u/bluey501

Ebook readers, I’d love your honest feedback on something I’m building.

I’ve been thinking about a gap in the book community for a while. Goodreads and StoryGraph are great for story reviews, but neither really helps you figure out which FORMAT is best for a specific book before you start it.

Like, does this book have maps, illustrations, or chapter art that make print essential? Does the layout survive being reformatted to a screen? Is the narrator good enough that audio might actually be the better choice?

I’ve started books on my Kindle and later discovered the print edition had beautiful illustrations or design elements that completely changed how other readers experienced it. There was no easy way to know that beforehand.

So I’m building BookMode. It’s a community platform where readers review the format experience specifically. Not the story itself, just what it was actually like to experience a book in print, ebook, or audio.

The coming soon page is live at bookmode.co if you want to follow along. Would genuinely love to know: is this something you’d use?

Audiobook listeners, I’m especially curious about your take on this.

When you’re deciding whether to listen to a book or read it in print or ebook, how do you actually make that decision? Do you Google it and hope for the best? Ask a friend? Just guess?

I’ve been thinking about this lately. Goodreads and StoryGraph are great for story reviews, but neither really helps you figure out which FORMAT is best for a specific book before you start it.

Like, does this book have maps or illustrations that make print essential? Is the narrator good enough to make audio worth it? Does the writing style work better spoken aloud or on a page?

Would you use a dedicated community where readers reviewed the format experience specifically? Not the story itself, just what it was actually like to experience a book in print, ebook, or audio.

Or do you think existing platforms already cover this well enough?

Genuinely curious what people think.

I’ve been thinking about this lately. Goodreads and StoryGraph are great for story reviews, but neither really helps you figure out which FORMAT is best for a specific book before you start it.

Like, does this book have maps or illustrations that make print essential? Is the narrator good enough to make audio worth it? Does the writing style work better spoken aloud or on a page?

Would you use a dedicated community where readers reviewed the format experience specifically? Not the story itself, just what it was actually like to read it in print, ebook, or listen on audio?

Or do you think existing platforms already cover this well enough?

Genuinely curious what people think.