Read&Rate: The Book Review Platform That’s Basically a Casino Cruise for Authors
I’ve been exploring book review platforms to boost visibility for my books, and one of the newest players I tried was Read&Rate. Here’s my no-BS experience.
Let’s start with the obvious: it’s cheap. Read&Rate has two plans — $10 or $20 per month. The $10 plan lets you get reviews for one book at a time. Want more? You’ll need the $20 plan, which allows up to 20 books posted at once.
But let’s be clear — you’re not buying reviews. You’re paying for the privilege of stepping into their weird internal economy. Think of it like a casino cruise: you pay to get on the boat, but that doesn’t get you any chips. You’re just now allowed to play — once the boat is far enough offshore.
Enter “inkdrops” — Read&Rate’s fake currency. You use “inkdrops” to post a book for review. How many “inkdrops” it costs depends on your book’s length, price, and availability. Other users then see your book on the platform and, if they feel like it, they pick it up to review. When they do, and the platform verifies the review, the reviewer earns “inkdrops” they can use to get their books reviewed.
It’s clever. On paper. Because this closed-loop system sidesteps direct review swapping, which Amazon doesn’t allow. But like most self-contained ecosystems, it only works if the population is balanced. Spoiler alert: it’s not.
My Dive Into the Read&Rate Machine
I joined on a free 10-day trial and stacked a 30-day coupon on top of it. Forty days free? Sure, why not. I chose the $20/month plan, which gave me 1,000 “inkdrops” — just over half of what it takes to list a book for review.
So I played the game. I reviewed 20 books, earned “inkdrops” from that effort, and used them to buy 27 total review slots. I uploaded 10 of my own titles and have received 15 reviews so far.
At the moment, I’ve got 12 review slots still waiting for someone — anyone — to pick them up. None of these 12 books have been picked up for a review in over a week. But I still I subscribed for another month. Not because I wanted to review more books. I’ve already earned what I need. But becuase I need to keep my listings alive and available. (I did read and review probably 10 books to get them there).
And me — not needing to review any books and just waiting for my books to be reviewed? That’s one of the core problems: the illusion of momentum — until it all stalls out.
What’s Broken with Read&Rate
1. The Reviewer Pool Is a Mirage
You have no idea how many active reviewers are actually in the system. I asked Read&Rate support how many reviewers they have, and the response I got was a canned: “Our community is constantly growing.” Translation? They’re not going to tell you.
But even if they have 10,000 users, it doesn’t mean anything. Once reviewers post their books and earn the “inkdrops” they need, they’re done. There’s no incentive to keep reviewing. The system depends entirely on a constant influx of new users to keep things moving. Without that, books sit. And wait. And nothing happens.
2. No Accountability, No Quality Control
Yes, you can give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to a review, but it’s performative — Read&Rate doesn’t do anything with that feedback. There’s no way to flag a review, rate a reviewer, or challenge garbage input.
Out of the 15 reviews I received, 4 were clearly phoned in. Short, vague, ungrammatical. Just enough effort to pass the “verified” checkbox. One reviewer basically summarized the subtitle. Another dropped a sentence that read like it was patched together from three different taglines.
And here’s the missing piece no one talks about: Read&Rate verifies that a review was posted, but it doesn’t vet whether the person actually read the book. No comprehension check. No quality threshold. You’re gambling every time you spend “inkdrops” — just hoping someone doesn’t regurgitate your back cover copy using multiple independent clauses strung together without proper conjunctions or punctuation.
It’s not a review system. It’s a roulette wheel.
3. Amazon, Amazon, Amazon
The platform heavily favors Amazon: Kindle Unlimited, Amazon reviews, Amazon purchase links. You can get extra “inkdrops” for copying your review to other platforms, but the system isn’t really designed for wide distribution. Everything revolves around Amazon’s gravity.
4. Goodreads Drop-Off
Reviewers can copy their reviews to Goodreads — and they even earn more “inkdrops” for doing it. It’s copy and paste. Done. But out of the 15 reviews I received, only three made it over to Goodreads.
That’s a lousy return.
Especially because Goodreads reviews show up way higher than Amazon in both Google and Bing. If someone searches your book title, Goodreads is likely to be the first thing they see. And if it’s empty? That matters. That’s visibility and credibility just left on the table.
One Unexpected Win
Search engine visibility. I Googled my book titles and Read&Rate listings actually showed up in the first few results. That’s more than I can say for most review platforms. Whatever their algorithm game is, it’s working.
So, Is Read&Rate Worth It?
Here’s what I can say so far: I got 15 reviews. Four were crap. Only three made it to Goodreads. I had to pour hours into reading 20 books and writing 20 reviews (I don’t write one-sentence wonders — as in “I wonder if Scott even read the book”).
I had to pay for a month subscription becuase no one has picked up my books in more than a week and I needed more time for the ROI to hit.
Still, for twenty bucks, I got more reviews than I would have through most paid services. And I didn’t have to beg friends, pester my mailing list, or send out advance copies to silence.
But let’s not pretend this is high-integrity outreach. The system works — if you work it. And if you’re okay with some of what you get being garbage.
It’s fast food for reviews. Cheap, fast, not always satisfying — and sometimes you regret it immediately.
Check back at the end of June. I’ll update this review when my current subscription ends and I see if anything else actually rolls in.
