Ask HN: Reviewers You Trust?

#1

Post by borysj » Wed, Dec 27, 2023, 5:18 PM UTC

Do you have favourite book / film / game reviewers that you could recommend? The outlet is not important (well, it rather not be paywalled); but I am looking for reviewers with independent voice which means: * they are not afraid to constructively criticise new works that almost everyone is acclaiming; * they are, vice versa, not afraid to praise works that everyone is bashing; * most importantly, they have a knack for discovering hidden gems or rediscovering forgotten gems.

I would suggest that Adam Roberts, who writes for The Guardian, is very good at finding new interesting SF&F novels: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/06/five-of-the-best-science-fiction-and-fantasy-books-of-2023

Re: Ask HN: Reviewers You Trust?

#2

Post by giancarlostoro » Wed, Dec 27, 2023, 5:23 PM UTC

So you seek to escape the hivemind of opinion. It can be hard to accomplish, even people whose recommendations I trust are never truly sound when they dislike something. I like a LOT of things that various people hate, for various reasons, and like things they like too. I think sometimes you just have to skip recommendations and look at what's been released in x year by category you're interested in, and look for what interests you instead. The gems are indeed, the ones less talked about.

Re: Ask HN: Reviewers You Trust?

#3

Post by logicalmonster » Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 8:42 PM UTC

For a limited amount of thorough science-fiction reviews with a heavy focus on Star Trek, I enjoy reading https://www.jammersreviews.com/

For general movie reviews, I am thoroughly entertained by https://www.youtube.com/@TheCriticalDrinker

For audio equipment, it's good for an initial first impression from https://www.youtube.com/@ZReviews

For photography equipment (particularly Fuji stuff), there's no reviewer I trust more than https://www.youtube.com/@kathodosdotcom

For reviews of sex toys, I prefer asking your mother. Just kidding.

That said, you pretty much have to listen to a few reviews from somebody and figure out if they think about things in a way that you can really appreciate, even if you disagree with them about some stuff. I've disagreed with all of these reviewers about different products and things, but almost always appreciated their perspective being based on something real.

Re: Ask HN: Reviewers You Trust?

#4

Post by gwill » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 6:55 PM UTC

logicalmonster wrote: post #3

For a limited amount of thorough science-fiction reviews with a heavy focus on Star Trek, I enjoy reading https://www.jammersreviews.com/ For general movie reviews, I am thoroughly entertained by https://www.youtube.com/@TheCriticalDrinker For audio equipment, it's good for an initial first impression from https://www.youtube.com/@ZReviews For photography equipment (particularly Fuji stuff), there's no reviewer I tru…

i think your link for photography equipment reviews is incorrect, or i need to be more open minded.

Re: Ask HN: Reviewers You Trust?

#5

Post by logicalmonster » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 4:42 PM UTC

gwill wrote: post #4

logicalmonster wrote: post #3

For a limited amount of thorough science-fiction reviews with a heavy focus on Star Trek, I enjoy reading https://www.jammersreviews.com/ For general movie reviews, I am thoroughly entertained by https://www.youtube.com/@TheCriticalDrinker For audio equipment, it's good for an initial first impression from https://www.youtube.com/@ZReviews For photography equipment (particularly Fuji stuff), there's no reviewer I tru…

i think your link for photography equipment reviews is incorrect, or i need to be more open minded.

Sorry for any confusion. About that Photography YouTuber link, he has one YouTube channel, and he uses that one channel to pump out a ton of videos about a few main topics: namely various Philosophy + Metaphysics stuff, Photography, and Physics/Magnetism. Some of that stuff might not be everybody's cup of tea, but he's an interesting guy.

But he really does have some great reviews on photography stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/@kathodosdotcom/search?query=lightin... https://www.youtube.com/@kathodosdotcom/search?query=fuji https://www.youtube.com/@kathodosdotcom/search?query=nikon https://www.youtube.com/@kathodosdotcom/search?query=lens