I always find it difficult to rate books because sometimes I know a book is well written etc, but it was just not for me and other times I know I shouldn't rate a book with 5 stars, but it's one of my favourites and I can't get myself to give it less than that.
thats how I feel about the kingkiller chronicles ,-, I know book 2 is not well paced, its like living through a teenage or masculine fantasy and rothfuss is not good at writing women, kvothe is kind of a savant, good at almost everything but damnit if it isnt 5 stars in my mind because I got into it so unexpectedly and loved the name of the wind, the world and magic so much
The worst thing ever is when you ADORE a book, 5 stars and then you go on Goodreads and it's THE MOST HATED read, every comment is negative and you're like... do I have bad taste?
My system is pretty straightforward: 5 - personal masterpiece. 4 - enjoyed it. 3 - nothing special; no regrets. 2 - terrible. 1 - kindling for the fireplace. Most of my books tend to be around the 4 and 3 marks, and very few have ever been given a 1.
Exactly; but everyone then starts with the stupid half points. Make a statement! A half point just says that the reviewer don't know what they are talking about.
I really hate rating systems because even if I know that an "average" book isn't bad, if I see a 3/5 or like a 5/10, then I just assume it's probably not even worth my time even though average books can be quite enjoyable. It's even worse if the rating was skewed because of certain elements so it's like, I'd rather know the details of why you like/hate a thing because then I can decide if that better matches what I actually like/hate.
I think It is rare that an average quality books get a voting average as low as 3/5, at least on goodreads and other sites I have seen. Ratings tend to be rather inflated with most decent books in the 4+ range or at least 3.5+. I have started to give books two ratings because of that. An inflated one for the 5 star systems and one for myself where i rate most books i liked 6.5/10
@@user-zj9rr6yc4u For me, a 65 (6.5/10) is not a book that I'm interested in reading again, nor am I interested in reading anything else in that series, if there is one and I haven't already bought them all.
I agree! I dont understand why we have to have a rating system in place if the whole point is to listen to what her thoughts and feelings are on the book.
@@hungergames2424 Because some people don't care about the reasons why, they just want a number to help them make a decision. My ratings are for my own use. I don't tell someone how I rated a book unless they ask (and they never do). I just tell people if I liked it or not and whether or not I think they should read it.
I currently do not review books, but I'm thinking an elemental rating system would be fun: Earth - The substance of the book - was it well written, did it have depth and did I feel a connection to the setting and characters? Fire - The energy of the book - was it well paced, did it keep me interested all the way to the end, was I invested in the way the story unfolded? Air - The insight of the book - was it thought-provoking, did it explore concepts and story arcs that I find stimulating and worthwhile? Water - The emotion of the book - was it moving, did it make me feel joy, sorrow, excitement and distress, was I invested emotionally? Then I'd give an overall summary of the experience in respect of the above, but I'm not sure I'd give it an overall rating because people should decide which elements best reflect what means most to them in a book and derive their own score from what I've said.
I like the 4 star method. ⭐ I didn't like it, and I can't understand why anyone would. ⭐⭐ I didn't like it, but I understand why some people like it. ⭐⭐⭐ I like it, but I get why some people don't. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I like it, and I don't understand why anybody wouldn't like it.
I have a similar rating system, but mine is a 5 star scale. ⭐️ I hated it, I don’t understand why anyone could like it ⭐️⭐️I didn’t like it, but I can see why some people would ⭐️⭐️⭐️It was okay, I can understand why people could like or dislike it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️it was great, but I can see why some people wouldn’t like it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️It was perfect, nobody could possibly dislike it (With some books I have to use a 1-10 scale though)
My favorite rating system is Jeremy Jahns' and He does movie reviews. He doesn't give numbers or letter grades but rather has different phrases such as "awesometacular," "worth buying on Blu-Ray," "better if you're drunk," etc. He breaks down his rating system in a video if you wanna check it out.
His rating system speaks so well about his personality too. He's not a high class critic, just a dude that enjoys movies that can also give criticisms that are obviously subjective to his own opinions. Anyways I just wanted to rant about him lol
I’m so inconsistent. Some days 5 stars means perfect (kinda rare) and other days it means there was stuff I didn’t like in it but it made me really really really really excited when I finished it
This is part of why I prefer platforms like The Storygraph to Goodreads. They don't put as much emphasis on star ratings and more of an emphasis on moods attached to a book, pacing, character development, and focus on the flaws of the characters. With their rating system all of these things are included as something that can be rated or accounted for pertaining to the book in some way. It lets me as a reader more easily determine if a book is for me based on the reviews of other people. Highly recommend the site. It's still in beta and set to launch officially in January 2021 but runs super well for something in beta. They also take user feedback heavily into consideration for how their site runs and what features they include.
I like ratings as long as people have a clear indication of what their ratings specifically mean. Personally, my ratings are purely based on my enjoyment of a book, so I like rating books with the disclaimer that my rating is purely based on my personal enjoyment.
You're making very solid points about rating systems here! Reading is indeed one of the most subjective forms of art consumption and there are infinite nuances to ratings. Hence, I pay much more attention to the reviews underneath the stars and videos like yours. Despite being a picky reader, I gain no joy from hating a book. If I pick it up, I legitimately hope that it's a match made in heaven and solid reviews help warn me of anything that I might find particularly distasteful. So, keep doing you!
For me i use goodread stars based off my enjoyment opposed to how good it may or may not be technically good. So for me its 1- i should have DNF'd 2- was ok...but not memorable at all 3-was alright, not glued to the book but good enough i'd read a sequel 4-really good, enjoyable 5- reserves for books i cant put down OR the world/story i love and appricate (i.e classics i have to put down but i love still)
My rating system: 1/5- Books I HATE so much. Hot garbage. The one star isn’t the author’s, it’s the publishers because of how clever they were in making me waste my money on a pathetic piece of work. They are books with premises I’m not interested in, and are not executed well. I believe that even if the premise isn’t something I would gravitate towards, if the book is good enough, I’d really enjoy it. I hate the characters so much. 2/5- Books with GREAT premises that would draw me in, VERY POOR execution. If you’re gonna do something I like, do it well, or I’ll hate your simply for tricking me and wasting my time. Also, the characters here are just horrible. Not great at all. 3/5- A good book, it was going so well and I had a lot of fun reading it until SOMETHING happened in the end. The premise may or may not interest me, and it was going so well, but certain GLARING decisions were made along the way that annoyed me to no end. This rating can also go to books in a series that had very many big issues, like the author didn’t care at all for what he was doing. 4/5- A book with a great premise I’d gravitate towards, executed well, but I didn’t feel that spark or shout my head off in the middle of the night as I read the book because something made me so happy. Well written characters that I’d get attached to, however, I’d easily forget them when I read a new favorite as the characters don’t have much longevity with me. This is as far as books with premises that do not interest me but are executed really well can go, because at the end of the day, the premise isn’t for me, I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I would’ve had it been somehow different. However, some books have broken this rule, and it only happens when the author is really talented enough to make me change my reservations about the premise. 4.5/5- these are books I LOVE so much, GREAT characters, GREAT story. This rating mostly goes to weaker books in my favorite series which weren’t entirely mediocre. With 4.5, they are books I had very many strong emotions about, I was crying, I was laughing, I was angry. HOWEVER, they are normally marred by structural issues that prevent it from being the best book it can be e.g. the pacing issues in Oathbringer. 5/5- books I LOVE so much, I’d be left thinking about for a very long time. I have no complaints about them. I may have a few nitpicks that really don’t make sense but the book is one of my favorites.
Ohh my God this is so accurate with my rating system like your 4 star rating is so me .when i really like a book but there was something missing there and i don't know what then i give that 4 star
When I read your rating, my first thoughts of 3.5 was HP and the Goblet of Fire and 4.5 HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I like your rating very much! I think I will use yours when I am going to rate books
I'm very inconsistent with ratings. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't - As a general rule I don't really like giving ratings to books (or anything for that matter) as they are so incredibly subjective. I might read a book now and love it... and then come back to that some book in a few years and find it average. Thank you for sharing your opinions on this topic.
Thank you for doing a giveaway! So cool! I use ratings exactly the way you do, mainly because those are the descriptions of the rating system on Goodreads. If you hover over the stars on Goodreads, it tells you what each star represents. I don't know why it has become so subjective, when there is a definition for each star rating.
