IMHO

I probably check the amazon page of my book more than I should  Here's kind of what happens in the course of a week:

Oh, #9, nice! (the ranking in the category of Knitting books on Kindle)
Drats, down to #12
Uh-oh, #19 but there's a nice new review.
Whew, back up to #9
Wow, #5?  I should go check the sales stats too.
Uh-oh, a 2 star review?



And I admit, I read it because I was curious.  It wasn't scathing and didn't hurt too much.  But I think I may need to limit myself to no longer reading reviews and watching the page so much.

I have been fortunate to have received only 4 and 5 star reviews for the first year.  But the more the book sells, the more likely it's going to find someone who isn't going to be favorable AND isn't afraid to write a review about that.  I knew it would happen and I am thankful that's it's not a scathing 1 star...yet.

The advice given from fellow writers is to ignore and not engage in those reviews.  The best example of this is Anne Rice who got pretty defensive and replied with a 1,100 word paragraph.  IMHO it's better to rise above the reviews and look at them from a different perspective.

Not everyone likes every book.
Not everyone will understand and enjoy your book
Reviews are someone else's opinions

I'm choosing to look at the overall averages.  If certain criticisms keep popping up, then I'll take a closer look and learn from that.   And be very thankful for so many who have enjoyed the book.