Demesnedenoir
Myth Weaver
Prologue: I was contacted at the last minute to write a best of Fantasy of 2020 article/blog/mailing, or whatever you wanna call it, and agreed if I could use the criteria of award winners, focusing on major Indie Awards. While doing so I investigated the books on both Amazon and Goodreads. That’s when I noticed something that looks really freaking bizarre with reviews. So, here we go:
Thorn by Anna Burke — Amazon Ratings 100/ 4.7 average – Goodreads 690 Ratings / 4.18 Average
The average change isn’t too shocking, BUT it is glaring. A 4.7 average at 100 reviews on Amazon is impressive as hell. What struck me most was the ratings differential. Damned near 7x the ratings on Goodreads. Now, I’d expect a higher number on Goodreads with a lower average, don’t get me wrong, but for comparison, Eve of Snows is less than 2:1. So then...
Jack of Thorns by Amelia Faulkner – Amazon Ratings 19/4.4 average – Goodreads 865 Ratings/3.91 Average
If the first one is a statistical “Huh?” then the second one is borderline statistically impossible. 19:865, 45.5 reviews on Goodreads for every review on Amazon? 6.9:1 is shocking, but 45.5:1? I don’t believe either of these numbers are legit in one direction another. So, for comparison, I looked at a highly regarded book, award winner, and Kirkus best of 2019.
Things They Buried — Amazon Ratings 17/4.8 average — Goodreads 33 Ratings/4.48 average
This is way more like I’d expect, except the lack of ratings in general was shocking. Quickie comparisons... Malik’s Dragons Trail is less than 3:1.
Fatemarked: Over 1k reviews on Amazon, and over 4k Goodreads. Climbing, but this book’s review numbers are on another level.
JA Andrews’ Dragons Reach — 180:191, another statistical anomaly, but in the realm of believability considering she probably has an Advance reader group with overlap, and I’d expect the goodreads # to climb faster as the book is out longer. Looking at her Threat of Shadows, it is 245:699, much more in the expected ratio range.
In my quick exploration, I did not find anything like these two books for statistical difference. Of course they could just be incredible networkers on Goodreads (but if they’re that good at smoozing reviews, why isn’t the average higher? heh heh) or they just don’t make sales on Amazon, which is simply implausible.
So, what’re people’s thoughts on how this disparity would happen?
Thorn by Anna Burke — Amazon Ratings 100/ 4.7 average – Goodreads 690 Ratings / 4.18 Average
The average change isn’t too shocking, BUT it is glaring. A 4.7 average at 100 reviews on Amazon is impressive as hell. What struck me most was the ratings differential. Damned near 7x the ratings on Goodreads. Now, I’d expect a higher number on Goodreads with a lower average, don’t get me wrong, but for comparison, Eve of Snows is less than 2:1. So then...
Jack of Thorns by Amelia Faulkner – Amazon Ratings 19/4.4 average – Goodreads 865 Ratings/3.91 Average
If the first one is a statistical “Huh?” then the second one is borderline statistically impossible. 19:865, 45.5 reviews on Goodreads for every review on Amazon? 6.9:1 is shocking, but 45.5:1? I don’t believe either of these numbers are legit in one direction another. So, for comparison, I looked at a highly regarded book, award winner, and Kirkus best of 2019.
Things They Buried — Amazon Ratings 17/4.8 average — Goodreads 33 Ratings/4.48 average
This is way more like I’d expect, except the lack of ratings in general was shocking. Quickie comparisons... Malik’s Dragons Trail is less than 3:1.
Fatemarked: Over 1k reviews on Amazon, and over 4k Goodreads. Climbing, but this book’s review numbers are on another level.
JA Andrews’ Dragons Reach — 180:191, another statistical anomaly, but in the realm of believability considering she probably has an Advance reader group with overlap, and I’d expect the goodreads # to climb faster as the book is out longer. Looking at her Threat of Shadows, it is 245:699, much more in the expected ratio range.
In my quick exploration, I did not find anything like these two books for statistical difference. Of course they could just be incredible networkers on Goodreads (but if they’re that good at smoozing reviews, why isn’t the average higher? heh heh) or they just don’t make sales on Amazon, which is simply implausible.
So, what’re people’s thoughts on how this disparity would happen?