# How much do book reviews influence you to buy a book or not?



## Zell (Dec 27, 2010)

I like reading the customer book reviews on Amazon when considering to buy a particular book. Usually -- my experience is -- that there are far more 4 and 5 star book reviews than 1 and 2 star reviews but I like reading the 1 and 2s to get the negative perspective before I shell-out the money to get the book.

Although they're in the minority, I have to say that the 1 star reviews do greatly influence me to get the book or not. John Grisham's, *The **Confession*, has a total of 308 four and five star reviews on Amazon but it also has 101 one star reviews. I read some of the 4 and 5 star reviews then read many of the 1 and 2 star. For better or for worse, the 1 and 2 star reviews convinced me to not get the book despite many positive reviews.

Sometimes though, I'll shrug off the bad reviews and buy the book anyway based on good reviews.

How much do book reviews influence you to buy a book?

How many of you don't even care about what the reviews say and buy the book anyway because it sounds like a good read?


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

good question

I read the negative ones first then a few good ones. helps me see where I might read issues, but unless there are a huge amount of negative, I don't ultimately let the reviews decide. so many ppl like things I don't, that I go mostly by the genre and sample


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Opinion from a friend with similar tastes=heavy influence.

A single professional review=very little influence.  May get me to check something out if the description of the book sounds like something that interests me, but I don't put weight in one random person's opinion of a book, or movie or album.

What I will do is look at the average rating on Amazon, or for movies the Rotten Tomato score.  If it's in a genre I enjoy and is getting good reviews across the board, I'l definitely check it out.  If reviews are so-so it's iffy.  I may read the Kindle sample, or just wait and Netflix the movie.  If reviews are uniformly bad, I'm probably skipping it unless I really most of the work from that author or director etc.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I'd say that most of the time they do not make much difference for me, but in borderline cases where I'm sort of interested in but unsure about a book, then I may well start scanning through the reviews to get an idea why people did or did not like a book (thus I tend to concentrate on the 2-4 star reviews, as opposed to the 1 or 5 stars which tend to be less balanced.


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## PG4003 (Patricia) (Jan 30, 2010)

Book reviews totally influence me to buy a book or not.  I always look at the Amazon reviews, even if it's a book I'm wanting to get from the library (I also have a Nook).  I saw a snarky comment once that said why do we depend on the opinions of strangers to influence if we read a book or not, but my feeling is that these are the opinions of other readers like me, and I'm very interested in how they enjoyed a book or not.  Besides, if I depended on opinions of my friends and family, I would never read a book.....not many of them do.


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## Zell (Dec 27, 2010)

theapatra said:


> good question
> 
> I read the negative ones first then a few good ones. helps me see where I might read issues, but unless there are a huge amount of negative, I don't ultimately let the reviews decide. so many ppl like things I don't, that I go mostly by the genre and sample


Yes, we all see the world, including books, in different shades of color than each other.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

Book reviews probably influence me just as much as a good recommendation does from a friend. I do read the low one star or two star reviews just because I want to know what the reader found awful/bad about the book. If there are more 4 or 5 star reviews and it looks like something I would enjoy then I usually buy or sample the book. I check Amazon and Goodreads for reviews.


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## Zell (Dec 27, 2010)

I'll give you another example. I'm now reading *The Hangman's Daughter* and did look at most of the reviews for the book. The good out-weighed the bad so I got the book. I'm now almost half-way though the book and realizing that I'm not liking it very much and that I can relate to many of the negative reviews listed on Amazon and convinced I still wouldn't like it if I hadn't read any reviews.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

I'm influenced, not just by how many good vs. bad reviews there are, but what they say. The more literate/coherent reviews hold a lot more weight with me!


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## PG4003 (Patricia) (Jan 30, 2010)

Zell said:


> I'll give you another example. I'm now reading *The Hangman's Daughter* and did look at most of the reviews for the book. The good out-weighed the bad so I got the book. I'm now almost half-way though the book and realizing that I'm not liking it very much and that I can relate to many of the negative reviews listed on Amazon and convinced I still wouldn't like it if I hadn't read any reviews.


I find it interesting that you say this about The Hangman's Daughter. I too bought it because it seemed everyone loved it, I read about 30% and I abandoned it.


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## KerylR (Dec 28, 2010)

The kind of review does more for my decision making process than the numbers.  I'll skim them, skipping lightly through the gushy loves and frothing hates and focus on the reviews that talk about the book.  (Though I tend to skim the hates more carefully than the loves to see if any of my own peeves get mentioned.)

If the substantial reviews pique my interest, I move onto the sample.  Ultimately the sample is what makes up my mind one way or another.


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## Zell (Dec 27, 2010)

PG4003 (Patricia) said:


> I find it interesting that you say this about The Hangman's Daughter. I too bought it because it seemed everyone loved it, I read about 30% and I abandoned it.


It's not very well written, but that may be due to it's a translation. I realize it's fiction but it seems like the author has read a lot of contemporary mystery novels and tried to apply modern crime solving thought-process and technique to a mystery situation taking place the mid 1600s. It's just out of whack and not realistic. But what do you expect for $3.99?


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## Zell (Dec 27, 2010)

KerylR said:


> The kind of review does more for my decision making process than the numbers. I'll skim them, skipping lightly through the gushy loves and frothing hates and focus on the reviews that talk about the book. (Though I tend to skim the hates more carefully than the loves to see if any of my own peeves get mentioned.)
> 
> If the substantial reviews pique my interest, I move onto the sample. Ultimately the sample is what makes up my mind one way or another.


I try to spend more time in looking at the middle of the road reviews, the 3 star ratings. They can give better information than the other ratings on Amazon.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

I tend to look at the ratings more than the reviews. I don't want to read too many "spoilers" - not necessarily plot spoilers (because with a lot of the history stuff I read, that's not even really possible) but sometimes if I read too much about the specifics of the book (writing style, characters, dialogue, etc), I feel like it spoils it for me in a way. Like I'm constantly looking out for what this person or that person mentioned instead of just enjoying it and coming to my own conclusions. I may read two or three reviews before the book but particularly if there's a lot of reviews, I'll wait and read the rest when I'm finished the book, just to see what I agree with and what I don't. 

But the ratings definitely have an influence on what I decide to read. On Goodreads, most books seem to average around 3.40-3.60 so if it gets less than that, I'm skeptical and may not buy it, if it gets more, I'm more likely to buy it. Particularly if it's breaks 4, I know it's probably very good. If it's below 3, I won't even consider it. Of course it also depends on how many ratings there are, naturally if there's only one rating and it's a 3, I still consider that fairly positive. And I will often dismiss a book if I think any of the reviews are faked.

Of course I have bought books with no reviews too.


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## Straker (Oct 1, 2010)

Zell said:


> It's not very well written, but that may be due to it's a translation. I realize it's fiction but it seems like the author has read a lot of contemporary mystery novels and tried to apply modern crime solving thought-process and technique to a mystery situation taking place the mid 1600s. It's just out of whack and not realistic. But what do you expect for $3.99?


My feelings exactly, although I did finish it. I found the language and attitudes of the characters to be far too modern. Fortunately, though, I only paid $ 0.99 for it!


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## kindlegrl81 (Jan 19, 2010)

I dont pay much attention to online reviews or reviews in the papers/magazines. You never know if the reviewer's taste matches your own.

Reviews by family and friends I'm am more inclined to listen to.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I don’t pay much attention to reviews on Amazon. I read mostly mysteries and science fiction, and for the mysteries, I rely on reviews/recommendations by credible sources, such as the newsletter sent out by the people at the mystery book store in Houston. I then get the samples of the Kindlized ones and make a final decision.

Science fiction? I just stick with known authors that I've enjoyed in the past. The selection of SF for the Kindle is so poor that there isn’t much to choose from, anyway, so I don't have much cause to read reviews.

Although come to think of it, the poor Amazon reviews convinced me to not buy the latest Martha Grimes mystery. So maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.  


Mike


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## NickSpalding (Apr 21, 2010)

kindlegrl81 said:


> Reviews by family and friends I'm am more inclined to listen to.


Providing it's not the _authors _ friends and family, of course 

I always read the reviews if it's a writer I've not read before. The democratisation of the review process in recent years has been fantastic. Yes, it can mean having to wade through reviews written by people who are clinically insane now and again, but for the most part you can get a healthy idea of a book's quality if enough people have taken the time and trouble to write a review, whether it be positive or negative.


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## TheRiddler (Nov 11, 2010)

A bit, but not hugely.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Books are just not that expensive (thankfully!), especially with so may books on the Kindle for <£2

Also, so many books are almost 50/50, and let's face it, no-one knows my tastes. For example, Dresden Files often get panned, but I love them.

Finally in the past I used to browse bookstores and pick up stuff that looked interesting - no reviews available there!


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## Zackery Arbela (Jan 31, 2011)

I'd sat they have a major impact, especially for indie authors out on their own...which explains why so many are obsessed with getting reviews...


