Where to find good book reviews?

[Seraphim]

I was talking with a friend of mine, and we were discussing how hard it is to find places to read about people's opinions on books that aren't surface level and mostly pleasant. I recently finished Sanderson's Way of Kings and Bujold's World of Five Gods series, and trudging through google results yielded reviews that were fairly positive if shallow. Which are fine, and have a place in discussions about books. But I think I want to find more pieces leaning towards critique. 

I would love to hear where Melonlanders go to find balanced or in-depth reviews/critiques on books! And any format is interesting, forums, blogs, YT channels, zines, discussing in the town square.

Maybe I should start a blog to keep track of book thoughts?...

[mozelle]

avid reader here ! 

here r my personal faves !!   

LibraryThing , Goodreads,
onlinebookclub

I'd also recommend youutube!!!! thers generally small communities u can find with ur taste and probably have servers n stuff you can join !! but I'd recommend trying the forums first !!! 

[Eunice]

Good reads is okay, but I find that most people just write a summary of the plot of a book. Which is not really a review.

[di]

I'd also love to know Reading book reviews is almost as fun as reading books.

I usually used Goodreads, but I'd have to dig deep to find the more thoughtful and less shallow reviews. I've kind of weaned myself off of Goodreads, though, because I don't like Amazon. Then I used Storygraph, but the UI isn't all that great for longer writing in my opinion, and you can't filter what kind of reviews you see.

You could try looking the book up on Marginalia Search instead of google; Marginalia tends to lead to more sites with genuine content. You're more likely to hit on a hobbyist's blog.

[Rose]

I just use Goodreads too but I feel like a lot of the reviewers on there have a sort of "reviewer persona" they use to post these personality-filled reviews which I'm not a big fan of.

It would be nice to find a blog where one person is writing reviews and they have an enjoyable writing style that is fun to follow. Not sure if that exists or not. It seems like it must?! There's tons of readers out there 🙂

ALSO I wanted to reply because if you like Brandon Sanderson's stuff I assume you are a bit of a fantasy novel buff... I got really into the Cradle series by Will Wight a couple of years ago and it's so fantastic that I recommend it to everyone I meet  So if you are on the lookout for a new series... The audiobook is especially good. My only caveat is that the first book is a bit slow and it takes awhile to get into it but it _really_ takes off :D

[greyskieshappymind]

The one time I was really interested in hearing what other people said about this one manga I used Mojeek + Marginalia to look them up. All of the results were from reader's personal blogs. I half recommend doing that, in my case none of the reviews went as deep into the story I would've liked but none of the sites had ads so at least my time wasn't exploited.

[clownlesbian]

I think a lot of booktubers are good for this. If you are okay with youtube and want to explore i can suggest a few but I do think it is fun to find booktubers who have similar tastes/review books you like. I also think following actual critics on goodreads makes it more useable for reviews because the reviews of ppl u follow stick to the top.
Jenn Campbell on youtube is a favorite of mine. Luckily she is back after a little break. Shes an author and a book reviewer professionally shes super smart and has a ton of interesting recommendations.
I like bookswithlala. Shes more on the popular fiction side, but i find her funny and she has good recommendations and isn't one to like a book just to like the book.
For goodreads users i like s.penkevich. he reads like hundreds of books a year and writes good reviews for all of them. Both on goodreads and on youtube i enjoy bookswithleynes. she reads a ton, a lot of classics and books by authors of color. shes super smart and has amazing reviews. Barry Pierce on goodreads is also great. He used to have a youtube channel too and i recommend it as long as you are okay with a kinda sarcastic, flat and sometimes harsh reviewer.
i have a ton more but i gotta go but i hope this helps!

[Cendol]

For alternatives to goodreads, I would check out storygraph or literalclub. Literalclub is very minimal and only receives new feature updates like once a year. Storygraph is gaining popularity but I don't like how complex it is, but many seem to enjoy it. I think the appeal to Storygraph is how much data you get out of it, however I read for enjoyment not numbers and data. Some years I read a lot, some I barely have a chance.

I know its off topic and I went on a tangent, but I feel reading just to say you did sucks the joy out of it. So looping back, thats why I like literal club, its simple and doesn't push to set goals (although you can), and its more for tracking my reading.

[Seraphim]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! Exploring the indie web was a great idea, I already found a great interview with Lois McMaster Bujold from 2016 that I had a lot of fun reading. Found that one through Mojeek (thanks @greyskieshappymind and @di for the suggestion to use alternative search engines!)

LibraryThing , Goodreads,
onlinebookclub

This totally fills a hole for me. I'm not the biggest fan of Goodreads but LibraryThing and onlinebookclub seem like really neat places, I can't wait to dive in.

I just use Goodreads too but I feel like a lot of the reviewers on there have a sort of "reviewer persona" they use to post these personality-filled reviews which I'm not a big fan of.

This!! This is my exact issue with Goodreads. I think it's the same problem that Letterboxd has. It's very 2010's twitter where the goal is less to have an actual discussion and instead is to leave a clever reply. Which can be fun - but not what I am looking for when looking at reviews for books or movies.

I got really into the Cradle series by Will Wight a couple of years ago and it's so fantastic that I recommend it to everyone I meet

Added to my list! Thank you for the recommendation. If I can offer one in return, Robin Hobb's really been on a roll for me! Also as for the slow pacing of the first book - after Way of the Kings, I feel that I can get through anything (I'm convinced 30% of that book could be cut out and it would be just fine).

Jenn Campbell on youtube is a favorite of mine.

I watched a couple of her videos and I am delighted with the tone she creates! Thank you!

I think the appeal to Storygraph is how much data you get out of it, however I read for enjoyment not numbers and data.

I also am not a fan of quantifying my reading, I think that will mostly make me feel bad since I'm such a slow reader. But I do enjoy the monthly challenges Storygraph provides and I use it to communicate with some of my IRL friends. 

[kzuich]

I'm not a huge fan of GoodReads. I've had issues lately trying to wade through obviously fake/sponsored reviews. :/ Like, I'll be looking at novel reviews and there'll be a slew of them from a month or two, all using similar verbiage and leaving 5-star reviews.

Lately I've been reading personal sites to find new reads, and it's been going pretty well! Cozy Cat has a webring for books/book reviews that I've used to some success! :D

I've been thinking of doing a book review section for my site, but one thing at a time! ^^;