Discussion Post: Star Ratings and How I Review

I've been thinking about star ratings lately. I saw a discussion post on Cornerfolds about a month ago where Tracey was talking about how she is thinking about going to half star ratings. It got me thinking about my star ratings and how I review books.

Part of what has made me think so much about ratings is because it's different across platforms. Goodreads uses a five star rating and I use a 10 star. But they don't perfectly line up. Things I give 3 stars on Goodreads aren't necessarily 6's to me and vice versa. Plus I like to do half stars because it gives me more variety.

But I do feel like I often use the same rating over and over again. I've been considering going to a five star review system or maybe even something different. But before I do that let me explain the method to my madness.

On Goodreads:

I'm pretty good about updating my Goodreads (especially lately) when I'm in the process of reading. Although sometimes I'll forget to add a book until I want to add a thought. I sort of think of Goodreads as my first line of defense (offense?). It's my guideline for my actual reviews.

I went through a long stretch of time where I would forget to cross-post my reviews on there because I wanted to make them more detailed and I realized that didn't work. But then I decided to go back to the way I used to do it where as soon as I finish a book I give a star rating and write up a quick review. You could say that these are my initial thoughts on the book. (I actually really like when people do initial thoughts and then a full review, Brittany from The Book Addict's Guide does that).

In case you were wondering, here is what those star ratings on Goodreads mean to me.

1 star - Hated It

You will probably never see me rate a book 1 star. I would without a doubt DNF anything I hate that much and I don't rate books I did not finish. That's not a fair representation of the book for me. (I'm not saying you can't do that, it's fine. I've done it in the past, I just don't do it that way anymore).

2 star - Didn't Like It
Equally rare but not as illusive. I have rated a few books 2 stars. These are the few books that I say that I legit hated. They either made me angry while I was reading them or I felt like they were boring regurgitation of something else.

3 stars - It Was Okay
This is pretty common for me. I tend to give 3 star ratings to books that were basically very "meh" for me. Like it didn't impress me or more likely, there were some elements that I loved and some elements that I hated.

4 Stars - I Liked It
I love a good 4 star rating. Without a doubt this is my most common rating. I give this to probably 2/3rds of the books I read. For me, these are good books that maybe had one major element that I didn't like such as the characters, the pacing, or the world-building.

5 stars - I Loved It
I give a pretty good amount of 5 star ratings. These are books that did blow me away or books that I loved even if they had an element that I didn't like. It doesn't have to be perfect to get a 5 star rating from me but it has to be pretty close.

But like I said, these Goodreads reviews are my initial thoughts. Sometimes I will like a book because of the way it finished but the more I think about it, elements don't sit well with me or I'll get that book hangover feeling and realize that I loved a book much more than I thought when I closed it. In these cases I wonder about whether or not I should go back and change my ratings. Lately I think I am being more critical then I used to be and I'm giving more 3 stars to things I would have given 4 stars. Or maybe a few months ago I was being a little bit more generous. Have you ever changed a star rating after a few months? Or after writing your full review?

On the Blog:

So once I have my Goodreads review written, I move on to writing my review of the book for the blog. I usually take a day to sleep on it in this case. I want some time to collect my thoughts and let the initial glow of finishing the book wear off.

When I'm writing my full review, I usually take my Goodreads review as the jumping off point. Sometimes I will use the actual language from that review and elaborate, other times I will paraphrase or check back for the general sentiment. I try to read books as close to release date as possible so there isn't usually a big gap between when I read it and when I post my review. This review also tends to be a little bit more critical. Now that I've taken the time to consider what I liked or didn't work for a book my thoughts are much more detailed.

This can actually be a bad thing at times. I will often write a review of a book that I loved and have critical things to say about it. In these cases I feel like I need to justify my thoughts and explain that I really did like the book. Also sometimes I think I'm being too generous with a book I didn't like. I don't want to trash it. Just because I didn't like the romance doesn't mean you won't. My intention is rarely to talk you out of reading a book. It's just to prepare you for it. I've actually read some reviews of books where the person didn't like elements that I knew I would like. We all have different tastes, these are just my thoughts... literally (see what I did there).

