I use Goodreads for a lot of things. Obviously I keep track of the books that I’ve read, and books that are on my TBR. I often also use the lists to find books with specific representation and themes, though obviously because they’re made by Goodreads users, they’re not perfect. But that’s not what I’m talking about today! One of the things that I have stopped doing now is using the Goodreads 5 star rating system.
I find it really difficult to encapsulate my opinions about a book within 5 stars. Like, a 4 stars for a debut author means something different to me than a 4 stars for a really established author. Same if I’ve previously read an author’s work. I’ll naturally compare their new book to their older one/s! I think I also change star ratings depending on whether it is an under-hyped release. If I’m one of like 10 reviewers on Goodreads, my rating is going to really make a difference! I don’t want to unfairly bring the overall rating down just because the writing style didn’t work for me, for example. But at the same time, I always want to review things fairly, because people trust my reviews! (Well, hopefully…!)
This is made especially difficult because Goodreads doesn’t do half stars. This really annoys me! There is a HUGE difference between 2.5 and 3 stars, in my opinion. It makes me quite anxious to think that someone will look at a star rating of mine and just…make assumptions about me? This is especially for when I don’t have a review written. Because let’s be honest, I don’t have time to write reviews of every book I read!
I think I especially worry about this because I do mainly read diverse books. For example, I read History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera for the mental health book bingo, and I thought it was pretty underwhelming. (More on this when I post my review.) I don’t want to put a star rating on the book before my post goes up because I don’t want someone to just stumble across it and assume that I didn’t like it because I’m homophobic, or prejudiced against people with mental illnesses. And at the same time, I shouldn’t have to post about my own sexuality and mental health all over all of my profiles to convince people that I’m not either of those things.
I know that the main thing this comes down to is my anxiety. I don’t want someone to see that I rated a beloved book 2 or 3 stars and then go off at me. Even if I have a review posted there I just don’t want someone to take it the wrong way. It’s kind of weird, because I have no problem people judging me about the words that I write on my blog. Hearing people’s differing opinions about books and things is interesting! But on Goodreads I feel like there’s a real precedent for drama, for lack of a better word. (E.g. top reviewers having a track record of racism and homophobia, among other things. And sending their followers after people who don’t agree with their opinions). I guess as well, a blog feels a lot more personal. I feel like I’m going into someone’s space when I go on their blog. It’s definitely less so when reading someone’s review on the book’s page on Goodreads.
I know that I should give less of a fuck about what other people think. This is definitely something I should work on, not just online! But even the thought of using the rating system now makes me so anxious.
Do you use the star rating system? Why/why not? I’d be really interested in hearing your thoughts.
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I do use the rating system on gr but I’ve come across the problems you’ve mentioned. Especially with the . 5 it’s not the same as a full number. I understand how some ratings are insensitive to the rep but I really hope we can get to a place where we don’t have to explain our marginalized identities when we give a book a low rating.
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I do use the rating system, because so many people just check the star rating when looking for a book. And I like checking for very high-starred reviews and low-starred reviews of interesting books, because I like to read why someone felt like a book wasn’t for them.
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That’s a good point! I do like to see how my opinions about books match up to other bloggers’. That would definitely be a reason for me to start using the star ratings again 🙂
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I’ve never found any kind of star rating system helpful–it merely encourages readers to not articulate what succeeded/failed in a book & why they enjoyed/disliked it. that said, it’s the process by which most bookblogging communicates. I only use star rating when writing commissioned reviews; for literary or personal reading, I always avoid it and write a proper, full essay
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Yeah I definitely see that! It’s easy to just put a star rating and then write ‘review to come’. (The secret is, it never actually does…) I’d like to do a proper review for everything, but I just don’t have the time unfortunately!!
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I do use the star rating but you’re right there are so many considerations that it is hard to rate without giving an adequate reason. I do use half stars and kind of get around it by writing at the start of my review “Rating 3.5/5” I know that it doesn’t make a difference to the overall goodreads rating but it helps me and I think gives a better idea for the people reading them 🙂
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Ah, writing it down in the review is a good plan! I’m going to consider that!
