Reviewing books on Goodreads

[Anonymous]

Two things have been bothering me

1. That it’s a five star system. Many books are in between 4 and 5 stars. If something is rated 4.5 overall, I have to decide if I want to bring that rating up or down. I want to reserve 5stars for my all time favorites. 5 stars isn’t enough. We should get a ten point rating or do half stars.

2. Books that people DNF don’t get rated. So a book that is love or hate it could have a 4.5 rating because none of the one star ratings exist. Therefore nearly every book is skewed higher. I’ve never given 1 or 2 stars to a book because I stop reading them.

End rant.

[Anonymous]

My biggest gripe is the lack of .5 stars. I review a lot on goodreads because I read ARCs, and there are so many books that fall in that squishy 3.5-4.5 realm. I usually bump them up. I don’t pay attention to the overall star ratings all that much because of it, unless the book falls outside of the normal range (which hovers around 4). A book that is 3.8 is the same as a book that’s 4.1 to me.

[Anonymous]

Good reads is erratic and full of loons, take everything with a huge pinch of salt there.

[Anonymous]

You can rate a DNF. You rate it, but shelf in on a DNF shelf and set that shelf as exclusive.

[Anonymous]

People rate DNF all the time, and there are plenty of 1 and 2 star reviews. I personally don’t rate books I don’t like or will leave a review without rating, since I don’t feel the need to trash authors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good reads is erratic and full of loons, take everything with a huge pinch of salt there.

+ 100

- author

[Anonymous]

I rate all of the books I read on Goodreads. I do not rate books a DNF. I really, really hate when people review or rate books they have not read, based solely on social media hype (usually negative).

I only write reviews on books I receive advance copies of for the purpose of reviewing (mostly through NetGalley). I rarely give out five stars. Giving me a free book doesn't equal a good review, which is my biggest gripe with many ARC reviewers.

Five stars - amazing, I couldn't put it down and recommend it to many people

four stars - great book, I really enjoyed it and had no major complains

three stars - good book, but nothing ground breaking. I read it, enjoyed it, but wasn't wow'd.

two stars - difficult to finish, maybe I put it down a few times, finished but would never recommend

one star - awful, I regret wasting my time, actively tell people not read it. Usually I do not write reviews, because I feel terrible for the author. If I do write a review, it's a quick and unemotional review. Some people are absolutely brutal in their reviews.

[Anonymous]

I wish they had half stars as well.

As far as rating DNF books, I do rate 1 or 2 stars if I read a good amount of a book (like at least a third) and then decide it's not for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good reads is erratic and full of loons, take everything with a huge pinch of salt there.

+ 100

- author

It's a reader space, not an author space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good reads is erratic and full of loons, take everything with a huge pinch of salt there.

+ 100

- author

It's a reader space, not an author space.

True but it’s still filled with loons and nonsense.

[Anonymous]

NP. Different question. Why are the Amazon ratings and Goodread ratings (that they post side by side on Amazon) so different?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I rate all of the books I read on Goodreads. I do not rate books a DNF. I really, really hate when people review or rate books they have not read, based solely on social media hype (usually negative).

I only write reviews on books I receive advance copies of for the purpose of reviewing (mostly through NetGalley). I rarely give out five stars. Giving me a free book doesn't equal a good review, which is my biggest gripe with many ARC reviewers.

Five stars - amazing, I couldn't put it down and recommend it to many people

four stars - great book, I really enjoyed it and had no major complains

three stars - good book, but nothing ground breaking. I read it, enjoyed it, but wasn't wow'd.

two stars - difficult to finish, maybe I put it down a few times, finished but would never recommend

one star - awful, I regret wasting my time, actively tell people not read it. Usually I do not write reviews, because I feel terrible for the author. If I do write a review, it's a quick and unemotional review. Some people are absolutely brutal in their reviews.

Why not DNF them? Why waste your time?