I’ll be linking up with the 2025 Discussion Challenge hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight!
I came up with this topic when I was going to read reviews on the blogs I follow that weren’t for books I would ever read. I started thinking, why do I read reviews? I also wondered about certain reviews that even though I link them when I comment on other blogs, people don’t always come and comment on those. And these days people say blogging is dead, that it is all about TikTok or Instagram or YouTube, although I thought even YouTube was kind of over? I rarely pay attention to much about any video reviews – maybe scroll to see the rating, but don’t watch whole videos. So it got me thinking, and I came up with 3 main reasons why I personally read reviews.
- First is of course just to support my fellow bloggers! As I mentioned above, I’ll often comment on book reviews that I know I will never read because they just aren’t my type of read. Sometimes even if what the reviewer has said is how great it is, what they liked about it may be something that I don’t like, so I still won’t read it when it’s not my type. But I love when people come and comment on my reviews, even when they say it isn’t a book they wouldn’t or won’t read. Just knowing they took the time to see what I had to say about a book I read is one of the things I love about the blogging community.
- Sometimes when I’m having trouble starting a book for a review, or as I’m reading it having trouble not DNFing it, I will go read reviews to see what others thought. If I find that other people had the same issues as I’m having, I will often give in to my urge to DNF. Sometimes by reading those reviews on ones I’m having trouble starting, it will give me a kick to remember why I signed up to review it or maybe why I bought it in the first place.
- Finally, after I’ve read and reviewed a book, I like to compare and see what my fellow bloggers thought of the book. It won’t change my own opinion if I liked it or not. However it often makes me think about things I may have skimmed past or not noticed in the book. I often see people with differing takes on what a book’s theme or message might be, and that is so neat to see!
So, those are the three main reasons I read book reviews. How about you? Are any of my reasons the same as yours? Do you have other reasons I am not listing here?
EDIT: So as I was reading a comment, I remembered one more reason I read reviews, for my students or for recommending! It used to be when I worked at the bookstore still, I could use reviews from blogs about books I don’t read to share with customers to help them pick. I still do that for my students, especially with things like graphic novels and manga. And then I also share reviews of books I wouldn’t read with the people in my life I know would. Like I see tons of books my mom and aunt like to read on some of the blogs I follow, so this way I can still share with them even if they don’t read the same types I do!
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yes those are all good reasons. I have some blogs I follow because they read the kind of books I would read. Some I follow because I like the people who are the bloggers. Others are because they follow me. Following is different than reading but some of the same reasoning applies.
I’m not necessarily talking about following, I follow for a lot of the same reasons as you. But I don’t always read the reviews on a blog, often I just go check out their personal posts or discussion posts, etc. I was thinking specifically about why I read reviews.
Oh great topic! I read reviews for various reasons, with bloggers I like and follow I often read them just because I want to know what they thought of a book or why they enjoyed it regardless of whether it’s a book I want to read myself or not. I also just enjoy reading reviews in general. And sometimes a book might not have caught my eye, but then when a blogger I know reviewed it I can learn more about it and get excited for it and want to read it. I also like to read reviews so I can figure out whether I want to read a book or not as reviews often tell me things the blurb might not mention. And just like you mentioned here I also like reading reviews for a book after I reviewed it myself to see what others thought of it.
Ooh, you just made me think of another reason I read reviews! Now I have to go back and redo this post, lol.
I read your edited note in your post and that’s a great reason to read reviews too so you can recommend them to others! I can imagine in your job as a librarian it’s helpful to know a bit about books you don’t read so you can recommend them to your students.
I really enjoy reading reviews when I’m on the fence about whether or not I want to read a book. It often makes me choose one way or another.
That is a big reason I read them too!
Those are great reasons. I love discovering new to me authors, genres etc and trust book bloggers & reviewers to put things on my radar.
Same!
I agree with your reasons too. I don’t comment on every review I read, but I try to as much as possible. It does feel like blogging is dying, and not like it used to be a few years ago, so I try to keep comments alive, lol. I also read other reviews when I’m not enjoying a book and I want to see if it’s just me😁
Yeah, I have been trying to comment when I have time. Trying to keep all of us alive in this blogging world!
I still love reading reviews of books. I honestly do not have the patience for TikTok or YouTube. I’ve found most people don’t do a whole lot of reviewing on Instagram. Usually just one or two sentences and that just not enough for me. I need details. I need to know about pacing, action and romance levels, all the little things like that. I find I can only get that with actual blogger reviews. I basically go on Instagram for pretty book pictures. I’ll post my own review notices but still don’t see a lot of traffic to my blog. I think Instagram is intent on burying less popular posts. I still have times where they hide posts from people I follow and I’ll eventually see it in the popular view only to see that said picture is from two weeks or a month ago.
