Every review submitted to the Reader Leaderboard goes through a quick peer-review pass before it gets published. This article explains why and how.
Why we review reviews
Three reasons:
- Quality — keeping the bar high so reviews remain useful
- Fairness — catching reviews from people who clearly didn’t read the book
- Civility — flagging anything that crosses from criticism into personal attack
Who reviews them
A small team of trusted reviewers (drawn from members who’ve earned the 25-review badge or higher). Reviews are anonymized when they come into the queue — the team sees the content but not the submitter’s name, so feedback stays focused on the writing itself.
What gets approved
- Reviews that demonstrate the writer engaged with the book’s actual content
- Reviews that articulate what worked / didn’t, with examples
- Both positive and negative reviews — negative reviews are absolutely welcome if they’re substantive
What gets sent back
- Reviews that are clearly generic and could apply to any book (“Great read, very inspiring”)
- Reviews that contain factual errors about the book’s content
- Reviews that attack the author personally rather than discussing the book
- Reviews that read like AI-generated text without personal voice
If your review needs revision, you’ll get a brief note explaining what to address. Edit and resubmit — most revised reviews get approved on the second pass.
Most reviews are processed within 3-5 days. Holidays and weekends slow this down. If a review has been pending more than 10 days, contact support.
What gets rejected outright
- Reviews of books you obviously haven’t read (e.g. demonstrably wrong about plot, author, or topic)
- Reviews submitted in bulk that look like a coordinated campaign
- Reviews containing harassment, slurs, or personal information
Outright-rejected reviews don’t appear and don’t earn points. Repeated rejections may result in submission privileges being paused.