When you finish a book are you one to write a review about said book or do you rate it and move on? Do you read reviews before starting a book or just jump right in? Has a review ever made you read or not read a book?
I typically just rate and move on. Occasionally I will write a review, but normally, only if I really enjoyed the book.
I do read reviews occasionally and would like to start reviewing more, but I would like to get better in creating more captivating reviews. I typically only read the reviews after I’ve finished a book, not sure why, but it’s what I do.
Thoughts?
Nowadays about a quarter of the books I read are ARCs, so I usually review those to try to maintain a decent NetGalley ratio.
With non-ARCs, sometimes I have something to say and sometimes I don’t. Often I’ll write a very brief review for non-ARCs (my ARC reviews are on the longer side).
When I read reviews, I’m much more interested in why they liked or disliked the book than in whether they liked or disliked the book. If all I know is that they liked it, so what? They’re a stranger on the internet, I have no idea if their tastes are similar to mine. But if I read a review that says “I didn’t like this, it was too weird, and the prose was too purple, and it spent too much time on the characters’ feelings and not enough time on the plot,” then I can conclude that it’s my kind of book and I should give it a try.
Maybe I am out of the loop?? What is an ARC??