FOR READERS
Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Wendy Rathbone:
How important are reviews to you? Do you glance at them, read them all, or rely more on the blurb and the “look inside” before buying?
Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks!
Stars and reviews matter to me. I usually won’t read a book unless it has at least 3 stars. There are so many books out there I have to have some criteria to weed out ones so I can work my way through the ARC’s and free ones I received, to say nothing of the ones I’ve purchased!
generally I’m a blurb person….but if a book has a lot of low star ratings I’ll check a couple to see what they didn’t like
Blurbs are 90% what I go by. If I like a blurb, but the book has low stars (3 or below) I read the low reviews. Usually the 10% left is just how soon I will read the book depending on negative reviews. Negative reviews depending on how the review is written or why they didn’t like the book is a great motivation for me to read the book sooner.
It’s kind of a toss-up. And I do read reviews, always.
So many reviews on Amazon are paid for. So many reviews on Goodreads are just mean-spirited. But reviews from verified purchases or kindle readers that talk about how the story, characters or excellence of the writing mattered to them, those will make me open the Look Inside. If I don’t want to stop after ten pages, I buy the book.