Pia Veleno's Blog: piaveleno.com - Posts Tagged "opinion"
Shiny, Scary Stars
I have been fairly successful at ignoring the blog option on GoodReads. I don’t need another blog, another responsibility, another distraction from writing the voices in my head.
Yep, that’s what I’m doing, I’m distracting myself. Procrastinating, if you will. I should be working on guest blog posts so I’m ready for my debut, Fallen, but those aren’t due until next week. Without a deadline pressing down on me, it’s a wonder I get any writing done at all!
Hmm… That sounds like a great blog post. I’ll add it to the list.
Since this one is for the GoodReads blog, I want to address those pretty, shiny stars today. Actually, they’re not shiny at all, and as for pretty, they’re more lackluster than anything. Oh wait, you say. You’ll change your mind, you say, when you get that first starred review of Fallen.
Yep, probably, but only for a moment. I still fear stars, and not just getting a bad review for Fallen (It couldn’t happen!) but also the backlash I’ve seen for giving them (If you think I’m joking, you’re way too optimistic.) I’ve heard of it happening here, on GoodReads, but my own experience comes from a quiet little writing website.
Anyway, onward…
When it comes to rating a book, knowing the system is important. Here, GoodReads is kind enough to give a mouse-over explanation for each star. (Go ahead, try it. I’ll wait.)
One Star: “didn’t like it”
Two Stars: “it was okay”
Three Stars: “liked it”
Four Stars: “really liked it”
Five Stars: “it was amazing”
So let’s take a look at these together. I’d like to start with Three Stars because that one seems to be the most confusing, but should be the easiest. Three of five is average, so a three star book is in-line with the genre, average, not horrible, not amazing. If the averages played out, a reviewer would have a lot of three stars and less of the rest, like those bell curves we hated in high school grading. Average is not a bad thing. Of course, writers want to be better than average, but let’s face it, not everyone can be a perfect five.
Speaking of five, Five Stars is reserved for, as it says, amazing reads. These are the books that make us stay up way too late reading, or books that we feel a sense of loss when finished, not because there was unresolved plot, but because we miss the characters to whom we’ve grown so attached. It should never be given away lightly because that would cheapen the value of that big Five on the truly worthy stories. To go back to my bell curve comment, we, as readers, will read the books others rave about, so five stars might not be the tail of a curve, but instead show up more frequently in our reviews as we gobble up what others have recommended. This theory goes with Four Stars too.
Four Stars, aka ‘really liked it’, there are not a “wow” stories, but still darn good, and still above average. There may have been unresolved plot points, or something about the characters that didn’t quite work, but overall the story was strong, and we wanted to keep reading, and did, right up through the end.
On the flip side, Two Stars may indicate that the book was below average (again, we can’t all be Fivers, and we can’t all be average). Notice how it’s worded here on GoodReads “it was okay”. It doesn’t say “piece of gorram”. A Two Stars book is not bad, but not “amazing” either. Personally I use these for books that were otherwise “okay” but didn’t pull me into that infamous suspense of disbelief. Maybe it was my first and last crime book, and now I know I don’t like crime novels. Maybe it contained something that made me uncomfortable, like rape, or twincest, or girls. Maybe, no matter how many times I picked up the book to try again, I found my mind wandering far away from the story for no specific reason. The book wasn’t necessarily poorly written, but it wasn’t for me. Or, the book wasn’t quite average, but it wasn’t a bomb – a one star – either.
Lastly, and the most painful, one star is enough to make any author worth her words cry. “Didn’t like it”. What? How could you not? Oh gods, I can never write again! Okay, okay, now that that’s out of my system… One stars are hard to give and hard to receive. They’re also the tool for the vengeful – You didn’t like me, so I don’t like you. Except, it was the book I didn’t like, not the author (that is, until those games surface). Sometimes it happens. Sometimes we need to give one star to a book. Any author receiving one needs to read those reviews and understand what failed for the reader. Those are (if they’re not those games I mentioned) the most important stars we can get. Oh gods, I know people are going to argue about that, but okay, I’m up for it. This is also why, when I have to give a rare One Star, I will always say why. Always. Or, if I don’t have the opportunity, I won’t rate it at all.
Look at me ramble on and on. I don’t tend to let blog entries get this long, but this is important to me, and to a lot of readers and authors out there. I’ve resisted giving out stars here because of past One Star snipers, and because I’ve heard of authors arguing – yes, actually arguing – with reviewers over their ratings. What drew the line is the rumor that one person did so over three stars. I’m sorry, folks, but average isn’t a bad thing. Think of all those writers still suffering through the rejection flood, seeking that one golden ticket – the first offer. With a Three Star rating, you’ve beat them.
