THREE STAR Reviews

[Roxann]

The star system in Goodreads is interesting, in that--three stars is said to mean I like it. I have read a great many reviews where the reviewer clearly dislikes the book, but still gives it three stars. And, I get it. I always looked at three stars as I didn't like it but it wasn't painful to read. Basically the only way to give a book a negative star review is with 1 star. This really gives inaccurate star ratings, I wish it was more like. 1 star hated it--wasted my life. 2 stars not great but had some redeeming value. 3 stars-not enjoyable but not painful to read. 4 stars really liked it so glad I read it. 5 stars Great book, might read it again someday and going to recommend it. What does everyone out there think?

[Thom]

Hi Roxann,

When I see a review that I like, I look at how it compares to that persons average. Yours, for instance, is 3.23 - so a 5 from you is a stronger recommendation than from another friend with a 3.95 average.

Given time (or interest) I also click "compare books" to see just how much we overlap, and then check out some of those titles. Ultimately, for me, the text of a review is more important than the star rating.

[Roxann]

Interesting way to look at it. Thanks for the response.