Reading a book: After Negative reviews

sfgiantsjo

I was thinking about this over the weekend...

Once I've heard negative reviews about a book, I find it really hard to enjoy a book. It's almost a given - if I hear a negative review, I will ONLY see the negative. Whatever the reviewer was stuck on will stand out to me. For example, if a review complains that a heroine "tosses her hair" too often, I will be distracted looking for every instance of the heroine doing that in the book (stupid example, but ykwim). Or if someone says the main character is too whiny, I won't be able to ignore it. 

With good reviews, I'm not automatically predisposed to like the book. I can easily dislike a character others gush about as their new book crush. Or if I get to a book before I read a negative review, I might completely miss what everyone else complains about. It's the negative reviews that I can't get past.

Do you feel biased towards books based on reviews - good or bad? (I'm talking legitimate reviews - either professional, or by people you respect, not "OMG, 50SoG was soooo hot!!! Like, you have to read it!!!!!!!")

nocturnalintimacy

Not usually.

I finished Kevin Hearne's Hexed last week, and one of the blogs I follow had reviewed it as sexist. I didn't get that at all, nor did it skew my enjoyment of the book.

EliStar

It depends on who the review is from. 

For example, JenE told me she hated The Opportunist. We almost ALWAYS agree on books, so I am pretty sure I was predisposed to hate it. I'm not sure if I hate it because I just hate it or because I trust JenE's judgment so much that I can't get past stupid little things that won't matter in the grand scheme of things. 

Gone Girl was widely liked by a ton of my friends, but no one that I always 100% agree with. So I went into it without any pre-dispositions. I did not like it at all. Same with Hopeless. 

booknerd226

Sometimes. I'm more likely to put off reading a book if I've read a negative review, especially if what bothered the reader were things that typically bother me.

Jliongrrrl

It depends on the review. If it was about the 200 grammatical errors in the first chapter, I'd probably skip the book entirely. If it was just an over use of a certain phrase or dislike of the setting etc, I'd ignore the review and read on. People like different things (sometimes I like a different genre depending on my mood) and just because someone else didn't like it doesn't mean it won't be your next favorite book. That said, I don't often read reviews of books I know I want to read. I like to be surprised by what happens and so many of the reviews on goodreads give way too much away! Just because you don't spell out the last 10 pages doesn't mean you're not spoiling the book by explaining the twist that happens in the middle.

ewill7911

Yes... I am guilty of this. If something is mentioned about characters being fake, 1D, all the same, or too good to be true then I look for those signs. Its probably a good thing I dont read reviews usually, unless I am on the fence about a book.

sweetrhythms

Yes, I can be which is why I just look at how many stars are on GR and try not to read any reviews until I'm finished with the book.

pinkybooklover09

I can be swayed if it's the opinion of someone who's book taste I trust. 

RhymeReason

 

sweetrhythms said:

Yes, I can be which is why I just look at how many stars are on GR and try not to read any reviews until I'm finished with the book.

Same. I don't read reviews on books until after I've read it. There have been a few cases where people thought a book was brilliant and I thought it was boring. Or I hated it and I'll read GR and feel better knowing I wasn't the only one.

RevJen

I like to try books for myself and see whether I like them or not.  With books like Game of Thrones, I liked it but not enough to continue on with the series.  My opinions tend to vary from those here though.

AshleyT121

Generally, if the "whole world" is giving a book a bad review, I just don't pick it up.  The odd time I do though, I generally just read and judge for myself. Though I do find myself picking up on little things that have been pointed out in other reviews that I may not have picked up on my own, it doesn't change my overall enjoyment much.

On the flip side of that, I could have every person in the entire world tell me how amazing a book is and that it was their favorite novel ever in the history of books.... but if the description doesn't grab me, it will take me a long time to pick it up, if at all.

Geekywife

I look for the "bad" reviews. I want to know why someone would not like a book. It usually doesn't effect my liking or not of the book on hand but it will sway me one way or an other on weather i should pick up a book in the first place.

jenndawnp

I try to form my opinion but there are a few people's opinion I really trust and just avoid the book.  The worst reads for me are ones everyone raves about and I hate, I feel like a communist or something.  

