Reviewer Sophia vs. Jamie McGuire

A reviewer who goes by Sophia wrote a review of Jamie McGuire's Beautiful Disaster. She doesn't like relationship portrayed in the book...or at least the first nine chapters of the book, because that is all the further she read. The review is quite hostile to the book and includes some digs at other reviewers liked the book:

No really, how can you read this?

It scares the shit out of me to see that some people are able to read such violence and yet remain flippant and oh-so-casual like it's no big deal. It makes me wonder, if they ever witness a real beat-up, would they react? Would they care?

And for those who pretendedly realized that it wasn't healthy, but yet managed to like the book anyway: why would you want to witness such a relationship? What's the pleasure in contemplating two people who never, ever realize how deep they've fallen into violence and abuse?

This review comes to the attention of the author who, rather ill-advisedly, makes a blog post that criticizes some reviewers and asks them not to"demean and disrespect [her] fans" who liked the book. The blog post would have been far better without her comments about the attitudes of reviewers who didn't like her book, but still, she has a valid point about the reviewer in question attacking her fans.

Of course, this blog post seen as WHOLLY INAPPROPRIATE AND UNPROFESSIONAL by scads of bandwagon-jumping reviewers on GR. Because authors are never ever supposed to react to reviews. Ever. Even if the review crosses the line from talking about the book to talking about the author and/or people who liked the book. For the record, we think the author should have left well enough alone, but the holier-than-thou attitude of some of the reviewers posting in that thread turned our stomach.

The author is later taunted via Twitter by a reviewer at - and owner of - a popular web site:

jane_l Jane L

@JamieMcGuire_ I'm posting my review on Sat of ur book & it contains everything that you seem to hate and despise in a review.

jane_l Jane L

@JamieMcGuire_ so if your google alert pops up with a link to a site called DearAuthor.com you probably don't want to read it.

Another blogger picks up the kerfuffle but says only that McGuire "abuses negative reviewers in blog" and leaves off the part about the blog asking reviewers not to abuse the author's fans.

Yeah, right. Look, folks. You can post nasty reviews that make unflattering comments about fans, other reviewers, etc., on the Internet all you want, but it's hypocritical to then get pissed off when the people you attacked - or their friends or supporters - get upset and respond. In other words: it's your right to be an asshole on the Internet, but it's also the right of others to call you on it.