英、美 300 多年的書評風格迥異、對評論意涵詮釋不同，但都是社會菁英在知識上的權力象徵，從選擇書籍開始，到評論觀點的展現，無不對閱讀大眾影響深遠。頂著專家的權威，書評籠罩在商業的消費意識裡，自上而下地教導讀者，書評控制在書評家、編輯、各領域專家的手上，成了知識擁有者的權杖、成了書評家自我拯救的過程。
書評是為讀者而寫，但書評在向人類知識公有資產借取之餘，卻忽略廣大閱讀心靈的獨特性與創造性，我們鮮見閱讀大眾對評論提出回應與質疑，廣大讀者的聲音在系譜化的歷史中缺席了，讀者的思想與創作在書評權威的祭壇上被獻祭了。這是書評作為購書指南的迷思，這個迷思直到網際網路新媒介的出現，才重新發展出新的秩序。
網路讀者書評的遲來晚到，終究還是對傳統平面書評產生重大影響。本研究針對亞馬遜網站上的讀者書評進行觀察，發現其書評匿名性、數量之龐大、我手寫我口、直抒胸懷的寫作風格引起諸多批評，而在資本主義文化邏輯的影響下，呈現出知識商品化、商品知識化、深度感的消失、去中心化等特色。然而，在網路中，各種不同觀點的讀者書評都能匯聚一堂，不同文化、年齡、性別、教育程度、階層、知識背景的讀者，對一本書的多元看法都同時存在，因而匯聚成亞馬遜讀書社群，因為，亞馬遜在背後所提供的個人化服務與互動機制，使它不只是個網站，還是個「社區」。
巴特宣布「作者之死」，亞馬遜則揭示「讀者之生」。藉著網際網路的發展，讀者重新得到應有的權利，不但參與閱讀過程，更積極加入寫作的活動中，因此，網路讀者書評不但改變書評機制，也使讀者角色產生了典範轉移。

Various book reviews have been written throughout the 300 years of British and American book review history. Though these reviews are totally different from styles and hermeneutic, they all symbolized the knowledgeable power of the experts who influence the public readers deeply from preference to review exposition. Book reviews enveloped in the commercial culture by the power of experts who teach readers in a lofty stance.
Hence, book reviews are dominated by reviewers, editors and experts, and become knowledge possessor’s privileges and self-rescue process. However, book reviews are written for readers. Yet, we seldom hear the voices of readers who have been absented in the pedigreed review history. The appearance of the internet changed the myth of book review.
Online reader reviews have a great impact on the traditional reviews. This study examines the reader reviews on Amazon.com and discovers that those reader reviews are anonymous and straightforward which caused incisive critiques. Commercialization of knowledge, superficiality, and de-centralization has characterized the online reader reviews. Therefore, the different views of various culture, age, gender, education will all exist in the internet. The personal services and interaction that Amazon.com provides make Amazon.com not only a site, but also a learning community.
Roland Barthes declared the death of authors, whilst Amazon.com revealed the birth of readers. Readers retrieve the rights of reading and writing which equally provides to every human being. Online reader reviews have changed the harmonious reviewing system and transformed the reader’s roles in this industry.