In a review, what helps you choose a book. What do you not like to see?
In a review, what helps you choose a book. What do you not like to see?
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In a review, what helps you choose a book. What do you not like to see?
For me, hearing that a book is funny is the death knell. Light-hearted is fine. Witty is ok. But, telling me how funny it is distracts me for the better part of the book while I am waiting for the funny part to show up. Funny is very subjective.
I hardly read reviews.
I glance at reviews, but so many people make their reviews into Cliff Notes, and that totally ruins it for me. More and more I just read the description of the book and go from there.
I don’t read reviews usually.
I like short reviews. I am cautious about reading a new author’s next book when reviews say this was my least favorite or if there are few stars.
If I start a book and am not sure I want to continue it I will read some reviews to see if other people felt this way and then if it turned around. I hate to give up on a book. If I’m at a library book sale I will quickly look at the overall rating of a book to see if I should pick it up or pass.
I do the exact same thing!
I hate spoilers! I like to see what they thought of the book was good, did it keep u up all night
Exactly…no book reports. I may want to read the book!!?
On Amazon, I first look for 4+stars, by LOTS of readers. Then I read they synopsis. If it’s funny or endearing I’ll usually bite. Unless it’s 5 stars, and I’ll buy almost anything.
I don’t read reviews on books for purchasing decisions. I read them for research and obsess about the ones that were written for my books. It’s a love-hate relationship.
Do not read reviews.
I don’t want the review to reveal the story!! It should just tell us if the reader enjoyed it or not without giving the whole thing away.
Yes, Stars mean a lot to me, especially when the majority votes a certain way.
No spoilers.
I do NOT want a book report.
Stars, and I agree with @Kathy, no book reports!
I certainly don’t choose a book by reviews…because I have seen too many nasty reviews about a book I love.
I hate seeing reviews that talk about a book so negatively…usually someone likes or even loves the book. If they think it was so terrible, I wish they would state they didn’t care for it; not run it into the ground and say it IS a horrible book. I would much rather hear,”I didn’t care for it”, than, “It IS bad.”
I like specifics (ex. Great imagery, deep characters) and don’t like generalizations (a good read). Reviews that are short but succinct are the best for me!
Love, love, love when an author has developed the characters well!
I pay close attention to reviews, but don’t rely entirely on them. I despise when people give away the plot in a “review” (if I want a synopsis I’ll look it up). I’m interested in if it moved you or if you loved the characters or if you couldn’t put it down. I’m interested in complete sentences and flow and grammar. Just tell me how it really made you feel and I’ll figure out if I might like it.
I have favorite reviewers. I just want to know how much they loved the book.
My reviews are short and sweet. I usually skip the ones that detail the entire book.
I want the reviewers feelings not a recap of the story.
I’m not sure I’d have even thought about this. I always no when a review strikes my fancy. I’m pretty sure I have to agree with @Nancy. I rely on how a reader perceived and felt about the book more than the story recap. I have also learned that there are a few people that if they say they loved a book, well I don’t even need to know what it’s about, I’ll read it. I’ve also learned that there is the polar opposite too. I admittedly am not very good at writing reviews.
I tend to read the bad reviews first to see what people didn’t like about the book. Rarely is this the reason I choose NOT to read a book. In fact, more often than not — unless all the reviews are bad — I’ll read it for the very reason the reviewer didn’t like it.
Overall, though, when I use reviews to choose a book (like on Amazon), I look for books that have 4-star rating or higher, then I look at the bad reviews first, followed by the good reviews. The reviews in the middle are pretty much useless to me because they usually mean the reader didn’t have a strong feeling one way or another.
One book got rave reviews except one. I had to check. Turned out the author used a bad word. Gasp!
Generally, I don’t read the reviews. I see how many have read the book (how popular it is) and out of those, have given it a 4 or 5 star rating then read the description of the book.
Reviews don’t usually decide for me what I want to read. I do read them after I have read a book to compare my thoughts.
I read a few reviews before I decide if I want to read the book just to get an idea about the story line. 🙂
I’ll look at overall score (4.5 stars) but if I read reviews, I talk myself out of it.
No spoilers! And having author friends, I hate reviews that trash the book or author. Not your cup of tea… ok. No need to be insulting.
Short brief but enough to entice me!
In fact I’m kinda weird. If a book is really popular (think Harry Potter) I won’t even read it!
I also like to start with the low reviews and then move to some higher ones. I like short and to the point. What did they like or dislike. I have found I really enjoy it when someone relates it to other books in the genre that are similar. That way I know if I enjoyed one they compare it to theres a good chance i will also like the book in question.
I read the reviews, & the cover means a lot!
Don’t give a synopsis of the book that is nearly as long as the book itself. I will assume the review is paid for, a comp or the author’s mama! And, I don’t read the review. A very brief, general description is enough Just tell me what you loved, liked or disliked about it.