Pebble_Cafe

I'm the opposite. I'm more likely to read/look for negative reviews vs positive ones. It doesn't sway me either. I can still read it and not be biased. I see it as a challenge. .

On the other hand, I have to limit rave reviews and ignore book hype (for the most part). Those I tend to be disappointed after I read them or I become uninterested in reading them. Too much hype, I guess. 

Weird. I know.

queenofhearts1728

I try not to read reviews, good or bad.  The same goes for movies.

I can easily take someone's verbal opinion with a grain of salt, but reviewers are supposed to 'know'.. I'd rather go into a book with an oblivious blank slate than get my hopes up (or down) and not have the experience I'd like

booknerd226

Ashley T said:

Generally, if the "whole world" is giving a book a bad review, I just don't pick it up.  The odd time I do though, I generally just read and judge for myself. Though I do find myself picking up on little things that have been pointed out in other reviews that I may not have picked up on my own, it doesn't change my overall enjoyment much.

On the flip side of that, I could have every person in the entire world tell me how amazing a book is and that it was their favorite novel ever in the history of books.... but if the description doesn't grab me, it will take me a long time to pick it up, if at all.

This. I have so many books recommended to me that I'm told I'll love but they just don't sound that interesting to me. And I forgot to add to my earlier post that I usually try to avoid reviews until after I've already read the book. 

mrsvedo

NorthernLghts said:

 

sweetrhythms said:

Yes, I can be which is why I just look at how many stars are on GR and try not to read any reviews until I'm finished with the book.

Same. I don't read reviews on books until after I've read it. There have been a few cases where people thought a book was brilliant and I thought it was boring. Or I hated it and I'll read GR and feel better knowing I wasn't the only one.

This is me exactly as well. I never read reviews until after I read the book.

Sometimes if I'm reading a series I'll read reviews for the first book after I've read it but before I move on to the next book in the series and something the author does stylistically will be pointed out that I didn't notice before but sticks with me for the rest of the series. This happened with Outlander. I finished it and read reviews before moving on to DiA and for the rest of the series every time DG used "felt rather than saw" or "felt before she saw" I noticed it where I hadn't noticed it at all in Outlander. It didn't sway my opinion, though.

MrsJenE

EliStar said:

It depends on who the review is from. 

For example, JenE told me she hated The Opportunist. We almost ALWAYS agree on books, so I am pretty sure I was predisposed to hate it. I'm not sure if I hate it because I just hate it or because I trust JenE's judgment so much that I can't get past stupid little things that won't matter in the grand scheme of things. 

Gone Girl was widely liked by a ton of my friends, but no one that I always 100% agree with. So I went into it without any pre-dispositions. I did not like it at all. Same with Hopeless. 

LOL!  This is the same for me.  If @elistar or @84Lauren don't like a book, I'm pretty sure I won't like it either.  Because I trust their judgment, I think that I can be swayed and then I kick myself for not listening to them when I continue to read a shitty book.

Slytherpuff

It depends on who the reviewer is and why he/she didn't like the book.  If it's someone I respect, or who has similar tastes, chances are that I'll end up disliking the book, too. 

I do try to avoid reading negative reviews before starting a new novel.

Stefibeth

Yes, this tends to happen to me.  This is why I try to avoid specific reviews, especially negative ones.  I'm not super strict about it.  I love reading book chatter, especially around here, but I definitely try not to read through Goodreads reviews because it might color my thoughts on the book.  I want to form my own impressions!

CeeCeeSugaPie

I try not to read the reviews on GR too often, since I don't "know them", I don't trust their opinion. There are a lot of books that are popular with the masses, especially recently, that I think are crap. However, I do take the word of NBC as gospel. I consider you all "my people" and trust your opinions. If I see negative/mixed reviews on here, it will not totally sway me from reading a book, but I tend to put off reading them for a while.

SRodi811

It depends.  I read a lot of books that have mixed reviews and I end up liking some of them, but if a book is rated under 2 or 3 stars by "the whole world" or close to it, I will often avoid it.