Asking “is it bad?” when you want “it’s great” makes honest friends stop answering.

People learn fast what kind of answer you are shopping for. If reassurance is the only reply that gets a good reaction, the honest ones work out that the question was never really a question, and they go quiet. Then you have the praise you asked for and no way to tell whether any of it is true.

Decide before you ask which one you want, and say so. Wanting to hear that it is fine is legitimate sometimes. If instead you want to know what is weak, ask for that in those words, then take it without flinching.