Review Integrity
How reviews work on The Story Tavern, and why you can trust them.
Reviews are honest, unpaid opinions
Every review on this site is written by a reader who applied to read the book and shared their own genuine opinion. We do not pay readers for reviews, we do not write reviews ourselves, and we do not edit what a reader writes. A star rating and a review body are the reader's own words.
What "Verified" means
A review marked Verified means that reader actually applied for and was approved to read that book through our normal application process, the same one every reader goes through. It is not a purchase confirmation and it is not paid promotion; it means the reviewer read the book as an approved ARC, alpha, or beta reader.
No review is required to say something positive
Being approved to read a book comes with an expectation of an honest review, not a favorable one. Authors do not see a reader's review before it posts, and readers keep full access to a book regardless of what they end up writing.
Private feedback is different from a public review
Some listings (alpha and beta reads) collect private feedback for the author only, rather than a public review. Those pages say so plainly, and that feedback never appears as a public review or star rating.
Reporting a review
If you believe a review violates our guidelines, doesn't reflect an actual reading of the book, or was influenced by anything other than the reader's own opinion, use the "Report" link under that review, or reach us through our Contact page.