Reviews... to read or not to read?

Your shiny new book is launched, people buy it... people read it... and then some of them review it. What do you do? Do you not look at the reviews all? Do you look at the overview/breakdown of how many reviews are 5*, 4*, etc? Do you read every single review, good, bad and indifferent?

I suppose it depends on who you consider the reviews are for. Other readers, certainly. Other readers will look at the title and cover, and then may read the blurb. Most readers I know also look at the reviews (or at least the distribution of stars in the reviews) before buying, if they're buying online (and may well have done this kind of research before going to purchase the book from a bricks and mortar bookstore. I know I do).

Are reviews there for the author?
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