I will freely admit that as a reviewer (hobby and fun passing along my opinions) – I do give a higher ratio of 5 – 4.5 – 4 – 3.5 – 3 star reviews. The truth is I will request and/or buy the type of novels that I normally enjoy so I’m not surprised by that. I fully expect to enjoy, on some level, what I’ve decided to read.
I have to tell you that as a READER – the number of stars matters not one little bit to me. *gasp* Perhaps I’ve said something impolite there – but truth nonetheless. A well written, descriptive Story Blurb/Cover Description will make my decision to plop down my hard earned money faster than the number of stars some anonymous person gives a book. (and yes, I know that I’m one of those antonymous persons)
It goes without saying that authors and publishing houses want as many stars as they can gather. After all, the author has spent hours, bled tears and sweat, consumed copious amounts of coffee, torn their hair out and spent many a sleepless night delivering their book baby. I am astonished by the ability of writers who can do what they do time and time again. So, the number of stars on a review does reflect somewhat on how their baby has done out in the world – to a certain extent.
Yet, for me personally, as purely a reader – I base my interest on the description of the story I’m about to decide to read or not. If I had one wish for authors it would be to please spend some time thinking about, designing that Cover Description – pique my interest, make me want to know more, ask me into your world because I’m going to love the experience. I have seen Story Blurbs that come no where near the story that was within the pages – and honestly, it annoys me, feel kinda cheated in a way that I didn’t get the story I was expecting.
So my question to anyone who wanders in and discovers this discussion post – as a READER only… do the number of rating stars a book gets make a difference in your decision to buy or read that book?
For the most part, I agree with you, it doesn’t really matter. I have a good nose for what I’ll enjoy and, even if I’ve seen bad reviews, I’ll still pick it up as long as it sounds interesting. I rarely check out reviews before I buy something on a whim, anyways. However, if I notice a book gets a larger-than-normal amount of particularly bad reviews, I do tend to stay away from those regardless, even if at one point I was really excited.
Sam Frost recently posted…5 Star Reread Review: The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)
I know what you mean. It’s hard to ignore a large amount of bad reviews. But honestly I trust my own instinct more than any review.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, it’s appreciated.
Number of stars makes no difference to me. When I do read the reviews, I gravitate more toward the 3-star and below reviews just because they tend to give me more details about the whys and wherefores of the rating. If I decide that the complaints in those reviews aren’t things I’m concerned about, I’m more likely to buy the book than if I read a few dozen ultra-gushy 5-star reviews that don’t go into detail. (Not necessarily plot spoilers, but specifics about what the reader felt was good or bad.) Quality of review, rather than quantity of stars is what I’m trying to say, I guess.
It makes complete sense. It seems there is so much importance placed on how many stars a book gets in reviews – I’d rather know what people are thinking about the core of the book. I have a couple friends who actively look for bad reviews and then pick up those books for the simple reason that what some reviewers are complaining about is exactly what they love in a story.
Thanks so much for commenting, I appreciate it.
Marsha, I only look at ratings if I’m buying non-fiction books. For fiction, it’s all about the cover and the story description. If the description grabs my attention, my trigger happy “buy” finger can’t resist clicking that buy button. 🙂
Oh Sheila – I know that “trigger happy one click button” all too well. 🙂
On a non-fiction book the ratings probably help more in the decision to buy, certainly in my mind the higher rated non-fiction the more I could trust its contents. That may not be true, but it is the impression I would get.
Yes! A well put together cover description, one that makes me want to dive into this world right now will get me buying every single time. For the most part, aren’t books whim/impulse type purchases?
Thanks for stopping by, always happy to have you visit.
LOL! Yes to whim/impulse buys. Sometimes when I’m bored because I can’t settle on which book I want to read next, I go browse the online booksellers…and buy more books!
Sheila Seabrook recently posted…Please Don’t Tell Me Your Secrets!
🙂
My biggest temptation is when I’m putting up an Amazon review… and all those lovely, tempting recommended for you books scroll at the bottom on the screen. Must Resist – Well just one look – Oh Look At The Shiny Book Cover, Must One Click. LOL Yeah that’s me.