This Blog Hop is hosted by Reading Romances
*UPDATE: This will count as my post for Tuesday. Sorry about that.
I know I said Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays but I couldn't help myself after I saw this on book r3vi3ws plus I have nothing to do or read for 3 hours so why not?
The first thing I look for before even reviewing the book which I think everybody looks for is the cover. The cover is our first impression so if that cover looks like a five year old made it or maybe the cover doesn't appeal to my taste I probably won't even look at the review. The only exceptions are the blogs that you absolutely love and you go to their reviews all the time. So if a cover has a half-naked people on it I'm not going to even look at the review because I don't do erotica or whatever that is because it's just not my taste in books.
I'm thinking back to when I first found the book blog 21 pages. It was probably one of the first book blogs I looked at and what always caught my attention is how she wrote about the books. You can tell almost instantly what the reviewer thought about the book. You can tell if they are really excited, if it's a flop, or if they don't put real emotion to it which means that the book was alright and not worth looking into.
Before the opinion section of the review is the summary of the book and that is the plot so if the plot doesn't intrigue me or entices me to read the review I probably won't read it except for those exceptions I wrote above. Plot and characters go hand to hand. If the reviewer talks about the characters as if they were the greatest thing since sliced bread then I'm going to like the review and book.
There are only a couple of books I buy every year. Most of them I get from the library. If a book or series I already read or I am in the middle of the series is beyond amazing but the library doesn't have one of the books or the one book I will probably buy it in the future if I really want to read it where I think about it as about as normal as regular people think about... food then I'll definitely try to get it. There are a couple of times that I got a book based on a review or once even a preview of the book that has me on edge (I'm talking about a time when Barnes and Noble gave a preview of about half of a book so I was dying to know what happened so I got the book the next day. It's one of my favorite books by the way. Barnes and Noble are sly little dogs...). If I trust that blogger/reviewer then I'll get the book. It happens rarely only because of a) I have no money and b) space.
When I'm looking at a book I like on Goodreads I'll look at a couple of reviews. There is always one review that will make my decision. If there is a lot of negative and positive reviews I'll look at them and if I see one that is really convincing I'll stop and go with that one. I can be easily persuaded by these reviews which is bad but I do have an opinion of my own so sometimes I just do what I want.
Reading Romance which is the blog who is hosting this hop did a survey and found out some interesting things. Number four has me bothered because I do not put my rates on here. I was going to in the beginning but I really couldn't find out how and people might not even read my review if they just look for the rating first. Also, people could just tell what I think about the book in general without getting lost in the rating and see for themselves when reading my reviews. No one has brought it up with yet so I think no one seems to mind.
Number 4 also has having a small review of up to 4 paragraphs on there. I really disagree which sucks for me because my opinion doesn't really count because other people are the ones reading my reviews. I know of one blogger who writes a lot and really appreciate that. Whenever I write a review that isn't lengthy or as lengthy as I wish it could be I'm disappointed in myself because it doesn't seem like enough. I'm noticing it more now so I try to write about the individual characters more. When a review is lengthy to me it shows that the reviewer put more effort to it. That's not saying that I or even others don't put effort to it. Others may agree with the small reviews and a lot of the time I enjoy small reviews but for me as I just write as much as I think I can or as long as I'm able to express my love or hatred of a particular book. I've had reviews where I just say wow all the time or something like that the whole time and I'm really excited but I could write so much more! Especially since I love the book.
Do you like large or small reviews? Anything interesting you thought about the survey?
What do you look for in a review?
I like short reviews. I don't have a lot of time to read long ones. That's why I don't like a full synopsis in the review--I can read the description. Sometimes I think reviewers write too much about a book so that it looks like they know what they are talking about, LOL. I'm the person who likes to read a book without even looking at the synopsis if I've read other books by the same author or it was highly recommended. It is possible to recommend a book without saying too much about it. Thanks for joining this hop. I am actually learning more about reviews because of what people like you are saying and am considering making some minor adjustments to the way I write them. Not too much, LOL
ReplyDeleteLol. I would never think that someone would write so much to make it look like they know what they are talking about but it's funny to think about.
DeleteI've only gotten library books if it is widely known and recommended like I've done with the The Lying Game. I hardly have space or money to buy a book on a whim but that hasn't stopped me from doing it before.
I do agree with you that you can recommend a book without saying too much but I liked to get really hyped about a book and read a lot about it but that's just me.
No problem. I'm learning as well. (:
I do tend to go for the four para rule - but only if it lets me say everything I think needs to be said. I'll definitely go over if I feel there's more to say.
ReplyDeleteI do usually have small reviews but I like them longer because it feels like I did everything possible to show my opinion and how awesome or not so awesome a book is.
DeleteHey.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I do both short and long(ish) reviews, the short ones when I'm doing a read-a-thon, or reading a lot of books in a short time so I can't do long reviews, or maybe I read a series in 2 days (I tend to,lol) so I'll do a short review of the series or something. But I don't set out to do either a long or a short one to begin with, it just...goes where it goes.
I make up for it by splashing the rating right up there with the cover and book info, lol.
I like smart reviews, long or short, the ones that make me feel like the reviewer got something out of their read, that they were moved or touched by it somehow, it tends to show when it happens and I love that. It's what makes me wanna read a book :D
Loved to read your thoughts :)
I do sometimes short reviews when I read way too many books at the same time and don't review them before I read more books... I also do that when it's a second book usually which I have no idea why :P
DeleteI've actually been entertained by a fellow blogger who didn't like a book but made her review funny and fun to read which I wish I can do.
Thanks so much! :D
I've done both long and short reviews. A lot depends on how long the actual story is. I can't see writing a long review on a story that is less than a 100 pages long. Loved your post. Thank you for stopping by and reading my post.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the rest of your summer, Lynn
Yeah, that makes sense. Whenever I read a kid's chapter book I can only write so much on it. Thanks so much! :D
DeleteOh girl my summer is over for me because I'm going to school now though the heat tells me it is still summer.
I have often found that lengthy review doesn't really mean a good review! Its about how well the review conveys the reviewers opinion about the book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my post. New GFC follower :)
DDS @ b00k r3vi3ws
http://b00kr3vi3ws.blogspot.in
Thanks so much. I'm already following you (:
DeleteI agree with you on the plot and characters would encourage me to read a book. This goes for everyone; editors and readers alike. If characters in a novel aren't strong, then neither is your plot.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting your thoughts and joining the hop!
Happy writing!
-Diva J.
Well the summary or plot can be very interesting and unique but it doesn't guarantee you strong characters.
DeleteThanks!
I agree with you- that I always look at the cover! I also see if the plot and characters are of interest to me. I like all different types of reviews when it comes to length. It depends on the blogger. I always enjoy reading your reviews because they are so honest and feel very real. I leave the review knowing exactly what you thought of the book. I don't need stars or a rating scale, but when people have them I do look at them. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree that it does depend on the blogger.
DeleteThanks so much :D
I really appreciate your thoughts on these things. I hadn't thought about people not reading the review after glancing at the rating, but since I do that sometimes with others (just to get a general feel of the general response to a book), I suppose others do it to me. But, I do try to go back and read the reviews after I read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by Proud Book Nerd! :-)
No problem I enjoyed your thoughts as well (:
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