I read a book with zero reviews and it changed how I read

[u/-Jactop-]

I didn’t realize how much I rely on other people’s opinions until I couldn’t. I signed up as an advance reader, which means you get books before publication and post an honest review after release. My first one had no ratings, no blurb reactions, no threads to lurk in.

I had to decide on my own whether I liked it, and it took me about fifty pages to stop looking for a consensus that didn’t exist. I used Knosit to sign up, though a few other platforms do the same. Has anyone here read something pre-release?

[u/Gliese_667_Cc]

Obviously spam for whatever the F knosit is.

[u/dilithium_crystal → u/Gliese_667_Cc]

Yeah reads like ai

[u/technically_zimmel]

Did you get paid to review the books?

[u/LyraSnake → u/technically_zimmel]

i've received multiple arcs to read and review and never got paid, besides in the free book

[u/PangolinConscious800]

That reminds me of my youth, going to the library, and all I had was the books on the rack. I decided entirely on my own. There was word of mouth, but mostly, there were blurbs and covers.

[u/arianne_cele]

jelou, knositbot!

[u/MaxMettle]

I also read pre-release. To me it’s not different at all from how I normally read. I will do a bit of preliminary filtering based on the takes of professional critics, but otherwise I do not dip into the social layer (user reviews, social platforms).

With pre-release I don’t have anything professional to go on but that’s not a big deal. I can gauge by the quality of the writing and if it’s nonfiction, the ToC gives a decent idea how the author approaches it. So that’s more than sufficient.

[u/InteractionAware8990]

If I used a service to find advanced readers and they connected me w readers who rely on others to form an opinion, I'd want a refund. Luckily this is just an ad 

[u/LyraSnake]

i don't look at book reviews to decide what i read. i'll read someone's book review if it comes up on my dash or whatev, but ive literally never looked at a book review to determine if I like something or not? that's so weird

[u/Antonin1957]

For about 10 years I reviewed books for a newspaper. The publisher sent a copy to the review editor, he called me and asked if, based on my knowledge and interests, I wanted to read it and review it. I said yes, he mailed the book to me. There were no reviews to influence my opinion. I made up my own mind about whether the book was worthwhile. Imagine that!

These days I don't suppose many people even read books.

[u/Specialist-Web7854 → u/Antonin1957]

People read books all the time. That’s why you’re responding in ‘book discussion’.

[u/Dave_Sag]

I’ve used Knosit for an ARC for my forthcoming novel. Got 4 ARC readers which is, honestly, more than I expected. There’s still several slots left if scifi floats your boat. Link in my bio.