Do you review on Amazon?

khamneithang · Post by **khamneithang** » 24 Apr 2014, 10:44

Just calling on Amazon reviewers to get a quick idea of what you think about the fierce competition for numbers, and the positive and negative voting mechanism which allows reviewers to vote down others, which in effect means voting themselves up. Would not it be better if reviewers are not allowed to vote on the book page where they themselves posted a review?

Superman747 · Post by **Superman747** » 24 Apr 2014, 14:58

Yes, it's fun.

anomalocaris · Post by **anomalocaris** » 24 Apr 2014, 15:24

I think you may have a good point. I would also like to see comments on reviews disabled. I've had authors essentially harass me in the comments for posting a negative review. I post honest reviews. If the book has merit, I say so. If I give a negative review, I give specific reasons -- poor grammar, inaccurate info, or whatever the reason is. A lot of authors use the comments to try to discredit any reader who gives them a negative review. I recently reviewed a diet book. Listed a lot of positives about it, but also said that it didn't work for me, and listed the reasons. I was immediately attacked by someone (claiming to have no connection with the author) who was so outraged that she actually used the F word in the comment and said if it didn't work for me it was because I was too lazy to follow the diet properly. I can't imagine anyone but the author being that emotional about a neutral review of a diet book! Another author harassed me for weeks, demanding that I answer all of his challenges to individuals points in my review, which I politely did for a time, then just gave up and ignored him. It's fun to occasionally hear from authors who appreciate my positive reviews, but if authors are allowed to try to intimidate anyone who posts negative reviews, it undermines the process.

readerromance2003 · Post by **readerromance2003** » 24 Apr 2014, 18:01

I have reviewed books on Amazon. I tend to do so when the book I read was well written, the character's made me want to read more, and the author did a great job with writing the story. I also always review authors I always read.

gali · Post by **gali** » 24 Apr 2014, 23:35

I posted the odd review on Amazon, but mostly I post reviews here and on my Blog. I like it better here than on Amazon, so I don't review books on Amazon. Some authors indeed don't take critique well and it reflects on them. The voting process is redundant in my view.

damla · Post by **damla** » 25 Apr 2014, 12:18

I have witnessed a lot of faux reviews at amazon.. so I wouldn't even bother

bigbendtreasures · Post by **bigbendtreasures** » 25 Apr 2014, 12:43

I often review books on Amazon, especially those I've read on the Kindle. I have found other reviews helpful in selecting ebooks to download, and so I feel someone else might benefit from my opinions. I have both praised and criticized books for content, editing, character development etc. The only replies I've ever gotten have been from readers, mostly agreeing with me. The biggest challenge, I've found, in reading ebooks is the terrible editing in some, making them almost unreadable. That's a good thing to know up front, before you let your mouse buy it....

TrishaAnn92 · Post by **TrishaAnn92** » 25 Apr 2014, 13:23

I will post occasionally, but I post on here and on my blog. Amazon's voting as gali pointed out is redundant. While I love and enjoy hearing from the authors and hearing what they have to say about my review and asking to point out where the issues were I haven't received any harassment but I think that is mostly due to the lack of posting a review to the site.

geoiftmie · Post by **geoiftmie** » 25 Apr 2014, 13:31

I only have one review on Amazon but I read them all the time when I select ca book.

bebby_the_booker · Post by **bebby_the_booker** » 25 Apr 2014, 13:47

Occasionally if I really love a book I'll review on amazon and on as many review sites as I can just because I want as many people to see the book as I can

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 25 Apr 2014, 14:57

If I purchased the book from Amazon I will normally post a review of it - good or bad it will be my honest opinion. I have never has anyone ask me to modify or embelish a review and if anyone did I know where I'd tell them to go!

I don't rely on Amazon reviews when choosing a book because IMO they are not the most impartial reviews & there is an extraordinary sameness & lack of sincerity in the ones I've read which leads me to wonder how much is genuine reader feedback and how much is the publishers blurb copied & pasted. You know when you keep coming across the same or very similar turn of phrase or the excessive use of awesome, unputdownable etc or 'this is the best book I ever read' which very often translates as 'this is the only book I ever read'.
As any extensive reader knows there aren't that many books that deserve the "awesome" accolade & the overuse of that word has devalued it & as for "unputdownable" it pains me to even type it!

mathman101 · Post by **mathman101** » 26 Apr 2014, 16:31

No. I do not really review on amazon.

Inishowen_Cailin · Post by **Inishowen_Cailin** » 26 Apr 2014, 16:55

If I receive a book on librarything in exchange for a review then I will post a review on Amazon.

Paliden · Post by **Paliden** » 27 Apr 2014, 11:17

I review on Amazon occassionally. Usually only if it's a book that I really enjoyed. Or if I feel the description didn't fit the book at all, then I'll post a review describing the book.