Sci-Fi & Fantasy Girlz discussion

This probably will not help you much, but when I'm looking at a book from an author I've never read before, I look at the negative reviews first. I will read a positive review, but generally speaking, the positive ones don't contain a lot of substantive material. There are, of course, "bad" negative reviews. That is, ones that just say "This book sucked!" or something along those lines. However, negative reviews that have more substantial criticisms tend to be more useful... though not in the way the reviewer might intend. Specifically, a negative review from someone who clearly doesn't know what they are they are talking about is, in my mind, the best possible review. There's no greater recommendation for a book than it having somehow vexed a reader who felt so strongly about the experience that they wanted to share it with the world.

I avoid books that have stilted "from the author" or blurbs on the dustjacket. The language at that point can be a deal breaker. If I'm put off by the blurb, I'll rarely give the book a shot. These days a lot of self-published writers will put up a bio on Amazon or here on GR, and if it's poorly written then I'm out.

Though people say not to judge a book by its cover, the cover art these days does actually make a difference, especially since a lot of self-publishing folks are choosing or even commissioning those covers.

Conversely, conspicuous recommendations (all 5-stars, glowing reviews, etc.) with a total lack of criticism are very suspect. There's an industry of paid reviews/editors that is just sad. I understand it's hard to get your name out there, but paying for reviews seems like paying mourners to attend your own funeral....

To be honest, I rarely pick up books by an unknown author but that's mostly because I became careful about those.
No offense, but there are already so many people out there who try to ride the wave of popular books, especially when it's YA.
Another genre I'm careful about: romance.
There is too much badly written romance in books that don't need it. Says I, a very romantic asexual person.

I also like looking at reviews that have a rating of less than 5 stars because those often point out things that might have been 'off' for the reader. I really depend on those reviews since there are also some things that I don't want to read in a book. One of those things is sexism. Gosh, how I hate that. There are other things as well, of course.

There are some readers I know who like the same things I do so I'm more likely to trust their recommendations. On the other hand, I also know people who like exactly the opposite of what I like so I avoid their recommendations.

Things that are also a huge turn off:
Any comparison to Lord of the Rings.
Let's face it, there will never be a book like Lord of the Rings again. Why not? Because no publisher would print it. They all want something that sells easily. The reason people still pick up this book is because it's a fantasy classic.
(I say it as if it was one book because it was split by the original publisher and not initially intended as a trilogy.)

By the way, if you can read the first few pages of a book online (or only page one): If you have to start your novel with a starter, make it clever or else it will bore me too much to bother actually reading the book. A book that starts with a 'okay this is how it is with the MC' but does a clever job at it through language is The Sword-Edged Blonde.

I guess this was more like a huge rant and not really helpful. Huh.

Btw, you can't please everyone. There's a lot of people who love the sort of YA books I hate. I'm also not a fan of GRRM because nothing turns me off more than randomly killing off your main characters and I also hate to read about rape.

I have yet to find a book series I love as much as the Nightrunner series. Those are books where I can forgive small mishaps. If anyone ever wrote books like that I would absolutely read them and treasure them forever. Just like that series. They are my 'feel good' books.
So yeah, everyone has different tastes.
Some days ago I grabbed some freebies off of Amazon.
Let's just say there's a reason why those were self-published.

This thread is a bit old, but I thought I'd throw my 5 cents/dimes/credits in there.

What makes me pick up any book, any book at all, well, there's two version. One for books you can handle and one for Amazon.

For the first, what attracts me is

a) the spine - and in a bookshop this will usually be the only thing you can see to begin with. Is it interesting looking? Does the title sound appealing?
b) the cover art
a) and b) will be enough to get my attention and pick it up to read
c) the blurb. That has to grab my attention enough to turn to read d) the first paragraph of the first page and then
e) the ending (any book that ends with a version of 'and then they all died' or 'and then he woke up' goes right back on the shelf).
If you still have my interest after e) I'll pick up the book, regardless of whom it's by.

Amazon is a little harder, since several of those steps won't work. But assuming that I'm scrolling down somewhere random it'll be the a) cover art and b) title then move on to c) the equivalent of the blurb then d) what kinds of books do others that have bought this liked as well and are they any books I know I like too.

I don't think I've picked up a book to read because of the reviews it's gotten in my life.