In a perfect world...yes. However such systems are easily abused since you can see the name of who left the review. You need to take into account how things CAN be used, not just how they SHOULD be used. Systems, especially ones that help shun others opinions, are pretty much guaranteed to be abused.
I agree with you that people can abuse it. Ah, maybe I should've mentioned that I was envisioning the system sorting by (#likes) rather (#likes - #dislikes) While that doesn't completely negate the problem you were describing, it would still be visible and people (in my opinion) would be curious enough to take a look. Additionally, if it really becomes a problem, a workaround would be to just make a new account. Personally, I think you're exaggerating the problem, but I have no evidence to really back it up(perhaps you have evidence to prove otherwise?). Even in the real world any system can be abused. Just about anyone can break into a house rather easily, but normal people don't do it. People can abuse the same flaw in the current system to inflate the number of likes they have as well.
Abusing positive reinforcement at most can cause people to read something they wouldnt otherwise. Abusing negative reinforcement can make people feel shunned or hated. There are better solutions to bad reviews, then to dislike them. Just being able to unlike them would be enough, or to hide them. This is the internet after all, with the protection of anonymity people tend to be rather harsh. Its best not to give such things a chance to grow.
Well, my point was to highlight reviews that are controversial rather than reviews that are strictly bad. So your argument is that in the interest of fostering a better community, its better to have users feel included by avoiding any negative events that may make them feel shunned. Users may start to feel antagonistic to each other and that can create a toxic community. Ok, now I see where you're coming from. It feels so weird to me, but I think you're right. You're allowing people to put out their opinions but preventing them from receiving any criticism. Normally, I think I would disagree with that sentiment, but in the case of reviews for fiction the validity of their opinions is so trivial that it's not worth antagonising people over it.
It's been discussed before but there will be no dislike button for reviews. It's something I will fix eventually. I just don't know when at this time.
I know that this will close the thread, since it's necro and all... But, recently I liked a review before realizing how bullshit it was... Ermm, that review actually doesn't matter, but it would be a nice feature to finally have... After all, some reviews might be perfectly written, but when you read the novel, it's somehow different from how it described it. Reporting the review is too much, and since we can't even comment on reviews, at least taking back our likes should be possible right? Just wanted to add this in case you forgot about the whole matter~