Ratings and Reviews Part 2 - The Role of Reviews
Last week I talked about the reality of ratings and why I feel that ratings should not be the only measure of a book's quality. Today I want to discuss the important role that reviews play.
Reviews, like ratings, are subjective. Every reader reads a book through their own personal lens so that is something that will never change. But unlike ratings, reviews allow for a reader to explain what he or she felt about a book and why.
This facet is one of the great things about reviews. Someone with no knowledge of a novel can read another person's thoughts on it, and depending on the reviewer, in various amounts of detail. In fact, they can get on something like Goodreads or search book blogs and read many different views on the same book. When I'm considering whether or not to give a novel a try, I often search reviews to get the good and the bad. This also allows me to get a better sense of the book and find out if it is really something I want to read.
But are all reviews equal? Not exactly. While everyone is entitled to an opinion, sometimes you may question a reviewer's sanity over certain claims. I know I have. But again, all reviews are subjective and that is something to keep in mind. I usually try to read reviews by people I know have similar reading tastes to mine. That means not just reading an odd review here and there, but actually figuring out whose reviews you trust.
Now the question is, what makes up a decent review? For me, statements like "This book is awesome!" or "This book is awful!" are not reviews. A review may have these sentiments in it, but the focus is more on the why. Why is the book great? Why is it terrible? Whether or not I agree with a reviewer, I appreciate when a reader takes the time to explain his or her thoughts on a novel.
The downside of such explanations is they can get long. It takes time to read through an extensive review of a novel, let alone several. I have been known to get long-winded in reviews, but I try to keep mine reasonable. A lot of times, especially if a review is lengthy, I skim for the information I am most interested it in, whether it is about the plot, the characters, or the writing itself. This is where ratings can be helpful. If you typically agree with a certain reviewer, you can use you his or her rating as a signpost. Still, I prefer both a review and a rating.
What do you think? Do you utilize reviews or think they are important? What do you think should be included in a review? Do you have any reviewer dos or donts? Let me know in the comments!
And don't forget to check back for Part 3 of Tell Me What You REALLY Think: Ratings and Reviews for a look at how I utilize and write reviews.
I definitely try to utilize reviews both from others (to help me decide on whether to read a book) and my own (to share my own thoughts on a particular book I enjoyed). If there's a title I'm on-the-fence about whether or not to read, I will seek out reviews from several bloggers that I know have read said title and will give an honest opinion.
ReplyDeleteWhile statesments like "This book is awesome!" or "This book was awful" give one pause for reading, having ideas and reasons to back up those statments is clearly key in a review. I suffer the same problem of going into a lengthy review, so I try to keep it down to between 3-5 paragraphs.
Reviewer Dos and Don'ts:
DO include the summary and genre of a book.
DO give your honest opinion respectfully.
DON'T spoil the story or if you have no choice WARN readers.
DON'T make the review about the author. Bashing is not cool in any way.
Thanks for this post, it really puts reviews and ratings in perspective! :)
Thanks for reading! I totally do the same thing about books that I'm unsure of. And I love your Dos and Don'ts! ^_^
DeleteThank you so much for mentioning my little blog!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your summary of what makes a good review. I want to know WHY someone feels the way they do about a book, rather than just how they feel. I want them to KNOW what worked and what didn't, and I want them to have a wealth of non-spoilery information at their fingertips. That's what I strive to do with all my reviews.
Wonderful discussion post!
Thank you! And I love your blog! You were one of the first people I followed when I started and if I'm ever iffy on a book, I look to see if you've reviewed it, lol.
DeleteI definitely utilize reviews when deciding what to add to my TBR list. Sometimes, if it's well in advance of a release and reviews are hard to come by, I will go solely on a book's description, but that's rare for me. And I definitely have my reviewers/bloggers whose opinions I trust over others.
ReplyDeleteI also think that's why it's important for bloggers and reviewers to post negative reviews. If someone likes EVERYTHING, I'm not sure if our tastes actually line up. As long as the reviewer is respectful in explaining what they didn't like about a book, negative reviews really help me in making my purchasing decisions. After all, books are expensive, and even if it's a free book or a library book, it still is an investment of my time.
