Do Book Reviews Influence You?

I use the average rating as a rough guide, but I'll always seek out a sample wherever possible first, even if it has 100 five star ratings.

No, they don't.

I buy a book because I'm interested/intrigued by the premise or because I like the author.

If I read reviews, I tend not to do that until after I've read the book.

Yes.

Not reviews on big sites like Amazon. I find those reviews to be easily manipulated either by friends of the author giving good reviews or by people who hate the author and give bad reviews without reading the book.

But I have smaller sites with people who review books for fun that I use when looking for something new to read. I find places with similar tastes to my own and I've learn to trust their judgment.

Same as firedrake.

Adam said:

I use the average rating as a rough guide, but I'll always seek out a sample wherever possible first, even if it has 100 five star ratings.

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Especially if it has 100 five-star ratings, because in such an instance you can guarantee the author has been pulling in friends and family to jack up the Goodreads average. I could name and shame authors from my own publishing houses who do exactly that.

Everybody has their own taste . . . I like to read for myself.

I may not even know a book exists unless I come across a review for it, so that can certainly influence a purchase.

scarletpeaches said:

I could name and shame authors from my own publishing houses who do exactly that.

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I dare you.

Actually, I don't. There's always been an incestuous relationship between a Good Review and the print media.

I thought everybody knew that.

Regards

Whacko

Depending on the review, most of the time, no.

On the other hand, I will usually be more influenced to buy a book on a negative review than a positive one, when the reasons for being negative are spelled out.

Nope. Once I find an author I like, I ignore reviews. I buy books based on the jacket copy or, more rarely, because I know and like the author.

whacko said:

I dare you.

Actually, I don't. There's always been an incestuous relationship between a Good Review and the print media.

I thought everybody knew that.

Regards

Whacko

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Just about any author whose books get five-star ratings within 24 hours of release; does that help you?

veinglory said:

I may not even know a book exists unless I come across a review for it, so that can certainly influence a purchase.

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This is how I normally find new authors.

scarletpeaches said:

Just about any author whose books get five-star ratings within 24 hours of release; does that help you?

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Not really. I'm one of those arseholes that needs a lecture before he can tell the woods from the trees.

And if I could spell seperate, or separate, the above sentence would include posterior region and elbow!

Regards

Whacko

For new authors, I look at the negative reviews and see if they agree. If several people say the book is sexist, then I'm likely going to find it sexist too. That's a pass. Same for racism, homophobia, pointless sex scenes, etc etc. I know what I don't like.

So, we are equating "book reviews" solely to amazon customer comments? Not, for example, publishers weekly, popular blogs, the NYT book review, RT mag etc etc?

There's only one book I ever bought on the basis of a review alone, and that was The Alienist. Other than that, I read the cover copy. If it sounds interesting, and the first page doesn't bore me, I buy it.

If we're talking about a review in the New York Times or something like that, then yes, that's been known to get my attention. I first heard of Room because it got an awesome review somewhere, and now it's next on my to-be-read pile. Amazon reviews, not so much for books (appliances or products like that, yes). The only time I read them is when I'm already very iffy on a book or if I've heard something about a particular book and want to find out what the fuss is about (a character who dies, something like that). Oh, and I have been known to read the reviews for a particular author who's series has gone to crap because the reviews are more entertaining than the books now. And I even admit that the last one sounded so awful I was almost tempted to buy it just to see how bad it really was.

So if I read a good review somewhere that makes a book sound awesome I'll check it out, but I don't seek out reviews, and I don't read the ones on Amazon before buying most of the time.

Interestingly, the book I've despised most in my life is one I read not too long ago. Afterwards, I checked out the reviews. It had a four-star rating on Amazon, so even if I was checking them out I would no doubt have bought it. It just so happened that I thought all of the one-star reviews were spot on. I think that's the main reason I don't do it. My subjective opinion on a book isn't necessarily going to be the same as the subjective opinion of everyone else who read the book.

I usually go on the blurb, or the spoilers. i do look at the reviews, but they don't really have an influence. That said, if one of my friends tells me about a book I will listen to their opinions because they know what I like.

shaldna said:

I usually go on the blurb, or the spoilers. i do look at the reviews, but they don't really have an influence. That said, if one of my friends tells me about a book I will listen to their opinions because they know what I like.

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^ That. The majority of reviews I read are on Amazon... mostly because that's where I buy most of my books. Same with movie reviews. I'll glance over them, but if the blurb or synopsis (or trailer) looks good, I'll give it a shot.

The main use of reviews for me is finding out the book exists at all. At that point, I'll go find the sample and blurb. This usually applies to reviews on blogs.

But I do use them sometimes when I'm on-the-fence about whether I'll like a book. This is usually because I'm suspicious it'll have elements I don't enjoy later in the story. In those cases, I'll use Amazon or Goodreads and focus on the low star reviews. Negative reviews often given a clearer picture about the book.

Yes, but only the negative reviews. Generally, good reviews are meh in my mind, but I want to hear what the negative reviews say.

There was actually a book the other day where the blurb made it sound WAY more interesting than the actual plot (which, in my mind, wasn't even the same story as the blurb). It would have made my wishlist otherwise.

I have bought books because of reviews.

The last time was Rachel Caine's Weather Wardens book 1, which I bought because Jim Butcher had said something glowing about it and I love his books.