Yeah, in my experience a lot of 'general' book reviews are super critical and don't really try to hook you. Going through several reviews, you just come away with the collected gripes and nitpicks of what is otherwise a good book.

I find that I get sold on a lot more when it is just a random single comment on some thread somewhere that focuses on a single aspect of a book.

If you can find a hyper specific subreddit/forum/etc. for a sub-genre you like, then you will spend more time reading books than reviews...