Customer book reviews personally give me mixed emotions. On one hand, they allow many people with different opinions and values to give their opinion on the books they’ve read, yet, on the other hand, there is no way to be sure about how reliable the critique is.
I chose to look at the customer reviews on Barnes and Noble online for a popular, yet seemingly controversial book that I have heard in conversation recently, Fifty Shades of Grey. There were a wide range of reviews that people had left, from the general this book sucked/ this book was great, to the more detailed reviews that explained why they didn’t like the book because the writing “sucked” and there was no literary value in reading it at all. Then there were the reviews talking about how it was originally a Twilight fanfiction- but I am not even going to go there!
While I respect people’s opinions when it comes to books and think that they do have a right to review however they’d like, I feel that it is the responsibility of the person who is looking into the reviews to realize that the reviews they are reading are just people’s opinions. I find it a bit disturbing that the reviews that are voted “most helpful” are, a lot of the time, the negative reviews. Does this mean that people are seeing a negative opinion and choosing not to read a book because of it?
While customer reviews can give a general idea to a potential buyer/ reader if a book is right for them, I think it is wise for people to remember that, a good majority of the time, the reviewers are not an expert in literary techniques. A person reading reviews needs to remember that claims that the book is “crap” and that it is not good writing is not coming from someone who actually knows what, literary wise, can be considered crap. Just because the style of narration is not good for the reviewer doesn’t mean another person might love it. This concept also works for the positive reviews as well.
I think the main point I am trying to argue, is that even though customer reviews can be a useful tool in helping someone decide whether or not a book will be good for them to read, they also can persuade people against trying a book for the wrong reasons. It is because of this, that I personally don’t read customer reviews, for the most part, until after I have finished a book. That way, I am able to see other people’s opinion of the book, while having knowledge of what they are talking about in their reviews. This can help formulate my opinion about the book, but that will ultimately come from my own personal opinion of the book. So when is a customer actually helpful? When a potential buyer wants to get background information about the book, customer reviews can be very helpful. On a whole, I do not think customer reviews are a bad thing. In fact, I think they have the potential to be a great tool for people looking for information about a book that comes from people who are more at their level, unlike the experts. However, it is when someone reads one or two negative reviews and allows that to sway their decision that causes the problems. By doing this, many people could potentially surpass a book that they believe is a ‘masterpiece”.
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