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Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings, where the blog's owner Heidi discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging. Weigh in and join the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments. If you want to do your own post, grab the question and answer it on your blog.
Here is what is on deck this week:
GOODREADS REVIEWS: DO YOUR ROUND YOUR RATINGS UP OR DOWN? DO YOU THINK IT MATTERS?
First off, as you may be aware of by now, I'm team half stars, so I hate that GR doesn't have that option. And when on GR, I always state it in my review when a book gets the additional half star from me. Yes, because...I always round my ratings down. My reasoning is, if a book gets 5 stars from me, it's because I love it with a vengeance, while if I rate a book 4.5 stars, it lacks that extra oomph (as small as it can be) that makes an absolute favourite out of it. Consequentially, I can't bring myself to click on the fifth GR star, and that affects all my lower ratings (I can't give a fourth star to my 3.5 star books, etc.). I mean, all those half-star books lacked something for me - and yep, they were slightly better than they 4, 3, 2, even 1 star counterparts, but the most important thing for me is, they weren't good enough to earn that higher rating.
I know that authors hate this mentality (well, most of them probably do). Some have even spoken their mind about the subject, which wasn't well received on my part. I mean, I do understand their reasoning - stars have a strong visual impact, especially since there are people who don't read (many) reviews - but the fact is, I don't rate and review books for authors...I do it for myself. And of course for the other people who haven't read those books yet, but I would feel like a cheater if I rounded my ratings up just because someone may get scared by a 3-star graphic.
Well, that's it for now. And if you're interested in participating, here is the TMST prompt list for the rest of May and the month of June:
I know that authors hate this mentality (well, most of them probably do). Some have even spoken their mind about the subject, which wasn't well received on my part. I mean, I do understand their reasoning - stars have a strong visual impact, especially since there are people who don't read (many) reviews - but the fact is, I don't rate and review books for authors...I do it for myself. And of course for the other people who haven't read those books yet, but I would feel like a cheater if I rounded my ratings up just because someone may get scared by a 3-star graphic.
Well, that's it for now. And if you're interested in participating, here is the TMST prompt list for the rest of May and the month of June:
- May 12th: Name some of your favorite book friendships
- May 19th: If a book disappoints you by an author that you read for the first time, how likely are you to try that author again?
- May 26th: What are your summer reading plans?
- June 2nd: Summer Picks 2020
- June 9th: Summer love: what do you love about summer?
- June 16th: Do you tag authors in your (overall) positive reviews? How do you feel about authors not acknowledging them or opting out? (I submitted this one)
- June 23rd: blog break - no post
- June 30th: blog break - no post
I'll be back for the meme on June 9th, with a very personal take about summer...😉
Now tell me something...how do you cope with the lack of a half-star option on Goodreads? and are you team half-stars (or even quarter-of-stars) at all?
I definitely round my ratings downgrades. Chances are, if a book hasn’t completely blown me away, but I still very much enjoyed it, it’s still getting 4 stars. Idk, I’m very picky about what gets five stars!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I get that!
DeleteI really love your reasoning behind your ratings, I think it makes sense, not to mention that it's everyone's right to decide how they rate their books. So authors speaking up about rounding down is annoying, to say the least. :| You know I don't use half stars, so it's not just my goodreads rating that I'm rating up or down, it's my final rating in general. I think I decide based on a case by case basis, and yes, sometimes that means that my bias or love for an author/series plays into it. But, like you, I rate and review for myself and then for others. (Also, if I actually review something, I'll always show the negatives too even if I rounded my rating up to five.)
ReplyDeleteRe.: authors: It was kind of annoying, though as I said, I do understand where they're coming from.
DeleteI know you aren't half-star team...I can't decide if they make our life easier or harder LOL. I mean, they make MINE easier, but I understand your reasoning about not wanting to split hairs. And that's true that even 5-star books aren't necessarily perfect!
I usually round up, but every now and then, I round down. In those cases, it's because I can clearly find something that bugged me, and I believe the book rates closer to the lower rating.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes. I did notice that you state it in your review if there's any half star involved! Yay for team half-star! 😉
DeleteI love that you have a great reason behind the way you rate books. It makes a lot of sense that you would round down, based on that. I guess I rate books a similar way - I use half-stars as well, but I don't stick to either rounding down or rounding up, as bad as that is, lol. I guess my conclusion is that I actually rate with quarter-stars, because I go off my gut feeling when choosing to round up or down.
ReplyDeleteAnd like you say, I rate books for myself, so I'm not going to feel guilty about that :') I do wish we had half-stars on Goodreads though, it would be a lot easier for me.
It's not bad at all! I mean, unless one looks at the ratings and gets scared by all the 3-star ones (as opposed to 4)...I mean, ratings just give a general idea of the book, but unless one reads a number of reviews, they shouldn't count that much (says she who agonises over half stars 😂).
DeleteI don't care much for GR anymore but I do understand your point and I agree with you and I too would not round up my ratings. I prefer that reviewers don't go for the higher rating because it's not accurate, not when you really want to give half stars.
ReplyDeleteI actually do not understand why they bother with the star ratings at all because most some fans would give a book a five star simply because they are a fan of that author. So I don't think I can trust 5-star reviews anyway.
I don't usually read the 5-star reviews, at least not on GR. I'm more into reading the reviews that has 1-stars or lower because they seem more honest in my opinion.
Have a lovely day.
