Books I Loathed discussion

I look for the low ratings before reading a book I'm not sure about because they are often more honest, and give more information about what might be wrong with the book in question, than all the 5 star reviews you can read (unless the review is by someone you trust and know doesn't give out such high ratings without a good reason).

The problem is that a lot of those 5 star reviews on Amazon just don't give a realistic picture about the book in question. Not that I think all high reviews are bad reviews, mind, but I do read them with a grain of salt.

For what it's worth, I agree with you. I trust GRs review more in any case.

I try not to read reviews as I feel they will bias my opinion of the author's work.

I'll usually read a synopsis, than the book itself and judge it on my own merits.

On Amazon, I only read the 2 and 4 star reviews. The 1 stars just hate the author/didn't read the book. The 5 stars are fanboys/girls. And, the 3 stars are obviously the people with no strong opinions.

I feel like with a book like this you are either going to love it or completely hate it. No middle ground. And a lot of the people who love it feel defensive of it because those who don't can be pretty nasty in their reviews, not just of the book but the author and the fans of the book. I don't think they were being personal, just overly defensive.

I actually liked the book but I understand why a lot of people don't and I wouldn't even recommend it. When it comes to books, you never know what you're going to love or hate so just read reviews from people with similar tastes is my advice.

I prefer to read well-though-out critical reviews and I usually stay away from these kind of books with an average rating of 4.42 (like this one). Good books will never appeal to everyone (apart from some children's books or few true classics) and only fans of the genre read certain types of books. I can already guess, just based on the ratings, that this is not a book worth reading.

Personally I don't understand why anyone would bother to get defensive about a book, sounds very teenagey... As you get older, you (usually) learn that not everyone has to think alike. But I might get a bit annoyed if the review is based on some false information or the facts are clearly wrong.

I couldn't believe people were praising the Angel of Death and it's series of Forensic Mysteries as a GREAT book for teens, as an awesome 'smart' choice over CSI and praising the mystery.

I had felt like I had raped my eyeballs when I read that book, and I still am trying to find either someone I HATE to unload the damn thing onto or to remember to chuck it out the window one of these days.