So after the review is written, that's when I make my star rating. Sometimes when I finish writing the review I'll realize that maybe I didn't like it as much as I though initially so I'll make a different star rating than I first planned. Or I'll give it a higher rating because the review is just a flailing session. The star ratings are just a representation of the review, they're not the content to me.

But here's what they mean.

1-4 stars
This will never happen. I will always DNF a book that is capturing my interest so little.

5 stars- Awful
I have given a 5 star review though. This is my way of saying a book was awful. Maybe there was one redeeming thing about it but in general I kind of hated it. These are books that when I'm done I wish I had DNF'd it because I ended up seriously hating it.

6 Stars - Pretty Bad
It was okay but in general it just didn't hold my interest and there were more things I disliked than things I liked. These are also books that I probably should have DNF'd. Sometimes I'll even give a book 6 stars because I was really liking it until the very end where I wanted to throw it across the room.

7 stars - Okay
If I rate something 7 stars it's kind of like my 3 stars on Goodreads. It was okay but didn't blow me a way. I'm like the pH system when it comes to review, this means a middle of the road book.

7.5 stars - Above Average

This is where I start using half stars because it was a little better than okay but not great. A 7.5 star review typically means that were were a few major things that I didn't fully connect with but I enjoyed the book.

8 stars - Good
An 8 star read was a good book for me. I enjoyed it but there was maybe one huge thing that I didn't really like. All in all a really good read that had some really fantastic elements but something was missing or something didn't work. I would still call this a 3 star read on Goodreads but it was better than okay.

8.5 stars - Pretty Good

Pretty Good. These are books that I liked a lot but there was either one thing I didn't like or a few small things that I didn't really enjoy. Maybe I didn't connect with the characters or the world-building was problematic. Usually I will give something 8.5 stars if I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads but while writing the review I have a lot of things that didn't work.

9 stars
Really Good. These are books that I really liked but there were maybe a few small things that I didn't enjpy. This is probably my most frequent rating her on the blog. It's what I consider my 4 star rating. I'll often give a 9 star rating to something that I didn't expect to blow me away and it kind of did, or vice versa. A really great read but didn't blow me away.

9.5 stars
Fantastic. This is a book that was nearly perfect but there was one minor thing that I didn't like so much. I will rate these books with 5 stars on Goodreads because I loved them but with a very critical lens they aren't perfect. I sometimes think I'm too generous with this rating but that's not a bad thing.

10 stars 
Flawless, a new favorite.  I've given a book 10 stars because I didn't immediatley find something I didn't like. But to me these are mostly those books that just blow me away. The books that gives you a book hangover. The books you can't stop talking about or pushing on others. Those books you truly loved and you want everyone to know it.

Those are my are my rating systems. I hope it helps you understand not only the distinction between my Goodreads and blog ratings but also why I gave a book a specific ranking. How do you rate and review? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Discussion Post: My Thoughts On How Rating Books is Hard and Opinions

I had been mulling over this topic for about a week now and in light of some recent drama this weekend I considered not posting it because it kind of relates. I may be overreacting a little but, it's a stretch to connect the two, but I think what happened has made us all a little worried about what we say and do, and that's not right. I usually try not to get involved with such situations within the community. But I don't at all agree with the behavior of the person in question and I did not want to let their abhorrent actions, their consequent bragging about it, and the fitting response from many people in this community stop me from expressing my opinion about something just because it kind of relates to the sticky situation. Plus I feel like it is even more important to be said. So here it is, my thoughts on some of the challenges of rating and reviewing books.

Book blogging, book reviewing, and rating books is hard! Knowing what to say is not easy, especially when it comes to books you may not have liked or had some problems with. Of course it's not easy to rate and review a book that you did love. I still can't write a review of The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson because feels threaten to overtake me, even now, but it's much less complicated. When you can gush about a book and talk about it's fabulousness it's a much more enjoyable review to write and to read. There won't be hurt feelings and everyone reading it will be encouraged to pick it up because you just raved about it.

