Blinkist: Book Summaries Daily Reviews

by Small Hobbit

Edit: also, the people they have summarizing the books have a problem with keeping their own personal opinions out of the summary, which begs the question as to what else they might be adding or removing to these. I’ve changed my review to 1 star due to this because I’d really rather just read the actual book and know the author’s actual thoughts than be preached to by a second-hand source.

I decided to try this since I’ve been hearing about it everywhere right now. Unfortunately, I don’t have the money for a subscription right now so I’ll have to make due with the one free that’s unlocked daily. The only problem I have is that if you add the daily free blink to your library under a free account there’s no way to delete it the next day because it goes back to being just another premium locked into your library. This makes it really hard to want to stay with this service if you can’t remove things after a lapsed payment since these short form “blinks” could really start to clutter up after awhile. Having a delete option, even if the blink is currently locked due to no being a subscriber, would be a nice improvement.
Without it, I’m not actually sure I will continue using this, or even suggest that others use this service.

by Demattia

I love the idea of Blinkist, but after two and a half months of reading the free books almost every day the unacknowledged bias present in the types of books offered and the ways that the summaries are written is getting old. Certain world views (which I imagine naturally mirror the creators/ writers own) are written about in incredibly positive lights, for example Eastern religion and philosophy with titles like “Why Buddhism is True” without a balanced (let alone positive) look at really any other spiritual or religious world views. I can’t say I blame them, it makes sense to me that people would naturally select books they like and agree with to offer in a service like this, but because of what the platform is, I feel like they need to find a way to be either more neutral or more honest about the bias they are bringing in to these summaries. Hire some people who don’t agree on the big questions of life - then offer books from a wider variety of world views and I think there is a 5 star idea here.

by Midnight Pizza Man

First, the way each book is summarized is incredibly boring—even for books with engaging and funny prose. Each summary is written and read without mimicking the original author’s style or voice. It’s as if this app is trying to shorten every book into an excerpt from a second rate dictionary. The “audio” option this app provides makes this even worst. Each this app summary is read in a monotone voice , with little to no inflection, and absolutely no enthusiasm.

I thought that maybe—just maybe—I had just been choosing each this app summary poorly, and decided to stay past the trial to find out. Horrible decision. Each summary is written in such a monotone and uniform fashion, I have to force myself to finish a minute-long summary. Second, the audio only works if you have the this app app open—no scrolling through other feeds or doing anything else. When I decided to finally cancel my subscription for the following month, I realized my fatal mistake. Although this app advertises their monthly subscription, with the trial, you will automatically be charged for their YEARLY subscription. Even the company has no hope that their content is enough to keep customers coming back month to month.

by Scott R H

I thought I’d give this 7 day free period a go and see why it was about. I unfortunately had to leave town and got busy that week and didn’t get a chance to really look into it. I had it scheduled in my diary that day to cancel the renewal but arrived home a few hours too late it seems. As soon as the week expired I got charged $100 and put on an annual plan. No more than 2 hours after this happened, I contacted this app and asked for a refund as I simply hadn’t seen that I’d be signed up for a $100 annual plan if I missed the cancel date. Most of these kinds of apps are monthly at worst and I would have swallowed the monthly fee If I’d missed the cancel date. They told me that they couldn’t do anything and suggested I try iTunes. I’ve contacted iTunes 3 times now and have not had one real response other than an auto response stating it’s not available for refund. I’m furious as I simply can’t afford it right now and you should always have a window after payment for something that as it’s simply a use as you go type of arrangement. Now I don’t even want to use it because it’s left such a bad taste in my mouth. If it’s such a great product, then they shouldn’t have to prey on those that forget to cancel their trial on time to then charge them $100. Pretty unhappy.

by Zaphire Borghi

I opted out of the free trial, since I read the reviews and thank goodness I did. Be wary of any app that won’t show you what you are purchasing before they take your credit card number. I can’t even tell if I want a free trial because I have no clue what is behind the locked gates of Blinkist. I was curious but I’m protective of my credit card digits.

I asked around to my friends about Blinkist and heard some mumbles about increased productivity but once I dug deeper I realized that none of them actually used Blinkist after the first week but were all charged the $100 because they did not cancel in time! So when this app says they’ve got tons of memberships sold it should read, “We tricked a bunch of busy people out of $100 by counting on their inefficiency in canceling within the first week.”

