Grade F — Predatory terms (score 42/100)
Forces arbitration via Amazon's terms, grants a perpetual irrevocable content license, disclaims all liability, and refuses all refunds. Users indemnify the company for any claims.
Forced arbitration, perpetual content license, no refunds, broad liability disclaimer.
you expressly grant to Goodreads a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, perform, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media.
Anything you post (reviews, comments, your name and likeness) becomes a permanent, worldwide license that Goodreads can sublicense to anyone, with no way to revoke it.
Any dispute or claim arising from or relating to this Agreement or a Kindle, any Reading Application, the Software, the Digital Content or the Service is subject to the dispute resolution, governing law, disclaimer of warranties, limitation of liability and all other terms in the Amazon.com Conditions of Use.
By using Goodreads you agree that any dispute is resolved under Amazon's terms, which include forced arbitration and prevent you from joining a class action.
GOODREADS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE, OR FROM ANY INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, PRODUCTS (INCLUDING SOFTWARE) OR OTHER SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE SERVICE
Even if Goodreads causes you real financial harm, they have completely disclaimed all liability — the cap is effectively zero dollars.
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Goodreads and its subsidiaries, agents, managers, and other affiliated companies, and their employees, contractors, agents, officers and directors, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees) arising from: (i) your use of and access to the…
If anyone sues Goodreads over something you did on the service, you must pay their legal fees and any damages awarded — across six broad categories including ordinary use.
We reserve the right to amend this Agreement at any time in our sole discretion by posting the revised Agreement on the Goodreads.com website. Your continued use of the Service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Agreement.
Goodreads can change the rules at any time without notifying you by email or in-app alert; if you keep using the service you are deemed to have accepted the new terms.
Goodreads may permanently or temporarily terminate, suspend, or otherwise refuse to permit your access to the Service without notice and liability for any reason, including if in Goodreads' sole determination you violate any provision of this Agreement, or for no reason.
Your account and all your content can be killed at any time, for any reason or no reason, without notice, liability, or an appeal process.
You may cancel your Goodreads Account at any time; however, there are no refunds for cancellation... you understand and agree that you shall receive no refund or exchange for any unused time on a subscription, any license or subscription fees for any portion of the Service...
All sales are final — you cannot get your money back for any unused portion of a subscription or any other payment, even if Goodreads is at fault.
You may cancel your Goodreads Account at any time; however, there are no refunds for cancellation.
The terms affirm your right to close your account at any time, though the cancellation mechanism itself is not described.
Last reviewed 2026-07-27 under rubric v3.5.