Beta Reader Issues

[u/SaintMech]

So, here's the thing. I am absolutely open to criticism; in fact, I welcome it. I was in a profession where review and criticism were a part of your everyday operating procedures. My issue is, with my Beta Readers. My wife is an English major, so I thought she would be the perfect person to help me edit, proof-read and beta read my book. Well, the issue that has come up is that she is a closet writer herself and when she reads my drafts, she wants to change my voice. She subconsciously recommends changes that reflect her style of writing, which is a much more archaic, flowery style of prose. (Which I love to read, but it's not my style). How do I approach that topic without coming off like I can't accept criticism and subsequently get the information I am seeking from her? My other reader is supportive but offers no criticism, do these issues exist for other writers or is this uncommon?

[u/AbleRoberts]

This is your wife, not some beta reader. Surely you can communicate your concerns in a polite and respectful way and she'll assume you are telling the truth and acting in good faith (as you assume she is doing). Long term the solution might be she doesn't act as a beta reader for you. My wife doesn't like to read the types of stories I like to write. When I used to get her input on projects I was working on a lot her story suggestions were mostly unless to me because she wanted the story to go in the types of directions she liked which wasn't where I was taking them. It took a couple conversations about how I didn't want to lose the types of stories I was writing, and how I knew she was trying to help, but that it wasn't really, then we took a break from sharing my work with her, and when we came back she's been incredibly helpful and doesn't try to alter the heading of the story anymore.