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OK, so here's the deal: You're reading this book, and it's is amazing for all the right reasons. Impeccable writing, great pacing, out of this world plot. But..but.. there's something ..missing. You're just not feeling it, you know? I mean, this book is right up my alley. I should be Googling whether it is illegal to marry a book or not. I should be huddled in my bed reading it or stalking the author, or buying every other single book they've written. But instead, I'm debating whether I should finish it or not. It's not holding my interest. I'm starting to doubt whether it is my mistake or not, or if I'll ever be able to love a book again. Anyhow, so I've managed to finish the book, but.. but.. I have to rate it. This was SUCH a good book, so I should probably go with 4 or 5. But then again, this was such a terrible book for me. But do readers really care about my personal preferences If I admit that this is a well written book, isn't that all that matters?
And for the next ten minutes, I start debating my choices. Then I make a cup of coffee, and debate my choices for another ten minutes.
There's only two solutions here, I could..
A) Go with my personal feelings, and give it a crappy rating, because obviously, this is MY review. I should state MY opinion. I might make a couple of people hesitant about this book, but whatever. I would state that I have no idea why I didn't like this book, which will make for a very incoherent review, but whatever. I am sticking to my feelings. Plus, if this didn't work out for me, it might not work out for other people. It's a good idea that I warn them.
or..
B) Give this a shiny 5 star review, because who really cares about what I think? If I know that this is a good book, that's all that matters. That's the whole point of rating books. Like, imagine if you are Simon Cowell, right? And this amazing boy comes up the stage and starts singing, and his voice is heavenly. The audience go crazy, your fellow judges are smiling at each other (and not at you because you are Simon Cowell and they probably hate you). But.. you're just not feeling it. Should you vote him off and kill his dreams just because you didn't have you morning cup of coffee? Of course not!
Now that you've seen both options, what would you do? Personally, I have faced that situation a thousand hundred times, and I almost always go with option B. Yeah I might state that I didn't like the book, but I don't know.. call it taste-unconfidence if you will. I think that just because this book didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for a ton others (and a lot of times it does) so I'm afraid I might drive people away by my low rating. That is not to say I'll pretend I loved the book's bones. I will probably say I didn't, but mention why I think you might like it. What I'm talking about here is the rating, not the review itself.
What would you do, you heavenly creatures?
Oh, and about that heavenly creature things. Don't freak out. It's just that I've decided to give you guys a new nickname every week. Next week's is humanized ice cream cones. (Take it as a compliment.)
I think I'm more likely to go with option A lol. If I don't feel a book I'm honest about it. I try to find the positives of it, but I can't bring myself to give it a five star rating. A part of me feels like I'd just be conforming if I did that. Does that make any sense lol? If I come across a book that was good, but it just didn't do it for me, I usually say that it didn't work for me, but it may work for you. Sometimes rating books is difficult since sometimes you don't want to put a number on it because a number may not be able to signify how good/bad the book was sometimes since you can feel mixed things towards a book, or it just doesn't feel right sometimes. I hope that made sense. Great post Reem :)
Humanized ice cream cones? The best nickname I ever have Thank you.
I'm an A) person. I feel like your at my blog, you know it's me, you're going to get my opinion. Even if I can't coherently explain what exactly threw me off, I'll give you a three paragraph explanation stating as much. I'll make sure to throw in the "But I think you guys will love this because of a) b) and c) and oh my gosh I'm just a weirdo". But I'll still state my weirdo dissatisfaction anyways.
I mean, what happens if you do option b) and then someone else stops by and is like "Oh my I loved it too!" and wants to talk allllll about how awesome that book is? Do you just keep faking your enthusiasm about the book?! I CAN"T DO THAT :P
Ha ha, love the nickname bit. Roll with it =D
So yes, when what you've just described happens with me, I go with option C which is to give myself to some time to mull over just exactly how much I liked the book. I mean I really liked Twilight when I first read it and then I gobbled up the rest of them. But I never really liked them and guess what, they're still left unrated. Oh well. I'm a procrastinator unless it's a new book I've read and I really need to review it. But mostly, I go with option A.
