(I wasn't sure where this fit in, so my apologies to the mods if this is in the wrong place.)
I don't spend very much time reading or writing Amazon reviews. When I'm looking for a book, I'll glance at the number of stars it's received and maybe read the first few comments, but I usually go with my instincts about what I think I'll like.
This whole thing with the author who had the meltdown led me to start reading through some of the reviews on Amazon. I was struck by a lot of things--the range from people who write, "I didn't like it," and nothing else to those who describe the entire plot of the book before telling what they liked or didn't like, as though there isn't a description right below the book, the time some people take to really write a thoughtful review, and of course, the nastiness some people can't seem to avoid in their comments.
But what really stood out to me was how many times a reviewer gave a certain number of stars and then explained what they liked or didn't like and in the replies to their review, someone said, "Well, if you liked it so much, why didn't you give more stars?" or "If it was that disappointing, you really should have given two stars instead of three." Seriously? Why spend time reviewing the reviewers? Am I the only one who thinks we've gone to a dark place here? I saw this over and over again, not just once or twice. Not calling someone out for bad or abusive behavior, but just randomly deciding that the proper number of stars weren't awarded based on the accompanying sentences. Who has time to do this stuff?
I visit a lot of recipe sites because I love to cook. I'm always boggled by the recipes that are awarded four or five stars by a reviewer, but the reviewer goes on to tell how they changed virtually everything in the recipe to get it to that level. I want to make meatloaf, so I find a recipe for that with a rating of five stars. I start to read the reviews and the first person who gave it five stars changed the bread crumbs to oatmeal, the ketchup to tomato juice, the beef to turkey, used egg beaters instead of eggs, and then drenched it in barbecue sauce. Voila! It's now a five star recipe! The next five star reviewer doesn't like beef, so changed the meat to ground chicken, the bread crumbs to crushed crackers, etc. How do you find the real five star recipe in all that?
I'm waiting for this to happen on Amazon--people rewriting our books for us. They'll give us all five stars on every book, but then say, "I loved this book. It was one of my favorites. I don't like fantasy, so I decided to think of the vampire's quest for blood as a quest for self-awareness instead, and the main character seemed too aggressive for a seventeen-year-old girl so I changed her to a twenty-year-old convict out on parole. It's too rainy in Washington, so I pictured the setting in the Caribbean. Once I changed the main character to a convict, the romance with the vampire just didn't work for me, so I skipped those scenes and added confrontational scenes in my head instead. Instead of ending the book with the vampire getting the girl, I ended it by having the vampire and the convict share a moment of enlightenment that changes the course of their lives forever. Once I made these few changes, I couldn't put the book down. Well done, author!"
At least we'll all get only five star reviews!
