Hello friends! So, I know we’ve talked about reviews here on Inspy before, but it’s been a long minute. But why oh why would she want to talk reviews in December you ask?
Well, I would love to answer that question.
First though let’s talk about reviews for a minute. They are a funny thing, aren’t they? They can lift spirits, tear down spirits, give spoilers. (no one likes that) We can actually influence if someone else will buy the book we’ve just read. Yes, it’s true! You have influence.
Because like the meme above says your review is often some one else’s preview. Let’s say a very cool cover comes across your social media. The title sounds intriguing. Maybe you haven’t read the author. You read the short blurb to see what the book is about. Now you are still on the fence whether you want to spend your money on the book, right? If you are like me then you go to the reviews. Things that astound me regarding reviews.
- I’m astounded at the really high number of reviews some books receive. I’ve recently read books that have had over 200,000 reviews. That’s amazing. Now when the book has that many reviews I usually skip to the 1 and 2 stars to find out what they didn’t like. Normally these don’t dissuade me at all from buying the book. I’m basically looking to see if they all had the same vibe from the book. A lot of the times they do.
- I’m astounded at how long some reviews are. I mean they are literally a synopsis in some cases. And as stated above I don’t read the spoilers. Just don’t! But more importantly don’t write review with spoilers in them. They take out that thrill that you felt while reading the book. Let other reader’s experience that for themselves.
- I’m astounded that someone will give a book a 1 or 2 star because the book was damaged–that’s not the authors fault. :)
- I’m astounded at the love readers have for their beloved books. The gushing, the emoji’s the pure joy in the words of the reviews. Of course I think I do the same thing.
As someone who reads a lot, I’ll admit to being somewhat lax on the amount of books I’ve reviewed. But I have changed that habit this year. A couple of reason that contributed–you don’t have to leave a written review if you don’t want to. You can simply star it. Also, I don’t like to read really long reviews, so I don’t write them for sure. But it doesn’t take long to write a couple of sentences.
Example: I always love a AUTHOR NAME book-and this one was no exception. Great story and characters.
Another example: What a joy to journey with HERO NAME and HEROINE NAME as they navigated difficult times, but prevailed in the end.
Super simple, right? And if you didn’t care for the book and you don’t like leaving reviews in that scenario, simply star the rating.
At the beginning of this post I told you I would answer the question why I’m doing a review post in December. It’s because reviews are gifts. They are not only gifts to the authors, they are gifts to other readers as well. A review is a gift that keeps on giving, right? And it’s a free gift involving a little bit of time.
So here we go–I’d love to hear your thoughts on reviews. How much they influence your purchase of a book. You don’t have to state whether you leave reviews or not, only if you want to. But if you do, I’d love to hear your favorite aspect of leaving a review. Do you only do it when you’ve read an amazing book?
Thank you for hanging with us always!! Love to hear your review thoughts.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
USA Today featured author Lindi Peterson lives in north Georgia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with her husband and a lively array of cats, dogs and birds. She loves sharing life with her family and friends. Her passion for reading led her to writing, and then God spoke words of love into her heart and changed her life forever.
I tend to read the one and two star reviews especially if its mostly 5 stars and they are mostly ARC. I like to see reviews that have all stars. as 5 is meant to be the best of the best or the top 10% but if all books you read are 5 stars what if one is extraordinary you cant go higher. Its the same with reviews of other product. I learnt the hard way that if I had read the 2 or 3 star rating I wouldn’t bought something that wasn’t right for me. The 2 star ones mentioned the same reason the item was wrong for me.
I try to review most books that I finish. I tend to only review the first 3 chapters which in itself can be hard as often things you really want to talk about happen further down but I also want other readers to experience the same thing. I really hate to accidently read hidden gems and spoilers. (The exception it tv shows or movies cos I just need to know).
I agree its a great time to buy books for gifts and even ebooks. I sometimes get an amazon gift card and its fun to chose the ebooks I want to buy.
I started reviewing when I became an ARC ARC but then I realised that it was just as important for other authors as well. I try to keep my review short ( and hopefully sweet) so that people scrolling through will stop and read it.
I read somewhere that a fair guideline for stars was 5 if you loved it and would re-read it. 4 if you loved it but wouldn’t re-read it, and 3 if you liked it. Less than that and I don’t post a review, unless it’s something I consider major, like inappropriate language in a Christian book.
I love reading reviews, they really help decide which book to purchase especially if I don’t know the author. I avoid reading detailed synopsis though as you’ve said as I don’t want spoilers.
I try to review all the books I read now after reading on here how important it is. I’m not great at writing them though, I never really know what to say, so I just do a star rating and a couple of sentences about whether I enjoyed the book and what I liked best.
I don’t read reviews. I discovered reviews when an author asked readers to leave them but I had never scrolled that far down on the vendor page to know they existed previously. So many long, drawn out, spoilers, rehash the story, blah blah blah so I make up my mind from the blurb or if unsure read the first chapter.
Since my eyesight deteriorated I stopped leaving reviews and left it at star ratings. We discovered today that the charming apple has upgraded their books app so now I am unable to read ebooks there, so I’m unsure what I will be doing in the future. Definitely a worm in that apple imho as no reading, no ratings so no possible reviews!
I have to say, I really don’t read reviews! I do write them, as I know how important they are, but I don’t read them! I’ve only been burned by not reading them on one book! Now, I’ll say I really do wish I had read the reviews on that one book before I bought it, but honestly, I’m not sure that would have kept me from getting it. It was by an author whose previous books I had loved, but once I read that one book, it ruined ALL of her books for me! I can’t even go back and re-read her previous books, as she put characters from those in the one that ruined her books for me. If she hadn’t put them in there, I would have read those previous books again. Now, I don’t even mention her books when people ask about books in the genre she writes in.
