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Smiling Shelves

When Do You Decide What Rating to Give a Book?

4/26/2017

11 Comments

 
Every time I finish reading a book, I rate it on Goodreads. I like to look back over books I've read, and rating them is an easy way to see which books were stand-out reads for me. It takes a lot for a book to be given a five-star rating, but there's a fair amount of leeway between three stars and four stars for me. This is often the hardest decision - I liked the book, but did I like it enough to give it a four-star rating?

There are two books recently where I realized I was thinking about my rating while I was reading the book, and that thought process was the same for both books. When I got to the middle, I figured they were each solid three-star reads for me so far. But I knew that whatever the ending was could bump it up to four stars for me. (The two books, in case you're curious were Moloka'i by Alan Brennert and Uprooted​ by Naomi Novik. Moloka'i ended up with three stars; Uprooted with four.)

The very fact that I was having this thought process while reading surprised me. I hadn't realized I thought so much about the ratings. And then it made me curious. At what point in your reading process do you decide what rating to give a book? Do you wait until you're completely finished (which is what I thought I did, but apparently not always)? Can you tell by the middle what rating it will be? Have there been any books that you thought you knew how you were going to rate it, and then the ending changed your opinion completely?

​Please add your thoughts in the comments. I'm really curious to know how other readers approach this!
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11 Comments
Christine @Buckling Bookshelves link
4/26/2017 01:58:01 pm

I don't think I consciously rate as I read, but I do certainly think in terms of whether I hate it (which would be a 1*), don't like it/am vey "meh" about it (2*) like it (3*), really like it (4*), or love it (5*) as I go along. I'm very conflicted lately about rating solely on my enjoyment though and will admit I've just not rated some books that I know are well done/important but I can't untangle that aspect of it from my personal feelings about my reading experince. It can be a conundrum!

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
4/30/2017 04:39:56 pm

I've chosen not to rate a book on Goodreads sometimes too, especially if it's a classic (and especially if I hated it). It's so hard to rate something when you can see the literary merit, but didn't really like the book!

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Kate @ Opinionated Book Lover link
4/26/2017 02:57:09 pm

I definitely think about the rating from the very beginning of a book. I'm usually settled on my rating by about the midway point. I try not to let great endings (or bad beginnings) change my rating. I need to be enjoying a book all the way through to give it 4 or 5 stars.

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
4/30/2017 04:41:30 pm

That's interesting that you try not to have a great ending affect your rating when it can affect mine so much. I love how every reader is different. I resonate with your last sentence, especially for five stars books. If I'm not enjoying it from beginning to end, there's no way it's getting a five star rating! :)

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Lois link
4/26/2017 09:35:01 pm

I think I subconsciously think about it.... especially as I get towards the end. I know there have been a few books where I thought "oh this going to be such and such a rating" but then something would change it to a lower rating.

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
4/30/2017 04:43:11 pm

There are definitely endings that would lower my ratings, too. Especially if the character did something that I didn't agree with or didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. Endings are always surprising! :)

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Emily link
4/27/2017 07:57:34 am

I occasionally think about the star rating while I'm reading a book, and I can definitely relate to the feeling sometimes that how much I enjoy or rate a book will hinge on how it concludes!

I'm pretty liberal in my ratings. For me, 5 stars doesn't mean "my favorite books of all time" but just that I think the book is an excellent example of whatever niche genre it might be in.

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
4/30/2017 04:45:04 pm

That's a good point. My ratings tend to depend more on my personal opinion of the book, rather than taking its literary merit into account. Although there are some books that I've given higher ratings, not because I've loved them, but because I can see that they are a good book, irrespective of my opinion.

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Kirk
4/27/2017 12:38:53 pm

I agree with Emily! That's usually how I handle ratings. Lol, my Goodreads ave is 4.0.

I read a ton of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. It might not be 5 star Lit, but if the author really gets a character right or in an interesting light, then a five might be given. A recent one really deserved​ a 3-4 overall, but two really nice scenes pushed it to a 5.

Lol, another JA fan fiction rating issue is "knowing" the author on FB or Twitter. I always give the benefit of doubt there. The last one was probably 4-4.25 but 5 it did get.

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Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
4/30/2017 04:47:12 pm

Knowing the author can affect a rating for sure! :)

Wouldn't it be nice if we could rate pieces of a book? Like, this character/scene deserves five stars, but the rest of the book only four. Might make Goodreads rather complicated, but the ratings would be a lot more accurate! :)

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Jenna @ Falling Letters link
5/16/2017 05:35:45 pm

I only rate books after I've finished them. Sometimes I will think about rating while reading, as you did - when I'm wondering if it'll be a three or four star read :P I remember being so certain I would give The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland a four star rating that I rated it when I was only 75 pages in. It never picked up, though, so I downgraded to three stars by the end.

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    My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.

    You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com.

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