PART 1 (1/3)
Just one question today as it's a big one with a big response
I was really interested to see what people look at before they actually buy a book and if things like reviews and star ratings influence this. The first paragraph will be my opinion and the second will be quotes which l have took from the form which some people filled out (Thank you)
Do you mainly read reviews before buying a book?
No
My thoughts :
For me, if it's a book l am interested in, l actually rarely read a review but will look at the star ratings of my friends (mostly blogger friends) on goodreads. This is because l really trust my fellow bloggers and if it's an average of 4/5 stars l am much more likely to buy it. Books which l buy because of reviews are books which l have come to learn about due to that review or if there is only around 5 ratings for that book l will read random reviews. Both positive and the negative ones.
Your thoughts :
Lots of you said you sometimes do but other times just buy a book so some of you will be in both sections.
Yiota said - There are books, that i'm so impressed from the summaries, that i don't want to read reviews and see something i don't like. I prefer to decide all by myself.Bookette explained how she doesn't just look at reviews - I check out blogs, newspaper and in bookshops.
Phanee said - But most of the times, I still get books that I think sound interesting, even if I haven't actually seen a review of it somewhere.
Jules said exactly what l do - Sometimes I don't go searching for reviews before I buy a book but I have bought many books based on reviews that I have read.
Tandra said - Nope. I trust my intuition and the back of the books and jacket flap!
**
Spoilers
Quite a few of the people who filled the form out explained that the reason they often don't read reviews is because of spoilers. I am actually the same and for a while explained that my reviews at spoiler free and if anyone feels there is a spoiler to let me know as l do work hard to do a review without spoilers. (Little or big!)
Mel said - I try not to read too many reviews before buying as I don't want spoilers!
Ricki said - I don't really read the reviews because I don't want spoilers of any kind, but I do look at the ratings that others have given.
Thinking Cat said - I hate running into spoilers so I don't read them in depth.
Lisa said - I might check out general comments and start ratings but I don't want to ruin the book for myself.
****
Yes
Like l said above, for a book l am unsure about or a book which doesn't have many ratings l will spend more time deciding whether to get the book or not and will read reviews.
Phanee said - I usually only read a couple of reviews before deciding whether or not I actually want a book.Mel said -I do check amazon before I purchase most books just for an idea of how many reviews there are and what rating the majority are.
The Slowest Bookworm said - I do read reviews. Most of the books I buy are as a result of going directly from a bloggers review to Goodreads or Amazon to either order or add to my wishlist.
Jackie said - There are a handful of books that I have purchased or plan on purchasing because of book bloggers.
Liz said - Yes! I absolutely have to read reviews before I buy a book. I can't buy anything without reading them. I usually read at least ten, usually from my favourite blogs, and from Goodreads (which I would be lost without).
Debz said a great idea which l may try in the future!- I try to find one good review and one bad review of a book. It helps me notice some details I might not notice that could really affect my opinion.
Miss Page Turner said - Mostly I want to buy books because I read so many great reviews of them before on blogs.
**
For books l am unsure about -
I think this is one of the best things about reviews alongside them helping you find new books they also can help you make your mind up on a certain book.
Yiota said - For books, i'm not sure (about), i always read reviews.
**
Favourite blogs -
A few people mentioned how the opinion of their favourite bloggers matter the most to them. By favourite blogs l believe most people mean they are the bloggers who seem to have the same sort of taste as them and therefore their opinion highly matters.
For me l do have my favourite blogs but l also have the bloggers who l trust not to give a spoiler to a book l plan to read.
Yiota said - I can't read all the reviews from the blogs i'm following. That's crazy. There are some certain blogs (about 5), that their opinion really matters to me since we think almost the same but from the rest i just keep in mind their rating.
Stephanie said - I mainly read reviews from other book bloggers rather than general reviews on Amazon/Goodreads because I feel I can trust their opinion better if I have been reading their blog for a while and know how similar their tastes are to mine.
Miss Page Turner said - I've got some favourite blogs that I check from time to time.
New Addition!
I will now be doing a summary at the end of each discussion. For example l will be doing 3 posts with this discussion and then a summary!
I hope summaries will offer advice to bloggers.
Thank you -
It's because of you guys we have a great discussion!