@@yessie5648 Percentage-wise, you would not have any C's unless you gave half stars. To get an A, you would need 4.5 stars and a C would require 3.5 stars.
Thank you for the video! Stars are difficult to compare and that's why I prefer listening to the feedback and the discussion. In my case, the ending will influence how I rate the book and if I wait a few days, maybe I have a different number.
I like looking at other people's reviews only after I read that same book. I'm pretty wary of spoilers. So I like star ratings when I'm looking for recommendations. I like to add books to my tbr and once I've added them I don't look at the average ratings or synopsis for that book again until after I've read and rated it myself.
I really enjoy ur reviews! I agree that rating is subjective! I've read few books others gave 5 stars to and they were 3 to me. Instead I prefer to listen to for example your 3 pro 3 cons to help me decide if I would enjoy it or not. If you are going to add rating, please continue with 3 pros and 3 cons format! Thanks!
I really appreciate you giving proper reviews instead of a rating focus. I don't always agree with you, Daniel or Elliot (my main booktubers) but I always love hearing your thoughts. Also thank you for your multi-genre recs. I'm willing to give any genre a go so you being a one stop shop for recs is so helpful!
I absolutely agree Merphy. When I see a book that either you or another reviewer I like the discussion. I also then look the book up and read the synopsis before I commit to the book. And as you say a person’s interpretation of the number can be a variable as your giving it.
Whenever I give a book a 3-star rating I feel the need to say "By the way, this means I still liked this book!" because some people seem to assume that a 3-star rating means I hated it. For example, when I read the Grisha trilogy earlier this year, I gave books one and two 4-stars, then I gave Ruin and Rising 3-stars because there were certain things I had mixed feelings on (i.e. the ending). Someone messaged me to say "Oh wow, so would you say it's not worth reading?" when that definitely wasn't the case!
Great video. You bring up very good points and I completely understand your logic for not wanting to simply add a number to rate the book. It's more of an experience than a simple number.
For me - if a book would be a 1 or 2 star books then it is almost certain that I would DNF and I don't feel right about rating books that i've not finished. So 3 is pretty much the minimum for books that I enjoy enough to read (which is high praise considering the absurdity of my unread pile). I find most annoying people that want 5* to somehow represent perfection(impossible) instead of 'really super good'
I have never liked giving a rating for books. I don’t rate my books on goodreads, just like you said, my feelings are so nuanced about a book that a number just can’t really describe it. I’d rather write down my thoughts than put a number.
The best reviews are stand alone that use the subject as a launching point. Every discussion benefits from opinions that add to the conversation. When I tune in to an influencer's review mostly I want to listen to that person. If I want to know what's in a book then I must read it.
I totally fall under the "see a rating and base wether not not I read it based on starts, not words" category and I had no idea! This really opened up my mind to not take ratings so seriously. This had great points, I loved it!
i enjoyed this video so much! i liked listening to how you rate your books because I've always found rating books so hard and it was really cool seeing you explain it in a way that makes sense :)
I totally agree with everything you said here. I sometimes end up just not rating a book I feel conflicted about, because it stresses me out more than it's worth. And you're absolutely right to say that it's so much more important to know HOW somebody arrived at that rating. If I'm unsure about a book, I will read both positive and negative reviews to see what things are being praised and criticised. If multiple people say they found the pacing too slow or they didn't like that the characters were kind of horrible people, then I am very likely to still get the book because I enjoy slower/medium pacing and have no problem with morally dubious characters. If the positive reviews are saying "I loved this character because they were so sassy/spunky, didn't take shit from anyone", I am not as likely to enjoy that character as they were. Basically, like with many things, context is so important for ratings. Context is sexy in general.
You have a lot of great points here. I think it would be beneficial for more channels on BookTube to discuss how they view their rating system. It’s so much easier to understand how they feel about a book when that is explained. Great rant!
I love these discussion videos, and thanks for explaining your system! It's so funny, ours is practically the same! Maybe I've just watched you for so long that I knew what it was and just implemented it as my own:)
My rating system is: One star: Hated it Two stars: Eh. Not good. Not horrible though. Three stars: Meh. It was okay. Four stars: Good one-time experience Five stars: Amazing, would read again Most books clearly fall into one of these categories, but there are some books, like you said, that totally challenge my system. Also, as you said, I know people that explicitly say they don't give five stars to any book because every book falls short of perfection. I also know people that would never, ever give a one-star review because they feel it is cruel.
I understand your frustration with the rating system. I personally always keep in mind where my recommendations come from so I can scale their ratings to my personal tastes (if you follow a person for a while, you can usually make an educated guess.)
i'm so with you! ratings are so subjective and it's frustrating, especially for places like goodreads where less than a 4 means a book is meh. some of my faves are in the 3-something, and i've really disliked some that are almost 5. tbh i rarely put 1 or 2 because if a book is that off for me i straight up DNF! we're here for a good time, not a long time!
I have to say, I buddy read This is how you lose the time war on your discord and I hated it SO much, but I felt bad about rating it one star (and I couldn’t give it any more) that I wrote a goodreads review without a rating because I felt bad for the authors...
I struggle constantly with my own rating system and frequently go back and edit ratings of previous books. But I kind of like it! It's just one more way to think critically about what I read and analyze why I like/dislike things and why. :) But sometimes that feels like time I could better spend reading more books!
I find the most frustrating thing about giving ratings, say for example on a site like Netflix, is that I often want to give half stars - I often feel many things fall somewhere inbetween the description for the star ratings. So sometimes something is rated too high or low (or not at all) because I can't give a half star. I also notice when people are allowed to vote that some will deliberately troll something that say is a polarizing movie/subject/whatever and they'll try to tank a rating with one star for something that most people at least like because they want to sabotage it or promote something else they feel is better in a similar category.
It might help to give sub ratings to elements of the book, like your enjoyment, pacing, structure, characters development, prose. Whatever impacts your overall rating so we can see how it averages like enjoyment can be a 5 but was brought down by pacing and structural problems or focus on a character you don't like, etc. Might help people get a clearer picture of what you are weighing into the final score
U.S. only :( On a different note, I agree that rating stuff ia hard, especial when you have to balance enjoyment with respect/influence. Edit: I don't rate books in my reviews, I just state how I feel about the book/comic. I do however keep a list with everything I've read and a rating from 0/10 with 0,5 intervals and I revisit it every once in a while to update my thoughts. While I do use all the numbers, it's rare that I read something all the way through and I find it below avarage (and it's actually only happened a couple of times this year). Anyway, sorry for the rumbling edit (also, I just joined the discord).
I rate books with stars, but I use a decimals as well, so it could 4.2 stars, 3.4 etc. Idk if that overcomplicates it but for example sometimes adding half a star will seem like too little, but going to the next star seems like too much, so I rate it in between
On a 5 star rating (like on Netflix site) I wish I could give some books or movies a zero rating, but 1 is the minimum. Also, I'd rather use a 10 star rating scale since 3.5 is often not a valid choice I can pick whereas I can easily rate a book/movie 7/10.
Totally agree with everything you said. Another thing I don't like about rating systems, especially on goodreads, is that it mostly evens out. People tend to mostly rate the books they like, while only a few rate the books they don't like. This results in a lot of books averaging out somewhere between 3,5 and 4,5 stars, which still doesn't tell me which books are rrreeeeeaaalllyyy good.
I feel you on this. I've been toying with the idea of doing something similar to Daniel's 10 point system. Currently I use the 5 star system but will go up in quarter increments
I've seen a lot of other youtubers drop their rating systems for the exact same reasons recently. I fully support this and I think it's a very constructive change to your reviews
I usually don't do ratings. I rated the books that I read this year in my Goodreads reading challenge mainly so I could remember how much I liked each one throughout the year to measure how the year went readingwise.
That's very interesting! I was recently thinking about this when I rated the Adrien English Mysteries 5/5 even though the mystery itself is probably more of a 3/5 for me. I ADORE these books for their characters and relationships. It completely overshadowed whatever I may have felt about the mysteries. But that makes my rating probably a bit useless for someone looking for a good mystery!
My system: 5 stars: Loved. I'm pretty generous with my 5 stars, so this may be my most common ranking. 4: Enjoyed, but a few minor problems I couldn't get past 3: Meh. I was bored. Another common ranking, and probably the main one I use for my DNFs-- if I rate my DNFs at all. 2: Not bad enough to be one star, but certainly not good enough to be 3 stars. I rarely use 2 stars 1: Hate. Rage. Torture. All the things.
