Well, it turns out there really is a first time for everything.
For example, if you’d asked me before today if I could ever receive a five-star book review for my new book The God Conclusion and be anything less than completely ecstatic about it, I would have laughed in your face and told you the question itself was absurd. After all, who wouldn’t be happy about receiving a five-star review for their new book?
Have I lost my mind?
I don’t know about you, but maybe I have. The answer to that question turns out to be me. I’m less than thrilled with my five-star review.
Now, I do NOT want to sound ungrateful, because I am very grateful that this person (whose identity is protected, so I felt okay about writing this article) read my book in a reasonable amount of time, and more impressively, took the time to write a review. I also happen to know this person put in extra effort to get the review published on Amazon, and I am very grateful for that as well. The content of the review itself was excellent. So, why am I complaining?
What is wrong with me? Well, I know something you don’t, because I haven’t told you yet.
The person who wrote and published the review sent me a private message afterward and let it slip that the review probably should have only been four-stars, but he felt sorry for me because of the early negative review and he wanted to balance the scales, to make it fair. While I sincerely appreciate the time, effort, and sense of fairness this person exhibited in my defense, I wish he would have just given my book the rating he felt it honestly earned instead of grading my work on a curve.
So, now I find myself struggling with the knowledge that my book received a rating that it may not have deserved in an attempt to compensate for another rating the book did not deserve. In my opinion, two wrongs never make a right. At least I can set the record straight. In all honesty, I would have been happier to receive an honest four-star review than a five-star review that merits an asterisk.
However, I’ll be brutally candid and admit that I’m happy to receive any kind of review at this point, even a five-star review that only deserves a four-star rating. Beggars can’t be choosers. The struggle is real.
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