Option A. The rating would be a reflection of the review/thoughts on the book that I had included, listing why I liked or didnt like it. If I thought the book was so-so, the rating would be middle of the road to.
Hmm... I'll go with option A. I usually make it this way - 1 or 2 stars for a bad book (2 stars because I might have enjoyed something in it after all), 3 stars for an average book - for exactly what you're talking about; a good book, but there was definitely something missing. I never really hesitate, because even if I gave a 5 star rating to a book that didn't hold my interest to the very end, someone is bound to give it a 1 star rating. I don't bother being nice when rating. I say what I feel because I know that if I ever write a book (Unlikely with a capital U-N-L-I-K-E-L-Y), I'd want to hear people's honest opinions and not wonder, "God, are they saying/writing this just to be nice?!". My curioisity is a murderer anyway.
And I love the nickname. I feel special. I want to feel special. I deserve to feel special. You made me feel special. (I have to work on my motivational speeches :D:D:D).
Can I be a humanized ice cream cone nooooooooooow?! :O Or is it strictly reserved for next week? If so, I will patiently wait. And wait... and wait...
Is it next week yet? -_________-
You have no idea how many times I've come across this problem! Oftentimes I'm not as lucky - I'm not able to identify the thing that's "missing." It just feels like there's something not quite right, when everything else is great, but I just can't pinpoint what it is. But I almost always go with A. You're right: it's YOUR review, so you should state YOUR opinion. There've been a few times when I ended up hating a book while everyone else (I do mean everyone; I was the only person who gave it a one-star rating) loved it and gave it four and five stars. I think it's perfectly fine to give a book your honest rating, Reem. Don't care what others might think! And a worse case scenario would be like the one Asti mentioned: when someone wants to discuss the book with you and you have to fake your enthusiasm. That's going to be a bit hard, haha.
I'm not quite sure my comment made sense (I hope it did), but anyway. Don't be afraid! Just do what your heart tells you to do.
That was really cheesy. :P
I think I'd do the same thing, be honest within the review. I just always feel guilty when I'm giving a bad rating to a really good book. maybe I should try to separate the rating dilemma from the review dilemma? I completely agree about how rating can be difficult. I just put a rating according to my gut feeling, you know? It's like when I am halfway through the book I have already decided what I want to rate it.
Thanks for stopping by, Savindi :)
I know, it's one of the nicest nick names I ever gave anyone (it's because you guys are speshuuul :P)
I would probably do everything you mentioned, I mean if I'm writing a review, I will definitely state I didn't like it. But the rating? It's too confusing for me. I try to separate both things.
And oh my, that would be very awkward! :P Yeah, I can't pretend I liked a book either. I will say it is very good, but I'm the weird one out :)
Option C sounds awesome! I wish I could do it, but I have the habit of forgetting the points I wanted to include in a review because I wait too long. Taking notes help, but I have the memory of a fish :/ Yeah, I'm a terrible procrastinator too.
I try to separate my rating form my review, but I never succeed. I guess if it was a so-so book I would give it an average rating.
That's exactly what I do! The rating I hand out the most is 3 and a half stars. I've been reading a lot of average books recently.
And no trust me, I LOVE writing a bad review. I had to admit it, but they are so fun to write. And I'm still waiting on you to write a book. We have a lot of idea (shirtless Scots being the most important.)
You deserve to feel special, Eve. That you do.. so I guess I'll break the rules and say.. you ARE a humanized ice cream cone from now on! Go crazy! :P
I know! I hate it when I don't know what it is that makes me dislike a book. I want to be like one of those people who overly analyze stuff :P But yeah, I have given bad ratings when everyone else gave a good rating (the 5th wave was most recent). IT actually doesn't feel that bad. I become really happy when I see that someone shares my minority rating (even if it means that they didn't like the book too. Whatever :P)
But yeah, I always mention I didn't like the book as much as I should to avoid the awkward situation :P
And yes, your comment makes perfect sense! Thanks for stopping by, Meg :)
New follower, despite the fact that I'd *never* consider giving a book a high rating if I personally didn't find it (highly) wonderful!
