Nicole at The Quiet Concert recently posted about star ratings and it made me think about mine. I actually don't include them on my blog, and I'm wondering if I should. How much do the star ratings influence you versus the content of the review? Sometimes I'll read someone's review and they gush about the book and then they rate it 3 stars. What???
I do find the average star ratings helpful on Goodreads and Amazon. If I'm trying to figure out if I want to read a book, I look it up and if the average is close to 3, I'm less likely to read it (unless it's a favorite author or part of a series that I love--then I don't care). If the average is over 4, I'm more likely to read it. Is that fair? Is an average of 3 really that bad?
Also, I like to look at the distribution of those ratings to get a sense of if everyone just likes the book (a lot of 3s) versus most people either hate it (1) or love it (5). That's generally useful information to me.
Below is a screen shot of my ratings for this year. As you can see, I give mostly 4 or 5 stars. Am I an easy rater? I mainly pick books that I'm almost certain to like, which I think is why my ratings may be rather high.
How do you feel about star ratings? How much do they influence you?
Posted by: Pam
I think the problem with star ratings is that everybody feels differently about them. Everybody has a different opinion on what 3 stars means. So it's hard to judge what a book's rating really is with the whole average rating on Goodreads. That being said, I'm still a lot like you where I will look at the average rating and if it's close to 4 or over, I'll probably read the book. Below that I probably won't.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, people "grade" differently. For some people, they give 5 stars fairly easily, but others do not. ~Pam
DeleteI actually love seeing star ratings on reviews. I think it can tell you more about whether they really liked it or not. If I gave a book three stars than I thought it was an average read. 4 and I clearly really enjoyed it, but had a couple of problems with it. 5 obviously means AMAZING! :)
ReplyDeleteI find Goodreads average ratings hard. I think they can be a little bit misleading at times. But I do avoid books that have an average rating of lower than about a 3.8.
Goodreads can be misleading, I agree. Sometimes I'll see a book with a high average (and it hasn't come out yet) and when I scroll down the people have rated it without even reading it yet. I'm debating whether to include star ratings on the blog, I may start to. ~Pam
DeleteI really like start ratings, I also agreed with Nicole's thoughts. So I am a bit split. I will say that I don't always read someone's review if I have intention of reading the book, that way I go in with no impressions or anyone else's thoughts. (My top blogs, I go back and write after my review). But I do look to see for a rating to see how others are enjoying it so far, so I will say that is a nice little bonus! If no stars work for you though, keep it up :)
ReplyDeleteAshley @ The Quiet Concert
Yeah, sometimes if I'm really excited about a book and then I read some meh reviews, I get a little sad. If I'm on the fence about whether to read a book, I love reading reviews to try and help me decide. And yes, I'm the same way, I definitely like reading reviews for books I've read to see what they have to say about the book. ~Pam
DeleteI like star ratings because sometimes someone may write a positive review, but actually didn't like the book as much as it sounds like they did. The rating really tells me if they think it's worth a read. I've seen it work well with or without them though, if you have clear reviews. I normally don't post reviews lower than 3 on my blog because i don't recommend those books, but I do add them on Goodreads.
ReplyDeleteI've seen people clearly explain what their star rating system means and if you know what their average is, that really helps. So if they are an easy "grader" and their average is high and then for that particular book it's low, that helps. Maybe if I do it, I'll have what my average is and then what that book is. ~Pam
DeleteI am totally guilty of having a rating and review that don't exactly align. I feel like this happens most often with books that entertain me but might not have a lot of substance which is when I hesitate to give it a higher rating. Like I said in my post, I don't know what the hell I am doing when I rate hah. I need a system...
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing with goodreads. An average rating over 4 to me is a really good sign, but as it inches closer to three, I start losing interest. I don't look at the distribution much, but I should probably start cause that says something too.
Yeah, with any book review you can focus on the good or the bad (or some combination). So the review may read all critical and then you see that they rated it a 4. I guess the question then becomes, are they just an easy rater or did they really like the book and just focused on the negative parts in the review? ~Pam
DeleteI've been thinking about this for awhile because I have given out a lot of 5 star ratings this year. I have heard bloggers say that they often times look at how another blogger rates, and if they give out too many 4 & 5 star ratings, they can't take them seriously! But because I have been picking some awesome books, does that make me an easy reviewer??
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think if you are careful about what you read, then you'll have higher ratings. I think people that review a lot of books probably have lower ratings versus those that read exactly what they want when they want. If you read a book because you have to because you are reviewing it, that can definitely influence how you feel about the book. At least that's what I think. ~Pam
DeleteIf I'm debating whether or not to accept a book for review, I also look for an average rating around four. I'm guessing other people are like me and generally manage to pick up books that are at least average for them, so a three star review isn't so great. If I personally give something a three star review it doesn't mean it was bad, but on average, I do like to see something better.
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing. I hate reading a book that a publisher has been nice enough to let me read for free and then not liking it. So when I see a book on NetGalley that I don't know much about (an author I haven't read, etc) I'll look it up first on Goodreads before I request it. If the reviews are pretty bad already, I don't ask for review it. ~Pam
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