I've read, watched, and written a number of reviews myself.
If I may, I'd like to add a few thoughts to this:
I've heard YouTubers, who received advanced copies of a product, say, "This product was provided by X for the purpose of reivew," or something to that effect. I think it's a rule: if you receive an advance copy, you should state that in the review.
Usually, if I'm going to do a star- or point-based review, such as one on Amazon, I'll do my best to only pick books that are at least a 4-star. That's because, being an author myself, I know the amount of effort that goes into researching and writing, and I want to do all I can to sing the praises of a good book, while also gving hints to any minor shortcomings.
If, on the other hand, a book is, in my opinion, less than 4-star worthy, I may not leave a review (unless the book is so bad that I want others to avoid it). But quite frankly, I don't recall ever having to do that.
You are correct, @dkfynn, that you MUST state if you have received a product or money for the review you have published. These are FTC guidelines which you could be fined for if you don't follow them. I do know that some bloggers won't write anything negative, or will tell the company they will not publish a review if they have to be negative. I tend to review it anyway, if it's a product, but I can see where you are coming from with it being a book that an author spend lots of time on.
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