I like the @BookMoles group over on Twitter, where students post pictures of themselves holding a book that they've recently read in front of their faces, along with a very short review of it. A pupil called Ben recently posted a pic of himself with my Zom-B Baby book, which he deemed:

"Intense. Gory. Excellent."

Many writers fear and avoid reviews, but that's the kind of feedback that I think even the most thin-skinned of us could happily live with! :-)

Personally, I've always been intrigued by reviews for my books, and read every one that I find, be it good, bad or indifferent. It's not that I like having my ego stroked, or enjoy being angered or saddened by an especially harsh review -- I just like to gauge how my work is being received. An author's view of their books doesn't always tally with the view of most readers. I've published books that I absolutely love, which have only met with mild interest, and others that didn't entirely satisfy me, which have sent fans wild. (And, no, before anyone asks, I'm not naming any titles!)

From a purely academic point of view, I like to know how my stories have gone down with readers, if they've been given a collective thumbs up or thumbs down. Reader response to previous work doesn't impact on what I do in the future, but still -- I like to be well informed.

I collect every review that I find for my books over in the Reviews section of my website. I haven't updated it recently (Zom-B Bride was the last book that I added new reviews for), but if you ever want to find out what the general reviewer consensus is like for any of my novels, click here and embark on the path to enlightenment -- but be warned -- it's a LONG path as there are a LOT of reviews!!! https://www.darrenshan.com/reviews/