Oh no, I just recently impulse bought Anna And The French Kiss at Barnes and Noble (because it was a beautiful edition with sprayed edges). Don’t usually impulse buy books based on their cover, and this would be why
I agree! I stopped rating books because ratings are so arbitrary. I've found that I like to write down what I actually thought about a book instead of rating it, since it tells me more about my feelings on it than a rating does, if that makes sense? Like, a rating will give me a general sense, but it won't help me remember what I liked/didn't like about a book. That goes for other people's review as well - a review/discussion says so much more than a rating does and is more helpful when trying to decide if you want to read a specific book or not!
I completely agree with your rating system flaws. I also just want to thank you for the time you gifted me Warebreaker a few years ago and sorry I haven't had time to consistently follow your channel. You produce amazing content. I'm so happy for you.
Have you ever tried using the CAWPILE system by Book Roast? I love it because it averages out your 5 star rating based on your ratings of different categories (characters, writing, etc). I find it super helpful! She has a link to a spreadsheet that calculates it for you and I use that as an alternative to Goodreads.
Well, since you asked, yes I do use a system in Goodreads! I've even posted mine on my profile to help people understand why I give so many three star ratings. 1 Star= A book that I do not recommend, and must be seriously flawed in some way. 2 Stars= A book that I wouldn't recommend, though may be useful or entertaining when read by the right person. 3 Stars= A good book that may not stand out among it's genre, or may have certain flaws, but is nonetheless worth reading for those who are interested. 4 Stars= A book that stands out among the rest because of some special mastery in writing style, significance, or masterful presentation of ideas. 5 Stars= A timeless book that stands out as being especially significant and/or masterfully written; these are the books that others strive to replicate in their own writing, and are referenced as the golden standard that other books of the genre are measured against.
Coincidentally, I just uploaded my first BookTube review, and did not use a Rating System. :) I was going to, but after watching this, decided to try not using stars - I had been debating what each "star amount" meant, and this convinced me to try ditching it; super freeing.
You make some really good points here especially with how subjective ratings can be. I'll even admit that I've seen you rate books a certain star rating and because I didnt know what each star meant to you I would interpret it to mean what I rate it. Then again, I got to a point where I started rating books to be fair to the author (eg I'd give 3 starts to a book that wasn't for me but I felt bad for the author). Then I got to a point where I didn't want to do that anymore and went back to rating simply on my own enjoyment level. For you, it's tough because - as you put it - ratings are subjective. It would be a lot easier if we all had just one hard rating system (kind of like a hard magic system) where we know the bounds and limitations. Grated, of course, I always listen to your reasonings for your ratings and base your (eg monthly wraps) recommendations on what you have to say about the book. But I'll admit that if I see you give a book 1 star, because we have similar tastes I'll just not get the book because to me that has always meant you hated the book. It's a tough one Merph and I can only applaud you for doing this video. Not only to assist us (those who take your recommendations to heart) but also to shed light on the subjectiveness of it all. Xoxo.
I agree rating systems are so subject! I like to use them on goodreads as a base starting point if I am looking to get out of a reading slump. Most of the time, however, I do not look up ratings before reading.
I'm new but there's a reason why I subscribed to this channel. It's because you talk about the books you like. No hate on people who rate stuff, it's easy and each to their own. But like you said, ratings are subjective. I rarely follow trends and avoid mainstream stuff because it's not what I like and I dislike sexual content in general. That's why people talking about why they like a book is always more important to me than what number they give it.
I'm well aware that everytime I see a rating it's going to be completely subjective but I still love them. I love the experience of getting acquainted with a creator's rating system and how it translates to mine and my tastes. I also agree that the way you review books doesn't necessarily need a rating and a number wouldn't necessary help me figure if the book is for me. But I do follow other people where it does accurately work as a recommendation scale.
I am thinking about trying out G from Book Roast’s CAWPILE rating system in the new year. I like how it seems to try to make the ratings more objective since you are rating different elements of the book and then will get an overall score.
To me, 5 stars is like "omg this was amazing, I *loved* it, it means so much to me, I can't get it out of my head, etc." I do not give out a lot of five star reviews. 4 is "I really liked it, I will pick up more by the author, this book made me happy, I will definitely read the sequel if there is one". 3 is "I liked it, I will probably pick up other stuff by the author, I may continue the series but I may not, when I finished this book I felt a degree of content." I rate most things 3 stars, I think. 2 is "it was okay, I may pick up another book by the author but maybe not, but really I just don't care that much about this book." I don't rate all that much stuff 2 stars because I basically have to be completely neutral about the book. Usually there's at least *something* that made me smile or I liked or whatever. Though I think most of my DNFs are 2 stars because I just don't care enough to read them, but I don't feel the need to hate them either? And then 1 star is "I disliked this book. I may even hate it." It can mean I wanted to throw this book against the wall, or I don't understand why this was published. But it doesn't have to be that strong. Sometimes it just means that I...didn't like it, it probably wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't the book for me. Rating systems are really subjective, and I do feel for you that people are like "where's the number!!" when you just want to discuss the book. But like to me, sometimes I feel it's easier to rate a book than discuss it? Especially books with 2-3 stars: I just didn't feel all that strongly about them, so I don't usually have much to say. I have to say what I prefer on Storygraph to Goodreads is that on Storygraph you can rate things in decimals (3, 3.25, 3.5, 3.75 stars for instance), whereas on Goodreads I usually end up rounding up.I have some books on Goodreads for instance that were more than 4 stars, but they don't really quite earn the 5 star rating because *those* books tend to be really special to me, so I'd like to give them partial stars. Thanks for the video, it was really interesting!
You could also just start with the rating and then tell more about the details of your feelings, that way the rating won't be the last word and stick as much
I saw that Sabriel by Garth Nix was on your “to-read” list and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I would love to see some sort of review of it on your channel. I feel like it is not nearly widely known to the extent that its merit would deserve.
I don’t like assigning numbers either. So I get it. Take em away again! I care more about the discussion than a number. Moreover, I like to hear what about the book made someone else like it, up to and including mild spoilers. Sometimes, that little mild spoiler is what just absolutely hooks you and now you HAVE to read it.
I have the EXACT same feelings about rating systems and i very rarely talk about star ratings in my videos (unless it's a five star and I super duper loved it... then I might [not-so] casually mention it). But it's definitely very subjective and also not even having half stars on goodreads frustrates me to no end!!! But I feel like a lot of times (at least in the states) we're so used to being bombarded with ratings and ALSO that average is not good (when is the last time anyone ever actually considered an average C grade good in schools?) that it almost automatically colors how we read and approach literature.
Honestly, I give more value to how you describe the book than to the rating you give it when deciding whether it's a book for me, but I still find the rating extremely interesting. I use all 5 stars.
I really agree with your frustration on this topic. I have been really rethinking how I rate things. I used to be one of those people that a 3 was I really didn’t like it and that was almost never. I gave out 5 stars to everything I really enjoyed. I have been trying to think about it more critically and give out more 3s. I have more 5s on goodreads than anything other number and that honestly bothers me. I completely agree with how it can be so hard to figure out if I want to read something based on the rating because it’s so subjective! I’ve been trying to decide if I want to go back and change some of the 5 stars I have given in the past. I definitely have reread books and changes the rating after. One that has really been nothing me is Anna. Especially after watching you rant about it recently I’m realizing just how uncomfortable I am with the cheating element. I remember feeling a little off about it when I read it the first time but I guess found a way to justify it because I gave it a 5, like what?! I’ve been thinking about rereading it to see for sure how bad it actually is and how I feel about it now. I am a pretty big rereader lol but yeah rating is really frustrating 😕
HA! You will eventually get used to your new schedule :) I use AAAAALLLLLL the stars and have no problem with using them. The star ratings are just a guideline for me, an initial first impression so to speak. I will still read the books blurb and reviews before making up my mind to add to the tbr (because as you said, star ratings are subjective)
I always try to leave it a week after I've finished a book before I rated it, because rating it too soon can kind of artificially inflate the rating because I'm still semi in that world. Which also means I only remember to do ratings maybe half of the time. But if I can't even really remember them by then, 2*, but didn't throw the book at the wall or anything, so not 1*.