I love to leave reviews. I know how much they mean to authors and to readers. I like to read others reviews on a book I am thinking about getting. The reviews I like to give are uplifting and hopefully inviting to go check it out. If I really dont like a book, I will still review it, but I will not bash the book or author. It is just not a book for me personally and I will state that. But if there is a good writing or something I will so mention that.
I review every book I read, with some exceptions. I am a reviewer for a few publishers and quite a few authors, so reviews are my thing. BUT I hate reviews that spoil the story for others, or reviews that score low for something completely out of the author’s control. That last one is just people being mean. I, personally, try hard to build excitement for a book, but never to spoil what made me so excited. Does that make sense?! LOL! It’s not easy, which is why I read most of my reviews to my husband. I always ask, “Do you know what this book is about?” or “Does this moment in my review feel like a spoiler? Does it make you lose interest in the book?” He’s a good sport and always gives me his honest opinions, and then I fix things if necessary. Sometimes the joy of the story makes me gush too much and then I need to erase a little of my enthusiasm before I submit my review. I feel that as a reviewer it is my job to show support for authors and all the hard work they put into their amazing stories, but it is not my job to ruin the fun of the read!
When I want to get secular romance books of the clean, sweet or closed-door type I usually look at the one or two star reviews since there they always mention useful information about why the book might not be right for me.
When it comes to Christian romance I avoid it, I look at the 3 star ones which is where the people who are objective about the content tend to be since the 4 or 5 star ones loved it and between 1 and 2 stars I find it too “ugh not very religious” “I didn’t know it was a religious book” “they gave it to me but I didn’t know it was Christian they talked too much about God” too many useless comments I don’t know how the book would deserve 2 stars just because the reader didn’t pay attention to what they were buying .
Jenny-thank you for doing your reviews. I know I’ve always loved seeing a review by you. :) I do like your first 3 chapter scenario for reviews. Makes for no spoilers.
Jeannette–Thank you for reviewing and reading the ARCs. That is so important to authors!
Ruthie–Thank you for reviewing! Also, a couple of sentences can really influence someone!
Dianne–Thank you for doing your star reviews–those are important as well. I pray that another platform comes along so you can continue reading. Can you do Audible? I love “reading” books that way.
Trudy—Thank you for reviewing!! And I’m sorry about that one book by an author you loved! I hate that–but I can see how it happens. Keep reviewing!!
Lori–Thank you for reviewing!! You’re like me–even if it’s not the best book I’ve read, I do look for the places and areas I can comment on that are good. :)
Nicole–Thank you for reviewing!! And like you, sometimes I need to tamp down my excitement for the book. Sounds like you know all the reviewing ropes and what NOT to do. I love that your husband is your first round!!
Lily—Thank you for your insight—that’s a cool way to determine balance when deciding what books to read. :)
Happy Holidays Lindi! I am a retired high school English teacher and write about 150 book reviews a year. Most of the time I keep my reviews short and briefly state what I like about the story -the characters, the setting, a unique motif or for historical stories the time period. As an Advanced Reader for about a handful of authors, for books in a series I try to write similar reviews and keep a Word document for those reviews. As others stated when I am overly excited and write an occasional lengthy review, I reread and edit – especially my Amazon reviews. I keep track of my yearly reading on Goodreads, so those reviews reflect my more personal opinions and maybe longer.
I usually only read reviews for new authors, especially if the book costs more than $3. Reading 5 stars and 1 star reviews and in-between. Since I belong to a locally library sponsored book club, I usually read reviews for our monthly selections. I am not fond of lengthy reviews that retell the story or blurb. Best wishes. Enjoy your weekend.
Hi Dianne K! I recently had cataract surgery and I understand your frustration with APPLE Book app – extremely difficult to read. You are not alone – usually I use the Kindle app, but sometimes it was easier to download a Bookfunnel book to Apple. Not anymore. Happy Holidays and Best wishes.
I do not read reviews. I want to make up my own mind about a book. I do write reviews on Goodreads. It breaks my heart when I see a low rating on a book. I know how hard a writer works to write a book. Just because it may not be a book that I enjoyed, it does not mean someone else would love it. Thank you so much for sharing. Merry Christmas. God bless you.
I leave a star review for every book I finish (about 100 books a year) but don’t usually leave a word review as my brain just goes blank. I loved it but can’t describe why, my brain is just not wired that way. If I leave a 3 star review I’ll say why it didn’t click because that’s normally genre or bad lauguage etc. Such as, I tried a time slip novel as I love dual time but nope time slip I do not like and it wasn’t the authors writing as it was well written I just don’t like the genre.
Renate–Thank you for your reviews!! I started keeping up with my books on Goodreads as well. I love how easy it is. I do tend to review there first. Thank you so much for all you do-and I love that you read so much. It truly is a joy!
Debra-Thank you for reviewing. I am hard pressed to do a1 or even 2 star review. If I were to leave a rating like that I would have to explain in detail why I did so. Thankfully, I’ve never had to–but I have been on the receiving end for sure!
Hi Renate, I’m not sympathetic to the amazon business practices and would prefer anything else but kindle. Having investigated the other options I think that bookfunnel might be the way to go with an independent book reading app. Thanks for the support. Much appreciated. Merry Christmas. xoxo
I’m praying for that too. I’m finding life less relaxed without reading. Audible hasn’t worked well for me in the past, but I may be revisiting it if I can’t find a book app with a large enough font. Thanks. Merry Christmas. xoxo