Do you think your reading experience is affected by reading reviews? Sometimes mine is. I try really hard not to let reviews bias me, but it's hard. Especially when 5 of your best blogging/bookish friends have RAVED about a book or, vice versa, HATED a book. Then I read the book and, going into it, I'm already starting to pick out its flaws.
Say I read a review saying that the world-building isn't great. I think that as I read, I pay extra attention to the world-building, which makes the fact that's it not great all the more noticeable. And I sometimes wonder, would I have noticed that the world-building wasn't all that if I hadn't read that review prior to reading? If someone said in their review that a character was annoying, I start to look for what's so annoying about that character. Would I have noticed those annoying things had I not read the review? The truth is, I don't know.
I've also run into times where I've read bad reviews and then loved the book. So maybe it doesn't affect me completely, but I still think it has an impact.
I definitely think that reading reviews prior to reading the book makes me pay more attention to the mechanics of the book when reading. And I don't necessarily think that's a good thing. Ever since I started blogging, I find myself reading more critically. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, in fact, I think it's mostly good. But sometimes I wish I could go back to the days of just reading without thinking about what I'm going to say in my review. Without thinking about what bugged me, what I loved, what I think will bother other people, etc. Sometimes it just gets...exhausting.
And then there are books like We Were Liars that are best to go into completely blind. But how do you know that? I found out through reading people's reviews. Fail. Luckily, those people were pretty awesome about keeping things vague. But I wonder if it would be better for me to avoid reading reviews prior to reading a book? But then what if I read a bad book and could have avoided it by reading reviews? Life is just so hard sometimes.
And then there are books like We Were Liars that are best to go into completely blind. But how do you know that? I found out through reading people's reviews. Fail. Luckily, those people were pretty awesome about keeping things vague. But I wonder if it would be better for me to avoid reading reviews prior to reading a book? But then what if I read a bad book and could have avoided it by reading reviews? Life is just so hard sometimes.
I'm pretty sure I won't be able to stop reading reviews. My curiosity gets the better of me. Plus I love all my blogging buddies and I want to read your reviews. But maybe I can limit myself to like two or three? Then I only have two or three opinions on a book going into it.
But still...sometimes I really, truly think it's better to go into a book blind. Wow, I feel like this post makes no sense. Hopefully you guys understand where I'm coming from here and what I'm trying to say.
What do you think? Is it better to go into a book blind? Or do you always read reviews first?
I try not to read reviews of books in my pile ...but after I have read the book , then I comment or like certain goodread reviews . Yes I have to blinders on with books sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I tend to be a lot more careful with sequels. But I definitely read reviews of standalones and first books before reading. And I feel like I shouldn't, but I can't help it!!
DeleteI almost always go into books blind! Don't even read blurbs half the time. Too much potential for spoilers, because I do find that different people label spoilers as different things, and I'd rather just not take the chance.
ReplyDeleteIf I do read a review before I read the book, it'll be if I'm pretty sure I don't want to read the book, or if I'm sure that I'm not going to be reading it any time soon- by which point I'll forget what's in the review before getting around to the actual book.
In terms of bad reviews, I do often take a look at what ratings people have given a book on GR, even if I won't read the reviews themselves. So that can be a way of avoiding bad books :)
I wish I could do that! And yes, I do agree about spoilers. Everyone's definition is different. And that's a good point about not reading the book for a long time. That works for me because I have the worst memory ever and completely forget about the reviews I read. Hell, half the time I forget what the freaking book is about.
DeleteI like looking at the ratings, but at the same time I don't because I think they can be pretty skewed. I try to just scroll down and look at what my GR friends rated it, but then I end up reading their reviews because I have no self-control. Fail. lol
I think they affect me, but maybe this is where my bad memory is a positive thing. I read a lot of reviews so unless I'm reading them right before I start a book, I'll have a general sense of whether people are raving or hating, but most of the time, I don't remember the details. But I miss the days of just picking up a book in the bookstore, reading the back cover or inside flap and buying it and reading it, having absolutely no idea what people are saying about it. Absolutely no expectations, one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteIf we feel this way, what does that say about whether we should be blogging??? :) ~Pam
That's very true. I don't normally remember specifics. Unless it's something that a lot of people have been talking about like say instalove or something. Or if I read the review right before I start a book.
DeleteI definitely miss just picking up random books. I think about that sometimes, but the things I love about blogging outweigh the cons. :)