HBO does the same thing and no one is mad about it. Just be smart and turn back on Blinkist. There’s nothing to see here without giving them your credit card number and hoping you remember to cancel in time (which you probably won’t because you’ll forget Blinkist exists long before the first week is over).

by Yellowssun

I've been using Blinkist for several month, and I realize that it should be explain there are a lot of self development book. I think more than 90 percent of book of here, is self development things. They should have said that. I only recommend Blinkist for the person who extremely like self development book and wants listen only self development book. The reason I purchase Blinkist, is to listen the book. novel, essay, or history, or information book. Sometimes I prefer to read self development book. If I search 'history' on Blinkist. There aren't any history of world. Ah, only one I found fistory of Nigeria. Anyway Ioften come here, because I already purchase 1 year plan, but now, I'm so tired of listening only self development things. Of course self development things are good things, I agree with that. But Blinkist should change their name SELF DEVELOPMENT things like that. I mean, the contents are so cofocused on self development. The contents are so monotonous. I don't usually upload my review on here, but I just stop by here and upload my review just after stop listening self development book again.

by Butterfly74

I submitted the request for support below and the response I received stated that they were unable to assist me because my purchase was made through apple not directly from them. However my request (if they really read it) was really asking that Blinkist that I paid for actually work. I would love the concept and love to free blink or two I was able to read but cannot rate them well because I did not get full use of the product I paid for.

"I signed up for the trial. Asked to to cancel subscription on the day you charged me for the full subscription. You would not cancel and refund my money, however the subscription has not worked for me for the entire time. When i attempt to read an article it prompts me to subscribe again. Please ensure that i have access to my subscription (and extend it for free) or refund me my money. I will report this to apple and write a review describing how terrible my experience has been with Blinkist and service from your company."
Alison, Troubled customer

by Helloimbambi

I’ve been a member for about 5-6 months now. I subscribed for a year when they had their Black Friday special. I love the concept of Blinkist, I’m picky and I’ve only recently in the past two years gotten into reading (now I read everyday). This seemed like the perfect subscription for my dilemma of wanting to purchase and read many books, but avoid wasting my time with those that I weren’t what I was looking for. Also, for those I was only mildly interested in, I could listen to the this app and get the general idea without wasting my money on a book I didn’t feel was worth the purchase. Anyway, the reason I’m only rating it 3 stars is because it’s missing a lot (I mean a lot) of books I’m interested in. Many of the books I’ve looked for aren’t obscure either. Most of what I’ve been reading and looking for are books on minimalism and some personal growth. They are also typically books I’ve seen reference to several times in multiple other minimalism books as well. I’m not sure if others have run into this problem with other genres or subjects but it’s been kinda disappointing. I won’t be continuing my subscription after this year is up. Not in a petty kind of way but it’s more like this subscription is not very helpful to me when hardly any of the books I’m interested in are on it. *Sadface*

by Simony Simon

Loving this product! I think it’s providing an invaluable service to people who don’t have enough time to read full books.

However, what needs serious work is the filter possibilities for my added books. I need semantic and qualitative filters, like what subject areas the books belong to, what topics they cover, and/or how welled rated they are by readers. this app tries to “solve” this by allowing for manual tagging, but this does me no favors if I’m looking for something to read and haven’t read any of my books yet. Moreover, the overhead of adding tags is cumbersome. A better UX, such as auto-tagging and/or tag suggestions on adding a book to your list, could alleviate the issue. Regardless, this app needs to be “smarter.” For a service seeking to simplify reading tons of awesome content, this app sure makes it overwhelming to ultimately choose your book from your own list.

by Electather

I like this app. It changed my morning routine entirely. Now i get to listen to the main ideas of a book instead of listening to same old music i used to listen to on my way to work. It couldn’t get any better. As a service it’s amazing and well worth the money.
But Blinkist . It’s a whole other thing. It does not have any bugs. It works fine. But many of the functionalities are not easy to access. For instance downloading a blink is not easily done. ( i had to look for it. Then i found out i should play a blink. Then change it in play list then i can download it. Just why?) or the fact that I cannot play a blink and browse Blinkist . It’s just not possible. All these functionalities are implemented but poorly. That’s the only thing keeping Blinkist from 5 stars

by STK Clothing Co.

