Poll

The number of them matter much less than what the average rating is.

0-1 review. Sometimes I look at the positive reviews especially if I don't know much about the book and there's not much that says about the synopsis. I usually just read the negative reviews if the positive reviews are just the same. What I consider in reading a book are: testimonials/ratings, catchy title, cover page, synopsis information, table of contents. If I can't find the information, I look at another website/online store about it.

I am still bad enough, I judge off the cover, and title... I rarely read what it's about. LOL.

If a Goodreads rating is less than four, it will give me pause. Then I’ll check how many total ratings and read some reviews.

I have even had the experience of looking at a highly rated book, only to read the 5 star reviews and decide based off what others liked about the book, that it was most definitely not a book that I'd enjoy.

Gregory wrote: "The number of them matter much less than what the average rating is."

Good point. I tend to trust that average with more ratings. A 1-star by 1 person doesn't mean anything to me, but a 3-star by a hundred sounds more accurate. I have intentionally sought out low rated stuff from time to time just to see 'how bad' the work may be. Many times I've found 'hidden gems' in the unpopular.
Other times, I just think that I've got to know what's terrible to know what's great :-D.

Rai wrote: "0-1 review. Sometimes I look at the positive reviews especially if I don't know much about the book and there's not much that says about the synopsis. I usually just read the negative reviews if th..."

Sounds very thorough, very researched! The length of the book is a big factor for me. If I'm going to commit a lot of time, I tend to want to be sure.

Aegelis wrote: "If I'm going to commit a lot of time, I tend to want to be sure."

For me, I'm speed reading/listening so the number of pages don't matter. My body was able to catch up when listening to words at 1.5x to 2x speed as that's how I used to watch dramas and anime on streaming services. The important thing is I got the idea of the chapter or paragraph. It doesn't matter if I don't absorb all of them as I will forget some of them anyway as time passes. My problem is not the length of a book but the number of books that are piling up or lining up that need to be read as new books come out every year and I used to search the phrase of a topic or genre on z-library and then download them if I found some good ones.

Heidi wrote: "I am still bad enough, I judge off the cover, and title... I rarely read what it's about. LOL."

Sounds adventurous to me! Free-spirited fun.

Herm wrote: "If a Goodreads rating is less than four, it will give me pause. Then I’ll check how many total ratings and read some reviews."

Certainly helps to have that broad opinion. Goodreads ratings seem to be 'harsher' for non-popular authors it seems. I have to wonder if that's because of high standards or someone (intentional or not) made some sort of social media faux pas or ran into competition.

Aegelis wrote: "Herm wrote: "If a Goodreads rating is less than four, it will give me pause. Then I’ll check how many total ratings and read some reviews."

Certainly helps to have that broad opinion. Goodreads ra..."

This sounds like me.

Goodreads vulnerability is when an author gets targeted by bad press and there’s a gang of one-star retaliations (eg Richard Brittain, who stalked and assaulted a reviewer.)

John wrote: "I have even had the experience of looking at a highly rated book, only to read the 5 star reviews and decide based off what others liked about the book, that it was most definitely not a book that ..."

Interesting that the rating had the opposite effect, but sounds like the reviews did their job!