Yiota - Splash Of Our Worlds
Booketta - Booketts'a Book Blog
Mel - Mels Random Reviews
Ricki - Reading Challenged
Phanee - Funny Wool
Mickey - I'm A Book Shark
Thinking Cat - Cat's Thoughts
Stephaine - Books Are A Girl's Best Friend
Karen - The Slowest Bookworm
Jackie - Books & Tea
Lisa - Lisa's World Of Books
Jules - The Great, The Good and The Bad
Kirsty - The Overflowing Library
Liz - Planet Print
Ria - The Beaucoup Review
Debz - Debz Bookshelf
Miss Page Turner - Miss Page-Turners City Of Books
Tandra - Awesome Sauce Books
Come back next week for part 2!!
I hope to do it next week but l am away Monday - Tuesday and can't promise
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
Great discussion. Thanks for letting me know this is up, and I look forward to reading the rest!
ReplyDeletemickey @ imabookshark
I have to say i was surprised of how many people need to read a review before buying a book. Good to know about that. It makes me understand more of what readers expect from bloggers.
ReplyDeleteCool! I am so glad I filled out that form. This is a great discussion.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good choice for a discussion piece, I love this feature of yours - by far one of the best out there! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this awesome discussion. For me it is interesting to know how people think about this topic
ReplyDeleteIf I don't think I'll be reading the book for a long time I'll read blogger or short goodreads reviews. I trust most of these people not to ruin anything unlike the people that write cover blurbs! I might buy it straight away or add it to my wishlist but there's a good chance I'll have forgotten the review by the time I read it (could be 6 months - 2 years away).
ReplyDeleteI think if I see a lot of people reading a certain book it's more likely to make me want to read it than the actual details of the reviews.
I like picking up a book and not knowing anything about it and I'm not that bothered if I don't like it. So whilst I like reading about books, I'm not sure reviews influence me all that much.
That was a great discussion post. It's interesting to see how many people don't actually read the reviews and also how many have said they're worried about spoilers. I have actually only very rarely come across a spoiler in a book bloggers site, and if I realise that the review is heading that way I would stop reading. Most bloggers give out spoiler alerts if they really have to add them.
ReplyDeleteI totally relly on bloggers. If I'm unsure about a book I'll look to my favourite bloggers opinions and if they liked it I'll give it a go :)
ReplyDeleteIt's really interesting to see what motivates someone to buy their books. Like a lot of the people said on this post, I generally don't read reviews before I buy a book (though, once I've read it I will read every review I see), or will only read the reviews of favourite blogs.
ReplyDeleteThat said, if I see a review for a book I'm on the fence about or have been seeing a lot of, I will read it to see if it pushes me either way.
This is great. I'm surprised a lot of people don't read the reviews...I'm one of them that does. I find I'm more interested in a book if my favourite bloggers have given it a good mark. :) Donna
ReplyDeleteGreat discussion - it's helpful for other bloggers as well to read the thoughts of readers!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I only read the reviews of bloggers/readers that I KNOW write spoiler free reviews. I've been spoilt so many times that for a while, I stopped reading reviews alltogether. It's hard to avoid spoilers - some people will spoil the first book in a series by talking about a third/fourth/fifth book in a series in a book haul or IMM. I get really frustrated by that, mainly because I always spend a lot of time reviewing a book and making sure everything I say about a book is spoiler free.
There are some bloggers that always have spoiler free reviews and have similar taste in books as I have, so if they have a review on a book that I'm not sure about, I'll read their reviews. If I was already sure I wanted the book, I wouldn't even read the reviews, but just go ahead and order the book.
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post! I'm especially fascinated by the idea that so many people with book blogs, which are usually 80% reviews (if not more), don't actually rely on reviews themselves.
As for me, I have a love-hate relationship with spoilers. When I'm really set on reading a book, I avoid them like the plague. When I'm still deciding, however, I need some very specific spoilers to help me decide. For instance, there is a certain trope in Romance that I don't like, and I'd rather have that "spoiled" for me in a review than to buy the book, read it, and have the experience spoiled in a way that matters more!
I'm more likely to check out reviews after I've read a book, because I want to compare opinions. Ironically, the reviewers who hold back on spoilers also have to hold back on deeper discussion. It's a bit frustrating. I'd rather read an in-depth review full of spoilers than a spoiler-free review that only skims the surface.
I love your discussion posts. There's always something interesting I learn. I'm always afraid I'm giving out spoilers. I tried hard not to, but some people have very broad ideas about what constitutes a spoiler. Like, if I say there's a romance between two characters and that romance is strongly hinted at/spelled out in the blurb, then I don't consider that a spoiler but some people do.
ReplyDelete