We Love Lisa Kleypas discussion

I find myself reading reviews and letting them detract me from books that I end up really liking. I find, more and more, that I have to ignore reviews but at the same time I want to know why people liked or didn't like a book. How much do you rely on a rating or read reviews

I take reviews with a grain of salt. There is a lot that goes into what makes a person like or dislike a book, and then also how they review or rate a book. And people are so very different. I have some friends on GRs where we are pretty darn close in how we rate/review, but we still don't always like the same books or for the same reasons. It's a very individual thing. Now, when I read a review, I look for content and context. I may end up reading a book based on a one star review because I like those things another person hates. One thing I avoid is snarky, mean-spirited reviews. They don't say much about the book so much as what the person who wrote the book review's agenda and state of mind was when the review was written. Also, books that have a rating but no review don't help much for me. I have some older books on here that I just rated, but the ones I am reading, I always write some kind of review, for myself really, but for whomever they might benefit as well.

I'm winnowing my library and I'm relying a lot on ratings on whether to keep or get rid of a book. If it has no rating/reviews at all, I'm keeping the book. I just don't have the room for all these books and after years of nagging by my husband I'm finally getting rid of some of them.

I tend to check several different sources for reviews before I make a decision. Not just goodreads but also other blogs etc. I also only tend to use reviews if I'm unfamiliar with an author. If I've read an author before then I ignore reviews and go on my past experience (unless it was negative and then I might give them a second chance if book is highly rated in several places) but burn me twice and not even a high review will persuade me to buy.

Also as Julia implied, one person's negative review may be what sways me to buy. I've seen people say that they've hated a hero or plot and the very reason they hate the hero is the reason I'll buy the book as is the case with many of Anne Stuart's heros.

@Lady D - I know what you mean about the snark mean-spirited reviews. It is something to not like a book, but it is another to just vent about. I primarily like romance novels and the reviews by people that don't read that genre or don't enjoy it usually frustrate me. Those people are already prejudiced by the fact that it is a romance novel and they wouldn't like the book no matter what. Grrr... By the way I do find your reviews to be so helpful, I love that you are so clear and concise.

@Carolyn - I know what you mean about winnowing down the library...I'm glad that the reviews are helping you.

@Julia - You are so right...I am usually trying to find a review that gives me the gist of the story but then there is more to the review and I start to waver on whether I really want to read the book.

Probably the best thing to do is find a few people that write reliable reviews and not worry about the others.

I rely a lot on reviews here. There are a few people I feel I can trust, and so I do. I go with how I'm feeling about the synopsis of the book as well as other's reviews.

I don't remember which reviewer it was, but all she did was post a particularly great scene from and I bought it from that alone. I found that extremely persuasive!

But as others have said, something one reviewer might hate about the book...I'll find draws me to the book.

Thanks, Jane. :)

I'll be honest, I really only write reviews so that in a year or two's time I'll remember the books that get between 2-3 stars. Obviously they didn't make that big of an impression on me one way or another, but I find that books I gave 3 stars several years ago, I don't remember why I it wasn't wowing me. I want to know what worked for me or even what didn't, and in reviewing books more and more, certain authors I can tell have themes or styles that I either like or don't, but seeing it in the review helps me. Since I publish them on my GR account, I try to also provide general info that may help others decide to go ahead or not with reading. I don't rely upon others to make up my mind, but reviews might help push a book up or down on my TBR pile.

As for snarkiness - well, sometimes I am, but it's just who I am, but I try not to be be rude about the author or others' viewpoints. In fact, I'm one of those crazy people who like to talk to people who disagree with me, just to see how we differ. I always appreciate and try to respect others' opinions.

I have read some reviewers who are 'top rated' and one in particular who seems to thrive on making nasty comments, and she gets tons of people who like or comment on her review and I think, how was that helpful? I don't really care IF you liked the book, but more importantly the WHY you liked it. The whole thing about reviewing to get an audience really annoys me, especially when that person has 10,000 or so 'friends' and they all just enjoy being snarky. That is not what I consider a 'top' reviewer.

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "I take reviews with a grain of salt. There is a lot that goes into what makes a person like or dislike a book, and then also how they review or rate a book. And people are so very different. I ha..."

I agree 100% with everything you said. I look to see why a person did or didn't like a book and that way I know even if that person gave it 2 stars, I might love the book.

And I also avoid snarky reviews, and have come to know which reviewers consistently write them that way and I don't bother reading their reviews at all. I don't find them informative or helpful.

