It’s time for another Tuesday Talks! Click the link to join the Goodreads group and see the monthly topics!
This week’s question: Do you read/watch reviews before or after reading a book?
It really depends on the book and author. For example, I fully intend on purchasing and reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child without reading any reviews. I do this with most of my favorite authors.
I find that reading reviews of books I’m looking forward to actually put me off the book and I would rather form my own opinion. For example, I was really looking forward to Go Set a Watchman but read so many horrible reviews about it that I still haven’t purchased the book. (The reviews for this book were inescapable, it seems. There were everywhere!)
That being said, if there is a book that looks interesting but I’m unfamiliar with the title or the author, I’ll often check the general rating on the book before I make the purchase. If the book has a really awful rating, then I’ll read the reviews to see why people didn’t like it.
If I really loved a book, or was confused by it, then I’ll read reviews once I’m done. I do the same with movies, actually.
How about you? Do you read reviews? If so, do you read them before or after reading the book?
Heather Hobbs 
I read them mostly before reading the book. Its how I find out about most books.
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I almost never read reviews of books before reading because often they contain spoilers (there have been rare exceptions in the past).
Now as for movies, it’s awful hard to avoid them unless you see the movie on the first day. Even then, the pre-reviews can be annoying. In that case, I usually take them with a grain of salt because more than likely, I’ll think the reviewer is full of crap because they’ll be a millennial or some jaded smartass.
I don’t count because I’m not in the 18-49 demographic. I’ve been on the fringes of society and haven’t counted now for over a decade now, so rarely do what reviewers say about movies meet my expectations. Once in a while, but not often.
That brings up the awards season. The Academy Awards? Give me a break. If people love the movie, that’s the kiss of death for the academy awards. I can think of a handful of AW movies over the past decade that even sparked my interest. This year? The only one I’m even remotely interested in is The Martian. Still haven’t seen it yet.
Don’t even get me started on music. And it’s not because I’m some cranky old fart either. I like metal. However, well… we’re here talking about books.
Anyway, I usually read the book reviews after I’ve already done my review for Amazon. And…I review EVERY book I read. Period. Then I look at what other people say, just to see if anyone else is seeing the same things I do.
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I completely agree about the Academy Awards! I do recommend The Martian. Have you always reviewed every book you read? I should probably do that. I’d say I review about 50-60%.
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I’ve been doing book reviews since I’ve had a personal computer and Amazon came on line, or thereabouts. I have 1062 reviews posted. The majority are books though some are albums and a few are other products. There are still some books I missed, especially all the hundreds I read in the 60’s and 70’s, but I managed to sneak a few of those in here and there. I’d say it’s been 100% since 2000 or so.
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