I’ve been using Blinklist for about 3 weeks now, and in my short time using Blinkist, I don’t have many criticisms. As an avid book reader myself, sometimes its hard to find the motivation to read one. Some unfortunately just drone on and on, without presenting the underlying message in a easily digestible manner. Blinkist provides a shortcut for users who simply just don’t have the time and or patience to sit and read for hours on end. The book summaries, provide it users with the authors main points, and while relatively short, are quite insightful.

If I had one criticism with Blinkist, it’s that it NEEDS MORE BOOKS! The content of Blinkist is encompasses a lot of subjects, but at times seems “limited” in quantity. (I use that word sparingly). Overall I think that blinklist has the potential to be a groundbreaking app, but the developers need to refine it more and add a lot more content. In conclusion, it’s a great app, totally recommend!

by Sebaaa98

Before I download Blinkist , I was reading a few reviews and I saw a few negative ones. For this reason, I have decided to write a review. I never write reviews but Blinkist deserves the exception. A complete app with meaningful information. An app with the possibility to read and listen accurate blinks.
What I like to do is read the blink in the morning and listen the audio at night; getting the full context of the blink is key to increase knowledge. Perhaps, reading the full book will give you a deeper understanding; however, the blinks will give you key insight in short period of time.
I would like to say thank you for those that crear Blinkist . I am a very active reader. In fact, I read around 3 books per month; now, I can consume one book per day.
Great app, I love it!

by Kajzebold

I think Blinkist is wonderful in that it allows for you to be introduced to a variety of books in greater detail than you would normally be if you were to just read the synopsis/summary blurb on the inside cover. I also love the fact that it has options in English and in German— it’s great for those who are bilingual in those two languages if you select either German or English language options in the settings. What I wish Blinkist did have, though, were more language options for us who are polyglots or who want to get better at listening to other languages. So maybe introducing other languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, etc. I think would make Blinkist better.

by TimmyComedian

I have to be honest here, I’ve tried a few of these apps and this app is the best in so many directions. First they always are giving away a free book of the day; and it’s always on the subject of the day. During the Impeachment process the book was on impeachment, during COVID it was about viruses, and as the crisis with systematic racism moves to the forefront in the nation’s collective conversational consciousness, those are the books highlighted and free. You couldn’t find a better way to be well informed if you tried. If someone rates this less than 5 stars that’s just a picky person and not related to Blinkist. Some people just can’t be happy. Even with an amazing app like this. Maybe they need a house plant. Or a hobby.

by UsingD-App

this app offers me time to go through the important parts of a book (I tend to wander and have difficulty focusing understanding books when authors tend to overdo) It also gives me enough idea whether or not I should purchase the whole book version or not. I like the other contents that are added: the motivational snippets, interview of notable people who I am not familiar with. It is easy to use. I like the fact that I can choose between reading or listening to it. The price I paid is reasonable to what I get fr Blinkist . I just wish I could figure out how to repeat a a part of the book (or a chapter blink) than repeating fr the very beginning of the book. If you are after novels to transport you somewhere else, this is not Blinkist you would like to have.

by GlazeyNCrazey

I've had Blinkist for just a few weeks. In that time I've read nearly 40 blinks, and I can tell you without a doubt it is THE BEST MONEY I HAVE EVER SPENT!!!!! I've learned numerous amounts of information in various different subjects: science, psychology, self help/ improvement, and read the biographies of countless individuals.

I truly feel in these last few weeks I've become wiser and learned more about the world than I probably have in the last 2 years (I'm an 18 year old college undergrad just for context). It's changed the way I approach my life too. I feel more secure, happy, and go about life with a much more positive and confident attitude. I reflect on myself more, actively seeking new experiences and love meeting new people. It's just made me so happy in life. Endless thanks to all the people who made Blinkist. It's the best thing I've ever paid for!!!

by Willing To Listen

Wonderful to have so many ideas, views, and knowledge at my fingertips. I find
myself stopping the blinks and taking notes. These are books that I wouldn’t normally purchase because I could not afford them monetarily or time wise (not enough time to read). Probably the most important thing I have learned this past year plus has been to listen to people whose opinion differs from mine. I am learning why they have their beliefs. That they have them for many different reasons. You know we all are just trying to find meaning in our lives. We are trying to understand the world. Just like everyone else who has been alive. I also will purchase a book whose blinks I have listened to if I want to go deeper.
Thank you for adding meaning to my life! I usually listen when I am doing something else like cleaning or cooking.

