Debbie's Spurts

I'm not sure how other readers feel about reviews.  Reviews from authors, review exchanges, paid reviews, etc.  What don't you want in reviews here?  Or on other reader/consumer product opinion sites?  Where do you draw your lines or get annoyed?  Oh, not the legalities and where it becomes consumer fraud — just your personal opinions.

I've decided that I can accept almost any consumer/customer/reader review so long as it discloses clearly if there is anything other than "I bought this book uninfluenced and read it," all payments including services bought or exchanged, any connection to author or success/failure of book.  Absolutely with no exceptions any conditions placed on a review, particularly minimum ratings, requiring prior approval from author/publisher/whoever— and so long as a person only reviews/rates/votes once (no creating fake accounts or drama/campaigns to drum up the troops beyond the "please do review my book" comments).  

I don't care if reviewer got the book free in return for an honest review.  I don't care if an author, publisher or an editor of a book reviews (so long as they identify themselves as the author, publisher, editor, etc.); I don't even mind if someone's mum or daughter reviews it (again, just so long as relationship is disclosed and they are either of legal age or have parental consent if over 13). 

Heck, we're readers.  Give us the facts and we'll judge the review for ourselves.  At least a disclosed author or editor reviewing the thing likely read it!

I do not think it's fair for a site to average in ratings from paid reviews (including but not limited to payment by exchange reviews) or reviews from reviewers who either themselves set a minimum star rating requirement or who have one as part of the blog tour, ARC program agreement, book site they blog on set, or whatever.  I understand it's probably easier for a site to not allow them than to exclude them from the averages; but, I don't mind.  If averaged in that just tells me not to trust that site's average rating as being from real readers.

So long as the review is honest about everything, I don't care if any of it mixes in with consumer product opinions on the book sites.  

What really irritates me as a reader are reviews:

• not disclosing things like fees, services, review exchanges, that it's your book, that the author is whatever to you ... that's where I get angered.  
• Rating/voting more than once under multiple accounts faking being consumers, ... Ugh!  
• Destroying carefully constructed Listopias or group discussions to spam out a book,
• attacking readers because some moron allowed an underage relative online whose reviews were called out as suspicious and somehow their upset is the fault of people who bought the book instead of parental supervision,
• 5-starring all the books you edit without disclosing you were the editor while wildly succeeding after Anne Rice touted your petition against bullying reviewers who fail to inform everyone who they are on the bookseller site they buy book from (like anyone has to do that in real life every time they pay by cash or that authors never use pseudonyms ... *snort* ...)

AAAARRRrrrrggggghhhhHHHH,

That sets me off.  And don't even get me started on sites (not Booklikes, bless 'em) supposedly hosting consumer product opinions who let the non-disclosing, fake, or sockpuppet things go completely unchecked.  Who make no effort to protect reviewers against author attacks (particularly *cough* goodreads *cough* ones who take away tools and features readers used to have to protect themselves or who actively support author attacks—crap like a negative rating or review of a book being removed either at author's request or to get rid of a nasty/attacking author comment on the review....)

Well, I'm off my steroids as of yesterday and able to type again so I'll blame that for this rant and stop here.