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## Ciareader (Feb 3, 2011)

I'm still getting use to this forum, so please let me know if I make a faux pas.  As for reviews, it depends on the book and where I read the review.  Let's say a Sue Grafton book....I'd probably read the book anyway, but if it got a bad review in the mainstream press, I might approach it to confirm or to deny what I right in the review.  One review doesn't affect me too much, but if I see many reviews w/similar thoughts, that will impact my decision to purchase or not purchase a book, especially if the author is unknown to me.

Have any of you read any reviews for the Coffee Shop Chronicles of New Orleans?  If so, what did you think?


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## crash86 (Oct 8, 2010)

for me it's a 50/50 thing. If it's a writer I have read before I only go with a review if they have written a new series or something totally different from their usual style.  If it's something I am unfamiliar with ie: a writer or a topic then I generally go with a review.  I steer away from the 'mass hysteria' books, what I mean by that is when the whole Dan Brown phenomena hit I did try to read a few pages in the bookstore and happily left it there. I don't follow mass trends like that and didn't go along with the whole Girl with the Dragon Tattoo following either.  Just something I avoid, If I see 7 out of 10 people in one area  reading the same book, no matter how good the reviews are I avoid them.  Reviews are highly subjective as are different reading tastes sometimes you win and sometimes you loose.


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

sibelhodge said:


> I do skim through the reviews but usually it's the sample and the blurb that will sway me.


Same for me. While that doesn't tell you how the plot will unfold, it gives you a good idea of pacing, dialogue, writing style and a glimpse of characterization. Reviews or recommendations may get me to look at a book, but from there on it's about whether or not what I see grabs me personally.


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## theraven (Dec 30, 2009)

If it's a book that I can check out from the library, I'll go ahead and get it and see if I like it. For a book on Kindle, I'll get the sample and if I'm still torn, I'll check out the reviews. Like NogDog, I give more weight to the 2-4 star reviews as they usually seem to be the most balanced especially when it comes books published in the Christian and Indie market. I'll also give more weight to a review if I check out the reviewers other reviews and I agree with their opinion on other books ... or if my opinion is always the opposite of the reviewer than I'll buy the ones they don't like and pass on the ones they do.


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I read some of the reviews.... Just a few moments ago, I was skimming the reviews of a book that just appeared in our free book thread; a historical fiction novel. One of the reviews stated that there were many instances of dialogue where the characters are using words and phrases that didn't exist in that time period. I've come across this in other books, and I won't finish them, so I took a pass on this book.


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## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

Pretty heavily. I compulsively finish books I start, so I rely on reviews to steer me clear of books I probably won't enjoy. I just read one last night where I skipped the reviews, (read an excerpt a year ago in a "literary" newsletter, and decided to finish it,) and I wish I hadn't. In fact I knew 1/2 way through that I was going to feel like it was a waste of my time, but just couldn't force myself to abandon it. I'm still working on that particular compulsion, but in lieu of conquering that little personality quirk, I check reviews - especially the 1 and 2 stars - for things I know I dislike in a story. 

I don't spend much time with Amazon reviews though, which I generally find to be less reliable for my own selection process. I use Goodreads, and over the 3 years I've used the site, have managed to develop a short contact list that feeds me relevant information about books that catch my interest. If I click over to reviews on a book, and find reviews from my contacts, it helps a lot.


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## Ben White (Feb 11, 2011)

Not at all.  I usually don't even read them until after I've finished the book.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

By the time I read the sample, which is my last step before buying, I have already vetted a book several times. One of those is reviews and recommendations and feeds from like people on Goodreads. I still read amazon reviews too, but I have found I really love Goodreads now. Groups, feeds, following people helps a lot. Price is another one of my vetting points. 

So far I have bought every sample I read with this process. 

And I read reviews even if they are not well written, whatever that means. I don't care if someone is a master of writing when it comes to reviews. I actually am more weary of those that write more like professionals. I prefer real regular readers reviews. Seem more honest and to the point. 
A reader doesn't have to have a masters in literature to leave a review on those sites. 
I also don't like those that go on and on about the plot and so on and read like project from school and those that give away spoilers. 
So far on Goodreads, people are pretty good marking spoilers as spoilers. I don't see that option on Amazon, so I kind of fly over the long reviews there. 
I also browse over to blogs that I trust and those that review books in the genres I like to read. 

Since I don't have a lot of friends that read period, or read anywhere near the stuff I like to read, Goodreads, amazon, blogs are kind of my substitute of friends recommendations I guess.


