2012 has seen a lot of negativity surrounding reviews already. Let’s state for the record that we’re only halfway into January and it’s been pretty hot and heavy since the first week of January. It began with a bang in the young adult author arena. I know many of you already know the breakdown, but I’ll just link today’s Guardian coverage (when you make the Guardian or HuffPo with your shenanigans, it just got real-er) for anyone who’s still not seen it and is curious. Oh, but look, they didn’t actually highlight the review in question – that’s right here.

So plenty of us thought that mess was bad enough – and the link above doesn’t even cover the other YA author drama of recent times – but it seems the stuff can’t stop piling on. There was that Mike Coe author over at The Self-Publishing Review, who could not stop commenting. For quite along time. Have drink and popcorn at the ready, it takes a long, winding while and it’s possibly set a new bar. Today alone we see that it’s not just YA authors and self-publishing authors who are feeling the sting of reviews, fantasy authors and fans are as well. (Would it be cheesy to admit this Liz Bourke woman might be my latest hero?)

I know four years of blogging is really a drop in the bucket compared to other sites, but, folks, it’s enough to have seen all the constantly recycled drama surrounding reviews, especially negative/critical reviews – it’s never anything that new, just different versions of the same. You could pretty much put it in one Tupperware container for storage, if you cared to file it away. I’ve blogged on the topic before. The one that comes to mind is this one back in 2010, so I’m not going to repeat what I said there. Except to say in retrospect, the title should have read Negative Reviews ARE the Blogosphere’s Redheaded Stepchild. They really are. Maybe I can add a little to that older post, though.

Besides the obvious subject of subjectivity, books are an emotional experience. I’m willing to bet this is so for many, many readers. I’m willing to bet this is a pleasing thing for many, many authors. To elicit an emotional response when I’m reading a book is a wonderful thing for me. It means that book affected me and I want to be affected by what I read. The absolute last thing I want to feel toward something I’ve spent my money on/taken time with is apathy. Even if the book all-out pissed me off, all of it or just a passage or two, I’m smart enough to realize this isn’t the end of the world, that others might like it – and that this is all A-OK.Personally, I want people to enjoy books I may not have. It’s fun to talk with people that feel the same as me about a book, but at the end of the day, if my critical feelings of a book convince you to try reading, then I have still accomplished what I intended to do – interact and share something about books. Anything.

What’s not OK is trying to silence people that speak up when they don’t like books. To ridicule and prod and whittle down to the point that their feelings on the book are nothing. Readers in general are a sharing kind of people. We like to share our views and feelings on books. I’m back to the betting in the sense that I’m willing to bet many of us go into at least some parts of our reviews to express how we feel about the book in question. I’m seeing a lot of calls for being objectionable and professional amongst other rules and so-called etiquette for reviewers.

Guess what? Those don’t apply. The internet is so crazy full of people trying to tell others how to review that it’s a wonder sometimes anyone bothers to review. Won’t lie, I’ve thought about closing Lurv. Sometimes you can’t ignore the drama, like the people that call reviews worthless, the arguments over whether or not reviews hurt sales, the author’s feelings, the do this the don’t do that, the shoulds and should nots. It’s quite enough to send anyone into fits if it gets bad enough. And it really does feel that bad when you see bad author behavior – which has now expanded into editors and agents joining in, in some cases – these days. I’ve heard around the Blogosphere that some feel afraid to critically review as a result. That is the saddest thing of all to me. Those people can’t hurt you.

The only advice I will ever give someone who is either new to blogging and seeing stuff like that (and therefore maybe a little intimidated – hey, I was there once), or is tired of it and wonders of it’s worth doing, this blogging and reviewing thing – it is. If it gives you any kind of happiness, ignore the other stuff. If it’s your stress relief, then definitely ignore the crap that’s been happening lately. You don’t have to let it apply to you. Anyone who thinks they have a right or any kind of power to silence a critical thought or feeling on a book, or to dictate a reviewer’s style, is mistaken. Plain and simple. They could dig up an ancient stone housed in a golden box, chiseled with Reviewer’s Etiquette at the top, followed by a numbered list of do’s and don’ts and I’m afraid I still could not take them seriously. Nor would I want to.

My reading is often emotional. My reviews express my feelings. However your reviews express your process is entirely up to you and nobody else. That, really, is the end. Proceed, readers and reviewers, with being your awesome selves. All this early-in-the-year craptasticness, too, shall pass.