As a reader, which type of review do you prefer?
One that summarizes the entire book?
Or one that is more along the lines of "I liked it, and here's why"?
I know what my preference is, which is reflected in the reviews I've left. I do try to leave a review for 90% of the books I read - either on Goodreads or Amazon (usually both) - as an author I know how important they are.
I am interested - which type of review do you prefer and why?
7 comments:
I tend to just do a quick check the good-bad-star-ratio. Most of the time reviews are just opinions, and, well...
Bill
What Bill said.
I read the negative reviews first and sometimes only -- because a lot of times they tell me what I will love best about the book.
Nonfiction example: 'This book was too basic for my taste and gave a lot of information relevant to people not already familiar with the field...' Perfect! I wanted a book I could start with on that subject.
Fiction example: 'This book was written by a right-wing libertarian and it shows...' Yay! Something that isn't cookie-cutter this-year's-issues on the fiction shelf. Maybe there will be people and not 'characters' in the story too. One can hope!
I read the negative reviews first and sometimes only -- because a lot of times they tell me what I will love best about the book.
Nonfiction example: 'This book was too basic for my taste and gave a lot of information relevant to people not already familiar with the field...' Perfect! I wanted a book I could start with on that subject.
Fiction example: 'This book was written by a right-wing libertarian and it shows...' Yay! Something that isn't cookie-cutter this-year's-issues on the fiction shelf. Maybe there will be people and not 'characters' in the story too. One can hope!
Pax, I *always* read the negative comments first for the same reasons. I'm also very suspicious of any book that has nothing but 5 stars - it makes me wonder if the author bought his/her reviews or if the book was *only* read by family/friends.
I don't mind either type of review. There are no spoilers in my world and I often read the last pages of a book before I buy a book (gotta make sure I'll like the ending!). I pay more attention to the comments than the stars. Everyone rates stars differently, with most people giving high marks in order to not hurt feelings or low scores to be vindictive. The same happens in other industries which use a rating system (health care, restaurants, etc). You hear from the people who LOVE their experience and the people who HATED their experience but not much from the in-betweeners.
I don't much read the reviews. I read what's on the jacket of the book about the storyline; if I like the idea, I give it a try. If I don't, well... I also pick by author and add authors as our guests discuss books and why they like them. If I feel I have things in common with that guest, then I will probably like a similar book to what they did; that simple.
(I am not a good mother-of-an-author, but I will brag about her books because I truly LIKE them!)
Bionic Cowgirl
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