I tend to rely on reviews posted by my GR friends particularly those I know have similar tastes in books to myself. I totally agree about the snarky reviews which to me are totally unhelpful. I want to read a well constructed and meaningful review which will help me decide whether it's a book I would consider reading. I hope that my own reviews are helpful to others.

Your reviews are definitely helpful, Carol.

I've had GR friends voice concerns that they don't write well enough, or can't remember everything about the book. Personally, I'm not looking for the kind of "bought and paid for" reviews we sometimes see, I'm looking for honest reviews from friends I know have the same tastes in books, or who I know will offer honest opinions about books, whether they loved or hated it.

I guess my point is, I'm happy when people take the time to let me know what they think, even if it's just a couple sentences. Grammar, spelling, length... none of that is as important to me as an honest, thoughtful paragraph.

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "Your reviews are definitely helpful, Carol.

I've had GR friends voice concerns that they don't write well enough, or can't remember everything about the book. Personally, I'm not looking for the k..."

Thanks, Dhes. I count you amongst those GR friends whose reviews I definitely value.

Thanks, Carol! I appreciate that!

I don't look for professional writing in a review, either. I look for a person's feelings on a book, and what they thought of the book. As Dhestiny has said, it could be a few sentences, so long as I get a feel for what they thought of a book. I really enjoy reading reviews, books that I might never read, or books I plan to read, and books I read and reviewed myself. I think reading what others think about books is one of the great advantages of this site.

Carol, I know I have told you how much I appreciate your reviews. I definitely do.

The same goes for my various friends in this group and on this site. I might not always post a comment when I read reviews, but I do my best to like a review that I found worthwhile, so don't think you aren't appreciated if I don't comment.

When I'm reading reviews on prospective books I don't rely on one or two reviews that say its no good. I don't have the exact same taste as everyone else. I've decided that taste is much like fingerprints - no two are exactly alike. But if a book is consistently given low ratings by a reasonable amount of ppl (around 20 or more) then chances are I won't like it either and I go on. The same with great ratings. If a large amount of ppl rate it high enough I may give it a shot. This doesn't mean I'd love or hate a book accordingly but it gives me a better chance of finding that gem of a book I'm looking for.

I love goodreads, because of the reviews. I do pay attention to what others write about the book and appreciate even a few sentences. I don't leave long reviews unless there are no reviews on the book. I hate when a reviewer rates a book lower because of grammatical errors! I see these on Amazon a lot! Especially the free books! If it is free I can manage to get through the grammatical errors, if the story line is good.

I think I tend to get pickier with grammar, inconsistencies and other mistakes when it's a well established author and I'm paying full price for a book. Then I get upset! LOL!

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "Your reviews are definitely helpful, Carol.

I've had GR friends voice concerns that they don't write well enough, or can't remember everything about the book. Personally, I'm not looking for the k ..."

I'm definitely one of those people UM, I don't feel my writing skills are good enough to convey my thoughts one way or another. However, when I do rate a book and somebody asks a question, I am very comfortable telling them my thoughts, I just don't feel comfortable enough to post a broad review.

That being said, I love to see what my friends thought of a book and if they only rated it, I will ask them why the low or high rating and they'll usually answer. So even though I love to read what people said, I'm still ok with just a rating.

I understand, Vicki! And it's great that you're willing to answer questions. Even with some of my reviews that should be broken into chapters because they're so long, I still get questions from people and gladly reply - if my old, forgetful brain will let me! LOL!

I can totally understand if people don't want to write reviews, Vicki. It's your free time, so you should use it the way you best want to spend it. I know some people would rather go onto reading the next book instead of obsessing over a review. I started writing reviews as part of my blog, sort of like therapy, since I don't keep journals.

I'm not that picky about mild grammar issues and occasional editing errors. If it's really bad, I might make a comment about it in my review. If the whole story is just a huge mess and is not quality enough to be published, then I would have an issue. I don't think an author should bypass the editing process by resorting to self-publishing though. I think you should only publish something you're proud of, and that means you put the time and energy into your manuscript. For it to be enough for me to downgrade my rating a lot, it would have to be noticeably bad to the degree that I felt that the author just didn't care. I respect this is a bigger issue for some people because they want the quality they pay for, though.

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: " I can totally understand if people don't want to write reviews, Vicki. It's your free time, so you should use it the way you best want to spend it."

This is why I don't generally write reviews. I'm usually set to start the next book. Though I have sworn to myself that when I go back and reread some of the stuff on my favorites/best shelves that I will place comments in my reviews because those shelves are getting full and I'm starting to forget why I put some of those books there :(

I'm not that picky about mild grammar issues and occasional editing errors. If it's really bad, I might make a comment about it in my review.

