Do You Trust Amazon Reviews?

[LauraBeth0625]

As a new member of the club here, I am just learning to navigate the site and snoop around for different lists of books that might interest me. So do I trust Amazon? I will say, No. However, I do tend to read the reviews anyway to see what people are just saying about the book. I take book recommendations from friends, or a magazine that has just featured a clip of the book, or even the newspaper . I agree with what has been said a few times in this post about anonymous reviewers just beefing up the stars of a book or giving some basic BS review that could be said for any other book. In a book review I want to see a character name or a reference to a situation in the book. I knew who Mr. Darcy was well before I read the book.

[tortoise keeper]

I would have to say yes, especially if it is a book that has been reviewed by a large number of people. I usually find myself agreeing with previous readers.

[CrescentMoon]

For the most part I trust Amazon reviews when a reason is given for the rating. I have discovered a lot of free gems while sifting through books to read and most of them had amazing reviews. I also read books that had a very low rating because i thought I might like it from reading the premise and thought I would give it a try. However, those books ended up not to my liking. So overall I think it depends.

[jungkookblog]

I don't really trust people that are online. The author could've paid them to write a really good review.

[TidBits]

I don't trust amazon reviews for books.

-- 08 May 2016, 21:08 --

I don't trust amazon reviews for books.

[Mike_Lang]

I'm not sure "trust" is the word I would use, I certainly take the reviews under consideration. Especially if it is an author whose work is unfamiliar to me. I tend to look at the top rated (voted most helpful) positive rating and compare with the top rated negative review.

If there are only a handful of reviews and they are all glowing without having much in the way of explanation then I will have second thoughts about that particular book.

[Jagmommy0911]

I personally trust Amazon reviews. I myself have left a few so I would hope a majority of them are honest everyday people giving you their honest option.

[bookowlie]

It depends on the content of the reviews. I don't trust them when the majority of the reviewers for a book refer to the author by his/her first name or other telltale signs that they are friends or relatives.

[e-tasana-williams]

I agree with some others here. I may read the reviews, but people have such different tastes, that the opinion of the reviewers may not be my opinion if I actually read the book. As for the author referring negative reviewers to glowing Amazon reviews, that just sounds sketchy to me. An author who wants honest reviews of the work should take the positive as well as the negative in stride.

[sarahmeeks]

I'm split on that one. I really like the indie scene and I love to discover new hidden gems, but I have noticed a trend with some of the kindle published ones. I can't remember the writer's name but she had six books released and honest to God the same 20 people reviewed all six books and no others. Not only that they all gave it either 4 or 5 stars. That instantly turned me away from it. Some of the best indie's I have read have no reviews at all or only one random review. I guess the easiest way to tell is search the other reviews that those glowing reviewers made. More times than not you will find that it's fake.

[e-tasana-williams]

I'm split on that one. I really like the indie scene and I love to discover new hidden gems, but I have noticed a trend with some of the kindle published ones. I can't remember the writer's name but she had six books released and honest to God the same 20 people reviewed all six books and no others. Not only that they all gave it either 4 or 5 stars. That instantly turned me away from it. Some of the best indie's I have read have no reviews at all or only one random review. I guess the easiest way to tell is search the other reviews that those glowing reviewers made. More times than not you will find that it's fake.

Good advice! I've never tried to check reviewers' other reviews. Thank you.

[sarahmeeks]

You are most welcome. It's amazing how often that happens.

[Lturner119_]

A lot of the reviews seem legit to me all of them are not positive.

[ChrisKauf]

Yes I do trust reviews on Amazon. Mainly because I often leave reviews for books as well as other items. I leave my own honest feedback so I expect others have also. I think though that someone may have purchased a book with expectations not met and therefore hate the book; sometimes it may not end as expected or leaves too many loose ends that may not bother another reader. I always read all the reviews if there aren't too many or a few for each rating if there are a lot of reviews. I put the most trust in those that are more than a few words and talk about why they did or didn't like the book. I also think that reviews that point out the good and not so good points of a book are the most honest and helpful. Short one or two word or sentences I generally overlook.

[Jamreader]

I trust some of them, it depends on what is being reviewed. For books, I'll usually see if it is a verified purchase and sometimes check to see what else the reviewer has reviewed.