Books- How come Amazon reviews are nearly all 4.5 stars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I dislike a book, I don't review it. Seems mean.

Reviews are for other readers. Authors know this.

If you find certain parts of a book lacking, you're helping readers like you avoid it. Like I just saw a review that said a dog dies in the first chapter. That's fine for some readers, but it's a nope for me. The review isn't for the author. They have editors and beta readers for feedback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've noticed on Goodreads that SO many of the reviewers got the book for free and then magically they give an "unbiased" high rating for the book. I've noticed this specifically with books I hated and it just feels like a scam.

I'm an ARC reader, so i get books for free. My opinions are honest, but I only accept or request ARCs for books I know I'll enjoy. So, my 4 and 5 start reviews that I post before publication day on Goodreads or on publication day on Amazon (that's usually part of the agreement) aren't scams. They're my honest reviews.

On the off chance that I mess up and request an ARC for something I don't enjoy, I will give a low rating and explain why. Most ARC readers taking reviewing seriously and give reasons for their ratings. There are some newer authors who get really mad about this, but this is part of the deal - if you put your work out there for consumption, some people aren't going to like it.


The star rating with no text are usually the bots.

To our DCUM book club person who gets advance copies of books -- Thanks so much for your post on this! I too have assumed that many of the people who post glowing reviews of books are doing so just as a "thanks for the free book". I have also noticed that some reviews just seem to be a summation of what is on the book jacket and have suspected they never actually read the book.
Your post set me straight on how it actually works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While there may be something off happening, a lot of these books have a ton of reviews. A book will always appeal to someone, so that person will rate it highly. I hate it, so I just leave it alone. Or give it a 3 on Goodreads and move on.

While my DNFs are rare, I won't ever rate a book that I don't finish. That said, I'm not finishing it because I hate it!

Yeah, I’m similar in that I won’t rate a book I didn’t finish. I’ll dole out 2 stars for something I really disliked, so you’re nicer than me Never 1 star however, my thinking being I finished the damn thing, didn’t I?

[Anonymous]

In reviews, people are reluctant to give 1’s and 2’s in general. If someone dislikes something they tend to give a 3. Thus, 3 becomes the new minimum value, more or less, over time. This means we are averaging a set of numbers between 3 and 5 which comes out to be 4.5, a much higher average than if people rated with 1’s and 2’s.

[Anonymous]

I also read ARCs, and I try to give a pretty comprehensive review (sans spoilers), particularly if I didn’t like it or thought it had a lot of weaknesses. I rarely rate something below 3, but if so, I explain why. I rarely give something a 5.

I find that some goodreads reviewers can be mean/harsh, but others are pretty fair, so I often sort by 3 stars to find the people who are reasonable and explain why they didn’t or did like a book.

[Anonymous]

It's not just books. Nearly everything on Amazon now has 4.5 stars. I'm looking for air hose reels and literally everything on the first page has 4-4.5 stars. Suspiciously large amount of products with 78% 5 star ratings. Feels like the ratings are being manipulated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I dislike a book, I don't review it. Seems mean.

Same.

I don't review it, but I do rate it. I rarely give 5 stars. I'm a conservate rater.

[Anonymous]

Amazon assigns the overall rating for an item based on this own algorithmic preference to optimize sales. It's not an average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've noticed on Goodreads that SO many of the reviewers got the book for free and then magically they give an "unbiased" high rating for the book. I've noticed this specifically with books I hated and it just feels like a scam.

Most of the internet these days feels like a scam. A lot of those 5 star reviews for any products not just books are from people who got it for free and was essentially "paid" for their review.

[Anonymous]

Ha! I remember the same thing from Rolling Stone magazine - would NEVER rate a new record below 4 stars!

[Anonymous]

Writer here.

Many, many of those amazon reviews are written by friends/writing community acquaintances of the writer -- and they are all going to give 5 stars. Many probably didn't read it at all.

[Anonymous]

When I view Amazon reviews for any product, I usually reorder the reviews by "Most Recent" so I can get a better cross-section of opinions rather than looking at the reviews Amazon has chosen to be at the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not just books. Nearly everything on Amazon now has 4.5 stars. I'm looking for air hose reels and literally everything on the first page has 4-4.5 stars. Suspiciously large amount of products with 78% 5 star ratings. Feels like the ratings are being manipulated.

Agree, and the most suspicious is that there are hundreds of thousands of reviews for niche items. Look for weighted blankets, there's no way that many people have one, and then took the time to write the review. I check the link on https://reviewmeta.com/?ref=pregnantchicken.com. It tells you how many reviews are sketchy. But also, don't buy stuff on amazon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haha I just Googled this exact question and this thread popped up. Have noticed it too, almost all books on Kindle have an average rating of 4.5 stars. Not possible or even likely. Must certainly be gamed. I’ve been bamboozled into some real turkeys - self-published stinkers with clearly no editing rated 4.5.

But is it possible that only their close friends and family read it or reviewed it?

[Anonymous]

I actually looked at the worst ratings to see if there is some kind of consistency