Live or Die is a bit dramatic, yet I was curious to know how other writers view reviews. Authors know reviews are important, but how much?
Reviews can be a complicated partner, both fickle and complimentary, creating a lively dance for writers.

Jonathan Posner:

Amazon has a fairly tight policy on reviews and will often (seemingly in an arbitrary fashion) delete them. This makes me think there may be reviews that – for whatever reason – didn’t even see the light of day in the first place. On Kindle (or at least on mine), you can leave a rating at the end of a book, but not a review. So, the upshot of all this is that reviews are a disproportionately small percentage of the number of ratings each of my books receives.
It is for this reason that I don’t live or die by my reviews – because I get so few! For sure, when I do, I read them avidly. I chew over every word and try to understand what the review is telling me as an author.
I have identified four types:
A positive passionate response. This is fun to read, and rewarding as an author, but tells me nothing other than they loved the book. Don’t get me wrong – it warms my cockles to get this kind of review and will hopefully help other readers to buy it – but it sadly lacks any actionable insight. As such, it might be sharable, and I’ll be thinking if/how I can use it in my marketing.
A negative passionate response is the same, but opposite. Again, it tells me that they hated the book but doesn’t give me anything I can use to improve my writing. A review like this is, however, more use than a 1 or 2 star rating on its own – as at least it helps me understand why they might have rated it so low.
A spoiler synopsis makes me groan – it’s simply someone giving away large chunks of the plot. Should I report it as a spoiler? I tend not to, as I would rather it was there than gone completely. Shoot me, but that’s how I roll.
A reasoned critique is the review I value the most, however many stars it gets. Here’s some valuable insight that I can use to improve my writing. They’re rare, but when one comes along, I treasure it forever!

Anne M. Beggs:

Live or die, no? Do I get up each morning to check for new reviews, nope? When I get a good review, I do the Author’s Happy Dance, and my writer’s heart sings. If I didn’t look so silly, I would send dance-a-gram thank you videos. Like Jonathan, I look for ways to share reviews and mayhap nudge others to write them as well.
Yes, reviews can help us grow as writers and give us handy feedback for stronger storytelling in new books…though I will admit maybe I would prefer an emailed critique rather than a public low rating.
We learn more from our mistakes.
Book reviews can be viewed as a wider editorial service. Or not. It is all in the intention, professionalism, and usefulness of the delivery.
Not everyone will love our books. Some may hate them. I tell you for a fact, a bad review is not as damaging as getting kicked by a horse. If and when those zingers come, brush yourself off and get back to the keyboard: not for revenge, but for the good of your writing.