MonstrousBirdOfQin I understand your reaction. But I’m not here to start fights with writers who are insecure about their writing qualities, and can’t take constructive feedback in the process.
I myself simply write stories because it’s relaxing and entertaining for myself, I have no grand ambitions of becoming a successful writer.
This, however, isn’t true for a lot of other writers. Some have high aspirations. And don’t get me wrong, I applaud their ambitions and their hard work to make their dreams reality. Sadly, this creates stress and feelings of failure when these efforts are answered with feedback - that in their eyes - comes across as heavy criticism on their abilities as a writer.
So while I don’t agree with their decision to take down bad reviews, I do understand and sympathise where it is coming from.
So will I respect their request when they ask me to take down a review? Yes, but not without hoping they learn to take feedback in the future, otherwise they won’t be able to grow as authors. (And maybe laugh about their, I quote « give your honest opinion » request. Because I may sympathise, but I’m no angel.)