Five Star Reviews and all that

David James June 24, 2014 at 12.25 pm #


I’ve always bleated on about five star reviews, which are frequently supported by useless comments such as ‘couldn’t put it down’, ‘Wow!’ or, my favourite ones: ‘beautifully written,’ or ‘wonderfully crafted.’

I used to subscribe and even review for newbooks and was for a time taken in by such effusions. I’d think, ‘there’s so much wonderful stuff out there and if only I had time …’ And then I ordered some of these marvels and gradually came to realise that 5* was the norm and that the main function of newbooks was … exactly, to sell new books – and they did a pretty good job of it too – took me in at least.

So, to return to the 5* question about 5* reviews: ignore the stars completely, and concentrate on the substance of the review. Most people would give Marcel Proust a one-star rating, with such incisive comment as ‘Boring!’ or ‘This guy is really up himself, isn’t he!’ Within two lines of a review you’ll know whether you’re being given a bum steer or whether the reviewer has really appreciated the quality of the book and has something intelligent to say about it