For this week's topic, I am talking about whether negative reviews affect your reading. More specifically, do other people's negative reviews affect whether you give a book a chance or not?
Personally, I think it depends on who is giving the negative review. After blogging and reading other blogs for seven months now, I have gotten a feel for which bloggers have similar taste as me. For instance, Shannon at It Starts At Midnight likes a lot of the same books as me (I also kind of love her blog). I would probably give a negative review by her a little more weight. Of course everyone does have their own tastes. Sometimes it also depends on what a blogger did not like about a book. For instance, some bloggers may hate books that have cheating in it, while others don't mind it. It is not a deal breaker for me, so if a blogger hated a book for that reason only then I wouldn't necessarily dismiss it. There is one example of a book (Red Queen) where book bloggers all over were saying it was too much like other dystopian novels and not very original. After reading so many reviews like that, I decided not to read it. I love YA dystopian novels so much, but I want something original. Because that type of genre is becoming so popular, it seems like it is getting harder and harder to find one truly original. Nevertheless, I just have no interest in reading a book that is about ten different books all rolled into one. I have too many books on my TBR for that.
When it comes to Amazon or Goodreads, I take those with a grain of salt. I will admit that if a book has an average rating of four stars, I will intentionally seek out the negative reviews just to see what flaws they saw that others may not have. That won't necessarily keep me from reading the book though. How much weight can I really give perfect strangers, especially when everyone has different tastes?
So what do you think? Do you read the negative reviews of books? Do they affect whether you read the book or not?
I agree it depends on who it comes from and also what feeling I have towards the book already. Like is it on my must read list or is it from one of my go to authors. So while I may take negative reviews into account its not the main thing I consider.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input Grace!
DeleteNegative reviews from random people on Goodreads I take with a grain of salt as well. Reviews my blogger that I like and trust definitely affect the way I think going into a book. That's why I try not to read too many reviews in depth before I read a book. I'll look at the overall rating and skim a bit, but I won't read a bunch of reviews before I start the book. I prefer to read refers after I've finished a book and go back to fully read any I checked out. I don't want my views of a book to be too influenced before I get started.
ReplyDeleteVicarious Caytastrophe
Thanks Cayt! When it comes to the ones from strangers on Amazon, I don't read them too deeply either. I will skim them and see if there are any tropes or something they mention that I may have an issue with.
DeleteI do look at Amazon reviews on books I don't know. If there are a lot of 1 and 2 stars I will probably skip it. Like you I listen to bloggers whose reading taste are like mine.
ReplyDeleteThanks JC! Yeah, if a book has an average review of less than 3 stars, I skip it for sure.
DeleteUnless I get bombarded with the same type of information from multiple sources, all of which say "no" to a title, I don't. I only look at the cover and (sometimes) the blurb (but not always). I love going into a book completely blind :)
ReplyDeleteHa, Ramona you have better willpower than me! :) I can't help but look at some of the negative reviews as well.
DeleteOther reviews, negative or positive, don't really influence my decision making.
ReplyDeleteGood for you Breana! :)
DeleteSometimes negative reviews influence me, but there are so many books to read! If it's a much buzzed-about book, I might let the hoopla die down before I read it.
ReplyDeleteSo true Kwizgiver. And if there is a lot of hype around a certain book, that can be dangerous as well. Some books may not live up to all that hype.
DeleteYeah, it does, especially if they give reasons and if they come from someone I trust and maybe even if there a lot of them
ReplyDeleteThanks storytreasury!
DeleteSometimes they do affect me and I push a book aside, but only if the reviews are ovwhelmingly negative. Other times I give them a go. But when a book seems perfect and everyone likes it, it's somewhat comforting to see a negative review or two or more because it gives me a different view point on things. Which I appreciate.
ReplyDeleteThanks Verushka! I agree with that. If a book has an average rating of 4 or 5 stars I will still seek out the negative ones just so I can get a different perspective. One or two negative reviews out of a hundred may not necessarily keep me from reading the book, but still . . . it's sometimes nice to read a review from someone who didn't absolutely love it. :)
DeleteAww thank you! I'm blushing! Though I totally agree, we DO seem to have similar tastes, and I take your reviews into stronger consideration too. Even if I love a blogger, we don't always have the same taste, but you are one I can count on to be similar a lot of the time!
ReplyDeleteI also feel like I have kind of learned how a lot of blogs I frequent operate- if they tend to lean toward the positive or negative side, if certain things bug them that don't bug me, etc., so it is a little easier to figure out if I should be worried about the book. And sometimes, people flat out do NOT like a book even though most everyone else does, so that is always possible. If it is a book I was already dying to read, I will definitely keep it mind, but I will still read the book. If I was on the fence... yeah, a few negative reviews from very trusted bloggers would likely sway me to not read it.
LOVE this post, it is such a great topic, and not at all just because you mentioned me ;) Seriously, you really made me think about this! Now I will be considering it when I read negative reviews for sure!
Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight
Thanks so much for your input Shannon! I am glad you trust my opinion as well. :) And you are so right that what bugs other bloggers doesn't necessarily bug me. For instance, some people think cheating is a deal breaker in a book but it isn't for me. So if a blogger hated that in a book but nothing else, I would probably still give it a chance.
DeleteYou're absolutely right, it really depends on who's posting the negative review and what their problems are with it. For some instances, negative reviews make me want to pick up books too! I think they're so important to have.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeann! I think it is important to have both sides of the coin when it comes to books for sure.
DeleteI think you put your finger on it exactly, it depends on who the reviewer is. I usually have a good idea how my views and other blogger views match up so it gives me a good indication of how I'd feel. I still try out books that I l really like the sound of though no matter how many bad reviews they get and I have often been pleasantly surprised.
ReplyDeleteThanks Trish!
DeleteThis is such a great topic! I totally agree with you, it really depends on who wrote the review. If it's someone who's opinion I trust I will at least take their negative review into account when debating whether or not to read it. But, at the same time, if I see a bunch of people giving a book negative reviews, depending on the book, it tends to make me want to read it even more! This usually happens with books that don't have a lot of hype, and that I think sound interesting, seeing everyone give it bad reviews makes me want to see if I feel the same way or not. Even recently, with End Of Days, one of my Goodreads friends gave it like two stars, saying it was disappointing, and we tend to have very similar tastes but her bad review just made me want to read it more! I hope this comment makes sense... Great post! =)
ReplyDeleteThanks Shay! Ha, yeah your comment did make sense. I don't necessarily agree, but it's an interesting take on it. Thanks so much for your input.
Delete