All stars are not equal: what is the weight of a review?

I review lots of books. I also pay attention to the reviews other people leave, primarily on Amazon and Goodreads. I like to look at the both the numbers and the actual reviews.

I don't usually let reviews influence me too much before I decide to read a book, although a book that I'm iffy about with an unusually low average rating will give me pause. But after I read it, I look up the reviews, and if I find myself nodding in agreement and saying, "Good point, I didn't notice that," what other people have written about the book will sometimes influence how I feel about it.

This usually happens when my initial estimation of a book is somewhere between N and N+1 stars, and observations by other reviewers will weight my final rating up or down. I've never changed my mind so radically after reading others' opinions that I changed a book's rating by more than one star.

Here are some observations after having looked at a lot of reviews.

( Charts and rambling for review junkies )

What do you think of snarky, biting, or mean reviews? What do you think of reviews you disagree with? What do you think of authors responding to reviews? Should reviewers be gentle in case the author actually reads the review? Or should they not care if a fragile writer gets hurt fee-fees?

The reviews I appreciate reading most are long, critical ones that talk about the good and the bad. (Or if it's all bad, at least make it funny.) I tend to skip over the reviews that say, "This was a good book I really liked the characters 4.5/5 stars can't wait to read the next book in the series kthxbai!"

All stars are not equal: what is the weight of a review?

I review lots of books. I also pay attention to the reviews other people leave, primarily on Amazon and Goodreads. I like to look at the both the numbers and the actual reviews.

I don't usually let reviews influence me too much before I decide to read a book, although a book that I'm iffy about with an unusually low average rating will give me pause. But after I read it, I look up the reviews, and if I find myself nodding in agreement and saying, "Good point, I didn't notice that," what other people have written about the book will sometimes influence how I feel about it.

This usually happens when my initial estimation of a book is somewhere between N and N+1 stars, and observations by other reviewers will weight my final rating up or down. I've never changed my mind so radically after reading others' opinions that I changed a book's rating by more than one star.

Here are some observations after having looked at a lot of reviews.

( Charts and rambling for review junkies )

What do you think of snarky, biting, or mean reviews? What do you think of reviews you disagree with? What do you think of authors responding to reviews? Should reviewers be gentle in case the author actually reads the review? Or should they not care if a fragile writer gets hurt fee-fees?

The reviews I appreciate reading most are long, critical ones that talk about the good and the bad. (Or if it's all bad, at least make it funny.) I tend to skip over the reviews that say, "This was a good book I really liked the characters 4.5/5 stars can't wait to read the next book in the series kthxbai!"