Goodreads wasn't "the future of book reviews", it was a good review site that might have innovated great new things or might not have at all.
But regardless, Amazon should never have been allowed to acquire it -- it was incredibly anti-competitive.
Amazon never wanted to do anything with Goodreads at all -- as demonstrated by the fact that it hasn't done anything. It was a purely defensive move to prevent anyone else from acquiring or partnering with Goodreads, because their database of books and reviews could be used to instantly start competing with Amazon's book business. Amazon snuffed out that threat of competition in an instant.
But regardless, Amazon should never have been allowed to acquire it -- it was incredibly anti-competitive.
Amazon never wanted to do anything with Goodreads at all -- as demonstrated by the fact that it hasn't done anything. It was a purely defensive move to prevent anyone else from acquiring or partnering with Goodreads, because their database of books and reviews could be used to instantly start competing with Amazon's book business. Amazon snuffed out that threat of competition in an instant.