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## Beatriz (Feb 22, 2011)

mooshie78 said:


> Opinion from a friend with similar tastes=heavy influence.
> 
> A single professional review=very little influence. May get me to check something out if the description of the book sounds like something that interests me, but I don't put weight in one random person's opinion of a book, or movie or album.
> 
> What I will do is look at the average rating on Amazon, or for movies the Rotten Tomato score. If it's in a genre I enjoy and is getting good reviews across the board, I'l definitely check it out. If reviews are so-so it's iffy. I may read the Kindle sample, or just wait and Netflix the movie. If reviews are uniformly bad, I'm probably skipping it unless I really most of the work from that author or director etc.


I look at reviews but I'm not influenced by them with books or movies because I find that I rarely agree with critics anyway. Take the movie "the kids are alright" for instance. I hated that movie and the critics loved it. The same thing has happened to me with books so I sample my books and if I like them I buy them, that's the beauty of Kindle.


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## Javier Gimenez Sasieta (Feb 18, 2011)

Well, it depends on the price. I play more attention to reviews on expensive books, but if i am interested on a cheap book, ususlly I just have a quick look at the reviews, jut for confirming there are not a flood of bad reviews.

With expensive books, things change: I consider carefully the reviews, specially the bad ones. Usually It has to have 4 to 5 stars.

But the reviews and stars check is just a little part of my decision process. The synopsis, author and genre play a vital role in my choose.


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## peter darbyshire (Jan 22, 2011)

I usually check out the reviews in the high stars and low stars and avoid the middle. I'm curious about what people feel passionately about. Sometimes the low-star reviews will actually get me more interested in a book. I have strange tastes. 

But it always boils down to the preview anyway. Makes me wonder if reviews are actually a bit of a dead end for the future, given the ease and speed of sampling.


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## William BK. (Mar 8, 2011)

I find I pay more attention to negative reviews. Not that this dissuades me from buying a book (they seldom do), but I like to know what to anticipate. I usually assume five-star reviews to come from those who are already fans (read, fanboys and girls) or from fans of the genre. If I am interested in a positive review at all, it is usually the kind that starts out, "I don't usually read books like this, but...". If a book is able to impress someone who's not a fan of the genre, it must be pretty decent.

However, I tend to pay more attention to the blurb about the book than to others opinions of the book, even if I know the person recommending or not recommending. But if the blurb catches my fancy, there are no amount of bad reviews that can dissuade me from at least giving it a try. 

And I suppose, as a point of interest, if I happen to read a bad review in the newspaper, say, I will almost always check it out, because you know what professional reviewers are like! (Just kidding, all you reviewers out there...but then you know what they say about film reviewers...)


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## miss_fletcher (Oct 25, 2010)

If a book has a handful of (constructive) negative reviews, but a significant number of more positive reviews it solidifies my resolve to buy it (I base my purchases on the blurb, cover, price, and my knowledge of the author before the reviews) Negative reviews means the book has character and is not hovering inoffensively around the middle somewhere. A good book forces a strong reaction from it's readers, no? A book with ALL good reviews is selling something I just ain't buying, it makes me distrustful if anything.


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## pixichick (Mar 1, 2011)

For me it depends on the reviews.  The reviews that give a set up of the story and then tell why they honestly cared about the book by talking about the positive points are the ones I usually read


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## Moissanitejewel (Mar 17, 2011)

I know the game and I've seen the game on Amazon, so I don't put trust in them at all.  I really read a sample and make up my own mind. I am sueded by Amazon certified purchases. Knowing someone spilled their money into the book is a little more convincing for me. I tend to listen to Book Blogs too. If it's getting lots of dismal reviews, probably not going to try it but if it's getting bad and good, I might give it a try.


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## Joseph Robert Lewis (Oct 31, 2010)

Glad to see I'm not the only person who goes straight to the negative reviews!


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## RobertLCollins (Feb 1, 2011)

Amazon reviews, not at all. Goodreads reviews I'll listen to, if they're from people I've become friends with or fans of. Of course, I have so little spending money at the moment that I can't really act on reviews. 

I will say this: I picked up Lisa Shearin's "Raine Benares" series of books (the first is *Magic Lost, Trouble Found*) because Felicia Day (of _The Guild_ fame) gave it a good review. I lean towards her taste in fantasy, so if she gives a good review of a fantasy title (at her blog or at Goodreads) I'd be more inclined to consider buying it.


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## Miriam Minger (Nov 27, 2010)

Positive reviews are helpful, but I really appreciate it when they are thoughtfully written with depth.

Miriam Minger


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

As already mentioned, reviews aren't as important to me as the sample.  People bring their own biases into reviews.  Sometimes people will mark down a book just because they didn't like which tense it was written in.


