I think of something. Which could be never.

    I definitely think that people should review all ARCs. However (and I say this because I’ve run into this problem myself) one shouldn’t feel pressure to absolutely finish an ARC. Sometimes it just isn’t your kind of book. And that’s okay! Just make sure to say that in a review, or let the publisher know and why you feel that way. That’s why you got the ARC in the first place! (Usually)

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  18. Great post! Aside from ARCs, I don’t believe reviewers are obliged to review every book they read. But considering how these are book blogs that we have, I think most readers would expect us to at least review most of the novels we read. I also believe it’s important for reviewers to have both positive and negative reviews. Lovely post! ❤️

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  19. This is such an important discussion topic, Kay! I used to have this idea in my head that I should review every single book I read. Eventually, though, I would read more books than I reviewed, and the list of books I “needed” to review just got out of hand and made me stressed. I recently just decided to let go of at least ten books I wanted to review, but never got around to doing so — and it felt *so so* freeing to do that. 😋 I think it’s important to review books according to our own schedule, and if that means only review one out of five books we read… that should be fine! 😊 We should do whatever makes us happy & the least stressed as possible (especially when balancing school with blogging!)

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  20. I think you definitely don’t have to review every book you read. I usually write up reviews for every book that I read because I really like doing that but sometimes when I read the book too quickly or it’s too short to really have any thoughts on my end I don’t post a review. I really love writing reviews though – they’re my favorite part of all this 😂🤗🤗

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