Perhaps it’s my juvenile tastes, my untried pallet, I am unlearned in the ways of books. I just finished a book and while updating my StoryGraph I discovered it had a lower rating compared to the other books I enjoy. Out of curiosity I decided to read what the fuss was about. Only to discover people hate the book for all the reasons I loved it. Looked it up on reddit just to see the swaths of distain for the thing.
I am mostly laughing at myself, because nothing is going to stop me liking the book. Man, do you really look at yourself and wonder if something is inherently wrong with yourself. So yeah, if I like a book, I am definitely not reading the reviews anymore. \*nervous laughter\*
by A_Lost_Marble
2 Comments
I think reviews and star ratings is more of a correlation of how well a publisher or author marketed their book and whether or not the book reached their target audience. Sometimes they’ll set up a certain expectation by comparing the book to another well-known book, but the inspiration or similarity to that book is barely there, or it’s not what the reader loved about the well-known book which can lead to disappointment. There’s plenty of amazing books that have been burned by this in the past, or readers have gone back to re-read it and found that it’s a great book in it’s own right, and it shouldn’t have been advertised as “for fans of (series/book)” in the first place
I’ve had similar experiences in the past, so I don’t read reviews until I’ve written my own thoughts down and rated it.
Idk, I kind of like seeing the negative reviews of books I like. I always wonder how books I love are perceived and sometimes it really adds to the meaning of the book for me. Like Catcher In the Rye is one of my favorites, and obviously it’s really hated- a lot of people can’t stand Holden. To me those negative reviews kind of illustrate how people think about and treat young men in crisis and why the book is still relevant. But on the other hand I dont like to see people trashing my favorites so I get it 😆