I realize that the judging of a book is terribly subjective. Readers have different tastes etc. What is vastly appealing to one can cause another’s eyes to roll in disgust. So one person’s take on a book is generally that, their take, their opinion.
I’m writing this post as I begin posting regular reviews on this blog. I would like nothing better than for visitors to feel more informed about a book than when they were before they visited. But what visitors will get is one person’s opinion. You might share that opinion when all is said and done and begin to trust that reviewer; feel that you and said reviewer share the same tastes. Bravo! Or, you may end up having the opposite reaction to the book than the reviewer did, and decide their tastes don’t coincide with yours. At the end of the day, book reviews are a tool that you, the readers, can do with what you will.
What I do want from the reviews I post on this blog is honesty. Whether the reviewer loved the book or couldn’t stand it, I will make sure it’s done in a fair and honest manner. Their reasons for loving the book will be spelled out as well as their reasons for disliking it. And you will never see a review from a reviewer who doesn’t particularly like the ‘hidden baby’ trope, reviewing precisely that sort of book. I don’t think it’s fair to an author that someone already prejudiced against their storyline should be the one to review it.
Okay, that said, I’d like to find out from you how you view book reviews. How much weight do you put on them?
**You can select up to 3 answers.
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Book reviews weight a lot in whether i buy a book or not. These reviews offer an honest glimpse of the book form a point of view that is not making a profit from the book. They also offer insight into whether the book is worth reading. I know i have three things that i refuse to read in a book which are rape, incest, and pedophilia (or anything close to it). I usually read reviews to get a heads-up if any of these things are in a book. Usually i read through a couple of different reviews because what one person may view something as one of those three things others might not.
What I try to do is find reviewers who have similar tastes to mine, I look up reviews of old books I’ve loved and see what their take was. Some sites like Dear Author and SB are well respected but I simply find their reviews too harsh and sarcastic and in most cases, not in agreement with me.
Personally, I love it when a reviewer says “I don’t normally read romantic suspense (or whatever) but I really liked this…” etc. I think it’s up to the author to overcome reader prejudices. As long as the reader starts the book with an open mind, her review is valid. Even if it ends up “I don’t like suspense and I didn’t like this.”
What I look for in reviews is an articulate description of what worked and what didn’t.
Book reviews play in to my decisions with new authors or new genres more than anything else. I just devoured a set of contemporaries this weekend based upon comments from other readers and their reviews, and I probably wouldn’t have read the books otherwise (which would have been a mistake on my part!)
I have a gazillion blogs in my reader, but only a handful where I know that the reviewer has similar tastes to mine and therefore look closely at their reviews. I agree completely with Jill – an articulate description of what worked and what didn’t. And why. It’s what I try rto do in my reviews, so I look for it in others.
I’m one of those readers that doesn’t like a whole lot of suspense in my romances. I like it in my suspense/thrillers, just not mixed up with something that is predominantly a romance novel. So I would definitely not inflict my opinion about a romantic suspense book unless it completely overcame all of my prejudices against them and I really loved it. Kind of like what happened when I read Knight of Desire which is a medieval, which normally I don’t take to often.
When I look at a review I”m more interested in what it tells me about the author’s style, similarity to other authors I might have read, and in the case of historicals, how respectful they are of the history. If I find a reviewer whose tastes match mine for books I’ve already read, I’m much more likely to trust them on new books.
Book reviews normally weigh in whether I will purchase a book or not. For me I like to read the negative reviews first. My reason being that I want to know what elements of a book did the readers most dislike. For example if you don’t like a certain aspect of a book, I might be able to over look because I don’t see that as important. Then I read the good reviews. For me I need to understand what made a reader enjoy or hate a book. What was your reasons? You know what I mean! I agree with Bev that I need my romance to have romance. It has to be placed all through the book even for themes where the main characters don’t have an immediate attraction. Bottom line is I read reviews carefully and then go to my trusted friends to see if they read the book or other works by the author. I also use opinions from people that have similar taste as me on sites like goodreads, etc.
i read several reviews before I buy anything anymore but if a book has gotten a lot of word of mouth I will often look for a review then add it to the list.
I usually don’t decide to get a book based on someone else’s review, or stick to a list of favorite authors. I have my favorites, of course, but I’m always excited when I find a new writer to add to my list 🙂 What works for me is to read the synopsis of a book, since there are plots that almost always work for me and others that almost never do. The best thing a reviewer can do for me as a reader is to write an informed assessment of what worked or did not work for her — especially what worked, because it’s way too easy to take potshots at stuff we don’t like. As a writer of course, everyone should every single thing I ever write, lol. (Uh huh, like THAT will happen!)
i like to research books before i buy them (saves me the trouble of returning them later or wasting money on a book i’ll eventually not reading through). i read a lot of reviews both good and bad (i want to see what 5 star reviews and 1 star reviews say) before making that eventual purchase.
When I was selecting books for a library, I started following many blogging sites specifically for the reviews. I can not possibly read all the books I put on the shelves. YA fiction has really taken off the past few years and I chose sites by teens and young adults so I could get a feel for what they were reading and what they thought of the books. Reviews are a tool. You just need to know how to use them properly.
I rarely even read reviews, but I sure like getting them. 🙂
If a book gets great online buzz, I’ll definitely try it. (Thats how I read Elizabeth Vaughan and Ann Aguirre.) As long as reviews are clear about WHY they loved/hated the book, then I’ll trust it. I mean, someone may just not like the authors writing style, while another loves it.
I choose a lot of my books by what the reviewer says but they have to have a reason for saying it. I wont choose a book if the reviewer says its the best best book I ever read but not why it was the best book they ever read. I also dont like reviews that are to long I lose interest to fast and I wont buy the book if there are to many spoilers in the review. Give me a quick rundown about the book and why you did or didnt like it thats all I need.