Also, when I read great reviews then the book turns out to be a stinker, it makes me second-guess those reviewers. The reviewers I keep coming back to time and time again are the ones who aren't afraid to be honest about their opinion, whether positive or negative.
And I know I tend to be long-winded in my reviews. I know it probably turns some people off. But like you said, some people are looking for details about WHY things did or didn't work in the book, and it's hard keeping that to just a couple paragraphs. So it's good to know there's some people out there looking for detailed reviews :-)
Totally agree! I don't mind writing negative reviews, and there are actually books I've read *because* of negative reviews. And I know what you mean about questioning peoples reviews of books I didn't like. If they explain it, maybe I'll understand because maybe they connected with it in a way I didn't. But if they say something like "The writing was amazing!" and it clearly was not (although, again, most everything is subjective), I just end up giving their reviews the internet stink eye, lol.
DeleteI don't do negative reviews anymore because they were ultimately just a serious damper on my mood and a waste of my time. However, I don't sugar-coat my reviews. I either review something because I like it or I don't and I don't just say "this was awesome!" because that's a bit fail.
ReplyDeleteI do not officially add star-ratings on my reviews but I sometimes mention if something what a five-star read for me. Instead, at the end I recommend the book to people who are looking for a certain element or just recommend it in general 'cause I liked it so much.
I think that a lot of people will turn and flee when they see three stars, even if a three star read was a book I enjoyed. Even I find myself tuning out when I see three star ratings.
When it comes to other people's reviews and who I "trust" I think it's all subjective. I think if the reviewer has connected with something in the book which sounds like something I would enjoy an connect with, I'm more likely to pick it up. Otherwise, it takes multiple sources before I usually even consider it.
Negative reviews are sometimes cathartic, being able to say exactly what didn't work for me. But I understand your point as well. I still write them, but not often because I try to pick books I think I will like and usually end up reviewing what I liked because I want to gush about those titles. What's worse is when I'm so-so on a novel because it means I didn't really care and I would rather love it or hate it. Those are the ones I most often don't finish. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with it, but if I don't really care what's going to happen next, on to the next book for me.
DeleteI also like to check out multiple sources. A person's review that I trust usually gets me interested in the book, then I look up more info from other places after. I better stop typing because this is part of the next post! Lol.
Thanks for visiting! ^_^
Great post, Shalena, and thanks for sharing my blog button!
ReplyDeleteDo you see DJL up there? *points* That's one of the bloggers who I trust most to provide an honest, perceptive review and one whose reading tastes are similar to my own. Other bloggers who I trust implicitly include Christy from The Reader Bee and Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic. None of these ladies have ever let me down with their reviews and their sites are must-reads for me. Even if we differ in our opinions of a book, they do a great job of explaining just why they rated a book the way they did, which is a great thing.
I really like DJL's Dos & Don'ts list, so I'll do one, as well.
DO
1. Keep your reviews concise but informative.
2. Clearly define what your ratings mean.
3. Keep it objective.
DON't
1. Don't summarize for the entirety of your review. All you've managed to accomplish if you do this is to write one long spoiler.
2. To borrow from Myra McEntire's advice to crit partners, "Don't be a nut bag!" (It works so well in this scenario, as well.) Share your observations on the writing, but please don't go off the deep end and bash the author. That isn't going to get you anything more than alienated readers.
Thanks again, Shalena! I really enjoyed this post and now I'm going to be looking forward to the next in the series. :-)
I have literally thought several times when seeing something about a book, "I wonder if Marla has read this?" lol. And I follow all three of those ladies and agree with you!
DeleteYour Do and Don't lists are also great. It is especially irksome for that #1 Don't to happen because I'll be reading and reading going, "Okay, so all this happened," then when I get to the end I'm like, "BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK????" It is a little maddening sometimes. And surprisingly, I've not come across many "nut bag" reviews on my own (usually only see the ones involved with some kind of author rebuttal scandal and half the time the author is the one acting the nut bag).
I guess I better finish up that next post so you can read it! lol. Glad you enjoyed it. ^_^
I'm definitely a skimmer for those long reviews. I appreciate the time the writer puts into it but I don't always have the time to read the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI use reviews a lot-I always want to check on goodreads and see what people are saying, whether positive or negative. But I also try to be careful to avoid spoilers as that has ruined my anticipation of a book before.