Honest Book reviews matter a lot. They help other readers choose books and they help authors grow. But I think something important gets missed a lot—doing a little homework before you read and review a book.
Checking trigger warnings, tropes, and basic content notes isn’t ruining the book. It’s just being prepared. If you already know a book has certain themes or tropes you don’t enjoy, you can go in with the right mindset or just skip it altogether.
What hurts good authors is when readers pick up a book without looking into anything first, realize it’s not their thing, and then leave a super negative review because of that. Not because the book is bad—but because it wasn’t the right fit for them.
That’s not really a fair review.
A book can be well written and still not be your taste. That’s okay. Reviews should reflect the actual book, not just disappointment from not checking what it was about first.
A little bit of checking tropes and warnings can make reviews more honest and fair—and help other readers too.
Stay Feral my Lovelies 💋