I'm like you - I don't trust 5-star ratings that much (though I've given lots of honest ones), and I'm more inclined to read reviews with lower ratings...also because sometimes they point out supposed faults in the book that are points in its favour for me.
DeleteYes, I understand your point. But I tend to rate in full stars only. 5 for absolute best. 4 for good but not there. 3 for Good. I don't review books I don't like.
ReplyDeleteSo you only leave a rating on GR and other sites or nothing at all?
DeleteI am not team half stars so there is no rounding up or down for me and I really don't mind. I think if I could have a half star I would want a 3.5 star. However, since we don't have them I just don't use them at all... But I can see how it must be frustrating for people who would like the half star rating system!
ReplyDelete3.5 is the crucial point for me as well! It seems to me that there are lots of good books that don't deserve a "mere" 3-star rating, but that aren't quite worth 4 (of course, it's subjective, but you and many others seem to have the same problem when it comes to 3 and 4). Then again, you're lucky you don't feel the need of half stars really LOL. They can be a headache...
DeleteI'm like you - I round down, and I personally feel that with a 4.5 and 5, there's quite a difference to be made as I feel 5 are my absolute favorites. 4.5 is close enough and will more than often land in my favorites list though, while 3 seems to be my base. I've definitely considered removing ratings all together, considering all the layers involved with it, and just having a review like my movie/TV show reviews.
ReplyDeleteI think, yes, there is that visual impact, but there are often other factors at play, especially with marginalized authors. Oftentimes we'll see an AOC call out problematic behavior... only to get a parade of low ratings. But that's a different conversation. There's also that higher expectation as well - marginalized groups, including authors are expected to do twice the work as their white counterparts, even though had that same book be published under a white author, it would be a higher rating. But that's also a different conversation.
You're making an interesting point I didn't think of. I can safely say that my ratings (or reviews) aren't impacted by that kind of bias (for instance, I recently read a book by an AOC with POC in it, and despite some hiccups, I was as generous with my rating as I would have been with a white author, while my upcoming review states all the things that, to me, the book did well in the rep department...even more than in the rest of the story), but I guess, for many readers, it happens...maybe without them even knowing.
DeleteI should also add though, at the end of the day, ratings are subjective, much like reviews. They're more based on the person's thoughts and opinions and experiences with the book, and while they may have one experience with it, another may be different.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we shouldn't get so hung-up on ratings (or even reviews, for that matter...though they still count more than ratings...or they should LOL). But authors are on the line, so of course they will - some more than others. I respect them and hear their pain and worry and everything, but rounding up feels insincere to me. I'm not here to give them a pat on the back, especially with my ratings...though with my reviews I always try to highlight what they did well, even when mentioning the things that didn't work for me.
DeleteI don't really do half stars on my reviews.
ReplyDeleteThat probably saves you some headaches LOL.
DeleteI agree with this, and even though I'm awful at using Goodreads ( a whole other topic lol) I would definitely wish they had a half star option too! And same with the whole purpose of stars/ reviews anyway- I do it for me and other bloggers, mostly. I don't do stars on my blog but I do for my own personal ratings in my notebook where I keep track of everything.
ReplyDeleteEven if some bloggers are comfortable with not having a half star options, GR should take pity on us who don't! LOL.
DeleteYou keep a notebook for bookish purposes?
Right! And yes I do haha! Ideas I have, star ratings for whatever I read, weird stuff I want to remember lol... that's where it all goes!
DeleteI commented here and I guess it was gobbled up?? lol
ReplyDeleteOh well, I don't remember what I said and now you've read my post so...just wanted to let you know I read this and enjoyed your thoughts, as always.
That's odd. Maybe Blogger hates us because we don't relent and use the new interface!!! 😂
DeleteAnyway...thanks 😘.
I have to admit that I have a weird relationship with ratings as I tend to get emotional. If I enjoyed a book I am willing to round it up, but when if I hated, I would certainly round it down. I think that's the reason why I don't use stars in the reviews I write on my blog. I will say what I liked and what I don't, but I won't rate it..
ReplyDeleteLOL. I do get emotional about the books I love, but when one doesn't work for me, I'm more likely to dissect it with surgical precision. It must feel liberating not to feel the need for stars!
Deleteoh yeah I wish GR had half stars. I think for me it depends on the book whether I round it up or down (aka if it only just scraped a half star, then I'm more likely to round down). most of the time, I've got to be honest I round up. That said, and this might be a little odd, for me it also depends on whether the book is getting a higher or lower rating (for lower ratings, I might be inclined to round up on GR and for higher ones I might want to round down- especially cos if I'm using the database and want to pick out my absolute favourites, I want the number of 5* books to be lower on there- so it makes complete sense to me that you can't bring yourself to round up a 4.5 star book!) And yeah I get that author's hate the mentality of not rounding up- but there's gonna be a good reason why I do it- like you, I don't rate it for authors and I don't want my ratings to be super skewed when I use them for my own stats (although I keep a separate database for myself now). Excellent discussion!
ReplyDelete"That said, and this might be a little odd, for me it also depends on whether the book is getting a higher or lower rating (for lower ratings, I might be inclined to round up on GR and for higher ones I might want to round down".
DeleteIt's not odd - I understand what you're saying. It's the same reason why I give 4.5-star books 4 stars, though I always round down. Wow, you have a separate database for yourself? You're even more serious about your reviews than I even gave you the credit for (and I gave you plenty 😉).
Thank you!