But what about those books that we didn't like? Lately I've been trying not to review books that I truly hated. Mostly because I've tried to stop reading (aka DNF) those books before I grow to forever resent them (I still hold a grudge against a certain witch book I read about a year and a half ago and when I saw a friend was starting it on Goodreads I seriously considered telling her to stop immediately). There are too many books out there in the world to not read something I enjoy. But what about those middle of the road books? You know, the ones that were just okay. The ones that were enjoyable but you had some issues with.

Because reviewing and rating books is so difficult I find that it's natural to compare them to other books. As a book reviewer and blogger I try to be open-minded and impartial but when it comes right down to it, that's really hard. Pitting books against each other is probably not a good idea but relating them to other books you have read recently is so common. It's kind of one of the downfalls of doing themed months here. I compare all the fantasies I'm reading and then it's not a fair fight. I was just saying on twitter yesterday that I probably disliked a book because I read it at the same time as The Grisha trilogy and A Song of Ice and Fire. And comparing these books doesn't give you the most honest feelings usually. Like in September I had a stellar reading month. I read some truly mind-blowing fantasy that I just loved. But so far this month I have been let down by some books that I really thought I would enjoy. So was I tougher on a book in September (like Winterspell) because everything was amazing and easier on a book in October (like Blackbird) because I hadn't read something I really enjoyed in awhile. I wish I could say no, but the answer is yes. I will judge and compare books against my most recent reads especially if they are similar.  So if I'm having a reading slump I may be tougher on a book than I mean to be and vice versa. So then how do you qualify and quantify your feelings on a book?

The most common way to express your thoughts on a book is to offer a rating of it. On Goodreads this is a star rating from 1-5. You may have noticed that I use a 10 star rating. For me I think this offers up much more flexibility. On Goodreads 5 stars means you loved a book. And I have loved books that I thought could use some improvements. Whether they had plot issues, the pacing was a bit inconsistent, or I didn't like the characters, my enjoyment of the book is often not greatly affected by these criticisms. Very few things are perfect. And as far as I'm concerned I often criticize the things I love and I don't like being hard on those who can't handle it. Seriously, I can be incredibly mean to some of my best friends. But it comes from a place of love. And by criticizing a book I am not saying it is bad, I am just expressing my opinion.

Plus these posts are nothing more than my opinion anyway. I mean it's right there in the name of my blog, My "Thoughts" not My "Facts," it's just one amateurs opinion on something. And with all opinions you should take it with a grain of salt. I would never begrudge a person their opinion, nor would I get mad at them for expressing it. But know this, we all have different experiences and tastes. I can think something very different about a book than you did and neither of us are right or wrong. I see it all the time, people loving a book that I hated and vice versa. All I really try to do is make my posts as honest as possible and express my feelings about the book to the best of my ability, so that anyone reading can make an educated decision about whether they want to pick up a book or not. Or if you have already read the book to have a dialogue. Aren't we all here to connect with one another? To share? If you read one of my reviews and it starts a conversation or you are convinced to read or not read a book then my work her is done. And while I would love this to be a dialogue between me and you, it's really just a way for me to express those feelings.

GET IN HERE FOR A GROUP HUG!

So here is one of my feelings. You are all fantastic! About a year I decided to blog more consistently and that is when I found this community and it has been truly amazing. I have met and spoken with some lovely, intelligent, and hilarious people. I can't say that I have regretted a single interaction I have had with a blogger and author. You have introduced me to some amazing books that have become some favorites, some authors that are now auto-buys, and have allowed me to talk about books with you. It still boggles my mind that people actually read my reviews. Even when I am feeling like so small a part of this community I realize that I am still a part of it. Thank you all for indulging me in this hobby to express my opinions on something that we all love... Books. Thanks for reading my reviews, commenting, and following! And of course HAPPY READING!

Oh but wait, I almost forgot. What do you think? Leave me a comment about your thoughts on rating and reviewing books. What are some of the challenges you have? And seriously... GROUP HUG!