One or two mistakes in a book is not a big deal; however, I just read a book that was filled with typos and several grammatical mistakes. I knocked the rating down quite a bit. It's unfortunate because it was actually a decent story but navigating the editing was annoying.

I'm not that picky about mild grammar issues and occasional editing errors. If it's really bad, I might make a comment about it in my review.

I'm not college educated. I do have a high school diploma but I've forgotten so much about grammar that I don't even see most errors. If it's bad enough for me to notice it then it's bad. I rarely mention much less rate because of grammar/editing errors. Funny thing is I made my best grades in english/language arts. hehehehehe

Elaine wrote: "I love goodreads, because of the reviews. I do pay attention to what others write about the book and appreciate even a few sentences. I don't leave long reviews unless there are no reviews on the b..."

I don't care about the grammar or punctuation either. That's the book's editor or publisher's job not the author. I don't care for inconsistencies but unless it's glaring I won't downgrade a book for it either. I remember reading about an author who made this huge cork board with cards for each character re their looks, job, loves, etc. just to keep it straight because she hated getting letters from fans that said she screwed up.

My low ratings are because the story itself didn't float my boat or maybe one of the characters got on my nerves so bad that I couldn't get beyond it. Usually that's a good thing because I want to have a strong reaction to a story or a character but when the reaction is that I find most of the actions or dialogue unbelievable (and as a sci-fi/PNR fan I can believe a lot), then I'll give a lower rating. I also about 90% of the time won't give a rating to a book I didn't finish because I didn't give the book a full chance. I just have a "couldn't finish" and leave it clear. I don't feel right giving a low rating to a book I wasn't able to finish because a few times the book was a lot better about the halfway point.

I feel so sorry for authors though, it's must be so hard to hear bad things about something you've put your heart into. Now authors who are kicking out books every few months and send out a stinker, they deserve a low rating because they now better.

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "I understand, Vicki! And it's great that you're willing to answer questions. Even with some of my reviews that should be broken into chapters because they're so long, I still get questions from peo..."

I know what you mean about trying to recall stuff about a book you read a while ago. I'll sometimes get questions/comments about something I read a year ago and I'll read my review and synopsis just to have it ring a bell sometimes. My reviews are mostly for me.

I don't normally write reviews because I just feel if you are able to write a book, you are doing much better than me! However, sometimes if I am really not liking something I am reading I will check out reviews on Amazon or here to see if it is me or the book! Or sometimes, if I can't tell from the decription if I will like it or not. I have a Kindle, so I have really stepped up the book I am reading in the last year. (and some are very bad!)

Carolyn F. wrote: "Elaine wrote: "I love goodreads, because of the reviews. I do pay attention to what others write about the book and appreciate even a few sentences. I don't leave long reviews unless there are no r..."

Carolyn, I guess I haven't picked up one of the books with horrible mistakes, or I am engrossed enough in the story not to notice. :-D Actually, the book I am reading right now has quite a few small errors. With all of the free books available now, I am sure they are going to get worse! But I have run across a few on Amazon that were rated low and the reviewer said they like the story a lot, but they couldn't get past the bad grammar. That gives the book a lower rating. Maybe rate the story and then rate the grammar separately.
(Not sure I believe a lot but that doesn't keep me from getting into the story and not worrying about whether it could really happen or not! lol )

I read a lot of Highland romances with Druids and Faeries.:) Of course, they are believable!

My unbelievable are "Who in their right mind would do or say so and so?!" I just read a Jenna Black book and the heroine consistently would do something or say something stupid, know she was wrong while she was doing it and then wonder why everyone was so upset. I can see maybe once making that mistake but to do it over and over, ugh! Otherwise, robotic witches from the future come to save the Earth with the help of the sharks and squirrels while the evil angel vampires are out to get them - I can totally believe that. Any interested authors, you may use this with my blessing :)

When I first started coming here I was more intent on getting all of my shelves set up to really do reviews. I wanted to enter all of my books I owned and continue with my current reads...I ended up giving up on my library and just kept current with my reading. I started doing reviews for books that I really reacted to...love or hate. I don't know if I'll get to reviewing everything I read, but a mini blurb is helpful to me as to why I liked or disliked something so I'm trying to do that now.

Pamela, I know my grammar could use help, even though I am college educated. That's why I am not huge on small grammar mistakes.

