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Of those, I'd say paper quality matters. For example, if the paper is so thin and brittle that it's hard to read the text or turn the pages without damaging the
by bena 5y ago
Of those, I'd say paper quality matters. For example, if the paper is so thin and brittle that it's hard to read the text or turn the pages without damaging the book beyond legibility, that's a problem.
Now, the worst I've ever encountered are books with pages out of order.
- kranner 5y agoWell the book is separate from the medium, and even just in paper/softcover there are possibly multiple editions available, some with better printing than others. Indian editions are typically cheaper and printed on inferior paper. Regardless I think the common understanding is that the content of the book should be reviewed, not its incidental presentation.
- bena 5y agoI think it also depends on where your review is. If you're just doing reviews independent of medium, review just the content. The fact that you were reading a poorly stapled together print out from Jimmy down the hall is immaterial. If it's more like Amazon, where I'm reviewing this particular item I bought, people should know that the item being sold is of substandard quality and they should get the item elsewhere.
- cgriswald 5y agoI have several editions of Dune by Frank Herbert. The content is identical in all cases (with the sometimes exception of various forwards); the books differ significantly in presentation. How, as someone who has already consumed the content, am I to know if a particular edition is well made or interesting enough for me to add to my collection? Maybe you think that is too niche; but Amazon has Amazon-specific versions of some books and also does print-on-demand. Without people reviewing the quality of these things, how am I to know the quality? This also extends to Blu-Ray collections and other things which contain content. Even a Kindle book isn't just the content; how well the book has been formatted matters. To the extent there is a norm, the norm is that anything related to the thing you are purchasing is fair game; things related to the seller or shipper are not. (Understanding that sometimes Amazon is more than a seller.) If you want reviews specifically of the content, you should go to sites that are specifically for reviewing content. To the extent there is a problem, the problem is that the star-rating is global for the entire review. I can't give a book 5 stars for content and 2 for book quality. And no matter how good the content, if you're charging me $20+ for a book with pages falling out, you're not getting five stars from me.
- bananamerica 5y agoI disagree, due to the fact that Amazon is a store that sells books printed on paper. You're reviewing the product as a whole. If you were talking about Goodreads, you'd be 100% right.