The Worst Negative Book Review Clichés

Literary critic, novelist, and One-Minute Book Reviews editor Janice Harayda tweeted the “5 Most Overused Put-Downs in Book Reviews” yesterday.

Here at GalleyCat Reviews, we think she sparked a valuable conversation–negative coverage of books can be just as generic as positive coverage. Help fight bad bad book reviews and stamp out cliché–add your favorite overused negative review phrase in the comments section.

Harayda’s list included these phrases:
1. “cardboard characters”
2. “thin plot”
3. “cookie-cutter characters”
4. “the book falls apart at the end”
5. “I just didn’t *care* about the characters.”

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