I used to never review. I was one of those who didn't want to obsess and get on to the next book. My first review was for Sugar Daddy because it just touched me so much I had to write one. Then when I started my I love LK journey I decided as part of my resolution to write a thorough review for each of her books, and now it's just spread to 95% of all books I read, and then I started a blog.. and yadda yadda yadda.

I think that reviews are part of the reason we are all here. We love reading, we love talking about reading and that naturally translates into reviews.

My question is: How long do you think a review should be? Will the length of a review, short or long, influence you reading it?

If it's a book I'm on the fence about, no matter the length of the review, if I know the person is a good reviewer, I will read it. Also, if the reviewer is someone who's thoughts I enjoy reading, like your Bekah or Punya, it doesn't matter on the length for me. I'm not picky about it too much. I do not like a total recap of everything that ever happened in the book. I tried to do recap reviews and found myself doing this, not very interesting to read in my opinion, and too time consuming.

The only time I don't give a book some sort of star rating is if I DNF'd it. My reasons are my own, and I'm not trying to influence anyone, but I feel that if I couldn't finish a book, I have no way of knowing if it might have gotten better at some point, thus earning a higher star rating.

And I don't think reviews should be any set length. They just need to express what the reader/reviewer thought about the story. I think that mine tend to get longish sometimes, but it's because I want to make sure I've shared all my thoughts. *shrugs*

Bekah, I don't have a hard and fast rule on how long I think a review should be. I have seen a few reviews (and perhaps written some too) that were probably too long, but overall I think the review should be long enough to convey the reviewers thoughts on the book. If it takes 5 paragraphs, so be it. If you can do in in a few sentences, that's great too.

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "The only time I don't give a book some sort of star rating is if I DNF'd it. My reasons are my own, and I'm not trying to influence anyone, but I feel that if I couldn't finish a book, I have no wa..."

Dhes, I feel that sometimes my reviews tend to be on the long side as well but like you I need to get all my thoughts down. I also tend to put quite a few quotes in as I think it might give those who read the reviews a feel for the book.

I've been doing more of that, Carol... quotes to show humor, romance or writing style. I think they're fun and helpful, too.

I've been doing that too Carol! Quotes have been finding their way into my reviews more and more and I'm really liking it!

I'm too lazy to put quotes in my reviews. :0

I used to think the same thing about myself Danielle!!

eReaders have made it much easier to highlight and relocate quotes. And some, like Calibre, allow for the good old "copy and paste" feature.

The facility on Kindle to highlight and enter notes is a very useful tool. It helps immensely when I'm writing reviews.

You post reviews via your Kindle?

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "You post reviews via your Kindle?"

Sorry Danielle, I probably didn't phrase that very well. What I meant was that when I'm reading a Kindle book, with the facility available, it's easy to make notes or highlight quotes which will be useful when writing my review.

Oh, I wasn't sure. My sister said you could use the Kindle to access the internet.

I really hadn't noticed any quotes until a Goodreads friend mentioned she loved to see quotes in reviews. Since then, I have made an effort to try to highlight quotes on my Kindle. I have seen a few since and it is nice to be able to see how an author writes and some of their humor. The Kindle will let you use the internet, but as far as I know, it will not let you copy/paste those quotes. I have them in front of me though and can use them in reviews. Kindle also lets you see what others that have read the book highlighted.

That makes sense, Elaine and Carol.

I will admit that some of my favorite reviews have included quotes.

I think you have a good point Lady D, the reviews will really help me remember what I liked or didn't like about a book. I would like to start writing more reviews but would like to include quotes. I have a nook and keep forgetting about the highlighting feature, I will have to start using that feature more. :)

I have a Kindle, but I don't use it as much as I read paper books, so I guess I better start taking advantage of my Kindle!

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm beginning to love my Kindle almost as much as my paperbacks, and a major reason is the highlighting feature. I've included a lot more quotes in my reviews since getting my Kindle!

I found a really neat little 'bookmark' on the bookmark stand by the registers at B&N. It's called "Hold that thought" and its a series of little post it pointer tabs and a little tiny post it note to slip into your books as your reading. I LOVE it and have used it a billion times! Next time I'm at B&N I'm going to get 2 of them.

When I read Again The Magic I had a million of them in there, I didn't end up using all of the quotes I picked out, but a lot of them I did.

AND, it's also really nice to hear that you guys like to see quotes in your reviews...because sometimes I wonder if its helpful, ejoyable or just annoying.

That sounds really cool, Bekah. I should probably search that out!


I love my Kindle, but I think I neglect her too much.