I’m a reviewer, so my view may well be biased 🙂
I like to include quotes in my reviews. I think a pertinent quote helps break up the text of a review. More importantly, it gives the person reading the review a feel for the author’s writing style and the tone of the book.
I also like including quotes because they’re great for social media.
It only takes a few minutes to turn a quote into a pretty meme that can be shared on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. I think it’s a win-win. I’m promoting the book and the author, but I’m also promoting my own website (because I always include my site address on my memes).
I like reading reviews with quotes for the same reason. It gives me a feel for the author’s writing style, and the choice of quote gives an insight into the mind of the reviewer. What made that line stick out for the reviewer? Does it resonate with me in the same way? If so, I’ll probably enjoy the book.
For example, here’s a quote from Sweet on You by Becky Wade from blogger DailyDoseofSon:
Housekeeping is not my spiritual gift, so this quote definitely got my attention and showed me the character could be someone I’d relate to. Here are a couple of my favourite from the same book:
As you can see, I like quotes to be short and to the point.
I don’t like reviews (or author blog posts) with long passages from the novel e.g. the first chapter. They can be hard to read in a blog post, and they don’t give any more information than someone could get from checking the book out on Amazon.
That’s my view as a reader and as a reviewer. I’d be interested to know what authors think—do they like seeing quotes from their books in reviews and on social media?
I like quotes if they highlight a special feature of a book (e.g. a character’s quirky voice; a brilliant metaphor; something thought-provoking). Though I don’t like them to be overdone. Sometimes a good quote can prompt me to read on.