G a b r i e l l eJust saw a post from a bookgroup who had been reached out to by an author. The author gave them ebooks to review for free, and in a wilful misunderstanding of why people might give free samples or solicit reviews in the first place, the bookclub gave her 1 and 2 star reviews.
They feigned ignorance about Literally How This Works or any knowledge of the phrase 'good faith' like you are not obligated to give a good review, but a gram of empathy may reveal the insight that a writer doesn't want your *bad* reviews and you can just keep that to the groupchat.
I feel like books and bookreaders skewed more normal 15+ years ago when I was more involved in it, what I am seeing in many many areas is a worldwide chronic fatigue/brainfog epidemic. Reading the book was so much effort for them, they resented it when it wasn't to their taste.