My rating system is pretty close to yours. 3 means I enjoyed it, 4 means I really liked it, and 5 is I really loved it. I don't give out many 1 or 2 stars because if a book is fitting into those, I probably will dnf it instead. I agree that ratings can be really hard. Thanks for explaining what yours mean - that will be helpful in the future.
I hated rating for few months for the exact same reason. I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I found factual inconsistencies in the book couple of times which I didn't like, but I loved the protagonist who has visible flaws and makes terrible choices again and again that clearly reveals his insecurities and his need to fulfill the character arc. I never felt a huge part of my personality represented so accurately. This makes this book incredible for me. It was almost impossible for me to reduce the rating below the maximum, yet it is not flawless.
I get you, I rather discuss the book than give a dry number, I just do it because I have to complete tasks but don't care about rating. For example My dark Vanessa made me really mad half way through, but I stopped and told myself that it was kind of the idea, for me to be uncomfortable and pissed, to ponder, to think about the plot. Sometimes having strong negative feelings make a good book, it made you feel.
I agree ratings are difficult. I tend to rate things with a similar mindset as you. I wish Goodreads had more stars or half stars though. Thanks for not going into spoilers for Rhythm of War. My copy still haven't arrived 😫
I quit rating things after an anime made me feel mixed feelings for over 6 months. The plot is just a bunch of nothing but yet the story was so real that made me think a lot, so I realize that rating something is nonsense. What do you rate, the hype? Your feelings watching/reading it? Your feelings after watching/reading it? How much do you appreciate it? PS: Nice vid :))
My rating system is pretty simplistic. It comes down to whether or not I’d recommend it to someone: yes, no, or a shoulder shrug. I’m happy to talk about my enjoyment of a book, my personal take, but I can’t really give it a rating. Loved the video and really agree with what you said.
YES THANK YOU. This is why I stopped giving numbers on my channel. As you said, I feel it's the least helpful thing in a review. Not to mention, sometimes you expect different things from different authors (like a 4 from Sanderson is different from a 4 from another author that had different expectations of, for example). Or how do you rate adult books and middle grade in a way that is at all consistent when they are so different and for different audiences? Idk I found it so hard to try and give a number so I just stopped hahaha
Ratings are sooooo subjective. I still struggle with the way a book is structurally put together and how it executes things, but also how I respond to that and how I feel in general (as in, emotions it illicits in me) and then... translating that into a 1 to 5 star rating. I definitely use all of my stars but I reiterate that 3 isn't bad. 2 or 1 are bad, 3 is just okay or enjoyed or middle of the road. I'd still absolutely recommend a book I gave a 3. :D
Yes! Rating systems are frustrating! I don't like the goodreads rating system because I feel like there is too big of a range inside each category. Sometimes i will have a book that is a low four, almost a three, and sometimes the books will be really close to a five. Putting them at the same level just feels wrong and doesn't accurately express what I thought of the book.
Completely agree! I end up rating books based on how they made me feel so sometimes I feel guilty because I know the trash romance wasn't a masterpiece but I did end up just hugging my phone out of joy.
I don't like to rate things. There are a ton of websites that are convenient to see how much people like whatever, but I honestly have such a hard time assigning a number to something I've read/watched/listened to. It's so hard to me to just pick a number and stick with it. There are going to be pros and cons to everything, so like you said, it doesn't cover the nuances. Furthermore, how you feel about something can change. Later on, you may like something more or less than you once did; recognizing strengths or flaws you didn't pick up the first time. Also like you said, ratings numbers mean different things to different people, so it can be very hard to know how someone feels about something just by the number they gave it.
I completely agree - rating systems are very arbitrary and sometimes people place too much importance on them. I use the standard 5 star system on Goodreads just to keep things simple, but I always review my books because I agree that the value is in the review, NOT the rating. Personally, my rating system is the same as most people’s: 1 - Hated it/irredeemably bad 2 - Disliked it/wasn’t for me, but there were some redeeming equalities 3 - I liked it. It wasn’t fantastic, it wasn’t terrible. I’d recommend this to others but it’s probably not something I’ll remember. 4 - I really, really liked it. These are usually some of my favourite books; books with great writing, plot, characters etc. But they just didn’t give me that feeling inside that a 5 star book does 5 - AMAZING! These are the books that significantly impact me, that resonate with me on a deep level and that I had a memorable and fantastic reading experience with. I mostly give out 3 and 4 stars, and rarely/never give out 1 star. The star rating that seems to be most subjective, in my experience, is 3 stars. I have had people in the past comment that a book must be terrible or I must’ve really disliked it to give it 3 stars. But for me 3 stars is a good rating, it means I liked it but had lots of mixed feelings.
I like to use all my stars so that I keep your three star as my two, and three as your four and four are amazing books and five are books that are favourites and not ones I disliked anything about or made me feel the most. One star are books I just didn't like and normally have some major problem with or just so could not read it for writing etc.
I don't really have much of a rating system. I have 3 or 4 categories: 1 Hated it, wouldn't read again if someone paid me to. Come Sundown by Nora Roberts fits into this category. 2 It was ok, but bordering on worse. Maybe has one or two redeeming aspects but nothing I'd re-read. 3. Something I don't have strong feelings about, but I lean toward liking it. 4. I loved it so much I'll read it multiple times. Very few books fit into this category. Some examples would be Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier and Before The Frost by Henning Mankell. I've read the latter 5 or 6 times.
Me sees notification that merphy napier posted: Let’s click! Me sees Percy is in the thumbnail: he probably doesn’t have a part in this video but let’s definitely click. me sees title: oh me let’s *CLICK!*
I reduced the number of stars in my reviews to just three, because I feel it gets overly complicated. For example, you mentioned (in your hilarious rant) why you sometimes give half stars. It's good to have nuance, but I like to simplify. So, here's my "rating system": * Nope, not for me. ** It's OK. *** LOVED IT.
I'll let you know my rating system when I figure it out. I started the year trying a new approach of rating various aspects of a novel (e.g. writing style, plot, characters, etc), and then I would average the numbers. Actually, I weighted each aspect relative to it's importance to me, then used that to calculate the rating. Needless to say, I stopped doing that largely bc it felt so convoluted.
hello, great video, I enjoyed it, it's interesting your way to rate books and I have this feelings when I read some books that you read you feel attach to it 'cause of the history or the character even sometimes you want to read more about a specific character.
![If You Hate My Favorites... Try This [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dxacYfHmGK0/mqdefault.jpg)
![If You Hate My Favorites... Try This [CC]](/img/tr.png)
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I always find it difficult to rate books because sometimes I know a book is well written etc, but it was just not for me and other times I know I shouldn't rate a book with 5 stars, but it's one of my favourites and I can't get myself to give it less than that.
This is exactly how I feel about rating books!
same
S A M E
thats how I feel about the kingkiller chronicles ,-,
I know book 2 is not well paced, its like living through a teenage or masculine fantasy and rothfuss is not good at writing women, kvothe is kind of a savant, good at almost everything
but damnit if it isnt 5 stars in my mind because I got into it so unexpectedly and loved the name of the wind, the world and magic so much
Merphy: I want to give you a well-rounded review that allows you, dear viewer, to make an informed decision.
comments: wHaT nUmBeR tH0?
Too real 😂
I really love People explaining their ratings. It is nice to know what the stars mean to them
The worst thing ever is when you ADORE a book, 5 stars and then you go on Goodreads and it's THE MOST HATED read, every comment is negative and you're like... do I have bad taste?
That's what happened to me with my boyfriend Merlin trilogy. I really like those books but people seem to hate them T^T
No, you just have different taste.
@@chanyeolswife5235 is the series called "My Boyfriend Merlin" or was it your boyfriend's "Merlin" Series?
Just embrace the fact that you have bad taste. Nothing wrong with that.
If the book's a 5 star rating to you it's worth 5 stars. Your relationship with the book is all that matters in the end.
My system is pretty straightforward:
5 - personal masterpiece.
4 - enjoyed it.
3 - nothing special; no regrets.
2 - terrible.
1 - kindling for the fireplace.
Most of my books tend to be around the 4 and 3 marks, and very few have ever been given a 1.
Exactly; but everyone then starts with the stupid half points. Make a statement! A half point just says that the reviewer don't know what they are talking about.
