Poll

I'm so bad about reviews, a book could have a 4.98 rating and that one bad review makes me doubt the it.

I usually read about 5 high ratings, 5 mid ratings and 5 low ratings. I can usually tell how my tastes line up with the writers' critiques to decide if I want to read a particular book. I tend to skip the reviews that go on and on about the plot. I'm more interested in why the reader likes or dislikes the book.

I like to go in with an open mine so I rarely read reviews. However if someone says it's amazing and recommends I'll read it.

I prefer to avoid spoilers, but I like to read a few negative reviews of a book before I pick it up. If the reviewers critique things I know I also won't like, I'm very likely to give it a pass. Interestingly enough though, there have been a couple occasions that negative reviews have *enticed* me to read something!

Annie wrote: "I dive straight in. The unexpected excites me far more than the expected."

Couldn't agree more!

For some books I don't read reviews at all, i just go by my gut feeling which never disappoints me...others maybe yes between 1-3 to get an idea...

If the subject sounds interesting - and I read alot of non-fiction - I will usually just borrow the book from the library and glance at a couple reviews afterwards.

If I am planning on buying the book on-line and I'm familiar with the author's previous works and liked them, I don't need a review to convince me.

If I've planning on buying the book on-line and am unfamiliar with the author, I'll read through 1-3 reviews to get an idea of whether the story line might appeal to me. If I'm in a brick-and-mortar store, I start reading the first few pages and see if it captivates me enough to want to continue. Especially if it's fiction.

I don't read reviews at all until I finish the books. Sometimes I read reviews before adding the book to my shelves and in those occassions I read reviews from my friends or verified purchase reviews in amazon. I don't read reviews from "influentals" they tend to be fake.

It really depends on the synopsis. I have found people doc stars for some really petty things. It’s a book, it’s not meant to be taken so literal. :-)

Autumn wrote: "It really depends on the synopsis. I have found people doc stars for some really petty things. It’s a book, it’s not meant to be taken so literal. :-)"
Dock* my gosh

Theresa wrote: "Ds wrote: "It depends on the book. Never with classics, though.
And honestly, people take everything too seriously sometimes. Not every book has to be socially analyzed and undergo scrutiny. Someti..."

I am laughing over here. Recently read a book and someone traveled time and several reviews were saying it’s not real. Okay well either is Harry Potter and people love those books!

I just search for an overview, don't really take the reviewer opinion in. I also search for any warnings or triggers to get myself prepared too. Cause what i read affect my mood.

3-5: I check to make it isn't badly in need of editing (pet peeve).

I definitely glance at all of them in a single page, if I can. I don't read the entirety of any review unless it truly grasps my attention and I hate the ones with spoilers or those that are very long and drawn out. I take the majority vote amongst the ones that I quickly skim through and if I don't see any major red-flags in the texts, I go for it.