Big Books of 2026
Penny asked this question about We Need New Names:
As I interact with other readers in book clubs and online, am finding it interesting how many readers want to rate a book highly for just one or two positive attributes. A 4 or 5 star book should get just about everything perfect. This book got a few things very right, but alot of other things were below average. Wondering why it's so hard for us readers to be "critical" in the best sense of the word?
Amber "This book got a few things very right," that is an opinion and one with which I disagree. I adored this book, it is an example to me of literature do…more"This book got a few things very right," that is an opinion and one with which I disagree. I adored this book, it is an example to me of literature done right.

I agree that people review in a non-nuanced way. Like they liked the story but fail to be critical of the style or whatever. You have to remember that on GoodReads you have writers, authors, literature lovers and critics. You also have high school students, lovers of trashy romance novels (not judging), lovers of NF text-type or self-help books or etc., and so on. In other words there is a mix of seasoned and critical readers and fourteen year olds (also not judging, I love fourteen year olds, but with the exception of a few amazing ones I know, their reviews will be based mostly on whether they find it "boring" or "long" or whether they "got it")--and we are all on here trying to make sense of the same books. So...

I take the reviews and certainly the star rating overall with a grain of salt--I find some of the worst books rated so highly and some I loved rated low (usually because people didn't "get it"--so I read through the reviews, talk to people I know, etc. I look at "why" people gave a review, particularly a review of 5/1 stars I look at both rather critically.

And I also don't give a full review of each book I read because... who has the time? And even some I don't "review" at all but just give a star rating. Sometimes I will mention 1-2 things I like even if I don't mention critical things or I just pull out one to two details. And I am sure the same is for many reviewers.

The bottom line is that because there is no requirements or suggestions or monitoring of Good Reads for how to review... the discernment of reviews and star-ratings is on the onus of the seasoned, nuanced reader.(less)
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We Need New Names
by NoViolet Bulawayo
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