This is how I rate as well
I really hate rating systems because even if I know that an "average" book isn't bad, if I see a 3/5 or like a 5/10, then I just assume it's probably not even worth my time even though average books can be quite enjoyable. It's even worse if the rating was skewed because of certain elements so it's like, I'd rather know the details of why you like/hate a thing because then I can decide if that better matches what I actually like/hate.
I tend to think in terms of grades from school. A 5/10 is 50%, which is an F.
I think It is rare that an average quality books get a voting average as low as 3/5, at least on goodreads and other sites I have seen. Ratings tend to be rather inflated with most decent books in the 4+ range or at least 3.5+. I have started to give books two ratings because of that. An inflated one for the 5 star systems and one for myself where i rate most books i liked 6.5/10
@@user-zj9rr6yc4u For me, a 65 (6.5/10) is not a book that I'm interested in reading again, nor am I interested in reading anything else in that series, if there is one and I haven't already bought them all.
I agree! I dont understand why we have to have a rating system in place if the whole point is to listen to what her thoughts and feelings are on the book.
@@hungergames2424 Because some people don't care about the reasons why, they just want a number to help them make a decision. My ratings are for my own use. I don't tell someone how I rated a book unless they ask (and they never do). I just tell people if I liked it or not and whether or not I think they should read it.
I currently do not review books, but I'm thinking an elemental rating system would be fun:
Earth - The substance of the book - was it well written, did it have depth and did I feel a connection to the setting and characters?
Fire - The energy of the book - was it well paced, did it keep me interested all the way to the end, was I invested in the way the story unfolded?
Air - The insight of the book - was it thought-provoking, did it explore concepts and story arcs that I find stimulating and worthwhile?
Water - The emotion of the book - was it moving, did it make me feel joy, sorrow, excitement and distress, was I invested emotionally?
Then I'd give an overall summary of the experience in respect of the above, but I'm not sure I'd give it an overall rating because people should decide which elements best reflect what means most to them in a book and derive their own score from what I've said.
I LOVE THIS!!
WOW that’s an amazing perspective!!
@Sage Tulloch-Hoskins That would be cool if someone with the know-how took it on! 😁
This is such an interesting idea!! So creative and would love to see it put into practice!!
That is a really good idea. Never thought about ratings that way before. Fascinating.
I like the 4 star method.
⭐ I didn't like it, and I can't understand why anyone would.
⭐⭐ I didn't like it, but I understand why some people like it.
⭐⭐⭐ I like it, but I get why some people don't.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I like it, and I don't understand why anybody wouldn't like it.
How often do you find a one-star book (using this method)? I think I've never read such an awful book
@@sleepless_in_spb6273 The Cursed Child lol
I have a similar rating system, but mine is a 5 star scale.
⭐️ I hated it, I don’t understand why anyone could like it
⭐️⭐️I didn’t like it, but I can see why some people would
⭐️⭐️⭐️It was okay, I can understand why people could like or dislike it
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️it was great, but I can see why some people wouldn’t like it
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️It was perfect, nobody could possibly dislike it
(With some books I have to use a 1-10 scale though)
My favorite rating system is Jeremy Jahns' and He does movie reviews. He doesn't give numbers or letter grades but rather has different phrases such as "awesometacular," "worth buying on Blu-Ray," "better if you're drunk," etc. He breaks down his rating system in a video if you wanna check it out.
His rating system speaks so well about his personality too. He's not a high class critic, just a dude that enjoys movies that can also give criticisms that are obviously subjective to his own opinions. Anyways I just wanted to rant about him lol
My ratings are so inconsistent, I just go with whatever number my gut is saying the instant I finish the book...
Such an interesting video! For me it's:
1 = Hated it
2 = Didn't like it
3 = Liked it
4 = Loved it
5 = New favourite of all time
I’m so inconsistent. Some days 5 stars means perfect (kinda rare) and other days it means there was stuff I didn’t like in it but it made me really really really really excited when I finished it
I’m a simple person-I see Percy Jackson in the thumbnail, I click.
Dam right!
omg was gonna write the same comment
@@annabelecassarole8020 ahaha dam nice
@@annabelecassarole8020 Did Mr D choose your username
@@annabelecassarole8020 Did Mr. D choose your username
This is part of why I prefer platforms like The Storygraph to Goodreads. They don't put as much emphasis on star ratings and more of an emphasis on moods attached to a book, pacing, character development, and focus on the flaws of the characters. With their rating system all of these things are included as something that can be rated or accounted for pertaining to the book in some way. It lets me as a reader more easily determine if a book is for me based on the reviews of other people. Highly recommend the site. It's still in beta and set to launch officially in January 2021 but runs super well for something in beta. They also take user feedback heavily into consideration for how their site runs and what features they include.
I like ratings as long as people have a clear indication of what their ratings specifically mean. Personally, my ratings are purely based on my enjoyment of a book, so I like rating books with the disclaimer that my rating is purely based on my personal enjoyment.
That’s weird I thought Lies of Locke Lamora was going to be a 6/5
You're making very solid points about rating systems here! Reading is indeed one of the most subjective forms of art consumption and there are infinite nuances to ratings. Hence, I pay much more attention to the reviews underneath the stars and videos like yours. Despite being a picky reader, I gain no joy from hating a book. If I pick it up, I legitimately hope that it's a match made in heaven and solid reviews help warn me of anything that I might find particularly distasteful. So, keep doing you!
For me i use goodread stars based off my enjoyment opposed to how good it may or may not be technically good. So for me its
1- i should have DNF'd
2- was ok...but not memorable at all
3-was alright, not glued to the book but good enough i'd read a sequel
4-really good, enjoyable
5- reserves for books i cant put down OR the world/story i love and appricate (i.e classics i have to put down but i love still)
My rating system:
1/5- Books I HATE so much. Hot garbage. The one star isn’t the author’s, it’s the publishers because of how clever they were in making me waste my money on a pathetic piece of work. They are books with premises I’m not interested in, and are not executed well. I believe that even if the premise isn’t something I would gravitate towards, if the book is good enough, I’d really enjoy it. I hate the characters so much.
2/5- Books with GREAT premises that would draw me in, VERY POOR execution. If you’re gonna do something I like, do it well, or I’ll hate your simply for tricking me and wasting my time. Also, the characters here are just horrible. Not great at all.
3/5- A good book, it was going so well and I had a lot of fun reading it until SOMETHING happened in the end. The premise may or may not interest me, and it was going so well, but certain GLARING decisions were made along the way that annoyed me to no end. This rating can also go to books in a series that had very many big issues, like the author didn’t care at all for what he was doing.
4/5- A book with a great premise I’d gravitate towards, executed well, but I didn’t feel that spark or shout my head off in the middle of the night as I read the book because something made me so happy. Well written characters that I’d get attached to, however, I’d easily forget them when I read a new favorite as the characters don’t have much longevity with me. This is as far as books with premises that do not interest me but are executed really well can go, because at the end of the day, the premise isn’t for me, I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I would’ve had it been somehow different. However, some books have broken this rule, and it only happens when the author is really talented enough to make me change my reservations about the premise.
4.5/5- these are books I LOVE so much, GREAT characters, GREAT story. This rating mostly goes to weaker books in my favorite series which weren’t entirely mediocre. With 4.5, they are books I had very many strong emotions about, I was crying, I was laughing, I was angry. HOWEVER, they are normally marred by structural issues that prevent it from being the best book it can be e.g. the pacing issues in Oathbringer.
5/5- books I LOVE so much, I’d be left thinking about for a very long time. I have no complaints about them. I may have a few nitpicks that really don’t make sense but the book is one of my favorites.
Ohh my God this is so accurate with my rating system like your 4 star rating is so me .when i really like a book but there was something missing there and i don't know what then i give that 4 star
I gotta start implementing this Rating system for my books
This!!! You described perfectly how my emotions work when assigning stars to my read books!
That's exactly the rating I'm using
When I read your rating, my first thoughts of 3.5 was HP and the Goblet of Fire and 4.5 HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
I like your rating very much! I think I will use yours when I am going to rate books
I'm very inconsistent with ratings. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't - As a general rule I don't really like giving ratings to books (or anything for that matter) as they are so incredibly subjective. I might read a book now and love it... and then come back to that some book in a few years and find it average. Thank you for sharing your opinions on this topic.
