I know someone who gets greatly distressed by my book ratings on Goodreads. If I rate a book that she wanted to read less than 4 stars, she has a tendency to take it off her TBR.
This has led to several discussions:
- It is ok to form your own opinions on things regardless of what others think
- Other people can not like books that you liked
- You need to know what people mean by each rating
That’s where I think book ratings are essentially meaningless unless you know the exact definitions of each rating that the person is using. I only give out 3, 4, and 5 stars. Generally if I don’t like a book enough to consider giving it 2 stars or less, I’m going to DNF it.
- 3 stars – I finished it. It was entertaining at the time but now I’m moving on and probably won’t remember much about it. This is most books.
- 4 stars – I’ll remember something about this book
- 5 stars – I’ll go out of my way to recommend this to people
But I’ve heard other people say that their definition of 4 stars is similar to my 3 stars. They give 3 stars to a book they finished and didn’t like. If you don’t know which one of us you’re talking to, a star rating is pretty meaningless.
That’s why I took star ratings off any reviews I do on the blog. I still put them on Goodreads (and probably lower the average, sorry) but just because it asks for them and it helps me remember if I liked the book.
