There is a review on Amazon for the book Roadfood: The Coast-to-Coast Guide to 700 of the Best Barbecue Joints, Lobster Shacks, Ice Cream Parlors, Highway Diners, and Much, Much More.
The review is titled: “Roadfood Not Adapted to Kindle”
In the comments to the review there is a lively debate about whether the review of the format is appropriate.
I think the review does raise the issue that if books are converted to an electronic format they should at least be formatted so they can be used in a non frustrating way.
Perfectly appropriate review
Since the review is attached to Amazon’s listing for the Kindle edition, I don’t buy the objections. The reviewer is saying that the Kindle version doesn’t work well–and since that’s the version under review, it’s appropriate.
If a great travel book was published in an edition that weighed 25 pounds because it used super-thick paper and fancy bindings, it would be appropriate to give that edition a bad review as a travel book: Unsuitable for purpose.
Review
You are correct that the review is under the Kindle version of the book. The review also shows under the paper version of the book. I think if someone writes a review and post it under either edition it will show on both.
That would be a problem, but…
But the review makes it clear that the Kindle edition is the problem. If you’re considering the paper version, you’d just ignore that review…or read it and wonder whether a map-based index makes a lot of sense to you. (As a “roadside” guide, I’d be inclined to say it does. If the maps are readable, that is.)
Now, if people only go by star ratings, there’s a problem. But if people only go by star ratings, there’s not much hope anyway–after all, you have the increasingly clear clusters of 5-star ratings on some brand-new books (sometimes before they even appear!) accompanied by strikingly similar reviews from a whole group of usernames. See the star rating, you think “must be a great book!” Read the reviews, and I (at least) think “The author’s gaming the system.”
(Actually, after reading through sets of user reviews on IMDB and Amazon, I am also acutely aware of the sheer amount of axe-grinding going on–maybe more on IMDB. One problem with user-generated content is that people with very strong feelings and time on their hands are likely to be responsible for a lot of it.)