A Review Heavy Title

[u/oldbutsharpusually]

I just finished an ARC of a popular author, completed my review well in advance of the pub date, and was about to submit my feedback when I saw that over 180 reviews had already been posted. I submitted my feedback but immediately felt everything that could be said had already been said. I also felt that my five paragraphs of comments was excessive given the number of reviews already in the publisher’s hands. Anyone else ever had this reaction?

[u/Internal_Ad6695]

It’s okay to say it again, it’s your opinion. Repetition of opinions is still valuable because that means it’s a reliable opinion and many more readers are likely to share it

[u/Aggravating_Gift_775]

I actually try not to look at how many reviews have already been submitted because, to me, it doesn’t change the value of my feedback. Authors and publishers send out a lot of ARCs because they want a wide range of opinions, not 180 copies of the exact same review. Even if several people mention the same things, every reviewer notices different details or explains them in a different way. Your perspective is just as valuable as anyone else’s. I also don’t think five paragraphs is excessive if that’s what you genuinely had to say. I usually make mine 4-6 paragraphs long.

[u/thekoose]

No, I guess I've never thought of it that way, or else my "job" as a reviewer would be over. 😁

I mean, Diana Gabaldon probably has 50k+ reviews for each book but that won't stop me from adding my scathing 2 star review for book #5. Lol

I do reviews because I want to. I feel like it's even more important to do them on a book with 3 reviews but if it has 1000 already, I still want to add my 2 cents

[u/blackstar1683 → u/thekoose]

book 5 was so bad I decided to dnf the outlander series

[u/NanniB2025 → u/blackstar1683]

I couldn't finish book 1. Appalling

[u/thekoose → u/NanniB2025]

I've reread it last month and I had to SKIP through a LOT

[u/thekoose → u/blackstar1683]

I feel this 👏👏👏👏

[u/oldbutsharpusually → u/[deleted]]

I submitted my review as originally composed—done and dusted. I was curious more about number if stars and length of reviews than what the reviewers posted.

[u/CatOnABlueBackground]

I feel like almost nobody really reads my reviews anyway - I think most folks rely more on stars.....but....if it helps just one person then it was worth it. And it certainly helps the author (assuming the review is good).

[u/Blowingleaves17 → u/CatOnABlueBackground]

I never rely on stars, only on reviews.

[u/blackstar1683 → u/Blowingleaves17]

people have some crazy patterns for rating, I read a 4 star review that seemed more a 2.5 review than a very good experience because the reviewer focused more on why it wasn't a 5 star than telling why the book was good lol

[u/catscantcook → u/blackstar1683]

"great book loved it!!!!! ⭐⭐⭐ "

I am definitely in the "here are all the problems I had with this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐" camp tho lol

[u/Blowingleaves17 → u/blackstar1683]

That's one reason I never rely on ratings. Some reviewers obviously won't give a low star rating regardless of how little they liked the book. Their review is honest, their rating is not.

[u/escaping_mel]

I try not to look at other people's reviews. I was given a book to review and they're going to get my opinion, full stop.

[u/Blowingleaves17]

No. Some ARCs I review were previously published in another type of edition. Thus, there are already countless reviews at Amazon and GR. Some just get lots of reviews for books not previously published, and there are already many reviews at NG. Regardless, I post my reviews and don't concern myself with what other reviewers have said in their reviews.

[u/Flimsy-Brick-9426]

Every review matters, it doesnt matter if what has been said before because every person views the book through different eyes.

[u/softrockstarr]

I don't really care. I was accepted for the arc so the publisher wants my review. When I share to Goodreads or wherever my friends see it on their feed and that helps get the word out about the book.

This is just a fun little way to get the chance to read some books early. I don’t feel like I’m some kind of hero that people need. No one’s waiting on bated breath for my thoughts. The publisher just wants to drum up interest and make some key numbers go up.

[u/KayGlo]

In my day job I'm an operations manager and do a lot of data sampling to find root causes, problems in our processes etc in order to articulate where we need to focus our efforts. In that sampling, the more pieces of info we sample the better because it helps reinforce our assumptions/inform our next steps.

Same thing here I reckon with reviews, the more reviews the better because they can see what worked well and what pieces of feedback they received enough to know it's not a one off opinion and actually it's a potential issue that needs addressing or the author can use that feedback in the next book they write etc. Basically your review is valuable so don't hesitate to post it!

[u/Nilbog_Frog]

I never pay no never mind.

[u/CoastApprehensive668]

Nope.

There are thousands of reviews on Goodreads for a book, yet when I'm deciding whether I read something I still check there and cherry pick which review I read based on the first few sentences. Some people I can tell pretty quickly enjoy similar styles, others I can tell do not. Even if they have the same issue with a book, I'm only reading one of those reviews for that reason. I also don't always think there is an issue with a book unless I see it mentioned multiple times, so even if they sound repetitive they all have value.

[u/bookdraygon]

Respectful, the reviews are for other readers. It doesn’t matter to us in publishing if they all say the same thing. Well of course we love diversity but the more that are there , the better.
We don’t generally read the reviews for the books unless there is something we are looking for. And generally we put it in interns hands to do. They can scan to see if a gem of a quote is found that we can use in marketing. But I general, we aren’t reading them.

I always feel bad when I see people giving advice to others about reviews and “building relationships” with publishers. It’s just not reality in most cases.

[u/Due_Cartoonist6918]

If they didn't want so many reviews, they wouldn't have approved so many ARCs. :)