Corporate employee leaves anonymous negative review of coworker's book, coworker continually references 'mystery reviewer': 'She'd gotten some really challenging feedback'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Mar 23, 2026 9:00 AM EDT

It is difficult for growth to happen without constructive criticism, but that doesn't make that criticism any easier to take. When you put all your effort into something and manage to see it through, it is highly likely that the last thing you want to hear is a takedown of everything that was wrong with it. Viewing things from this perspective, it seems so much easier to be a critic than to be a creator, and much less impactful as well. As Charli XCX's outfit once claimed, they don't build statues of critics.

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  • 01
    A female businesswoman smiles as she flicks through a book she is holding while standing in an office hallway
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A female businesswoman smiles as she flicks through a book she is holding while standing in an office hallway

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • No doubt about it, producing any written work of significant length is an intimidating undertaking (assuming you do it without AI, that is). It is only natural to feel proud when the deed is done, no matter the quality of the end product. It is a physical representation of hours upon hours of brainpower on whatever your chosen story or topic was. 

    Plenty of people who write books see them as their babies, and as such, they are pretty sensitive when someone has something to say about them that is not the most flattering. Those who know authors and read their work occasionally feel like they have to tread carefully.

  • 02

    I left an anonymous harsh review of my coworker's book two years ago and now I have to listen to her quote it in meetings

    She published it herself, like a proper self-published thing with a cover and everything, and she sent the whole team a link with this very excited email.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 03
    I read it because I felt like I had to. It was, fine. It was about productivity and habits and honestly pretty generic.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 04
    The kind of book where you can predict the next sentence before you read it. I don't know what came over me.
    via Halo9_Spectra

  • In this story, an employee found herself in a somewhat unusual situation when her colleague wrote a book on productivity and promoted it to their team in an email. She was not very impressed when she read it, and she ended up leaving a critical online review about it anonymously.

    The coworker not only read the review but felt the need to bring it up in the workplace. She said that the feedback had been “challenging” and even quoted some of it in meetings. The employee was amused to be in the middle of this awkward situation.

  • 05
    I left a review on Goodreads. Anonymous account I made specifically for this. I wasn't cruel but I wasn't soft either.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 06
    I said something like the core ideas felt borrowed and the author seemed more interested in sounding credible than actually saying something new.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 07
    A female employee texts on her phone while sitting in front of her laptop in the office
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A female employee texts on her phone while sitting in front of her laptop in the office

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 08
    I said it read like someone who had read a lot of books about writing books and not quite made the jump to having their own voice yet.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 09
    I thought that was the end of it. It was not the end of it. About two months later she mentioned in a team meeting that she'd gotten some "really challenging feedback" that forced her to rethink her approach for the next project.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 10
    She read part of it out loud. It was my review. Word for word. She said it was the most useful thing anyone had said to her about her writing and she was genuinly grateful to whoever wrote it.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 11
    She has mentioned this mystery reviewer four times since then. Once she called them "brutaly honest in the best way." Last month she said the feedback changed how she thinks about her own voice as a writer.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 12
    I have sat there every single time and said nothing. I make a face that I hope reads as "hm, interesting" and not "that was me, I wrote that at 11pm on a Tuesday because | was mildly annoyed." I am never telling her.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 13
    It would ruin it somehow and also I'm a coward.
    via Halo9_Spectra
  • 14
    A female employee uses her phone while sitting in a hanging chair in the office
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A female employee uses her phone while sitting in a hanging chair in the office

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 15
    LoquatFriendly8027 been there with leaving anonymous feedback and then having to hear about it later, though never quite this level of awkward your coworker actually took the criticism well which is pretty rare - most people would've just gotten defensive and complained about trolls. the fact that she's using it to improve her writing is actually kind of cool even if you have to sit there pretending you don't know what she's talking about honestly though you did her a favor, even if it feels wei
    via LoquatFriendly8027
  • 16
    Educational-End-7702 The highest form of respect for a creator is providing the cold truth they need to hear rather than the warm praise they want to receive, because while comfort feels better, only friction creates growth.
    via Educational-End-7702
  • 17
    DickHopschteckler Your coworker seems... cool actually.
    via DckHopschteckler
  • 18
    Jarboner69 While she might have taken it to heart she might also just be fishing for who it is. I did the same with a professor in college and she did the same thing looking for who it was.
    via Jarboner69
  • 19
    Doneuter I once met a girl online and started seeing eachother. She self published a fiction novel. Everything seemed really nice including a very interesting cover. It looked super professional. I bought a copy to read despite her offering me a free copy. "I want to support your art!" I said having never read anything she had written. It was the worst thing I have ever read. So many misspellings and inconsistencies in the plot. It made things so awkward I ended up breaking things off with her b
    via Doneuter
  • 20
    Clandestinka These are the types of mild but interesting confessions I'm here for!
    via Clandestinka
  • 21
    Ambiguousdude 100% a trap don't reveal yourself, since she would have only sent the initial link to a few people she knows who it could be lol
    via Ambigiousdude
  • 22
    Sylvester0085 She knows
    via Sylvester0085

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