I spend a lot of time on Goodreads! I love keeping track of what I’m reading and what I want to read next, and what’s coming soon from authors I know I want to read! I have learned, however, that reviews posted on Goodreads have to be taken with a grain of salt. For instance, I recently read (and reviewed) To Brie or Not To Brie by Avery Aames, a book in the Cheese Shop Mystery Series. I’ve been reading this series since it started and have enjoyed each installment so far. When I finished this book and went to post my review, I was surprised to find that several of the most liked, and therefore highest listed, reviews of this book were pretty negative. The first review I came across stated in the first sentence that they hadn’t read the other books in this series and that that was probably a contributing factor to their dislike of the book. Well, of course it was! All of the other complaints and arguments against this book would have been solved easily by reading the previous books in the series. Her first complaint was that so many characters were introduced in the first few pages, and she was so confused that she had to put the book down for a while. But, guess what? All those characters she couldn’t keep straight were actually introduced in about 900 pages of the first three books. Then she complained about the lack of “real” language, annoyed by the author’s lighter terms like ‘dang’ and ‘heck’, and about the lack of graphic sex scenes! Clearly, this reviewer is not only unfamiliar with this series, but also cozy mysteries in general, making her review of absolutely no use to me at all. Even if I weren’t familiar with this series, I wouldn’t trust for a second a review of a genre that I am familiar with and know I like from someone who clearly doesn’t understand the niche that this genre caters to. I can’t help but think that reviews like this one are only bringing down cozy mysteries as a whole.
Finding reviews on goodreads that are trustworthy and that will actually align with my own opinions on books is tricky. One advantage of reading a lot of mysteries, is that you come to recognize some names of reviewers who read the same books as you. That’s really the first hurdle. Figuring out what genres of books you like and finding active reviewers who share your taste. Once you find a couple though, they become a great resource of books you have a good chance of enjoying that you may not have ever found on your own.
One other thing that I find a little annoying about goodreads reviews is the tendency for some reviewers to include a summary. Goodreads does that for you! There’s a professionally written summary at the top of each book’s page, with all kinds of other information like the page count and publication date that I find useful. I don’t need to read through two paragraphs of your own summary to get to your actual review of the book!
I hope each of you enjoys Goodreads and finds it as helpful and addictive as I do! And, here’s hoping we all find our book soulmate who publishes reviews we can trust and introduces us to wonderful new stories!
The Real Mystery 