For this discussion post, we are joining the Tell Me Something Tuesday challenge run by Jen at That’s What I’m Talking About. Here’s the topic for this week. Which types of reviews help you decide what books to read?
Julie:
I like to read both negative and positive reviews. Of course I want to read the glowing reviews, but I take those with a grain of salt because we all have different tastes. I also want to know what people hated, and if that’s something I would hate too, I may not want to read the book. Then I do go and read the mediocre reviews because most books fall into that range and those reviews do a good job sharing likes and dislikes all around. Then if it still seems like the book would be enjoyable, I will add it to my neverending-endless-never-to-be-finished TBR.
Lynn:
I also take reviews with a grain of salt unless it’s a reviewer I personally know. And if it’s a book I actually want to read, I don’t care about other reviews; I’m reading it anyway.
When looking at reviews, I always start with star ratings and go from there. If a book is rated 5 stars, there had better be a glowing review. And the opposite of 2 star reviews. I should get a sense of why the book was rated 2 stars.
Can we also discuss review aspects I loathe? Reviews that are all recap\synopsis with a sentence or two of personal thoughts or opinions drive me batty. I can read the synopsis myself. Tell me something interesting like the main character is unreliable or the plot meanders around. I also loathe reviews that are 5 Stars “Can’t Wait to Read” or 1 Star “Hate This Particular Author Or Subject Matter”. Neither of those are helping me decide if I want to read a book or not.
What about you?
We are also linking up our discussion posts with the 2024 Book Blog Discussion Challenge hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight!
Agree with you both, especially Lynn! Those “preemptive” stars are such a waste of everyone’s time! Also agree with the synopsis review. Like why bother? Sometimes I’ll explain a *little* about the book if I feel it needs it to understand my thoughts but… yeah everyone here can read! I also only trust a select few reviewers- or I guess, rather, I trust that our tastes are similar enough that our thoughts will likely align on a book!
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…Monthly Minutes at Midnight: November 2024
I agree… if I want to read a book or author, I don’t even check reviews until after I’ve read it. Then I like seeing what other people thought of the same book.