Book reviews have been reviewed themselves for a long time. The book is reviewed. The review is reviewed, and the process of the review is reviewed.
There is a lot of angst on our World Wide Web, should you choose to look for it, about the whole review process and how it should be handled. I wrote a brief post simply stating Amazon is a sales company not a review site but other than that its a big, messy, ugly, dark, quagmire that will suck you int,o its confusing and elaborate depths if you attempt to research this topic online.
I’m not going there.
What I am going to do, is ask about the relevance of the book review once its out there and it’s impact on you and on any decision-making.
For me, I try to avoid reading reviews because I know I can be swayed by them no matter how much the practical side of my brain says, we’re leaving this information and making our own mind up, I still find the review I’ve read having a sneaky dip into my subconscious and helping me form an opinion for a book I’m reading.
That’s the important point though. I don’t choose a book on its reviews. I choose my books on recommends, authors I’ve already read, authors I talk to and book club choices. I’ll even walk into a book shop, see a cover, read a blurb and buy it just on that!
But this is where I have to be careful. I go onto Goodreads to update I’m reading a new book and underneath are a whole host of reviews. First by friends, then by community. I have found a slight skewing on how I enjoy a book on whether I took a sneak peek at the reviews. Either good or bad. I need to read with no prior knowledge. Reading reviews mostly spoils my enjoyment.
How do you feel about book reviews. Do they alter how you feel about a book and do you allow them to make decisions for you?
davidbastiani says
I try to ignore them too… I might glance at the average rating to get an idea of what other readers thought. But ultimately everyone has different tastes so just because someone else doesn’t like something doesn’t mean that I won’t.
I’d rather trust my own judgement and read the blurb and first few pages.
…..
Kate is says
I try not to read them. I use to and would base my reading on them in many ways but after a few fails I moved away from them. The first few pages or chapter is a much better indicator for me.
Prashant C. Trikannad says
Rebecca, I read book reviews but I’m not swayed by them. In fact, most of the time I read a review with absolutely no intention of buying the book. In fact, I don’t think I have ever purchased a book after reading about it. The reason is that I read books that I want to read or I plan on reading.
Linda King says
Reviews do sway me if they all say the same thing, I must admit. That’s why I love book shopping in a real bookshop where I can just read the back, the first few lines and get a feel for the book. I know you can do this on Amazon too, but it’s just not the same – and those reviews are just a scroll away, tempting you to look! I mostly read books on instinct and recommendation. I have to say, the cover does help, too – even though it probably shouldn’t!
MarinaSofia says
Well, I review books myself, so of course I also read other people’s reviews – usually after I’ve read the book, to see what differences of opinion we might have. I don’t think I’ve ever been swayed by a negative review (unless you can call it swaying if it chimed in with what I already believed about a book, one that I had no intention of reading), but I have to admit I have been swayed by positive ones from people whose opinion I greatly respect. And most of the time, I haven’t been disappointed, even if I saw completely different things in that book than the recommender did.
Margot Kinberg says
Such an interesting question, Rebecca! There are some reviewers whose opinions I trust implicitly. Their reviews do affect whether or not I’ll read a book. But otherwise, I make up my own mind about whether I’ll read it. Once I have read the book, I don’t really change my opinion based on others’. I might change my opinion after thinking it over and remember one or another aspect of the book, but generally not because I’ve read a review that differed from my own opinion.
Patricia Lynne (@plynne_author) says
I don’t look at reviews before buying a book. If I’m buying it’s because the cover and description make me want to read. I have read book reviews and a low one actually makes me curious about the book and if I’d feel the same or not, but I have yet to buy a book because of that.
Jacqui Murray says
I write reviews for Amazon Vine so they send me free books and I’m supposed to provide my thoughts. I NEVER read other reviews first for all the reasons you mentioned. Part of the fun is to see if I rate the book like the Universe does.
FictionFan says
I read reviews all the time and am often swayed to buy a book based on a review. But I also have a terrible memory so I know I’ll have forgotten what the review said by the time I’ve read the book (it’s rare for me to read it straight away because of the overflowing TBR pile). So I don’t think the reviews influence my opinion of the book in the end…
D.A.Cairns says
I’m with you Rebecca. I tend to go on personal recommendations. I find most review are too long, and contain too much information about the contents of the book, and not enough about stylistic, thematic and grammatical issues, among others. It’s hard to believe reviews when there are so many allegedly 5 star books. I write brief and honest assessments of books based on my completely subjective criteria. That’s why if someone tells me they liked a book, I’ll probably give it a go.
Jane Isaac says
I’m with you, Rebecca. I generally only read on recommendation, however I have a lot of non-writer friends who base their purchases on reviews in the press and those that appear online, so I guess they do all count. I do think that when someone has taken the trouble to write a comprehensive review, rather than ‘loved it’ etc. it carries more weight.
Jane Isaac says
Btw – I loved ‘Into the Darkest Corner’. Thanks for the rec!
Elle Turner says
I tend to decide on the blurb alone, but I’m interested in different views on a book once I’ve read it so I’ll often read reviews then. š xx
Stacey Mitchell says
I read reviews but I don’t think they sway me at all. I just love hearing what other people think, although I have to admit that, like Jane, I think a well thought-out review is worth more than a couple of words. I like to know exactly why a person enjoyed or disliked a book.
Brandie Mcnemar says
Reviews are good but only to get an idea of what the book is about for me. I get some of the best recommendations from the comments on the books. Although I just read Denis Hickey’s Breaking Free http://www.breakingfree-thebooks.com/books/. It was recommended by a friend, and not my thing but it turned out to be a great read! So it’s about what the people say not the reviews in my opinion, although they are both very similar!