A few months ago, I saw a conversation about review. One of those person say, that if a book got a lot of negative reviews, she wouldn't read it. This made me wonder how review can affect you, and so, I write this discussion post.
Let's start with positive review first. Personally, if a book got a lot of positive reviews or praises, there's a high chance that I'll read it. Of course, it still depends on the book. If I'm not interested with the book--eventhough many people love it--then I wouldn't read it. But, there are also some people who's afraid to read a book with many positive reviews and praises. They're afraid that those books won't live up to their expectations, and so, decide to not read the book instead.
How about negative reviews? There are 2 ways too how negative reviews could affect you. The first is, it made you want to read the book more. When I stumbled upon a book that got a lot of negative reviews, sometimes it made me curious. Is the book that bad? It made me want to read it and found out what other people ranted about.
The second is, it made you avoid the book. This is more like me. I'm not that rich to buy a lot of books, especially book that got a lot of negative reviews. That's why, I prefer to avoid the book, and buy other books that caught my interest instead.
Of course, there is some exceptions. What if the book that got a lot of negative reviews was a book by your favorite author? Or what if that book is from a series you love? In that case, I still will read the book, though I will lower my expectation.
Let's Discuss!
How about you? Does review affect you in some ways? If so, tell me about it!
Great discussion. I don’t think reviews affect me very much. If a book’s synopsis sounds interesting, I’ll read it, even if it has bad reviews. Sometimes I love books that a lot of people don’t like.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
Thanks Aj! I know some people who did that too. Sometimes I wish I could be like you, so I didn't have to stressed much when choosing a book haha xD
DeleteI totally agree - if a book has been getting loads of negative feedback (I can't think of any examples though, so it's not often this happens!), I probably won't buy it. Though this doesn't put me off a book completely - I'd probably just get it from the library instead.
ReplyDeleteI'm really stubborn, so if I book I didn't want to read (like the sequel to a book I didn't love) gets all-rave reviews, it won't make me want to pick it up. Though if a book I haven't heard much about gets loads of hype, I am likely to pick it up!
Great discussion! I think reviews do affect us all (hence the purpose of ARCs, right?), but I've learnt to tune the hype out a bt. It can be a good thing, but I do get tricked into reading books I won't enjoy!
Denise | The Bibliolater
Me too! If somehow I get a book which have a lot of negative reviews for free, I probably will read it. I'm still learning to tune the hype out a bit (everytime a book got a lot of hype, I'm always interested to read it!)
DeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people will say that a negative review might change their mind about reading a book, and sometimes, the same goes for me. Other times, a negative review gets me really curious, so I end up reading the book, even if it wasn't on my radar.
Erin @ The Hardcover Lover
Same with me! But only if somehow I got the book for free. I don't think I will pick up book that I'm not sure I will like.
DeleteFabulous post!
ReplyDeleteI definitely think reviews affect me. If I'm in a bookstore or the library and I'm contemplating reading/buying the book, I'll go on Goodreads and check the rating and read a few reviews. If most of the reviews are negative or if a good number of them are, I most likely won't read the book. However, if it's a book that has an intriguing synopsis or is by an author I've read and loved previously, I will still read it despite the negative reviews.
Me too! I always check Goodreads reviews before buying a book that it's like some kind of ritual for me xD So glad that I'm not the only one. Fortunately, if I already love an author's works, I tend to like their next books :D
DeleteReviews definitely affect whether or not I read books. I've found that reviews - both good and bad - can make a real impact on what books I'll take a chance on.
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Same with me! I really depends on review when deciding which book to buy/read.
DeleteI guess it depends how credible the source is. I could care less about the reviews on actual booksellers' sites just because those can range from people that aren't avid readers to the fact they're not reviewing the content of the book but how their book was delivered, the condition it came in, etc... However, I religiously use Goodreads to determine if a book is worth reading. I really trust the strong GR bookworm community. :)
ReplyDeleteI rarely read reviews of any books I haven't already read, because I want to form my own opinion. I also want to avoid ANY sense of what might happen in the book--even knowing that there's a big twist partway through will make me less excited about it. That being said, I do notice which books are getting a lot of enthusiastic buzz. If a lot of people I know (IRL or online) are talking about a book, I am more likely to look for it.
ReplyDeleteHistorically, I have chosen books almost entirely based on the premise and/or author, without any knowledge about what other people think about it.
Reviews definitely affect me in the same way as you, tho I tend to read more low star books because I want to see what all the hullabaloo is about xD I've also found, that reading high rating books with lots of praise makes me judge a book harder. I'm reading Bone Gap right now, and SO MANY PEOPLE loved this story.I think it's crap.In my opinion, the book would be better if about 5/7ths of it were scrapped and the author came at it from a different angle.BUT ANYWAYS MY POINT IS THIS- If I had read this book without all the high star reviews in my head, I would have DNF'd it.But because so many people loved it, I kept searching for that golden moment that would make me love it too.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! :)
We have the same point of view on reviews but mostly I don't read the reviews about a book. I just pick and read it just because of it's synopsis.
ReplyDeleteYani at Paper Boulevard