Fiction and Fantasy

My Reviewing Philosophy

#1: Nothing makes my opinion more valid than yours or anyone else’s.

I’m not the end-all, be-all voice on a topic, and you have no obligation to take me as such. In fact, I powerfully discourage it! I’m just a girl who likes to talk about stories.

If you agree with my opinions, cool! If you disagree with my opinions, great!

Either way, let’s talk about it!

#2: I believe art is subjective.

I believe that, to some extent, whether a piece of art is “good” or “bad” is a matter of taste.

And I believe that very few pieces are “all good” or “all bad.” Most fall on a spectrum, a mixed bag.

#3: I believe reviews are subjective.

I’ve had to accept that reviewers (even the ones I really like and admire) aren’t the hand of God stretching past the smog of lousy media to pull out the jewels of life. They’re just people, same as me.

To some degree, we’re all reviewers: we all have opinions on things we’ve seen or experienced. Some may be more “learned” on a medium’s history, style, theory, etc.; but in the end, what they enjoyed or didn’t are based on their opinions.

My reviews are just that: my opinions.

#4: I believe everyone’s biased in one way or another.

We all weigh different aspects of stories differently. We all have different backgrounds, life experiences, and tastes that affect whether (and where) a story did or didn’t work for us.

That said, I’m going to be up-front about what my biases are. If I agree or disagree with something because of personal beliefs, I’ll let you know. If I like something based on nostalgia, I’ll say so. If I’m a huge fan of a series, I’ll tell you.

In fact, here’s a list of my biases, including some of my all-time favorite things (and not-so-favorite things). Agree with me on a lot of those? You might agree with how I review things. Disagree with me on most of those? Then you probably won’t agree with my reviews, but I welcome you to tell me why! I love getting other perspectives.

By the way, I will always, ALWAYS tell you WHY I love something, not just “because it’s great.”

Now go check out some reviews and let me know your opinions on them!

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