by Ninjutsuski

If you're an intelligent and a "motivated-lazy" millennial (like me), you're probably familiar CliffsNotes from life in academia. Why waste your precious will power in astute reading comprehension on literature read by thousands? Some gotta be better at it than you (despite you scoring 780 in it on your SAT) and have shared their findings.
Here's what you've tried so far:
*Searched Audible for book summaries from sketchy companies (where ironically English is their second language).
*Tried Medium post summaries.
*Followed those self-help gurus that rehash established material in their podcasts only to deceive you. These podcasts are actually made up of 30% sales talk about their sponsor and/or their products and 50% about their guest and 20% about the material in their podcast's title. It's a for-profit show, not PBS.

Let's be honest with yourself. None of the above options helped you or made good use of your attention and time. this app makes good use of your time and makes you think. Oh but I have to pay them! The horror! Well tally up all the time you wasted on your attempts to get here over the past year or two and multiply that by your hourly rate. Can you afford this app now? Bet you can and a gift subscription or two! Don't fall for the free stuff - you get what you pay for! Class dismissed!

by AC -... Reviews

Blinkist is amazing. It’s the perfect blend of an audiobook, spark notes, and a podcast. I have already recommended it to a number of my friends and family.

I work in a time intensive role and used to love reading and constant learning, specifically nonfiction. I’ve found audiobooks are great - but I don’t have much time or attention to dedicate (and sometimes I want to drive and workout in silence to decompress). Then podcasts have a lot of extra ‘fluff’ sometimes. Blinklist gets down to the points in a concise manner, just like our favorite spark notes growing up. I love walking away with new information and insights with only ~15 minutes spent. It’s definitely worth the price.

The only downside is it doesn’t have an Apple Watch app version. I’d love to be able to download to my watch and listen while out for runs/walks without having to bring my phone.

by Cynthia Kamweru

I originally posted a review because I was charged on Blinkist despite picking their trial period. I emailed them and I got a response within 2 hours. In that time I read 2 book summaries and already highlighted parts of my life that I want to improve, and set out the system to implement them. You can tell I read Atomic Habits by James Clear. So I decided to keep the subscription because reading does bring me a lot of joy but busy life doesn’t allow me to sit and read as often as I’d like. this app allows me to take away the salient points and it’s app is easy to use too.
One improvement I’d love is to be able to highlight and add your own notes. This would really elevate Blinkist for me but already I’m loving it. Podcasts are fantastic especially when an author is on them but reading their content allows thoughts to turn into action as you have to sit and read as opposed to multitasking whilst listening.
Fantastic app! Thanks again for your quick response!

by Webmanwho

Before you can see any content, they try to force you into a $100 commitment which you then need to cancel to avoid charges. Gee why not let me decide after I’ve at least read one book or at least seen what books are here? Tricking people into paying $100 because they forget to cancel is the most pathetic business model imaginable and shows this company doesn’t have enough confidence in the value of their content to pay voluntarily, not by forgetfulness. Also checking the in app purchases it looks like they hit every imaginable price point. Subscribe early and you’re a sucker. Your enthusiasm for Blinkist will be rewarded with the privilege of paying three times as much as those who waited for the marketing garbage games to kick in. Super. Also, the 1970s called. They want their Cliffs Notes back. This company needs to stop acting like they invented something so new and revolutionary.

by RhetTbull

I really wanted to like Blinkist/service. I read a lot and having access to quality book summaries would be very valuable. Unfortunately this app doesn't deliver. Pros: there are a lot of books in the library...I was surprised that nearly every title I was interested in was available in Blinkist . Cons: the book summaries ("blinks") are really subpar and don't provide a good overview of the book. I read several and they just skim the surface often missing the main idea of the book. I read blinks for books I've previously read and they never covered the big ideas in the book. Instead, they tend to focus on one or two themes in the book often missing the big picture and never providing a good synthesis. These are more like long book reviews rather than executive summaries.

by Mikechase3

This is really one of the few apps that really gets things right. Sure, $15/month is expensive for subscription services these days, but if you subscribe for a year, it’s <$9/month. And for that, you get access to a ton of knowledge put together by professional notetakers who do a great job skipping the bs without making the reading dry or not worth reading. And I’m exaggerating, they’re not notes either, it’s a short version of the book with only the important parts that make you sound smart in cocktail parties... oh and real life too.

