>>As a reader, do you prefer an honest, "warts and all" review, or would you rather go into a story with a more positive impression in mind?<<
Both. *g* If I'm about to read a recommendation, I expect that the person doing it actually likes the story and I hope that it shows in the rec itself. What was it that was so great, touched the reccer in a certain way or impressed the reccer this much? From the actual "rec"-part of a recommendation I want to learn what caused the enthusiasm over the story 'cause that's usually the story's strong suit, no matter if it's characterization, choice of words, pacing, mood or simply a certain scenario that simply appealed to the reccer.
But *if* there are things that bothered the reccer, I want to know about them as well, simply to know what to expect. A recommendation is mostly a very subjective affair and things that bothered the reccer might not bother me as much though I have to know about them in the first place in order to be able to decide this. Chances are good that if I like the same things a particular reccer likes in a story I will dislike the same things he or she disliked.
While I like to "feel" the enthusiasm in the rec-part, having the not-so-great parts mentioned is enough. If the part of "things that bothered me" gets longer and is worded more passionate than the positive part, there's something seriously wrong with the recommendation. *G*
Don't laugh, I've actually read this kind of recs and came to the conclusion that it was rather a case of liking a few certain things very, very much in a story that the reccer, over all, didn't particularly like as a whole. So it was more a "didn't really like the story but felt very enthusiastic about a certain point/part of it" than "really loved the story but found a few minor things I disliked".
no subject
Both. *g* If I'm about to read a recommendation, I expect that the person doing it actually likes the story and I hope that it shows in the rec itself. What was it that was so great, touched the reccer in a certain way or impressed the reccer this much? From the actual "rec"-part of a recommendation I want to learn what caused the enthusiasm over the story 'cause that's usually the story's strong suit, no matter if it's characterization, choice of words, pacing, mood or simply a certain scenario that simply appealed to the reccer.
But *if* there are things that bothered the reccer, I want to know about them as well, simply to know what to expect. A recommendation is mostly a very subjective affair and things that bothered the reccer might not bother me as much though I have to know about them in the first place in order to be able to decide this. Chances are good that if I like the same things a particular reccer likes in a story I will dislike the same things he or she disliked.
While I like to "feel" the enthusiasm in the rec-part, having the not-so-great parts mentioned is enough. If the part of "things that bothered me" gets longer and is worded more passionate than the positive part, there's something seriously wrong with the recommendation. *G*
Don't laugh, I've actually read this kind of recs and came to the conclusion that it was rather a case of liking a few certain things very, very much in a story that the reccer, over all, didn't particularly like as a whole. So it was more a "didn't really like the story but felt very enthusiastic about a certain point/part of it" than "really loved the story but found a few minor things I disliked".