Goodreads can be an effective tool if it's used from a distance and authors respect it as a reader space.
Engagement is minimal and not personal, but can still work well.
As with any tool, it's how its used. However, to dismiss it out of hand is ignoring a potential resource. At the very least, claim a profile, add your books and claim a profile. One of the benefits of Goodreads is that it doesn't hide things. So if a reader, who has a lot of friends, adds your book to their tbr list, likes it, rates it, or leaves a review, all of their friends will see it in their feeds. And if those friends doing any of those things, their friends will do the same.
I found an amazing reviewer on Goodreads. She found my book, wrote a review, shared it with her small group, and that group all went out and read it, some liked it, some didn't, but they were at least honest with why they didn't like it. One said, "it's not my favorite trope, but I read it because of Jane's review. As good as everything else was, I couldn't get past the trope. If you like X and Y, then you'll like this book, if you don't, then you might not." Of that group, I have a group of readers who pre-order every book, before I even send out any news that it's available for pre-order.
However, I don't engage with them unless they want me to. Also, I will add a "review" to my books, without any rating. Basically a note letting them know when it will be available, what's happening with it, and who they might see. All those "reviews" I leave get liked.
As I said, as long as you respect their space, Goodreads can be a great tool and shouldn't be dismissed just because a lot of people had bad experiences and relayed those bad experiences without disclosing the fact that they might not have respected it as a reader space.
