Criticism and the Art of Review

This week contained a minor scandal in the world of magic. A popular reviewer, whose daily videos get thousands of views, went about business as usual. He posted his review of a newly released trick that was marketed as fully original and accomplishing things with a deck of cards that were never possible before, in which he demonstrated that both of those claims were false — the “new” product was neither original nor offering anything that had not been seen before. Of course, intellectual property is a difficult subject and magicians have long struggled with these sorts of controversies. The new product itself included credits to the original which were not present in the marketing material and life goes on. But within a few hours of the review being posted, it was taken down and reuploaded without the segments calling attention to the product’s misadvertising. Then, within a few hours of that, the new version of the review was taken down as well.

The reviewer’s statement is that is that the original was edited because he received complaints of exposing the method of the “new” trick and that the edited version of the video was removed because too many accused him of softening the video to please the new product’s creators. The reviews he’s posted since have significantly less views than his usual numbers. As a fellow reviewer (albeit in a different field), I’d like to explore why that might be.

Let’s assume that the above reviewer’s side of things is the correct one. The issue at hand, therefore, is not his character, but the perception of his character based on what his viewers saw: a review that was fairly critical of a new product was replaced with a non-critical version shortly after the creator of that new product was seen responding to negative comments on the review. the nicer version was then taken down after viewers accused the reviewer of whitewashing away his own critique.

It’s no surprise that this perception, true or not, fails to win points with those who want to find fair and balanced reviews before spending their money on expensive products. And it’s no surprise that many who once trusted this reviewer no longer do after seeing this course of events play out. Again, that is all unsurprising even if everything the reviewer said was the truth and no foul play is present from any of the parties.

It’s no secret that almost every review that I write these days is of a book that I received for free. Sometimes I’m even paid to write particular reviews. It’s also no secret, though, that my reviews tend to be highly critical. If I read through a book once and cannot find anything to critique, I read it again. No product is perfect and those who are considering spending significant funds on one (whether a book, magic trick, video game, movie, or anything else) ought to know what they are getting for what they are spending in both money and time.

Several years ago, when I was just getting started reviewing books in public spaces, a publisher began sending me some of their new releases. However, they stopped doing so after I wrote a negative review of one of their products. In that particular case, I had many positives to say as well, but the negative was so bad that I couldn’t refrain from describing it with a level of snark that I’ve since learned to avoid. I was upset at the time, but I understood that most people, companies, or publishers that put something on the market are giving out review copies so more people will buy the product. If a review will cause people to instead turn away from that product or the ones who put it out then it is not in their best interest to have it reviewed in the first place. Indeed, when I’m sent books that I find nothing at all positive in, I refrain from reviewing per the maxim of “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”*

As the years have started to go by, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find important authors and publishers sending me their new books to review and bigger publications asking me to contribute. In fact, that publisher that dropped me when I was a university student has since gotten me back on their reviewer list as my audience continued growing. If I had to hazard a guess as to why this is, I’d think it’s because people appreciate honesty and critical thinking. Readers/viewers of reviews like to know the review is balanced and objective while those who put out the products like to flaunt the positives even in otherwise critical reviews (and some enjoy the challenge of getting a notoriously critical reviewer to say nice things). It’s a win-win that maintains everyone’s integrity.

Unfortunately, this week’s little magic controversy highlighted what happens when such integrity is not apparent. If a reviewer is seen as willing to change their attitude to maintain their flow of free products, or if a creator/publisher is seen as silencing all criticism, consumers lose their faith in both the product and the reviewer. Thus, when it comes to the art of review, integrity is key.

I don’t think I’ve ever written a review devoid of fair criticism and I’m very thankful to all of the publishers and authors who continue to send me more books to review. I’m also deeply thankful to everyone who reads my reviews, in whatever forum they happen to be. Thank you.

*Note: Not all lack of reviews are for this reason! Baruch Hashem, I’m sent many more books to review than I have time to read so many simply end up on the backburner as I prioritize reviews I am paid to do or reviews for particular publications with particular deadlines. If I have not yet reviewed a book you sent me, it is almost certainly not because I had nothing positive to say about it. It’s probably just because I have not yet had time to read it or to write the review. If you sent me something to review and are wondering about when I will get to it please feel free to nudge me!