I’ve always looked for book reviews on the books I feel hesitant about. The ones that I’m half interested but need that opinion from a blogger to help me decide one way or another. I’ll read reviews of books I want to read as well for confirmation of my first impression but also trying not to be upset if it was disliked! If it’s a book from a series though I may not read it if I’m not caught up due to spoilers. I feel like we sometimes forget to add a spoiler warning but there’s also knowledge that previous books will be mentioned so take caution!
I guess I don’t always read the reviews of books I know I won’t ever read. I don’t know many other readers in real life. My sister is getting back into it and is taking all my recs so we’re on the same page in that area. But yeah I don’t have many chances to recommend books to others to begin with.
Just like you I do not have the patience for the videos. I read so much quicker because I can skim and cut right to what I want to know.
I would say my reasons are similar to yours. Some blogs that I follow and I don’t generally read the same genre is because we are “friends,” and I like to check out what they are reading. But that said, I love reading blog reviews from friends in genres I do read to see if I want to add one to my list, confirm I’m glad I didn’t pick up a book, learn about new books, etc. I also love comparing thoughts if I’ve read the book. I use GR reviews to help me decide to read a book I’m considering.
I do use Goodreads reviews as well, I read a lot of “friends'” blogs reviews even if they aren’t my type of read just because I am interested in what they’re reading too!
My reasons for reading reviews are very similar to yours. I like to support my blogging friends, regardless of whether the book might interest me. Sometimes I find ideas of books friends or family might like, even if I might not. Reviews help when I’m on the fence about whether I want to read a book–both negative and positive reviews (and not always in the expected direction). And, as you said, they can help determine whether I continue with a book I am considering DNFing. And like you, it’s fun to see what other people thought of books I read once I’ve finished reading and reviewing them. I don’t mind if someone didn’t like a book I really enjoyed or vice versa–I like reading different perspectives. I read a lot more reviews than I comment on, which I really should make more of a point to do. Sometimes I just don’t have the time though, sadly. We all probably struggle with that.
Yeah, I go through stages when I have lots of time to comment and I get all caught up with the emails from other blogs. Then things get busy and I get stressed and feel bad, lol.
Those are my reasons too! Also, I read reviews to see if I missed something. After I finish a book, I read a few positive and negative reviews. Sometimes other reviewers notice something I didn’t even think about.
I like to see what other people think of the books I read too, so that is another reason!
I read book reviews for books I’m interested in. Unless it’s a post with several book reviews, that way I can cover more books in one sitting. I have very little downtime in my life so I’m unable to do all the things I’d love to do. So I skip reviews for books I won’t read simply due to time constraints. However, I try to make time for posts like these, I find them truly enjoyable.
True! There’s just not enough time to read them all.
I agree with all the reasons you mentioned. I also will go and read published reviews if I’m struggling with a book to see if it’s just me or maybe the book gets better. Wonderful post, Lisa! I’m trying to catch up with commenting so I will be back to hit a few more of your posts. I’m in Montana with family and it makes it hard to keep up with blogging! 🙂
Hope you are enjoying Montana with your family!
I agree with all your reasons. In addition, I do it to see what readers liked and didn’t like, that’s why I like reading 3 and 4 star reviews the most. I also do it to get some inspiration for phrases or words for my own reviews.
Yeah, I often like to read the more mid-range reviews for sure. I never thought about getting inspiration for writing my own reviews exactly, but I’m sure that I’ve done that as well.
Like you said at the end of your post, I sometimes read reviews for books I probably wouldn’t read so I can know what’s popular and get ideas for recommendations at BN. It always helps to know some books outside of my favorite genres!
It definitely was helpful when I worked at the bookstore too!
This is an interesting question. My main reason for looking at other bloggers’ reviews is to see whether they saw something in a book that I didn’t see.
I always like when I read a review and find out things I missed!
Ohh yes I do like to see how my fellow book worms feel about a book – which is why I love book clubs. Reviews help me decide if a book is worth my time, and if I had a different experience from the other readers I get curious.
I can’t do book clubs because I rarely want to read the same book as a big group tends to pick. That’s why reading other blogs and checking reviews on Goodreads seems to work for me.
Yes, those are great reasons. I think my main reasons are to see what others are reading and what they thought of it whether its my type of book or not. Often, I’ve taken a leap on a book I wouldn’t have normally picked up or even noticed and it turned out to be a great reading experience for me. And, like you, sometimes the others’ reviews are enough to have me either put down or push through a book I started that I’m iffy on. Great discussion topic, Lisa!
Thanks for joining the discussion!