There's lots of words that mean straightforward (to be frank / blunt / candid / brutal / clear / straightforward / abrupt / etc) but honesty is something else e

There's lots of words that mean straightforward (to be frank / blunt / candid / brutal / clear / straightforward / abrupt / etc) but honesty is something else entirely. The comparable phrase 'To tell the truth, ...' is even less ambiguous (yes, it's idiomatic, but that shouldn't let you ignore semantics). As for amazon reviews I rarely expect people to be especially honest -- if they self-assess as being extra honest despite swag, that's less compelling.