As a reader, I love Goodreads. I especially love seeing the reviews by my friends because that often means I discover books I wouldn’t have read otherwise.
But I am also an author, and I have struggled with putting ratings on books. So for a long time, I only rated my 5 star reads. All other books, many of which I loved, got a review but no rating. The problem with that is, I don’t get an accurate picture of the books I’m reading. I love Goodreads’ “year in review” reports, and putting ratings on only my 5 star reads gives me an average rating for my reading year of … 5 stars. That’s not an honest picture. For instance, my average rating for 2022 so far is actually 4.4 stars, not 5.0 stars.
Recently, I read a blog post about how to write interesting reviews. I don’t know if I will ever take the time to craft longer, more detailed reviews than the ones I currently write, but the post did suggest using one’s own rating system.
Goodreads equates 1 star with “I didn’t like it,” 2 stars with “It was ok,” 3 stars with “I liked it,” 4 stars with “I really liked it,” and 5 stars with “It was amazing.” I understand what the “amazing” one means, but what does “I really liked it” mean? It just isn’t descriptive enough. You might mean something quite different when you say you “really liked” something than what I mean when I say it.
I can’t change what Goodreads means, but I can explain better what I mean. Enter “Robin’s Ratings.” From now on, here’s what those stars mean to me:
5🌟 = Out of this world. Amazing. Unforgettable. A personal favorite.
4🌟 = Excellent read. Couldn’t put it down. Will recommend to others.
3🌟 = It kept me engaged/entertained. Glad I read it.
2🌟 = The book was fine but not a favorite. Just a matter of personal taste.
1🌟 = For whatever reason, this book didn’t engage me.
I plan to paste the above legend at the end of my reviews wherever I post them so people will understand my personal rating system.
Do you like to review the books you read on Goodreads? Are we Goodreads friends? You can find me on Goodreads here.
~robin
I always review every book I read. I don’t pick a book to read unless I’m sure I’ll like it (from the description). Most of mine are 5⭐️ Or 4⭐️
I influence or review for lots of authors.
Thanks, Gail. I’m a lot like you. Most of the books I read earn a 4 or a 5. But not all, which was why I needed to define what the numbers mean to me.
I love your ratings scale. It lines up more with what I think of those stars. I might snitch your scene to use with my reviews.
I often rate without an actual review. My goal this year is to write a review for every book I read.
Good luck with writing those reviews. Once you get in the habit, I think you’ll like doing it.
I like your rating system. I think I’ll do that, too.
It was fun writing down the words that expressed what I think when using the ratings. Have fun with it.
Your book “The forgiving hour” gets a 5 star from me. It is the best Christian fiction book I have ever read! “Catching Katy” was also a book that I really liked.
Carol, your comment definitely warms my heart. THE FORGIVING HOUR holds a special place among the books I’ve written. And Katie, from CATCHING KATIE, is one of my favorite heroines. She was such a fun character to write. Thanks for sharing.