The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Crazy-For-Books and is currently being hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer. Every Friday, a new question is posted for book bloggers to answer in the coming week. The purpose of the hop is connection and community. You can discover new blogs to follow, new books to read, and you may end up with some new followers, as well!

This Week’s Question

This week’s prompt is submitted by Flora @ Flora’s Musings

Hmm… yes and no. Let’s go through the process of me deciding to buy a book, shall we?

1. I spot a book floating about the interwebs and my curiosity kicks in. There are a few things that can tip kick it off: a beautiful cover, someone I know/trust raves about it, or THE HYPE TRAIN.
2. I head over to Goodreads to read the synopsis. Sometimes, if a cover is pretty enough or the hype is real, I might skip this step. And, yes, this has bitten me in the butt before 😅
3. If I like the synopsis, I check out the reviews. This is where I take a look at ratings. I tend to pay more attention to ratings from the people that I follow on Goodreads. If they haven’t read/rated the book yet, I’ll dive into the community ratings.
4. If I like the synopsis and the ratings are off the charts, then I’ll stick it on my “I NEED THIS” list.

Now, even though ratings are a factor in this process, they are definitely the weakest link. If I really adore a synopsis and just have to have the book, I will most definitely ignore a less than stellar rating. I’ve read quite a few books that I loved but most people found to be rather meh. If I’m lukewarm about the book and the ratings are so-so, I’ll probably just borrow it from the library. Then, if I end up loving it, I’ll buy myself a copy.

I guess, in the grand scheme of things, ratings are semi-important, but not the end-all-be-all when I’m looking to buy a book.

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Do ratings affect whether you buy a book or not? Did you do your own BBH? Let me know in the comments!

And, as always, happy reading!