Reader's View: On The Subject Of Reviews

I've been spending a lot of time stalking Amazon reviews lately and one thing I've come across which has been interesting is the helpful or not helpful tags at the beginning of the reviews. It's got me thinking about what makes a good review.
       I'll be the first to admit I don't have any kind of plan when I sit down to review a book. Often I just type whatever comes to mind and hope that in the end it's coherent. I've gone through some of the reviews I've written on this blog and although they're okay, I wonder if they are what would be considered "helpful."
       As a reader of reviews I appreciate the time and effort that some reviewers put into writing a really lengthy piece. It's true that the longer the review the more likely there will be helpful thoughts in there, but do we necessarily have to always write an essay to get the point across? A lot of bloggers have short sub-headings in their reviews to give a one or two word summary of certain aspects of the book. For example explicit language, romance level, violence level and so on. Is this a more efficient way of approaching reviews, especially if you're strapped for time? Or does it not provide enough context?
      Clearly I am still have problems deciding how to structure my reviews so that they are both easier to write and so that readers get the most out of them. So give me a hand guys, what about reviews do you find most helpful? 

Reader's View: Back Off The Bad Reviews

Am I the only one who has noticed the trend towards denigrating 1 star reviews lately? Last year I read THIS POST by popular blogger J.A. Konrath in which he said, and I quote:

"Every one of those millions of reviewers who trashed a book deliberately did it to harm that book's sales. That's the whole point of a one star review. Someone yelling to the world "Don't buy this!"

This is why I don't leave one star reviews. I think it is a shitty, mean thing to do."

Whilst the post itself does contend that people should be allowed freedom of speech and  leaving 1 star reviews is allowed by such entities as Amazon and Goodreads, the overwhelming tone essentially says people who write 1 star reviews are evil.

Today I came across THIS POST  which sets out to list the The Top Ten Best Books With The Worst Amazon Reviews. The article lists the classics like 1984, The Great Gatsby, Ulysses and War & Peace, posts quotes from the bad reviews and then goes on to poke fun at those reviews.  Does this not strike anyone else as being a tad bit hypocritical? Don't even get me started on the literary, elitist, snobbery. I am currently trying to reread The Great Gatsby. Four months and counting. I don't dislike it but these people make it sound like it's a cardinal sin not to enjoy the classics.

Maybe I'll feel differently about it once I'm published and get my own 1 star reviews but for the moment, I am really annoyed at the assumption and the conceitedness that  surrounds these people who poo-poo 1 star reviews. I've left a few 1 star reviews in my time. Not once have I done it because I deliberately want to harm someone's book sales. To be honest, I couldn't care less about authors as people when I read their books. I judge a book by its contents and if I don't like what I read, I am honest about it. Why should I have to wait and consider the impact it has on the author if I write a 1 star review? Reviewing isn't charity. Good reviews shouldn't be given just because you feel sorry for an author and worry about what it might do to their book sales.  If I go to a dentist and they knock out all my teeth should I go home and contemplate the harm I will do to their business if I complain or will I make my displeasure known? 

I follow many reviewers on Goodreads who have posted 1 star reviews. Far from being remiss about it, these people always write lengthy considered reviews outlining why they truly disliked a book. I don't see anything wrong with this. I also don't see anything wrong with someone simply giving a 1 star review and writing a short paragraph about it not being for them. Just like reading is subjective so too if the amount of weight a person puts on a bad review. If I see a 1 star review with no explanation I simply don't give it any weight. Sometimes a reviewer finds a book so abhorrent they lose their marbles and write their own novel of a rant. So what? I find overly positive reviews with heaps of .gif animations useless and a waste of my screen space. Yet I don't see any  authors complaining about those reviews.

Don't get me wrong, it's not as though I hand out 1 star reviews like it's going out of fashion. Believe it or not it takes a lot for me to give a book a 1 star review. I don't mind grammatical errors, formatting slips or even slightly mundane story telling. These things are forgivable to me. I get that writing isn't easy. What I can't forgive is impossibly stupid characters and gender self hating female protagonists.  But none of the consideration I go through when I write a review is "Hmmm I don't want this book to make any money so I'm going to give it a 1 star review." Because you know, my blog and Goodreads profile is so super famous that my bad review will convince everyone not to buy a book.

I don't know about you guys but I for one and sick of all the 1 star review trashing

Reader's View: My Ebook Price Rant

I recently read a post over at Camille Picott's Blog that asked when an ebook is too expensive. At the time I didn't really think too much about the topic because I'm not in a position to spend big on anything and there wasn't anything I wanted to read that was over the usual $2.99 ebook price tag (I don't buy traditionally published books as ebooks because I think that's kooky).  
       Then a few days ago I read a review of a book that's been really popular. It was a glowing review in a long line of  glowing reviews that I've seen pop up all over the place. I started to get really keen so I jumped on to Amazon to give it a shot. To my horror I clicked on the Kindle edition and the price came up close to $9. At first I thought it was a mistake. So I checked again. Nope. Then I looked to see if maybe the book had been snapped up by a traditional publisher and hence the now hefty price. Nope.
       It could be crossover annoyance at having to type all day as part of NaNo but I found myself getting really irritated. I totally understand indies wanting to make money off their books the way any other author would. I get that if something is in demand it should be priced to match. But be reasonable. I won't buy a traditionally published ebook for over $5. What makes you think I'll buy your ebook for $9?? Especially when I can just get the paperback for the same amount of money.
      Before anyone asks, I've put myself in the author's shoes and totally believe that if I were in the same position I wouldn't even dream of pricing my book so high. Mostly because I know that in doing so I'd make it inaccessible to a lot of readers. I would prefer for more people to read my book even if it doesn't make me as much.
      Maybe I'm delusional in my belief that indies tend to price their books lower in order to entice readers to buy. Maybe the author no longer needs to have a cheap ebook in order to move her stock. Whatever the case, there is no chance in hell I am going to buy this book now. Neither the ebook nor the print version. EVER. I just don't understand the necessity. Angelfall by Susan Ee has been an immensely popular ebook and yet I've never seen it go over the $2.99 mark.
      I hope this isn't the way ebooks are going in the future because I am one reader that won't stand for it.


*PM if you'd like to know what book I am referring to. I can't be bothered naming names on here as I don't want to encourage trolls.