J K Rowling's new novel The Casual Vacancy is reviewed today. How important are critics opinions?

i am also not interested

its okay she have had her time, she has written a book which is childhood for over a million kids, i personally like her but its not like that her every book will be awesome

it's not of my taste either, even watching the book cover demotivative my intention to read it

yes Jonathan u are right i too get jealous some time, not really jealous but envy her, awl the help she is getting in publicity,

You couldn't buy the amount of publicity JKR's had this week. Well - she might, actually. Good luck to her, I say - we'd probably all do the same given half a chance.

I don't take that much notice of reviews, either, but plenty of casual readers do, apparently. And they buy the majority of books (retail), so I suspect unless criticism is particularly damning and come across regularly it rarely sticks in the mind like a book title or author name.

I'm just jealous that for most of us promotion is so difficult and takes up so much time :(

I never pay any attention to critics or online reviewers. I look at what is for sale and if I like the blurb and the opening sentence, I buy it.

I have to say I had chosen not to buy The Casual Vacancy because the blurb seemed to indicate it was all about petty squabbling in a Parish Council. I know a lot about this particular subject but it wasn't something I wanted to read. Then I saw the interview with James Runcie last night and heard some excerpts. That certainly stole away the twee image I had of the book but I still wasn't that interested in reading it. She said the title actually referred to the void in us all. Cheerful stuff! I think I'll go buy a BIC pen instead. Have you seen this? http://www.amazon.com/BIC-Cristal-1-0mm-Black-MSLP16-Blk/product-reviews/B004F9QBE6/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending