Weekly topic for discussion - What's in a rating?

[Jonetta]

Goodreads uses a 5 star rating system. Generally, I think I know if a book is rated 5 stars the reviewer really liked it or if it's rated 1 star that person wasn't pleased. But, there's a lot in between and the rating system for each individual can be really different.

Here's one example. I only rate a book 1 star if I didn't finish the book. If I read it and didn't like it at all, I'll assign it 2 stars. Most people won't know that unless they're familiar with my system.

What's your rating system? What do your numbers mean and do you use a half star system?

[Maggie]

For me, 1 star if I hated it, 2 if I really disliked it, 3 if it was just ok , 4 I really enjoyed it and 5 means I loved it.

[Jonetta]

Is there much room between hating and really disliking a book?

[Maggie]

Not a lot, but if I hate a book I would never read it again. If I really disliked a book, I MIGHT read it again. I hated the Gabriel's Inferno trilogy and won't read it again. I really disliked Fifty Shades, but re-read it when a friend was reading it and wanted to discuss it and I couldn't remember some what she was talking about.

[Jonetta]

Thanks, Maggie. That's interesting!

[Calle]

My personal rating system goes something like 1 - HORRIBLE TERRIBLE KILL IT WITH FIRE; 2 - kinda sorta okay; 3 - good, enjoyable; 4 - REALLLLY good, really liked it, will recommend to friends and family; 5 - life-changing amazing wonderful book, will probably beat your door down and force you to read it.

Most of the things I've rated on GR have been 3 or 4 stars, with a handful of fives and scattered occasional 2's. I really like a lot of books, but there are very few I really truly love.

[Jonetta]

Thanks, Calle! No room for misinterpretation here:)

I'm pretty fortunate in that most of the books I've read the past three years are recommendations from friends with similar tastes so many of mine are rated 4 stars. They've been tried and tested.

[Shawn]

One star probably means I couldn't even finish it. I don't give many of those. Five stars mean I LOVED it or it really spoke to me, or something like that. I don't have a lot of those either. Three of Four stars seem to be what I give most. Three doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, it just wasn't fabulous.

[Shawn]

An example of five stars is "Montana Sky" by Nora Roberts. I gave it five because it was my first Nora Roberts book and it introduced me to one of the best romance authors ever. So, in a way, it was life-changing.

[Jonetta]

Shawn wrote: "An example of five stars is "Montana Sky" by Nora Roberts. I gave it five because it was my first Nora Roberts book and it introduced me to one of the best romance authors ever. So, in a way, it wa..."

No quibble with that five star!

[Talya]

I think I am very forgiving with my ratings. I will often give a 3 star 4 or a 4 star 5, and forgive things like writing errors. However, this is if I really like the characters, or I felt gooey and happy at the end.
If I don't feel a connection with the characters or if certain parts are dragging, or if there are too many typos, grammatical errors or bad prose, then I have to take it down a star.

[Jonetta]

I'm pretty tolerant of editing errors if there aren't too many and they don't disrupt the flow of the story. Otherwise, like you, I'll remove a star.

Despite Goodreads' limitation, I use a half-star rating system that is imbedded in the review. I'll either round up or down, depending on which I believe is best representative for the book, to fit GRs structure. This is one feature I hope is added one day.

My books rated a 4 are those I really enjoyed...characters, plot, emotional investment, writing, etc. The 5 star books are those that just captivated me in some way...there's nothing to criticize and I can't let the characters or the story (or both) go for days after I finished.

My 3 star books are those I liked but just aren't going to be memorable in the long term, at least not for me. They're entertaining but just not standouts. Here's where the half star system would be helpful as I have some in this category that were a little on the boring side, nothing wrong but just not all that interesting. I'd give the others a 3.5 and these a solid 3.

[Talya]

That's a good system Jonetta!
I agree about a half star system, sometimes a book and reading experience just don't fall in a specific star category, and you need some middle ground. Hopefully GR will have that one day.

I also will give a book a 5 star rating if I finish and I have nothing to criticize about it, or there is nothing I would change.

[Jonetta]

Did you know Goodreads creates an average of all your ratings? It's on your profile.

Mine is 3.97, which is consistent (in my mind) with how I rate.

[Talya]

My average is 4.21, which makes sense, since I rarely read a book that's under 3.75 stars, and I generally agree with the majority of GR reviews.

[Janeiowa]

 * = poor editing, proofreading, major grammatical errors, misuse of common words (their/there/their; to, too, two), calling same character by a different name.  Plot line is convoluted and nonsensical.  I don't finish this type of work, and I don't read this type of sloppy, illiterate author again.

** = minor grammatical errors, characters are blah and story line doesn't catch my interest in the first 20 pages.  I dump this book after the first boring 20 pages and rarely try the author again.

*** = technical aspects are ok, plot and story line are just ok.  A grade of C on the scale used when I was in school meant it met the basics, but the novel just sat there.  I'll try this author again.

**** = story line grabbed me, the characters made me care about them, and I'll re-read this one. After reading 2 novels by an author that I liked this much, the author becomes an auto buy for me.

***** = I was so engrossed in this work, I could barely put it down to eat and sleep.  I don't find many books that rate 5 stars. I'll re-read it many times when I'm discouraged by the current crop of books out there.  Books that fit here:
SEA SWEPT and NORTHERN LIGHTS by Nora Roberts.

I haven't kept up with putting all my books on Goodreads, but I think my rating of 3.64 is accurate. I keep my own Excel spreadsheet of what I own and borrow and how I rated it.

[Jonetta]

Thanks, Jane! This is well defined and helpful. Mine isn't as detailed but is pretty similar in how I rate.

[Janeiowa]

I hadn't realized there was such a difference in how people rated until I started reading the Feedback area. [It never occurred to me to rate books low in genres I don't like or read. I assumed people rated books they'd read in genres they liked. :) ]

[Jonetta]

Are you saying some people are rating books they haven't read?

[Janeiowa]

That's what I'm reading there. If they read one and don't like it or the author or the "author's behavior" they will mark with one star. Also, some rate the books with a one to mean excellent, and others to mean never read, etc.

There are far more ways people rate than I'd ever thought of. Of course, if a person keeps their ratings private, they can rate as works best for them.

[Talya]

I think it's a total shame to downgrade a book just because it's a genre you don't like. Or even downgrade a book because the author isn't your taste. In that case, move on to something else.

[Jonetta]

How utterly odd. Unfortunately, this type of rating scheme impacts the cumulative rating average shown for the book. To reverse the rating definitions (1=excellent) and to rate a book you haven't even tried to read unfairly skews the result.

[Janeiowa]

I agree with you both, but I'm glad to be aware how others rate, so I can take that into consideration. Today I read a one star rating and she LOVED the book, wants to read more, etc. Someone added the comment...."so why a one star?" No response, of course.

[Jonetta]

I see that often on Amazon.

[Janeiowa]

I do, too. That's why I've taken to reading the one and two star ratings to see why they rated it the way they did. I hate the B&N reviews where ratings are put up with no text and as anonymous. Those ratings tell me nothing. At Amazon, at least, you have to have some text.

[Jonetta]

I used to post reviews on B&N but the formats are so bad and I had so many issues copy/pasting I gave up (they want you to type in the review).

[Anita]

I check my Goodreads friends ratings and reviews and if they don't like a book I don't bother with it. That's why I keep my friend list small. I really care what they think. I hope they feel the same about me.

My ratings are fairly generous. If I would read a book again - 5 stars. If I enjoyed it, but wouldn't reread - 4 stars. A book that at least held my interest - 3 stars. For anything that I suffered through - 2 stars. For a Did Not Finish - 1 star.