Sincerely,
Pia
Edit: Yes, I'm writing this because I am considering using the star rating system here on GoodReads. Go ahead, dear Readers, talk me into it.
Yep, that’s what I’m doing, I’m distracting myself. Procrastinating, if you will. I should be working on guest blog posts so I’m ready for my debut, Fallen, but those aren’t due until next week. Without a deadline pressing down on me, it’s a wonder I get any writing done at all!
Hmm… That sounds like a great blog post. I’ll add it to the list.
Since this one is for the GoodReads blog, I want to address those pretty, shiny stars today. Actually, they’re not shiny at all, and as for pretty, they’re more lackluster than anything. Oh wait, you say. You’ll change your mind, you say, when you get that first starred review of Fallen.
Yep, probably, but only for a moment. I still fear stars, and not just getting a bad review for Fallen (It couldn’t happen!) but also the backlash I’ve seen for giving them (If you think I’m joking, you’re way too optimistic.) I’ve heard of it happening here, on GoodReads, but my own experience comes from a quiet little writing website.
Anyway, onward…
When it comes to rating a book, knowing the system is important. Here, GoodReads is kind enough to give a mouse-over explanation for each star. (Go ahead, try it. I’ll wait.)
One Star: “didn’t like it”
Two Stars: “it was okay”
Three Stars: “liked it”
Four Stars: “really liked it”
Five Stars: “it was amazing”
So let’s take a look at these together. I’d like to start with Three Stars because that one seems to be the most confusing, but should be the easiest. Three of five is average, so a three star book is in-line with the genre, average, not horrible, not amazing. If the averages played out, a reviewer would have a lot of three stars and less of the rest, like those bell curves we hated in high school grading. Average is not a bad thing. Of course, writers want to be better than average, but let’s face it, not everyone can be a perfect five.
Speaking of five, Five Stars is reserved for, as it says, amazing reads. These are the books that make us stay up way too late reading, or books that we feel a sense of loss when finished, not because there was unresolved plot, but because we miss the characters to whom we’ve grown so attached. It should never be given away lightly because that would cheapen the value of that big Five on the truly worthy stories. To go back to my bell curve comment, we, as readers, will read the books others rave about, so five stars might not be the tail of a curve, but instead show up more frequently in our reviews as we gobble up what others have recommended. This theory goes with Four Stars too.
Four Stars, aka ‘really liked it’, there are not a “wow” stories, but still darn good, and still above average. There may have been unresolved plot points, or something about the characters that didn’t quite work, but overall the story was strong, and we wanted to keep reading, and did, right up through the end.
On the flip side, Two Stars may indicate that the book was below average (again, we can’t all be Fivers, and we can’t all be average). Notice how it’s worded here on GoodReads “it was okay”. It doesn’t say “piece of gorram”. A Two Stars book is not bad, but not “amazing” either. Personally I use these for books that were otherwise “okay” but didn’t pull me into that infamous suspense of disbelief. Maybe it was my first and last crime book, and now I know I don’t like crime novels. Maybe it contained something that made me uncomfortable, like rape, or twincest, or girls. Maybe, no matter how many times I picked up the book to try again, I found my mind wandering far away from the story for no specific reason. The book wasn’t necessarily poorly written, but it wasn’t for me. Or, the book wasn’t quite average, but it wasn’t a bomb – a one star – either.
Lastly, and the most painful, one star is enough to make any author worth her words cry. “Didn’t like it”. What? How could you not? Oh gods, I can never write again! Okay, okay, now that that’s out of my system… One stars are hard to give and hard to receive. They’re also the tool for the vengeful – You didn’t like me, so I don’t like you. Except, it was the book I didn’t like, not the author (that is, until those games surface). Sometimes it happens. Sometimes we need to give one star to a book. Any author receiving one needs to read those reviews and understand what failed for the reader. Those are (if they’re not those games I mentioned) the most important stars we can get. Oh gods, I know people are going to argue about that, but okay, I’m up for it. This is also why, when I have to give a rare One Star, I will always say why. Always. Or, if I don’t have the opportunity, I won’t rate it at all.
Look at me ramble on and on. I don’t tend to let blog entries get this long, but this is important to me, and to a lot of readers and authors out there. I’ve resisted giving out stars here because of past One Star snipers, and because I’ve heard of authors arguing – yes, actually arguing – with reviewers over their ratings. What drew the line is the rumor that one person did so over three stars. I’m sorry, folks, but average isn’t a bad thing. Think of all those writers still suffering through the rejection flood, seeking that one golden ticket – the first offer. With a Three Star rating, you’ve beat them.
Sincerely,
Pia
Edit: Yes, I'm writing this because I am considering using the star rating system here on GoodReads. Go ahead, dear Readers, talk me into it.