Thank you for doing a giveaway! So cool! I use ratings exactly the way you do, mainly because those are the descriptions of the rating system on Goodreads. If you hover over the stars on Goodreads, it tells you what each star represents. I don't know why it has become so subjective, when there is a definition for each star rating.
We use the same rating system! Idk why people have issues with 3 stars. There’s nothing wrong with a 3 star book 🤷🏻♀️
Because 60% is a D. 😀
@@Rogue_VI ahh but see that’s not how it works for five star ratings because then there’s two Fs!
5 = A
4 = B
3= C
2 = D
1 = F
C is passing lol!!
@@yessie5648 Percentage-wise, you would not have any C's unless you gave half stars. To get an A, you would need 4.5 stars and a C would require 3.5 stars.
@@Rogue_VI you explained it really well. I agree!
Thank you for the video! Stars are difficult to compare and that's why I prefer listening to the feedback and the discussion. In my case, the ending will influence how I rate the book and if I wait a few days, maybe I have a different number.
I like looking at other people's reviews only after I read that same book. I'm pretty wary of spoilers. So I like star ratings when I'm looking for recommendations. I like to add books to my tbr and once I've added them I don't look at the average ratings or synopsis for that book again until after I've read and rated it myself.
I really enjoy ur reviews!
I agree that rating is subjective! I've read few books others gave 5 stars to and they were 3 to me.
Instead I prefer to listen to for example your 3 pro 3 cons to help me decide if I would enjoy it or not.
If you are going to add rating, please continue with 3 pros and 3 cons format! Thanks!
I really appreciate you giving proper reviews instead of a rating focus. I don't always agree with you, Daniel or Elliot (my main booktubers) but I always love hearing your thoughts. Also thank you for your multi-genre recs. I'm willing to give any genre a go so you being a one stop shop for recs is so helpful!
I absolutely agree Merphy. When I see a book that either you or another reviewer I like the discussion. I also then look the book up and read the synopsis before I commit to the book. And as you say a person’s interpretation of the number can be a variable as your giving it.
Whenever I give a book a 3-star rating I feel the need to say "By the way, this means I still liked this book!" because some people seem to assume that a 3-star rating means I hated it.
For example, when I read the Grisha trilogy earlier this year, I gave books one and two 4-stars, then I gave Ruin and Rising 3-stars because there were certain things I had mixed feelings on (i.e. the ending). Someone messaged me to say "Oh wow, so would you say it's not worth reading?" when that definitely wasn't the case!
Great video. You bring up very good points and I completely understand your logic for not wanting to simply add a number to rate the book. It's more of an experience than a simple number.
For me - if a book would be a 1 or 2 star books then it is almost certain that I would DNF and I don't feel right about rating books that i've not finished. So 3 is pretty much the minimum for books that I enjoy enough to read (which is high praise considering the absurdity of my unread pile). I find most annoying people that want 5* to somehow represent perfection(impossible) instead of 'really super good'
I gave a book a 20/100 that I DNF'd. I gave it a score because I figure no score means I didn't even attempt to read it.
I've come to the stage where my day feels incomplete if I haven't watched ATLEAST ONE of your videos.... Love ya Merphy 😘
I have never liked giving a rating for books. I don’t rate my books on goodreads, just like you said, my feelings are so nuanced about a book that a number just can’t really describe it. I’d rather write down my thoughts than put a number.
The best reviews are stand alone that use the subject as a launching point. Every discussion benefits from opinions that add to the conversation. When I tune in to an influencer's review mostly I want to listen to that person. If I want to know what's in a book then I must read it.
I totally fall under the "see a rating and base wether not not I read it based on starts, not words" category and I had no idea! This really opened up my mind to not take ratings so seriously. This had great points, I loved it!
i enjoyed this video so much! i liked listening to how you rate your books because I've always found rating books so hard and it was really cool seeing you explain it in a way that makes sense :)
I totally agree with everything you said here. I sometimes end up just not rating a book I feel conflicted about, because it stresses me out more than it's worth. And you're absolutely right to say that it's so much more important to know HOW somebody arrived at that rating. If I'm unsure about a book, I will read both positive and negative reviews to see what things are being praised and criticised. If multiple people say they found the pacing too slow or they didn't like that the characters were kind of horrible people, then I am very likely to still get the book because I enjoy slower/medium pacing and have no problem with morally dubious characters. If the positive reviews are saying "I loved this character because they were so sassy/spunky, didn't take shit from anyone", I am not as likely to enjoy that character as they were.
Basically, like with many things, context is so important for ratings. Context is sexy in general.
You have a lot of great points here. I think it would be beneficial for more channels on BookTube to discuss how they view their rating system. It’s so much easier to understand how they feel about a book when that is explained. Great rant!
I love these discussion videos, and thanks for explaining your system! It's so funny, ours is practically the same! Maybe I've just watched you for so long that I knew what it was and just implemented it as my own:)
I give a rating based on the audience
A A - anyone anytime
GM - group movie
Mmi - me myself & I
Ud - undecided
Nb - No body
Interesting rating system!
My rating system is:
One star: Hated it
Two stars: Eh. Not good. Not horrible though.
Three stars: Meh. It was okay.
Four stars: Good one-time experience
Five stars: Amazing, would read again
Most books clearly fall into one of these categories, but there are some books, like you said, that totally challenge my system. Also, as you said, I know people that explicitly say they don't give five stars to any book because every book falls short of perfection. I also know people that would never, ever give a one-star review because they feel it is cruel.
I actually reread everything. Except my one stars.
@@melissateodola1887 - Wow! I don't have that kind of time, but go you. 😀
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
@@MagusMarquillin - That's a hilarious overstatement regarding this particular topic. Thanks for the laugh.
I understand your frustration with the rating system. I personally always keep in mind where my recommendations come from so I can scale their ratings to my personal tastes (if you follow a person for a while, you can usually make an educated guess.)
i'm so with you! ratings are so subjective and it's frustrating, especially for places like goodreads where less than a 4 means a book is meh. some of my faves are in the 3-something, and i've really disliked some that are almost 5.
tbh i rarely put 1 or 2 because if a book is that off for me i straight up DNF! we're here for a good time, not a long time!
I have to say, I buddy read This is how you lose the time war on your discord and I hated it SO much, but I felt bad about rating it one star (and I couldn’t give it any more) that I wrote a goodreads review without a rating because I felt bad for the authors...
I struggle constantly with my own rating system and frequently go back and edit ratings of previous books. But I kind of like it! It's just one more way to think critically about what I read and analyze why I like/dislike things and why. :) But sometimes that feels like time I could better spend reading more books!
I find the most frustrating thing about giving ratings, say for example on a site like Netflix, is that I often want to give half stars - I often feel many things fall somewhere inbetween the description for the star ratings. So sometimes something is rated too high or low (or not at all) because I can't give a half star.
I also notice when people are allowed to vote that some will deliberately troll something that say is a polarizing movie/subject/whatever and they'll try to tank a rating with one star for something that most people at least like because they want to sabotage it or promote something else they feel is better in a similar category.
Idk why but I thought this would be a roast of anime power-rating systems and I was here for it
It might help to give sub ratings to elements of the book, like your enjoyment, pacing, structure, characters development, prose. Whatever impacts your overall rating so we can see how it averages like enjoyment can be a 5 but was brought down by pacing and structural problems or focus on a character you don't like, etc. Might help people get a clearer picture of what you are weighing into the final score
U.S. only :(
On a different note, I agree that rating stuff ia hard, especial when you have to balance enjoyment with respect/influence.
Edit: I don't rate books in my reviews, I just state how I feel about the book/comic. I do however keep a list with everything I've read and a rating from 0/10 with 0,5 intervals and I revisit it every once in a while to update my thoughts. While I do use all the numbers, it's rare that I read something all the way through and I find it below avarage (and it's actually only happened a couple of times this year). Anyway, sorry for the rumbling edit (also, I just joined the discord).
I agree One million percent with you.
I really wish you stand your ground. Stomp your feet, and do away with rating :)
I rate books with stars, but I use a decimals as well, so it could 4.2 stars, 3.4 etc. Idk if that overcomplicates it but for example sometimes adding half a star will seem like too little, but going to the next star seems like too much, so I rate it in between
A wonderful Merphy rant this morning!
