Writing is exhilarating, but reading reviews is not. I've been really devastated by 'good' reviews because they misunderstand the project of the book. It can be strangely galvanising to get a 'bad' one.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Most books reviews aren't very well-written. They tend to be more about the reviewer than the book.
I don't read reviews because by then it's too late - whatever anyone says, the book won't change. It is written.
After each book, I get panicky. I don't love the reviews. I don't like going through all that, and you would think that, after almost 40 years of writing, I'd have got the hang of it.
Be kind and considerate with your criticism... It's just as hard to write a bad book as it is to write a good book.
To my undying shame, I do read reviews. I don't read them all, but I like to get some kind of idea how things are going.
A great review is great. A bad review is the worst.
I don't read reviews, because if you believe the good ones, you have to believe the bad.
Sometimes literary critics review the book they wanted you to write, not the book you wrote, and that's very irksome.
But I honestly don't read critics. My dad reads absolutely everything ever written about me. He calls me up to read ecstatic reviews, but I always insist that I can't hear them. If you give value to the good reviews, you have to give value to the criticism.
I don't read reviews, There's no value for me in reading them. Whether they're good or bad, they'll just make me self-conscious.