Is it just me?
But I don't get it. Why would I care about someone else's opinion of a book? What if they don't share my tastes? I've had friends recommend books they love that I think are absolute duds. Serious wallbangers. Which then sometimes calls into question the taste of said friends. I've also had friends recommend books that end up on the keeper shelf, but that's quite rare. I've read books that I've really loved, only to see them panned by people who set themselves up as being "in the know."
What do they know? They know what they like. Congratulations. I know what I like, too, and it probably isn't the same thing.
The general point of the aforementioned blogs is that reviewers should be honest and not pander to author's fragile egos. What the heck do authors care anyway? They made it, baby! They have accomplished the increasingly impossible task of actually getting a real live paperbound book out there! If that ever happens to me, you can bet your sweet bippy that I'm not going to be wasting my celebrating time reading someone's review.
So tell me. Am I the only person who really doesn't care about reviews?
9 Comments:
Yup. I don't care either. I'll buy a book if I like the author, like the premise, like the cover, like the blurb, like the front page. Don't read romance reviews.
When my own book comes out I'm gonna read them obsessively and stab everybody who only gives my book four stars.
By 
Julie Cohen, at
5:39 PM
I'm there too. I never read reviwes. But I imagine I'll read my own, and probably cry over them. LOL
By Sasha White, at
5:47 PM
I don't care about romance reviews. Except the ones about MY books. LOL.
Suzanne
By 
, at
6:43 PM
>The general point of the aforementioned blogs is that reviewers should be honest and not pander to author's fragile egos.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEN BABYYYYYYYY Very well said , Susan!
I read the reviews at amazon --usually kirkus and pub weekly though I have no idea how unbaised they are and I read Mrs. Giggles LOL but I dont really let that influence my buying too much. I'll still buy my auto-buys (though I have a 3 strikes rule), I'll still try new stuff.
By Amie Stuart, at
7:44 PM
I read reviews all the time. Partly as entertainment. ::coughcoughMrsGigglescoughcough::, partly as a synopsis and also, I'm interested in anyone's opinion. Does it influence? Yep. Based on the *information* supplied, not the opinion. And usually, it influences me in the positive rather than negative--I'll check out a book, that I may not have been interested in before, but rarely does a negative review turn me off/ or change my mind from buying something I'm planning to.
By vanessa jaye, at
8:55 PM
This got me giggling because I'm usually the one chattering away to strangers. I'm Canadian, though, and we do that a lot.
Not all Americans are that friendly, by the way. In the South, yes, for sure. But up here in New York, no way!!
By Tracy Sharp - Author of the Leah Ryan Series, at
12:15 PM
Only time i read reviews on any book is when i hear alot of ppl say they dont like something lol
Other than that i read a book because i want to.
(came over from Suzanne McMinns)
Beth
By , at
10:12 AM
I'm kind of a wishy-washy reader of reviews. I do go to them when I'm on the fence about a book, but funnily enough, if I'm leaning toward "want it" I'll get the book even if the review is not so great.
What drives me crazy is when I read a raving review, get the book, then wonder what all the fuss was about. I can never figure out if I've just missed something way deeper than I am or if my standards are just impossibly high that I didn't find Greatest Book Ever to be that.
And I have a good number of favs that others have dissed.
I do like to write reviews, though. Always love to run off at the mouth about what I think *g*.
I write them but... heh... I don't read them much
By , at
10:16 PM