On a 5 star rating (like on Netflix site) I wish I could give some books or movies a zero rating, but 1 is the minimum.
Also, I'd rather use a 10 star rating scale since 3.5 is often not a valid choice I can pick whereas I can easily rate a book/movie 7/10.
Totally agree with everything you said.
Another thing I don't like about rating systems, especially on goodreads, is that it mostly evens out. People tend to mostly rate the books they like, while only a few rate the books they don't like. This results in a lot of books averaging out somewhere between 3,5 and 4,5 stars, which still doesn't tell me which books are rrreeeeeaaalllyyy good.
I feel you on this. I've been toying with the idea of doing something similar to Daniel's 10 point system. Currently I use the 5 star system but will go up in quarter increments
I've seen a lot of other youtubers drop their rating systems for the exact same reasons recently. I fully support this and I think it's a very constructive change to your reviews
I usually don't do ratings. I rated the books that I read this year in my Goodreads reading challenge mainly so I could remember how much I liked each one throughout the year to measure how the year went readingwise.
That's very interesting! I was recently thinking about this when I rated the Adrien English Mysteries 5/5 even though the mystery itself is probably more of a 3/5 for me. I ADORE these books for their characters and relationships. It completely overshadowed whatever I may have felt about the mysteries.
But that makes my rating probably a bit useless for someone looking for a good mystery!
My system:
5 stars: Loved. I'm pretty generous with my 5 stars, so this may be my most common ranking.
4: Enjoyed, but a few minor problems I couldn't get past
3: Meh. I was bored. Another common ranking, and probably the main one I use for my DNFs-- if I rate my DNFs at all.
2: Not bad enough to be one star, but certainly not good enough to be 3 stars. I rarely use 2 stars
1: Hate. Rage. Torture. All the things.
Oh no, I just recently impulse bought Anna And The French Kiss at Barnes and Noble (because it was a beautiful edition with sprayed edges). Don’t usually impulse buy books based on their cover, and this would be why
I agree! I stopped rating books because ratings are so arbitrary. I've found that I like to write down what I actually thought about a book instead of rating it, since it tells me more about my feelings on it than a rating does, if that makes sense? Like, a rating will give me a general sense, but it won't help me remember what I liked/didn't like about a book. That goes for other people's review as well - a review/discussion says so much more than a rating does and is more helpful when trying to decide if you want to read a specific book or not!
I completely agree with your rating system flaws. I also just want to thank you for the time you gifted me Warebreaker a few years ago and sorry I haven't had time to consistently follow your channel. You produce amazing content. I'm so happy for you.
Have you ever tried using the CAWPILE system by Book Roast? I love it because it averages out your 5 star rating based on your ratings of different categories (characters, writing, etc). I find it super helpful! She has a link to a spreadsheet that calculates it for you and I use that as an alternative to Goodreads.
Well, since you asked, yes I do use a system in Goodreads! I've even posted mine on my profile to help people understand why I give so many three star ratings.
1 Star= A book that I do not recommend, and must be seriously flawed in some way.
2 Stars= A book that I wouldn't recommend, though may be useful or entertaining when read by the right person.
3 Stars= A good book that may not stand out among it's genre, or may have certain flaws, but is nonetheless worth reading for those who are interested.
4 Stars= A book that stands out among the rest because of some special mastery in writing style, significance, or masterful presentation of ideas.
5 Stars= A timeless book that stands out as being especially significant and/or masterfully written; these are the books that others strive to replicate in their own writing, and are referenced as the golden standard that other books of the genre are measured against.
Coincidentally, I just uploaded my first BookTube review, and did not use a Rating System. :) I was going to, but after watching this, decided to try not using stars - I had been debating what each "star amount" meant, and this convinced me to try ditching it; super freeing.
You make some really good points here especially with how subjective ratings can be. I'll even admit that I've seen you rate books a certain star rating and because I didnt know what each star meant to you I would interpret it to mean what I rate it. Then again, I got to a point where I started rating books to be fair to the author (eg I'd give 3 starts to a book that wasn't for me but I felt bad for the author). Then I got to a point where I didn't want to do that anymore and went back to rating simply on my own enjoyment level.
For you, it's tough because - as you put it - ratings are subjective. It would be a lot easier if we all had just one hard rating system (kind of like a hard magic system) where we know the bounds and limitations.
Grated, of course, I always listen to your reasonings for your ratings and base your (eg monthly wraps) recommendations on what you have to say about the book. But I'll admit that if I see you give a book 1 star, because we have similar tastes I'll just not get the book because to me that has always meant you hated the book. It's a tough one Merph and I can only applaud you for doing this video. Not only to assist us (those who take your recommendations to heart) but also to shed light on the subjectiveness of it all. Xoxo.
I agree rating systems are so subject! I like to use them on goodreads as a base starting point if I am looking to get out of a reading slump. Most of the time, however, I do not look up ratings before reading.
I'm new but there's a reason why I subscribed to this channel. It's because you talk about the books you like. No hate on people who rate stuff, it's easy and each to their own. But like you said, ratings are subjective. I rarely follow trends and avoid mainstream stuff because it's not what I like and I dislike sexual content in general. That's why people talking about why they like a book is always more important to me than what number they give it.
I'm well aware that everytime I see a rating it's going to be completely subjective but I still love them. I love the experience of getting acquainted with a creator's rating system and how it translates to mine and my tastes.
I also agree that the way you review books doesn't necessarily need a rating and a number wouldn't necessary help me figure if the book is for me. But I do follow other people where it does accurately work as a recommendation scale.
I am thinking about trying out G from Book Roast’s CAWPILE rating system in the new year. I like how it seems to try to make the ratings more objective since you are rating different elements of the book and then will get an overall score.
I like your rants because you always have evidence to back your claims. I also struggle with the rating systems. A review is better than a rating.
To me, 5 stars is like "omg this was amazing, I *loved* it, it means so much to me, I can't get it out of my head, etc." I do not give out a lot of five star reviews. 4 is "I really liked it, I will pick up more by the author, this book made me happy, I will definitely read the sequel if there is one". 3 is "I liked it, I will probably pick up other stuff by the author, I may continue the series but I may not, when I finished this book I felt a degree of content." I rate most things 3 stars, I think. 2 is "it was okay, I may pick up another book by the author but maybe not, but really I just don't care that much about this book." I don't rate all that much stuff 2 stars because I basically have to be completely neutral about the book. Usually there's at least *something* that made me smile or I liked or whatever. Though I think most of my DNFs are 2 stars because I just don't care enough to read them, but I don't feel the need to hate them either? And then 1 star is "I disliked this book. I may even hate it." It can mean I wanted to throw this book against the wall, or I don't understand why this was published. But it doesn't have to be that strong. Sometimes it just means that I...didn't like it, it probably wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't the book for me.
Rating systems are really subjective, and I do feel for you that people are like "where's the number!!" when you just want to discuss the book. But like to me, sometimes I feel it's easier to rate a book than discuss it? Especially books with 2-3 stars: I just didn't feel all that strongly about them, so I don't usually have much to say. I have to say what I prefer on Storygraph to Goodreads is that on Storygraph you can rate things in decimals (3, 3.25, 3.5, 3.75 stars for instance), whereas on Goodreads I usually end up rounding up.I have some books on Goodreads for instance that were more than 4 stars, but they don't really quite earn the 5 star rating because *those* books tend to be really special to me, so I'd like to give them partial stars.
Thanks for the video, it was really interesting!
You could also just start with the rating and then tell more about the details of your feelings, that way the rating won't be the last word and stick as much
I saw that Sabriel by Garth Nix was on your “to-read” list and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I would love to see some sort of review of it on your channel. I feel like it is not nearly widely known to the extent that its merit would deserve.
I don’t like assigning numbers either. So I get it. Take em away again! I care more about the discussion than a number. Moreover, I like to hear what about the book made someone else like it, up to and including mild spoilers. Sometimes, that little mild spoiler is what just absolutely hooks you and now you HAVE to read it.
I have the EXACT same feelings about rating systems and i very rarely talk about star ratings in my videos (unless it's a five star and I super duper loved it... then I might [not-so] casually mention it). But it's definitely very subjective and also not even having half stars on goodreads frustrates me to no end!!! But I feel like a lot of times (at least in the states) we're so used to being bombarded with ratings and ALSO that average is not good (when is the last time anyone ever actually considered an average C grade good in schools?) that it almost automatically colors how we read and approach literature.
