Is this flameful?

[CheshireGrin]

I very rarely write Amazon reviews, despite the fact that I buy a shit-ton of stuff from there. Tonight I read a book that I thought was absolutely TERRIBLE, and it annoyed me that all the reviews on it were really positive, so I wrote my own review. 

Then I suddenly became self-conscious because I realized that I basically only review something if I don't like it, so I went back through my purchase history and found a whole bunch of things I really liked, just so I could write 4- and 5-star reviews and all my reviews wouldn't be negative.

[TrickyBob]

What was the book?

[CheshireGrin]

Apr 17, 2014 3:08:12 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

What was the book?

I'm not telling, because then everyone will be able to tell which review was mine, LOL. And there's no way in hell I'm invited any of you into my Amazon world!

I doubt it's one that anyone here will have come across anyway. It's not like it's a popular book; I don't even remember how I found it. (And there's only 15 reviews on it, including mine.) Mostly it irritated me so much because I feel like I can't trust Amazon book reviews anymore, because there's so much of this self-published ebook crap that gets mixed in with "real" books, and then people gush over it like it's the Great American Novel. 

[ECB]

Is what flameful? That you wrote a negative review? Honestly? Those are the reviews I look at sometimes. Because I want a realistic take. Too much "it's aweswome!" Makes me suspicious.

It was the negative reviews that saved me from reading 50 Shades!

[CheshireGrin]

Apr 17, 2014 5:15:20 GMT -5 ECB said:

Is what flameful? That you wrote a negative review? Honestly? Those are the reviews I look at sometimes. Because I want a realistic take. Too much "it's aweswome!" Makes me suspicious.

It was the negative reviews that saved me from reading 50 Shades!

No, not that I wrote the negative review. That I needed to write positive ones after it so I wouldn't look like a negative person.

But yes, I agree. I always seek out the negative ones to see if they sound like something that would bother me too.

[housewife]

I always read the negative reviews and the only thing about them that drives me insane is when they bitch about the seller and tell me nothing about the product. Yes, I do take amazon much too seriously. So has long as you hated the book and not the torn cover I rule this not flameful.

[CheshireGrin]

Apr 17, 2014 5:30:59 GMT -5 housewife said:

I always read the negative reviews and the only thing about them that drives me insane is when they bitch about the seller and tell me nothing about the product. Yes, I do take amazon much too seriously. So has long as you hated the book and not the torn cover I rule this not flameful.

Yes! I HATE that! I don't care how long it took to ship or if the seller was friendly. Tell me about the PRODUCT.

[VillainV]

I appreciate a well-thought-out and well-written negative review. The "don't by this peace of junk!" reviews bug me, but a good, grammatically correct review might stop me from wasting my money on a bad product.

I do write both positive and negative reviews when I feel they are warranted , but I don't feel like I need to have equal numbers of each.

[ECB]

Apr 17, 2014 5:30:27 GMT -5 CheshireGrin said:

That I needed to write positive ones after it so I wouldn't look like a negative person.

Not flameful.. Just funny.