Does anyone else do this?

[SueK]

When I want to check out a book I go on to Amazon to look at the reviews and I always look at the 1 star reviews first:irked: Am I trying to be put off from reading the book?!?

[sirinrob]

I do similar, but after I've read the book. If it has been reviewed then I try and read all the reviews.

[Nicola]

I usually go to Amazon too but generally read the 5 star reviews and rarely read the 1 star reviews unless there's an alarmingly high number of them.

 

I think I probably just want to find out what people liked and if they liked the things that I would usually go for. I think I also love to hear people gush about a book they loved

[Cookie]

I try to read the reviews in the middle because I feel they are likely to be a more rounded overview. I used to read the bad ones but I now discount a lot of them because they usually don't contain very good reviews they just say something like "it's rubbish" and that's it which I don't consider to be very helpful. Funnily enough I rarely read the five star reviews either because I find them too gushing and it's very rare that you find the perfect book.

[Raven]

Some of the one star reviews can be unintentionally hilarious, especially if the reveiwer gets ranty!

[Michelle]

Funnily enough I rarely read the five star reviews either because I find them too gushing and it's very rare that you find the perfect book.

 

I don't think of 5 stars as being a perfect book, because as you say, it's very rare. I give 5 to the books which I really enjoy reading, for any number of reasons.

[Johnny Carson Whit]

I always look online for reviews of literally anything I am planning on buying, whehter it be books, a DVD or an Iron

 

More often or not it's Amazon I go to, but I have been known to google something I am planning on buying and reading every single review I can find of it, I'm just weird like that; and believe me you end up reading the same review quite a few times.

[Stephanie2008]

I usually know whether or not I'm going to buy a book in spite of reviews. Usually because they're recommended on here Then once I've read them, I like to go and read the reviews, especially the 1 star reviews, and see whether I agree

[vinay87]

I tend not to read online reviews. Mostly because I seldom plan before going to a bookshop. And I never buy books online.

 

Case in point. I know I'd find good reviews of Twilight online. But something about the name just reminds me of some old show on TV, which I can't for the life of me remember, where some guy used to say "An hour in the twilight zone" every episode. An eerie childhood experiance which has made me weary regarding the word. And even if a romance vegan vampiresque series named Twilight has reviews that try to convince me to read it, I will not.

 

What's in a name? Why, everything sonny.

[Chrissy]

I tend to look on the forum first as I feel I will get a review or recommendation that I can rate properly against my own tastes. I will occasionally dip into the Amazon reviews, and will try and take a broad look across the ratings.

[Talisman]

Reviews I have to confess have no bearing whatsover on my choice of books, or for that matter any form of entertainment whatsoever. If I want to know what a book is like I will either go to a book shop and browse through it or borrow it from the library.

[Jessi]

I read the reviews on amazon quite a bit - sometimes they sway me and sometimes they don't. It depends on what it is. If I really want it and its badly reviewed I go ahead and buy it anyway though.

[Kylie]

I tend to read lots of reviews from different sources before I buy a book; often from here and Goodreads, and occasionally from LibraryThing and Amazon. I read a selection of the best and worst reviews, and some in between. I find this gives me a pretty good overall feel for the book and whether or not it will appeal to me.

[Nollaig]

Prior to reading a book I WANT to read, I will look to see how many 5 stars and how many 1 stars there are, but I won't read them. If I'm trying to make up my mind about a book, or if I've just finished it, I'll read both 5 star and 1 star reviews to get both views. I never bother with 2, 3, or 4 stars. I only care if you REALLY love it or REALLY hate it

[lexiepiper]

Prior to reading a book I WANT to read, I will look to see how many 5 stars and how many 1 stars there are, but I won't read them.

 

I do look at the star ratings, but tbh, even if it had all 1 stars I wouldn't really care and would get it anyway. The only reviews I read though are those I read on here

[Nollaig]

I don't care how many 1 stars a book has either. (The 'I won't read them' was referring to the reviews). I do like to see books split half and half though, Marmite books! Sucks when I hate them, but I love when I love them. I'm really articulate tonight aren't I?

[lexiepiper]

I know what you mean

[BookJumper]

If a book looks 150% like my thing, I'll free it from the bookshop immediately upon seeing it; however if I'm intrigued but unsure, I'll usually read all available reviews on Amazon UK, Amazon US and Librarything, though I'll ignore those who gush / dismiss without reason (i.e. 'OMG GET THIS BEST BOOK EVER' or 'don't buy this it sucks) or can't string a sentence together.

 

I also tend to skip essay-lenght reviews which look like they've spoilt every plot twist in there. I once had the misfortune to read a review of Neil Gaiman's American Gods which went more or less like this: 'When this happened, I thought it was ridiculous because... the resolution of the problem on page 570 was unbelievable, how does the author expect you to believe that... as for the ending, when character x does y, I thought...'. This has taught me to practice extreme caution.

 

I can be influenced by good and bad reviews equally, depending on how convincingly they make their case. If the reviewer likes the same kind of books I do and values the same kind of strengths in a novel (standard of writing, characterisation, etc.), then of course I'll take into account what they have to say.

Edited February 11, 2010 by BookJumper

[Ladyinthetower]

I don't normally read reviews for books I buy myself, I like to read the synopsis and if it seems ok I'll buy it. The only time I read reviews is if I am buying a book for somebody else.

[SueK]

I also tend to skip essay-lenght reviews which looks like they've spoilt every plot twist in there. I once had the misfortune to read a review of Neil Gaiman's American Gods which went more or less like this: 'When this happened, I thought it was ridiculous because... the resolution of the problem on page 570 was unbelievable, how does the author expect you to believe that... as for the ending, when character x does y, I thought...'. This has taught me to practice extreme caution.

 

 

OMG how annoying is that. I remember reviewing a book I quite fancied, only to be totally put off buying it because the reviewer said something like "well it was obvious that the she was going to die in prison anyway":irked:. I thought Amazon were supposed to vet reviews before they were posted to avoid spoilers. Grrrr.

 

Still, I suppose that should be a lesson to me to stop reading the reviews.

[StephenKingman]

Yes i do have a look at some negative reviews but if they are in the minority then i tend to dismiss them!

[Echo]

I like to read the 5 star reviews as well as the 1 star reviews. I want to see what it was someone really liked or didn't like about a book. A lot of the time, especially on Amazon, people will give a book 1 star if there was a problem with the shipping, which has nothing to do with the book itself! Or they'll have a silly complaint about something that doesn't really matter.

[missybct]

I tend not to read reviews until after I've finished reading - I get most of my recommendations from either here (recently) or my friends. I do the same thing with books as I do with films - read (watch) and then have a look on Amazon (IMDB) and see what people are saying about it.