Book reviews reveal more about the reviewer than the book itself. So it goes with other materials critiqued like movies, food, reports, papers, students.
The reviewer's manner of expression, his presuppositions and expectations tell a lot about his character. Did he try to understand what the creators were trying to do before laying out their short comings or did he simply subject the material to his own criteria? Was he constructively trying to point out what needed improvement or was he just showing off his high aesthetic standards? How does he handle the things he hate? What he enjoyed and hated reveal a lot more about his own preferences and peeves, and sometimes, also his ideology, socio-cultural class, skills and values. The lines "I just don't get why. . ." or "It just doesn't make sense to me. . ." especially suggests deep immersion in a particular (the contrary) world view.
Usually, the more positive a review, the more sympathetic the reviewer is with the creation; the more he appreciates and understands the intent of the creators-- the closer he approximates the mind behind the creating. Perhaps it accords with his beliefs and inclinations. Hence, he can explain what others claim not to get. But this does not necessarily blind the reviewer from the points of improvement. On the contrary, liking something in a piece of work may make it even easier to point out what needs adjustments in order to address whatever is wanting to achieve a better effect.
On the other hand, a negative review usually tends to be completely antagonistic, as they do claim that they just don't get it. Personally, most negative reviews I've read (I don't read much) don't really explain much about the work, but rather exhibits the reviewer's biases. Once in a while, there comes a review that does try to explain the creation, but one finds that it completely misses the point. So usually when the criticism is about something I liked, for instance, I don't get what they're taking about. It's as if we're not looking at the same thing. It's pretty hard to find fair, valuable, negative reviews. Unfortunately, the more passionate (arrogant) a critique bashes a piece of work, the more difficult it is for fans and 'tolerators' to seriously consider his points. It's almost impossible to hear the merit of a comment when, at the top of its voice, it's essentially screaming "I'M SO GOOD AT THIS, I HAVE IMPECCABLE TASTE! I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF, YOU SHOULD BE TOO!"
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