On Wednesday, Angie W. kicked up quite the controversy over on Romancing the Blog with her post, A Question of Credibility. In the post Angie raised the question of credibility on review websites as well as on Amazon. It is an interesting post and I encourage everyone to read through it and the resulting comments.

In addition to spawning a lot of discussion on RTB, the topic has trickled over onto several other blogs including Dakota Cassidy's, HelenKay Dimon's, and Karen Scott's just to name a few. Even Candy over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books joined in. I've neglected commenting on this topic what with my obsession with all things Frey, but I want to put my two cents in on this topic before it completely fizzles out.

I'm not going to debate the merits of reviews on Amazon or any other website that has reviews. Outside of my job where I am required to read reviews as part of my collection development duties, I normally do not consult a review before reading a book. Many years ago I got burned by a reviewer on Amazon who gave away a huge plot twist in a book I was going to read, and I've stayed away ever since. I am however interested in reading reader reviews after I've finished a book, mostly to see if readers took the same things from the book as I did.

What interests me most about this topic though is this: Why do real reader reviewers (not the readers who post solely out of spite) waste so much time and energy on something they hate? I'm not saying a person doesn't have the right to express their opinion, because they totally do. What I don't get is why people bother finishing a book that they absolutely hate. Unless your job is to review books, there is no need to finish a book that you think sucks donkey butt. There is a time and place for forcing yourself to finish a book you can't stand, and it is called college.

I'm probably in the minority, but when I read a bad reader review I don't really pay attention to their complaints about the book. All I can do is wonder why did they waste their time with it. There are so many good books out there to choose from, it makes me feel sorry for those people who punish themselves by reading a book they don't enjoy. The need to make yourself miserable is just something I'll never understand.

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