Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon discussion

Do you read reviews before starting a book? How much do reviews influence you? Do you follow reviews on Goodreads or other platforms/sources?

I read many reviews and try to buy books that have a GR rating of 3,75 or more.
Sometimes I check new books on insta but I always fall back to GR.

Hmm, I got spoiled a couple of times so now I’m very careful with reviews before reading a book… But when I do I mostly use GR for reviews. I love SG but find it less handy to check reviews, especially since on GR they’re divided by friends and other GR members.
They can influence me though when I read them at the end in the decision whether to round a rating up or down.

I usually read a few reviews, but mostly I rely on people I know whose opinions I trust (like group members) to find out if it’s a book I really want to spend my time on.

I read reviews, good & bad. I find the 2-4★ onesare often the most useful because they are more thoughtful, less emotional reaction. They probably do influence me to some extent, but I'm very suspicious of all bad or all good reviews.

I rarely read book reviews, so they have very little influence on me. If the plot sounds interesting, I'm probably going to read it.