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## Jimmy Stille (Mar 11, 2011)

I rely heavily on reviews on Amazon for virtually everything I buy, including books. However if it's a book written by a new author, I will definitely give them the benefit of the doubt, at least to the point of downloading a sample. How else would a new author ever be read if all we depended on were reviews.


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## zizekpress (Mar 9, 2011)

The Raven - nice castle in your avatar. Almost better than mine, ha!

For amazon reviews, it's better if it's a traditionally published book as people are more honest. They think the authors already loaded so they like to be critical. But the best reviews are the one stars - they're almost worth money themselves the way they rip into books.

For a movie comparison, it's like the director Uwe Boll. He makes complete trash, and keeps Christian Slater in business, and makes huge amounts of cash. Therefore it's always open season on him and some of the reviews are beautiful/scathing.


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## JMArray (Mar 4, 2011)

I think reviews are always a very thin line. Not everyone likes the same stuff and it is hard to judge whether you will like a book or not based on it's reviews. But I think, in a subconscious level we are all driven by reviews one way or another. If a book has a 4.5 rating, and it has like 50 reviews, we know there is a good chance that we will like. It even though we don't consciously care about it. 

I think they play a big role, no matter what.


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## Katie Salidas (Mar 21, 2010)

Joseph Robert Lewis said:


> Glad to see I'm not the only person who goes straight to the negative reviews!


I tend to look at the negative reviews first too. I like to see why they rated the book so low. Sometimes the 5 star reviews are just too gushy with praise. Since overall like vs. dislike is subjective, the negative reviews tend to make me wonder if I would agree with them or not (as long as they aren't for things like "poorly edited book" or similar complaints)


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I'm one of those who reads the best review and then the worst one to give some perspective. I've held back from buying several movies based on bad Amazon reviews. Mind you, it isn't enough for a reviewer to just complain about a movie. I realize tastes can be subjective and what they hated I might like. But here's an example.

I'm shopping for a kid friendly movie for my girls (five and six years). I'm debating buying a particular one that looks good. Then I read a couple negative Amazon reviews that say basically it was an interesting movie but shouldn't have been marketed as family friendly because of...  And they go on to list adult themes and other content. 

I don't buy the movie because I now realize it wasn't what I thought it was, a kid's movie.


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

I've read way too many books and seen way too many movies that "everybody loved" to put too much trust in reviews.

I depend on reviews to interest me in a book. A good review that intrigues me will frequently result in my hunting up a copy - but I usually depend on a quick read of the first page or two of the book itself before I actually plunk down my money. Just as I know that a good well-fried big and beefy nicely-greasy onion-ridden hamburger is going to please my appetite a lot more than some griddled-down hockey puck at a fast food joint - I know what sort of a read is likely to make my eyeballs happy enough to keep on reading.

That's why I believe it to be vitally important for all online booksellers to be able to provide a few sample pages. Not all of them do it, in fact some of the bigger publishers don't bother showing you anything more than the front and back cover and the price tag. To my way of thinking, the first few pages of any book will tell me a whole lot more than a mere review.

My two bits, cheerfully given.


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## Cynthia Justlin (Feb 23, 2011)

I'm in the skim reviews camp. I think reviews hold more sway for me when it comes to movies vs. books. I know what I like in my fiction, so I buy what I like regardless of what others think about it. Friend recommendations are more likely to weigh heavier than Amazon reviews. But I do like reading reviews to get readers' perspectives, and there have been a few times when reading a review helped me realize that the book wasn't what I thought it was.


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## markbeyer (Jan 9, 2011)

I've notice plenty of comments about reading (and appreciating) Amazon customer reviews. While they are entertaining, most show little ability to delineate what the book is about. Usually, we get a book report, a la 8th Grade English class. 

A good writer/journalist/critic explores books in a way that develops the reader's ability to see beyond mere character & plot & theme, working into your mind like a fantastic worm. If you're in doubt about this, read some reviews written by John Updike, Martin Amis, Susan Sontag, and Michael Woods. 

These are insightful people who know how to delve deeply into the psyche of characters, find the meat of the story, and present an overview that not only makes you want to read the book, but be a better reader.


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## JamesGrenton (Mar 17, 2011)

The reviews play a big influence on my decision to buy a book. If the overall review score is less than 3.5 out of 5, then I generally don't buy the book. I tend to read the reviews with the most text - those that give a good overview of the book and explain in a balanced way what they like and don't like. Overtly positive or negative reviews can generally be ignored. Overall, I would say that online reviews have significantly added to the quality of purchase decisions.


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