Do people read reviews before deciding to purchase a book?
Do people read reviews before deciding to purchase a book?
96 Answers
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Loading Please wait
Do people read reviews before deciding to purchase a book?
No but would read on recommendation.
No.
Sometimes.
Yes- not the only factor but with a new author I find it gives me a sense as to whether I might enjoy it. Tend to focus on the 3 star ones as often more balanced.
Almost never..what is the point of reviews comes to mind
Sort of like asking people’s opinion on a hotel. Mind I’m far more critical of hotels than I am of books. Probably because I’m in construction but couldn’t write a book ????
The right number of reviews (of a certain quality) helps an author qualify for some promotion sites, like E-Reader Today and Bookbub, that can make a real difference to your exposure. Unfortunately, many of these sites can only count http://amazon.com/ reviews, not .http://co.uk/
I do write reviews but they don’t get published. The point being that having worked for years in a library and reading a lot, it can be hard to remember what I’ve actually read and what I’ve merely handled a lot and also to give me some indication at a future date if I want to read more by that author.
Sometimes
Yeah I do I love a review
@Michael No, I have favourite authors that I stick with for the most part. Being a yarn spinner myself I have to admit that I write a lot more than I read.
I never read the reviews. If a book has a lot of blurbs on it by authors then i will be tempted to give it a go
Occasionally.
Always if it a author I’ve not read before x
I do and I don’t always go by them.
Never I like to make my own opinions
Never, everyone is different, I might look afterwards to see what others think.
I tend to look at the ratings as in ‘one to five’ or otherwise, just to see what looks popular. I don’t read reviews as such as I find they tend to direct my thoughts or point out things I had rather they didn’t. If they are short, like ‘exciting read, well paced and great plot” that is okay but longer ones don’t attract me as a potential reader.
I like your surname 😉
@Jason Thank you, it is unusual, isn’t it? If it was Redrum, it would be murder backwards.
The Shining 😉
No
Nope.
I’ll pick it up read the bk or inside sleeve and decide if it’s fir me or not.
I do go onto Goodreads just to see what others thought of it when it’s finished!
Only if the comments are written by me in the future to advise me in the present time whether or not I should buy and read a certain novel
Yes
No not necessarily it either has to whet my appetite in the press releases or word of mouth ?
Sometimes, but not usually for authors I’m familiar with already
I like to read them afterwards to see if I agree
I’m more likely to read reviews to see if a book is worth carrying on with…
I think some swear by it. But i tend to look at the cover first, if it looks interesting, then I’ll read the description and then perhaps check the last few reviews
That’s what I usually do, you definitely get to know people who have the same taste in books and trust their reviews and comments
I usually skim the top two or three.
Yes.
Usually, if it’s an author I haven’t read before, authors I know, and like I dont
Never read them at all now – you can’t judge/trust a book by it’s reviews.
I do think that many reviews are boosted by knowing the author, friends and family type thing.
And at the other end of the scale with 1 and 2 stars you can out down to trolls.
Yes, after the book description, but it’s usually a read of the first few pages that helps me decide
No. I decide on my own merit from the look inside
No I never read reviews.
Nope
Very rarely. I’ve been let down by hyped up books in the past. I much prefer to make my own mind up. Plus I can’t stand reviews that tell half the story first. Many I’ve seen copy the synopsis and I don’t feel it’s relevant.
Yes
Almost always. But sometimes I judge a book by its cover!
I hope so.
Yes unless it is an Author I have read and follow
never
Most of the time. Sometimes I read because of the cover, a recommendation, or an author I follow.
I usually check out a few top reviews and a few of the 1/2 stars for a bit of balance.
If i do’nt know the author. Yes.
Nope I have a mind of my own.
Nope, never do. I rather go in blind
No
No. Never. I just read the blurb on the back of the book.
Yes – definitely
I like to ask members and then have a look at the reviews.
Now and again but more likely to go on recommendations of friends etc
Both good and bad, and a bad review can mean I buy ?
