An author I'm familiar with — nope, don't read the reviews. Über-popular series books with thousands of fans, usually none for fear of spoilers except when from a friend or reviewer I know will at least use proper spoiler tags. If the blurb intrigues me and author not one threatening or throwing temper tantrums over negative reviews (and even on trusted bba lists
Spoilers plus reviews from people well before even ARCs comes out where you kniw they haven't possibly rwad, Harriet style of requoting the snyopsis, then a 5-starrer to offset the 1-starrer, squee fangirls with way too much drama and way too little in the way of useful reviews...I find reviewers (I like unless a book sparsely reviewed) and stick to their and friend reviews.
I check to see why they were bba'ed), I'll read without seeing reviews. If blurb has me unsure, particularly if a new to me author or iffy genre, I read all the reviews. If unsure I want to DNF a book or press on, I'll read reviews then.
As far as bbas are concerned, if I am unfamiliar with an author I try to google them and see if there has been any drama with them before I read any of their books. Usually it is pretty easy to find any drama, if there is any, but if I'm still iffy about an author I quickly glance over reviews. That is very rare though for me.
I do read reviews, but only by bloggers/booklikers I follow and trust. I am typically not as interested in a traditional "review" as I am in a less formal but - to me - more interesting conversational approach to the book. I'm not terribly sensitive to spoilers, but what I am mostly looking for is a sense from people that I trust that the book is worth my time. I don't expect every book I read to be, even, above average. A competent, average quality read is fine at least 80% of the time. But I do expect that I won't struggle to the end and find myself wishing that I could get the three hours back I spend reading it to do something else.
That definitely makes sense. I've been following people that I feel I can really trust their reviews and have actually discovered some great books from those reviews. I have a really hard time not finishing a book even if I can't stand the book so it is nice to be able to tell before I read it whether or not I'll enjoy it.
I do NOT read reviews on amazon.com. (Unless someone points me to a hilarious or horrifying bba blowup in the comments of one. Then I'm not reading for the review but rather to see if want to add author to my offline bba list and for the same reason you cannot help staring at a train wreck.)
Yes, I read reviews, and I don't mind spoilers. (Sometimes I need spoilers if something traumatic happens and I'm not in the mood to handle that kind of read.)
I also come from a family where my dad will sometimes read the end of a book before reading the beginning and middle. I can remember that my mom and I felt this was Seriously Wrong - now I realize that the way my dad reads, he's often more interested in how the author got from A to B rather than the plot itself. Short version: different people read different for different things.
Also I agree with the other points about using particular reviewers. For Amazon I always skip all the reviews that are 5 stars because I assume the majority won't say anything tangible about the book or quote anything, cite examples.
I'll usually read a few reviews if the blurb interests me. I'll read a good review, and then maybe 2 or 3 with 3 stars or less. I try to avoid spoilers, but I like to know about the issues that people had with the book.
I also come from a family where my dad will sometimes read the end of a book before reading the beginning and middle. I can remember that my mom and I felt this was Seriously Wrong - now I realize that the way my dad reads, he's often more interested in how the author got from A to B rather than the plot itself. Short version: different people read different for different things.