Honestly, I give more value to how you describe the book than to the rating you give it when deciding whether it's a book for me, but I still find the rating extremely interesting.
I use all 5 stars.
I really agree with your frustration on this topic. I have been really rethinking how I rate things. I used to be one of those people that a 3 was I really didn’t like it and that was almost never. I gave out 5 stars to everything I really enjoyed. I have been trying to think about it more critically and give out more 3s. I have more 5s on goodreads than anything other number and that honestly bothers me. I completely agree with how it can be so hard to figure out if I want to read something based on the rating because it’s so subjective! I’ve been trying to decide if I want to go back and change some of the 5 stars I have given in the past. I definitely have reread books and changes the rating after. One that has really been nothing me is Anna. Especially after watching you rant about it recently I’m realizing just how uncomfortable I am with the cheating element. I remember feeling a little off about it when I read it the first time but I guess found a way to justify it because I gave it a 5, like what?! I’ve been thinking about rereading it to see for sure how bad it actually is and how I feel about it now. I am a pretty big rereader lol but yeah rating is really frustrating 😕
HA! You will eventually get used to your new schedule :)
I use AAAAALLLLLL the stars and have no problem with using them. The star ratings are just a guideline for me, an initial first impression so to speak. I will still read the books blurb and reviews before making up my mind to add to the tbr (because as you said, star ratings are subjective)
I always try to leave it a week after I've finished a book before I rated it, because rating it too soon can kind of artificially inflate the rating because I'm still semi in that world. Which also means I only remember to do ratings maybe half of the time. But if I can't even really remember them by then, 2*, but didn't throw the book at the wall or anything, so not 1*.
My rating system is pretty close to yours. 3 means I enjoyed it, 4 means I really liked it, and 5 is I really loved it. I don't give out many 1 or 2 stars because if a book is fitting into those, I probably will dnf it instead. I agree that ratings can be really hard. Thanks for explaining what yours mean - that will be helpful in the future.
I hated rating for few months for the exact same reason. I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I found factual inconsistencies in the book couple of times which I didn't like, but I loved the protagonist who has visible flaws and makes terrible choices again and again that clearly reveals his insecurities and his need to fulfill the character arc. I never felt a huge part of my personality represented so accurately. This makes this book incredible for me. It was almost impossible for me to reduce the rating below the maximum, yet it is not flawless.
I get you, I rather discuss the book than give a dry number, I just do it because I have to complete tasks but don't care about rating. For example My dark Vanessa made me really mad half way through, but I stopped and told myself that it was kind of the idea, for me to be uncomfortable and pissed, to ponder, to think about the plot. Sometimes having strong negative feelings make a good book, it made you feel.
I agree ratings are difficult. I tend to rate things with a similar mindset as you. I wish Goodreads had more stars or half stars though. Thanks for not going into spoilers for Rhythm of War. My copy still haven't arrived 😫
I quit rating things after an anime made me feel mixed feelings for over 6 months. The plot is just a bunch of nothing but yet the story was so real that made me think a lot, so I realize that rating something is nonsense. What do you rate, the hype? Your feelings watching/reading it? Your feelings after watching/reading it? How much do you appreciate it?
PS: Nice vid :))
Which anime is that?
My rating system is pretty simplistic. It comes down to whether or not I’d recommend it to someone: yes, no, or a shoulder shrug. I’m happy to talk about my enjoyment of a book, my personal take, but I can’t really give it a rating. Loved the video and really agree with what you said.
YES THANK YOU. This is why I stopped giving numbers on my channel. As you said, I feel it's the least helpful thing in a review. Not to mention, sometimes you expect different things from different authors (like a 4 from Sanderson is different from a 4 from another author that had different expectations of, for example). Or how do you rate adult books and middle grade in a way that is at all consistent when they are so different and for different audiences? Idk I found it so hard to try and give a number so I just stopped hahaha
Ratings are sooooo subjective. I still struggle with the way a book is structurally put together and how it executes things, but also how I respond to that and how I feel in general (as in, emotions it illicits in me) and then... translating that into a 1 to 5 star rating. I definitely use all of my stars but I reiterate that 3 isn't bad. 2 or 1 are bad, 3 is just okay or enjoyed or middle of the road. I'd still absolutely recommend a book I gave a 3. :D
Yes! Rating systems are frustrating! I don't like the goodreads rating system because I feel like there is too big of a range inside each category. Sometimes i will have a book that is a low four, almost a three, and sometimes the books will be really close to a five. Putting them at the same level just feels wrong and doesn't accurately express what I thought of the book.
Completely agree! I end up rating books based on how they made me feel so sometimes I feel guilty because I know the trash romance wasn't a masterpiece but I did end up just hugging my phone out of joy.
I don't like to rate things. There are a ton of websites that are convenient to see how much people like whatever, but I honestly have such a hard time assigning a number to something I've read/watched/listened to. It's so hard to me to just pick a number and stick with it. There are going to be pros and cons to everything, so like you said, it doesn't cover the nuances. Furthermore, how you feel about something can change. Later on, you may like something more or less than you once did; recognizing strengths or flaws you didn't pick up the first time. Also like you said, ratings numbers mean different things to different people, so it can be very hard to know how someone feels about something just by the number they gave it.
I completely agree - rating systems are very arbitrary and sometimes people place too much importance on them. I use the standard 5 star system on Goodreads just to keep things simple, but I always review my books because I agree that the value is in the review, NOT the rating.
Personally, my rating system is the same as most people’s:
1 - Hated it/irredeemably bad
2 - Disliked it/wasn’t for me, but there were some redeeming equalities
3 - I liked it. It wasn’t fantastic, it wasn’t terrible. I’d recommend this to others but it’s probably not something I’ll remember.
4 - I really, really liked it. These are usually some of my favourite books; books with great writing, plot, characters etc. But they just didn’t give me that feeling inside that a 5 star book does
5 - AMAZING! These are the books that significantly impact me, that resonate with me on a deep level and that I had a memorable and fantastic reading experience with.
I mostly give out 3 and 4 stars, and rarely/never give out 1 star. The star rating that seems to be most subjective, in my experience, is 3 stars. I have had people in the past comment that a book must be terrible or I must’ve really disliked it to give it 3 stars. But for me 3 stars is a good rating, it means I liked it but had lots of mixed feelings.
I like to use all my stars so that I keep your three star as my two, and three as your four and four are amazing books and five are books that are favourites and not ones I disliked anything about or made me feel the most. One star are books I just didn't like and normally have some major problem with or just so could not read it for writing etc.
I love me a good rant! Also, please read and review the False Prince!
I don't really have much of a rating system. I have 3 or 4 categories:
1 Hated it, wouldn't read again if someone paid me to. Come Sundown by Nora Roberts fits into this category.
2 It was ok, but bordering on worse. Maybe has one or two redeeming aspects but nothing I'd re-read.
3. Something I don't have strong feelings about, but I lean toward liking it.
4. I loved it so much I'll read it multiple times. Very few books fit into this category. Some examples would be Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier and Before The Frost by Henning Mankell. I've read the latter 5 or 6 times.
Me sees notification that merphy napier posted: Let’s click!
Me sees Percy is in the thumbnail: he probably doesn’t have a part in this video but let’s definitely click.
me sees title: oh me let’s *CLICK!*
I get that feeling. No matter how objective I try to be, I always end up feeling I rated it too high or too low, especially with my favourites.
I reduced the number of stars in my reviews to just three, because I feel it gets overly complicated. For example, you mentioned (in your hilarious rant) why you sometimes give half stars. It's good to have nuance, but I like to simplify. So, here's my "rating system":
* Nope, not for me.
** It's OK.
*** LOVED IT.
I'll let you know my rating system when I figure it out.
I started the year trying a new approach of rating various aspects of a novel (e.g. writing style, plot, characters, etc), and then I would average the numbers. Actually, I weighted each aspect relative to it's importance to me, then used that to calculate the rating. Needless to say, I stopped doing that largely bc it felt so convoluted.
hello, great video, I enjoyed it, it's interesting your way to rate books and I have this feelings when I read some books that you read you feel attach to it 'cause of the history or the character even sometimes you want to read more about a specific character.
I totally agree that rating systems are subjective. My twin sister and I have different views on what we think a star means, which can get confusing.