There are some reviewers that you know will pan books you love and vice versa. You know if they dislike something it could well be your thing 🙂
Seldom. Recomendations carry more weight with me. Though if I happen to notice that a book has a low star rating on Amazon or Goodreads I may skim through them to see why.
A good way to use them.
Also depends on where the review is, and by whom.
I actually bought a book based on a 1 star review. The reviewer said it wasn’t her type of read. It was certainly mine though. I loved it and it was one of my top reads for 2017. Over My Shoulder by @Patricia.
As I said elsewhere, there are some reviewers who you know will dislike the kind of books that you love 🙂
No, blurb and personal recommendations are what count for me. I don’t know people who write the reviews so how would I know if their opinion would be useful to me?
I sometimes read them afterwards, particularly if I had reservations about the book and want to be reassured that I wasn’t alone in this!
I think it’s great for people to be able to express their feelings about a a particular book. As a writer, you do hope these comments will be reasoned and fair. It would be a very sad world if we all liked the same things. I’ve been lucky, and my review percentage is overwhelmingly favourable. However, when I first started out, I was trolled by an individual who wrote a comment to everyone who left a five star review on my book, telling them they were complicit in some kind of con, perpetrated by me in order to sell more books, and they would find themselves in trouble with the police unless they deleted their reviews. You would be astonished at the number of people who listened to this bilge, and did just that. It was only when my publisher pointed this out to Amazon that he was prevented from leaving reviews on any books. I suppose my point it that, good or bad, reviews are written for a number of reasons. We’re just discovering the sometimes malign influence social media has on the way the world works. I’m always suspicious when I see a book that has generally good reviews suddenly termed ‘dire’, or ‘rubbish’ etc. by some rogue reviewer.
This trolling was by a fellow author, not a nice thing to be subjected to.
In onr case yes… I had two, David. Eventually we discovered they were linked, which was even more unsettling.
Nope I have fave authors and search high and low for them to read first, I also have a pile of t.b.r. books – which grows daily ! – cos Ive thought the title was interesting then the book looked awful i.e. gruesomely awful !!
It’s a bad sign if I read reviews. I only do it if I’m already reading the book and wonder if anyone else had the same negative thoughts. Did it this morning, and was disappointed that no one else saw the plot holes!
yes and no. i go by star rating too. x
Not if I know the author! If I don’t I read a sample and I soon know whether I’ll like it. Not everyone has the same taste.
Sometimes
Yes, especially of an unknown (to me) author. I am turned off by poor editing and poor proof reading comments. Other things are subjective – we all don’t Like the same story lines.
Do you find the poor editing & proof reading mainly with self published authors?
@Jason Good future topic
@Jason It pains me to say yes. It must be daunting to proof and edit on your own. In my own case, I make mistakes and even after reading and rereading, I miss them…and I’m not an author! In general, however, I like the freshness and creativity of indie authors, and I read many of them. Big name authors also have flaws; especially proof reading errors are common.
Rarely unless they’re 1/2 stars then I’ll see why.
yes
Occasionally i will look at Shots magazine reviews. But i only do this on the odd occasion
Nope x
No, I never read reviews.
Rarely., but I always leave one and as an author do appreciate feedback from my readers.
Yes, with new authors
Love goodreads
If I could remember who wrote it, there’s a book out at the moment that has been heavily criticised by the press for being bad and I want to judge it. But, I can’t remember who wrote it. It’s someone famous.
Hardly ever. I prefer making my own mind up on the book. I usually either pick authors i already like or sometimes just go for the cover or book name. So far I haven’t read a bad book.
Oh, I have. Ridley Walker. That is a bad book.
🙂
@Rachel Never heard of him/her before.
@Karen the book is called Riddley (?) Walker. Imagine all spelling rules have been thrown out of the window, coz that’s what happens in this book. For example, chaynjiz.
If I like the author I just buy it… otherwise I read the synopsis.
Great reviews – hated the book. The Talented Mr. Ripley, a 1955 psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith. The writing is probably great but I hated the protagonist so much, I had to quit reading. And I started the book due to great reviews.
Same!
Books are very personal. What several people like, I struggle to get through, or shelf permanently.