Let’s Talk Bookish – 23rd July – Positive messages = a good book?

Let’s Talk Bookish weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion. I’m really intrigued by this one today! Reminds me of a very explosive book club meeting we had not too long ago…

JULY 23: DOES HAVING A POSITIVE MESSAGE AUTOMATICALLY MAKE A BOOK GOOD? (RUKKY)

Prompts: If you see good representation in a bad story, do you still consider it a good book? Are you more lenient with an ‘okay’ book if it has an important message? How do you deal with a book that you disliked/hated if you think it still has an important theme? Do you think we should actively recommend books with positive/important messages even if we personally didn’t like the book?

I do like reading books with important messages. These don’t have to be the main plot point, but something empowering is always a plus in my book. It’s something that, for me, adds to and enhances the story.

However, the message behind a book is only one aspect that influences my enjoyment. If the writing is poor, or there’s lots of plot holes, a positive or important message would be lost or incongruous. It wouldn’t, for me, automatically make a book good.

If I was to review a book like this, I don’t think I would be more lenient. When I review, I do like to give a holistic and balanced overview and try to say something positive, even if I wasn’t a fan.

I definitely think we could recommend books that we personally didn’t like because, at the end of the day, we all have different tastes. For example, I’m not a fan of YA and I didn’t really like The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon. However, if I knew someone who did like YA romance, I’d say “why not try this book?”. Everything we have a book club meeting, there is never a full consensus and that’s okay. It’s important we all have our own subjective opinions and that is what makes reading so interesting!

So what do you think? Does a book with a positive message automatically make it a good book?