Agreed on not coming after an author in their space: you don’t get to email them, message them on Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/their website/etc. if you don’t like their book. Just don’t. That’s creepy and rude.
However, Amazon does not count as the author’s space. Neither do Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Goodreads, or the reader’s Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/website/etc.
If I spend money on a book on Amazon, I have the right to leave it a one star review. I even have the right to do that if I got it for free through a review site or an ARC copy! In fact, Amazon explicitly has a rule against giving out ARC copies in exchange for any reviews, let alone good ones – you can give out copies and ask for reviews, but you can’t force people.
As much as it sucks as an author to receive a one star review (and it does), those reviews are as much for other readers as for authors. Just as a reader has the right to ignore reviews and buy a book anyway, they also have the right to look at Amazon reviews and decide not to buy a book. The author has the right to ignore those reviews, absolutely. And coming after an author directly is not okay. But spaces have to exist for negative reviews, and frankly, Amazon is one of those spaces.
There’s also a matter of tone in reviews: are you writing this review for other readers or for the author? Telling an author “I hated your story, change it” is rude. Telling a reader “I didn’t like this story and here’s why” is not.
So I think the nuance matters here. Who’s your target? What’s your goal in leaving a bad review? If it’s to be an asshole or force the author to change stuff, just stop. If it’s to warn readers about why they shouldn’t spend their money, well, you have the right.
Of course, an author has the right to read those reviews and go “oh dear, people are criticizing my ____, maybe I should change ____ or hire an editor for future books, or even release this one” – but they’re not required to. They also have a right not to read their reviews at all! And a right not to be bothered with them in spaces they control – their website, their email, their personal social media. But there’s not a right to remove them from all book-buying sites or other people’s social media/websites.
When I got into self-publishing, one of the first things I was told is “do not respond to negative reviews.” And frankly, it’s a good rule – if you respond, particularly if you then target your reviewers, you show yourself as a person who can’t take criticism. I know multiple readers who have lists of authors they will not buy from because those authors attacked their reviewers on social media or elsewhere. Those names get spread around. And nobody wants to be an Anne Rice. (Feel free to rant about it to your friends, of course! But don’t respond publicly. Just don’t.)
Besides, as a reader and book buyer, if a book has only five star reviews, particularly if it has more than ten of them, I look at it with suspicion. I want to know what people disliked as much as what they liked. No book is loved by everybody – which means the author may have only asked friends or whatnot to read it, or be known as someone who can’t deal with negative reviews and is therefore ignored.
Yeah, it’s hard as an author. But it’s better for readers. And frankly, I’d rather live in a world where there’s freedom to complain about bad books as much as there is to gush over good ones – as long as they’re not personally going after the author.
(Fic is a different story. People are doing it for fun, and to some degree all fic spaces belong to the author. But think of it this way: while you can’t leave a bad review for someone whose house you’re at who cooks a meal you don’t like ((though you may gently tell them your issues with it…if it’s your friend)), you can leave a bad review for a restaurant that cooks a meal badly – though you can’t chase the chef to their home to complain about your meal. Fic is the individual making a meal for you and you’re in their house. Published books are like restaurants.)
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