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This is a really interesting discussion, and honestly not something I’d really considered before. I hate that Goodreads doesn’t have half stars as well. There are some books I rate as 4 stars that are really 4.5, only because some aspect of the book just didn’t work for me – even if it’s a really great book! I always feel compelled to be honest in my reviews about what was just my opinion vs. what I think is reasonably objective. But I also feel like reviews can’t be fully objective because every reader is different. I guess I hadn’t really thought about this that much because I don’t feel like my Goodreads profile gets all that much attention. I worry more about someone calling me out on Instagram or Twitter, tbh. But then again I feel like I’m still pretty invisible online right now….which is weirdly nice, from an anxiety perspective.
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Thanks! I think people have been requesting half stars on Goodreads since it first started – I’m assuming it would be an enormous project for them to take on, otherwise they would have done it already!
Haha, I literally worry about getting called out on Twitter ALL THE TIME. (I’ve got a post about subtweeting coming up soon which will kind-of talk about that). I guess for me Twitter feels a little bit safer than Goodreads, for some reason? No idea why.
Totally get you about the invisibility. That’s why I tend to re-tweet stuff rather than posting myself.
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I actually stopped getting on Twitter for MONTHS out of anxiety. I go from feeling super invisible and not involved enough in the right conversations to feeling like I am the problem everyone’s always talking about. Neither of which make any sense, but ~anxiety~
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I use the star rating but I couldn’t agree more with you on the half-stars front!!! Another thing I hate about rating books with stars is that I’ll end up comparing books with the same rating even if they’re completely different… For example, I gave a Tennessee Williams play 3 stars but also gave a very dull and boring YA novel 3 stars — yet the TW play was a lot better than the YA, yet not worth 4 stars. Does that make sense??? Great post as always! 🤗
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I do use the system, but I get where you are coming from. I often feel the same way, especially with the no half stars option. I usually round it up, but mention my true rating in the review.
For a while, I even had my own rating system. So the book might get a 5 stars rating on Goodreads from me, but then I grade it an A- in my review.
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I never really cared that much before about my own star-ratings, probably because I try not to overlook others either. When I see someone giving a certain rating to a book, I always try not to jump into conclusions. I’ve seen 2-star reviews sometimes being more positives than 3-star ones. I feel like it’s unfair that people would judge a reviewer and even their credibility just by a rating, that can be so subjective.
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I had no idea that top Goodreads reviews have a history of racism and homophobia! This shocks me. Are there any particular reviewers who come to mind? I honestly don’t read a ton of reviews on Goodreads, so I don’t have any idea…
I use Goodreads rating myself. But I’ve never considered some of the things you’re pointingg out here. I guess to me, a rating is a personal reflection and a way to help connect me with the books I love again and again. I don’t think about what others will take away from my star ratings or reviews. But, perhaps I should?
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Reading your post made me realize how detached and how un-emotional I see this whole rating system. Giving a book 2-stars because I feel like it? No problem at all – people can attack me, I’ll give them my honest (not hateful) opinion of why I don’t like a book I’ve rated 2 stars. And maybe I live in my Goodreads bubble, or I don’t read too many reviews on Goodreads, but I’ve never seen people giving each other sh*t when it comes to diverse books?! Or maybe I’m too excluded from the whole Bookblogger drama to even care. Hm.
I see your problem with the rating system though – a 3-star rating isn’t always a 3 star! (You know what I mean and you explained it so well). Giving 3 stars to a book of an established author you like isn’t the same as giving it to a book by a debuting author. Best of all is nevertheless, explaining the case in a few words additonally – it never has to be a 1.000 word essay.
Also, I seriously want a half star system as well! I’m registered at a movie app (Letterboxd) where you can give a movie half-stars, which makes rating so much easier for me. Could also be a technology thing behind the rating system. Or maybe people aren’t loud enough yet to consider this change of making a half-star rating possible, who knows.
Anyways, your post has been enjoyable to read and made me think of more of this reviewing culture.
– Annina
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So much of this resonates with me. I too dislike the culture around some reviewers on GoodReads and wish the site had half-stars. Also there isn’t a clear guideline for how the stars work, each reviewer uses them differently. So beyond a five or a one, there’s no consistency, someone might really like a three or feel meh about a four.
I’ve come to realize that just being on Twitter makes me anxious! There are some amazing conversations happening there, but it’s so fast-paced and posting the wrong thing could lead to a heap of negative responses. Blogging works better for me, where both I and those who disagree can have the time and space for detailed responses.
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