What’s There to Like about Book Reviews?

A snapshot of the star rating system which Amazon sent to me in an email asking me to rate a purchase.

When you purchase a book, do you read the reviews first?

As authors, Rose, Zoe, and I know that book reviews give “social proof” to our work. In other words, prospective readers can see the reviews and know that others have read and (hopefully) enjoyed that particular book.

Personally, I’m not a review reader very often for books. I read reviews before purchasing something like electronics but rarely do I read them for books. However, when I do read book reviews I will often scroll through looking for the “spoiler” reviews. I know some people hate those sorts of reviews but for me, their lovely little golden nuggets that give me what I need to know to make my decision about a book. I even do this with movies. I will Google search spoilers for movies I might be on the fence about seeing. Spoilers might ruin a book or movie for you, but they do not for me. (I also tend to read the end of a book first. 🙂 )

Another thing I tend to do when reading reviews is vetting the reviewer. This means I look at the reviewer’s other reviews. I’m looking for things such as: does this reviewer only post low star reviews or is there a wide range or have they read any books that I have read and if so, how does their opinion compare with mine?

But what about when it comes to reviews of my own books? Well, Zoe and I are going to talk about that, as well as share some reviews we have enjoyed, in today’s episode of the LLS Society Papers*.

The live stream will begin at 3 PM EST or 4 PM Atlantic. (But you can always watch it later, too. 🙂 )

Books and links mentioned in the show:

Leenie’s Links

NEW RELEASE: His Darling Friend https://mybook.to/HDF

MASSIVE book sale http://bit.ly/FridaysFeature

What’s in KU page http://bit.ly/KUreads

One Winter’s Eve http://bit.ly/OWE_link

Henry: To Prove Himself Worthy http://mybook.to/HTPHW

Master of Longbourn http://bit.ly/MOL_link

Sweet Tuesdays http://bit.ly/SweetTuesdays

Zoe’s Links

Lady Catherine Impedes: https://books2read.com/u/3L9rM7

Darcy’s Secret Marriage: https://books2read.com/u/47zwJq

Matches Made at Netherfield: https://books2read.com/u/3yPM2n

Have a great weekend! Thanks for joining us!

*Longbourn Literary Society (LLS) is a Facebook group founded by three friends, who share a love of writing and Jane Austen for the purpose of promoting those loves and our work.  

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You can find Rose and Zoe’s websites at these links:

ROSE FAIRBANKS          ZOE BURTON


Published by

Leenie Brown

Leenie Brown fell in love with Jane Austen's works when she first read Sense and Sensibility followed immediately by Pride and Prejudice in her early teens. As the second of five daughters and an avid reader, she has always loved to see where her imagination takes her and to play with and write about the characters she meets along the way. In 2013, these two loves collided when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. A year later, in 2014, she began writing her own Austen-inspired stories and began publishing them in 2015. Leenie lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her two teenage boys and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tillney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).

4 thoughts on “What’s There to Like about Book Reviews?”

  1. I prefer to read readers comments, the stars can be very misleading since everyone likes different things. And I love your books, yes there is a bit of angst, but it doesn’t overwhelm the story, I want to enjoy myself not shaking all the time.

    1. I agree about the stars being misleading since a star number holds no meaning without knowing why it was given. And the assigning of stars is very subjective and personal. I also agree about wanting a story where I can enjoy myself and not be fearful and anxious through the reading. That’s probably why I write stories like that. 🙂 I’m so happy to know you enjoy them. 🙂

  2. Sorry Rose couldn’t be with you guys. This segment was very interesting. I will look at reviews with a different eye in the future. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the review process.

    1. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Reviews are so subjective both in the giving and receiving, aren’t they? What I find important in a review as a reader is not necessarily what I am looking for as an author. And what I find important either as an author or reader is not what another author or reader might find important. I guess that means we need all sorts of reviews to hit some of the various things someone might be looking for in a review. 🙂

      (P.S. Thank you for taking the time to leave reviews. Yours are always so detailed. I can tell you put a great deal of effort into them, and it is appreciated.)

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