I always state the reasons for my low rating, even if it's hard to pin them down. I mention that perhaps I haven't had my Wheaties, perhaps I drank too much the night before picking it up and read most of it with a killer headache, perhaps I'm just not a mystery fan so I shouldn't read mystery novels - but in the end, my rating is always my well-supported opinion, rife with examples of what I did or didn't dig.
You know what I *did* dig that made me follow your blog? "Humanized ice cream cones." You had me at "humanized ice cream cones"...
P.S. Here's my blog link (to this week's FF):
http://thepookapicks.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/feature-follow-friday-3/
Yeah, here's the thing with me. I might consider a book wonderful without really liking it, so that's why I am always confused :P
LOL, glad you like that nickname :P Thanks for stopping by ;)
Yes rating is so hard. I never know whether to rate critically or based on my level of enjoyment. Great Discussion, Rating is just so hard these days.
I've generally seen people dock a star for the missing feeling, & go with option B. That is, most reviewers I've seen--I think--tend to do that, though for the mass public, I think A is more common. Actually, who knows? I want to say that, but every part of a book review is subjective, so who's to say that when you think a book is good that it's actually *good*?
I don't rate books for this reason - where does the line between personal preference and the book's merits lie? I'm with you - I'll write why the book didn't capture my attention in the review, but I'll try and emphasize that that's why it didn't for me.
Cheers from another humanized ice cream cone!
-Christina Reads YA
I think I'd try to rate what I feel but explain that it could be personal preference and that even though it was really well written, it didn't resonate with me. I mean, books are supposed to make you feel, and whatever feeling you have as a reader is valid, whether it's the intended feeling or not. Usually with books I don't love but know other people gush about, I don't feel bad giving it a low rating. I guess I could start linking to more positive reviews? But books affect people in different ways and some people might relate to your "something is missing" and it could be helpful.
I'm not sure any of this made sense or if I sound like an actual humanized ice cream cone! But, you should obviously do whatever you think is right and go with your gut. I think.
That's my biggest problem with rating, I agree.
I've seen people not rating books and thought that was awesome. It's hard for me to do because I have got used to the whole rating thing, but it makes reviews much easier, you know? I like to think of the rating and the review as separate things, but that proves hard to apply.
You make a very good point actually. The fact that a book doesn't evoke a feeling from you at all makes it a rather boring reading experience, I agree. In this case, I tend to have the hardest time settling on a rating. I don't know if it is just my mood that's influenced the reading experience. or if the book is really that dull.
Thanks for stopping by, Katy :)
I think I might be one of those that sides with Option A most of the time. Still, I know what you mean. I've gone for Option B because even though I can't find any real glaring flaws in the book, something might just not work for me. Interesting topic there! :)
I usually go with Option A. I won't give a book that has everything going for it less than 3 stars and if I think "it's not you, it's me", I try to make it clear in my review that someone else could definitely love this book. But I definitely won't give a book 5 stars if I'm just not feeling it.
Yeah, rating can be really difficult, and most people go with option A anyway. It makes sense, but some books bend the rules, you know? :)
Thanks for stopping by Ana!
Exactly! I won't feel okay giving a low rating for book that is so well written. I think the confusing part is the rating, but the review can clear everything up :)
I'm terrible procrastinator as well (ha ha that sounds like I don't even know how to procrastinate properly) and it sometimes bother me but usually if I take little notes and focus on the story well enough, I can write the review I'm supposed to write and be satisfied with my rating.
I think I started taking notes after your original comments :P It helped me a lot with the review!
I've had this happen so many times!
I give the book a double rating. In my review, I say that this was a 1 star book for me, a 5 star book for everyone else and it's final rating is a 3.
Or when I read MG, I make a rating for what I think kids will think of the book and then I'll have a rating for what I think adults will think of the book.
Hmm, I never read an MG book before, but something tells me I'd have the same problem. Maybe I should just go with a median rating like you do! Makes sense!