What I love most about this is that you can easily take notes on the notes. Like... you can sync it up with your Evernote account and they beautifully manage your notes. You can also send content directly to your kindle which I particularity enjoy reading on.

My only complaint is that highlighting isn’t as easy on the iPad app as the kindle app. You have to select the text first and then click “highlight” whereas in the kindle app you put your finger down for a sec before sliding your finger over text. Though now that I think about it both are two step processes. If it’s possible to make highlighting easier... do it. I love highlighting.

Thanks a lot guys. You did a darn good job with this one and you got me to subscribe on the first day without cancelling.

by ChickenJoe_

5-Stars because Blinkist works well and it does what it advertises. Also, customer support helped me resolve my hardware issue I was having (not due to their fault).

Review: 15 minutes is too short of summary for an entire book, but it gives you a good idea about whether that book is an ideal read for you or not.

I think I may prefer a 1-3 hour summary. A 1-3 hour “summary” may be short enough to listen in a day or two during commutes, but long enough to gain a better understanding about the true contents of the book. I switched over to audible because for me, I’d rather listening to a full book for 10 hours, than listen to a 15 minute synopsis.

by Conako85

Great app!!
I was using audible trying to find audiobooks, it was a lot more difficult to find books I enjoyed. I ended up only finishing about 1/3 of the books because they were not ringing home. Then they had there return policy where after about 8 audible books returned online, they would make you call them to refund more. So ended up not, And became inconvenient to experiment with buying a audio book.

So far this app has been helpful with not having to commit to buying a book, while also enjoying listening only 15 mins of the a books summary. Its definitely helping me enjoy my day at work doing montenous things, at least now I’m activating my brain while being guided through amazing and valuable knowledge from there recommendations list, Thanks this app. P.s not trying to blast audible they have a good thing goin on, now if I really like a summary of one of the books I can go buy it from them, but finding more than enough content on with this app!! so that won’t be for awhile*

by DRAHB

I am a psychotherapist with a 25+ year career. I am constantly seeking tools for myself and my clients as we continue on our personal growth journey. I stumbled across Blinkist and purchased it immediately after perusing it’s content. I have recently divorced after 31 years, 4 kids, and 1 granddaughter of being married to a Narcissist. I am an empath and even though I am a trained and licensed clinician, I have struggled to understand how I could have possibly have stayed in such an unhealthy union for so long. As I prepare to share my story in whatever format that will be, I must continue my life long journey of learning and Blinkist is PERFECTION! It will continue to empower my daily commitment to become my BEST self!

by NH3Terraformer

I listen to an Audible book 3-9 times a week and alternate between fiction and nonfiction. Sometimes I am traveling or have business meetings or jet lag and cannot keep the attention and focus to keep 20 characters or dates or concepts in my mind.

By playing this app books at 2x normal speed I can squeeze in a book while standing in line, riding in an Uber or as a bedtime story. These short and predictable burst are nice complements and I can always buy the Audible version if I like what hear on the this app version.

I also like the 3rd person referring to the author. Listening to so many audiobooks, I get weary of hearing the personal pronoun “I...I...I...” hundreds of times a week. I just want the information, not to be the author or be forced to see through his or her eyes, especially when the author is a whiner or complainer or bragger.

There is a cool dispassionate neutrality to the this app summaries.

So, I’m a happy customer and hope my friends all sign up and raise the number of books they absorb the key messages of by one or two orders of magnitude per year.

by Alliguru

I’m finally getting caught up on all he titles I wish I could read. Blinkist is awesome. The “blinks” are well written and embrace the message of the full versions of the books. I’m really enjoying broadening my knowledge and have found a couple titles I plan to read in full. Let me be clear, Blinkist is not to review or sell books. It’s well written pages highlighting the important ideas in books. I was hesitant to purchase the yearly membership, but the week free trial convinced me, and I’m looking forward to diving into more titles. Thanks for offering this unique app for those of us who love to read and maybe don’t have quite the time to devote.