Why Reviewing is Hard

You might find this a shock because my reviews are always executed beautifully and are so goddamn informative but reviewing is something I struggle with. I don't know if other book bloggers struggle with it or if it's just me or what.

To begin with, I can't find it in myself to break a book down with as much precision as other I've seen other bloggers do. I just have never really thought about them in as much depth, I thought this would get easier with practise but I don't think it is. I can take note of a character I like or a character I don't like but those are simple observations. I just don't think it's in me to break a book down so much. I don't know if I'm the only one who struggles with this but other bloggers make their reviews sound so smart.

I'm incredibly nervous to say negative things. This is for several reasons. One being what if I the negative thing I'm mentioning is actually something I have no idea about and everyone gets really mad and offended. Two being that I don't want to point out negative things in books because I know how hard the author would have worked to write it and it makes me feel bad. Three, I have a subconscious fear that if I point out two many flaws I'll make myself like the book less.

Thirdly, upon finishing a book I always think I have so many educated thoughts about it and I can't wait to put them into play in my review. As soon as I open a new post and begin to type, I lose all of them or maybe there weren't as many as I thought or maybe I can't put them to words. I can never tell which it is but I struggle to think of enough things to make up a reasonable review and it ultimately results in me enforcing the same thing over and over in different phrasings.

So, this is why I struggle to review but I think the biggest thing is that I don't want to allow myself to think in too much depth in case I begin to stop enjoying reading and I adore reading. I just don't think it's my thing and that's why I now like to refer to my reviews as my thoughts because that's really what they are. I like having them as reference for later when I forget certain things about certain books. I find it a good reference. I've stopped beating myself up about it and stressing about it not being enough because in the end it's my blog and they're my posts and I like that I tend to stick to what I liked about a book. They aren't always the posts I'm most proud of but I like them nonetheless because they're mine and I've stopped trying to write them like other bloggers do.