I hate reading negative reviews of my book. When writing Swapping Secrets, I got critiques that made me cry, made me too depressed to write for days, and downright confused me (what do you mean my characters don’t talk like real teenagers? I wrote this book when I was sixteen).

So why am I writing an article celebrating bad book reviews? Well, I was attacked by an author on Twitter over an honest albeit snarky Smashwords review.

This author called me clueless, vicious, questioned my integrity and my ability to write a review, and refused to admit there was anything wrong with his story.

I have to admit I’m a little ashamed to say I stooped to his level and was sarcastic and rude back. But I’m not ashamed of my review.

While most people would agree how he approached the situation was unprofessional (how I responded was definitely unprofessional), a lot of people would also say I shouldn’t have posted a one-star review.

Book reviewers have been compared to snipers with the damage they bring. “Don’t be a review troll!” people shout.

I understand why authors hate them. I certainly don’t deal with them well. A lot of reviewers also don’t want to leave a bad review because they would rather add something positive, which is admirable. But someone shouldn’t feel bad about leaving a review that is less than three stars.

Even negative reviews have their place. In fact, they help authors, especially those who are unknown.

The Harvard Business Review reported that for unknown books, negative reviews helped sales spike 45%. This is because even if someone is hearing bad things about a book, they’re still hearing about it. If someone really wanted to let a book fail, then the most effective way to do it is by not saying anything and letting it continue to sink into obscurity.

A lot of people also say it is disrespectful to the author. I disagree. When I post a review with negative comments, I do it as a sign of respect. It’s my way of saying, “I take you seriously as a writer so I’m giving you honest feedback.” Even a snarky, negative review is more respectful than a patronizing, positive review that basically says “Congratulations! You can string words together more or less coherently! That’s more than I ever expected from you!”

Negative reviews also help books get into the hands of the right readers. A common complaint about bad reviews I hear is that the criticism is mainly a difference in opinion and nothing valid. I have to admit I am guilty of that myself. I’ve criticized inspirational stories of being too preachy and alpha male love interests of being too… well, alpha male.

But potential readers will most likely read the reviews first. I tend to read a five star review, a one star review, and sometimes a review that lands somewhere in the middle before buying because I want to make sure I’ll actually enjoy the book before I’ve spent money on it.

When reviews are specific and detailed, readers can tell that what didn’t work for one reader might work for them. I’ve read one-star reviews complaining about dorky love interests, or a cookie-cutter arranged marriage plot and I’ve bought the book on the spot because of those things. So bad reviews have its merits. Like I said, if you really want a book to fail, don’t say anything at all.

However, there unhelpful bad reviews that are annoying to everyone. These are the one-line “this book sucked” reviews. If you didn’t like the book, that’s fine. But if you’re going through the effort of writing a review, then at least say why you didn’t like the book. That will help readers, or the author, or both. It doesn’t have to be long, just something more specific: “this read was boring and the characters had no depth”.

Reviews that attack the authors themselves are also unhelpful. It is one thing to criticize a book and another to say the author failed, or they’re an idiot. Some people would disagree, I’m sure, but I think there’s a big difference between attacking an author and attacking their story and I try not to do that in any of my reviews.

But negative reviews in general should be embraced. They’re a sign you’re not screaming into the void. Even though they sting (or pulverize, depending on your tolerance for them), they will most likely help you.

So, to show I’ll put my money where my mouth is, I’m begging you to please criticize Swapping Secrets, which is available for free. Give it a one-star rating, tell me my characters are flat and that my plot is everything wrong with humanity. Tell me I’m sexualizing teenagers and perpetuating harmful stereotypes (except really tell me if I’m using a harmful stereotype so I can fix it).

Does getting bad reviews suck? Yes. But it is better than getting nothing back in return.