Let’s Talk Bookish is a bookish meme created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits. Each Friday bloggers write posts discussing a bookish topic. You can see the topic schedule here.
February 3: Do You Read Reviews and Spoilers Before or After? (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)
Do you like looking at reviews for books before you read them?
Absolutely! I am very picky about the books that I read. Before I purchase or borrow a book, I always read reviews. I usually skim through both positive and negative reviews. For negative reviews, I look for mentions of personal peeves that I avoid, like dual timelines for example. If the general rating on Goodreads is below a 3.5, I don’t select the book. Unless it’s just something that I’m very interested in reading. Kirkus Reviews is another major source that I use to keep up with new releases that I want to read eventually. Their reviews haven’t let me down yet!
Do you ever look at spoilers before you read a book?
I don’t look at spoilers before I read a book. Kirkus doesn’t share any spoilers and reviewers on Goodreads are pretty good about hiding them in the review. I have a big collection of books on my Kindle and I’m still reading books that I bought back in 2021! So by the time I get around to reading it, I don’t really remember major details from the reviews.
Is reading reviews important to you when choosing what books to read next? Or do you prefer to wait until after you’ve read a book to look at reviews?
I don’t use reviews to choose my next read. As mentioned earlier, I have a long TBR and choose from my oldest purchases and work my way to most current book purchases. I do frequently go back to look at reviews after I’ve read a book to kind of digest on my own thoughts and consider viewpoints of others. I look for points that I agree and disagree with and ones that I hadn’t considered. It’s almost like participating in an asynchronous discussion (much like reading reviews on blogs).