Unfortunately, not many things are perfect. (Except me, obviously. I’m like Marry Poppins minus the “practically” because we all know I’m perfect in exactly every way.) With not a lot of perfection bopping around, this is a REAL problem for people with a) high standards, or b) perfectionists. And when you’ve read a lot of books and feel like you’ve possibly “heard it all before”…it’s super hard to find a 5-star book.
WHICH IS KIND OF DEPRESSING, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.
I’m a bookworm! I adore books! I like to stroke them and arrange them and take photos of them and sniff them and rename them Frank and Halva.
So if I don’t regularly read excellent books then I feel like a moody bookworm and the doubts start. Can I call myself an avid book fan if my average book rating is 3.5-stars? Does this make me a rotten fruit salad if I squint and criticise and analyse books more than I stand on top of a hippopotamus shouting their golden goodness?
And…the big question…
IF I DO FIND A BOOK I LOVE A LOT, BUT IT’S NOT PERFECT, SHOULD I GIVE IT THE COVETED 5-STAR RATING?
Agh. Difficulties. They’re such killers.
I have a list of reasons I’ll give a book 5-stars, and, well, not all of them are LOGICAL. But I’m a hybrid between a feels-reader and a logic-reader. My brain analyses every detail and catalogues things I don’t like. BUT THEN MY FEELS GET IN THE WAY.
REASONS I GIVE A BOOK 5-STARS:
- I love it. Just plain and purely. I love the characters, the writing, the food mentioned, the uniqueness, the “shock factor”, and how it wraps up.
- It had issues, buuut…I still had a good time reading it. Like, the plot was slow BUT I was snorting out loud with giggles so, heck yes, it needs 5-stars.
- I’m biased with love towards the author. (By this point, if a cover says Maggie Stiefvater, it just gets 5-stars. I like The Raven Boys more than Shiver, but Shiver still gets 5-stars. I NEED MORE STARS OBVIOUSLY.)
- I’m endlessly impressed. Like if the plot twist just smacks me in the face with WOAH WHAT or it’s super creative.
- If I actually truly love and connect to the characters. Because this doesn’t happen often, folks. I’m a cynical Vulcan 6 days of the week.
-~-
There are very few books I’ve given 5-stars to and thought, “This is absolutely incredibly astronomically PERFECT”. There’s always a little something the makes me go meh. But that’s because reading is super subjective. What I don’t like, someone else loves. So this is 100% on me and not on the book!
I will give out 5-stars. Even if the book isn’t, in my extremely analysing opinion, perfect.
Due to having an incredibly detailed spreadsheet of aaaaall the books I read, I’ve worked out that in every 30 books I read, I’ll give one 5-star. Sometimes more! Sometimes less!
I do feel torn though. On one hand, life is too short not to give out 5-stars and just flail. But on the other hand, 5-stars is a precious rating! It only stays precious if it’s not overused. SO WHAT IS A BOOKWORM TO DO?
-~-
I have read over 200 books this year. And I have only given two of them five stars. HAHA. Needless to say, I am tough. 😉 I literally only give out five stars when it reaches my IMPOSSIBLE standards. Like, it doesn’t have to be perfect (because seriously, what is!?) but it has to be reaaaaally, reaaaaaaaallly good. And I’m dreadfully picky. The last book I gave five stars to was HEIR OF FIRE, I think, because THOSE BOOKS. (And I’m fully expecting Queen of Shadows to be another five star read. I HOPE.)
ALSO I’M FIRST COMMENT!? FINALLY.
WELL GO YOU, KARA. CLEARLY YOU ARE THE FASTEST. ELLA MUST BE BUSY. xD hehe WOAH. Only 2?!? I at least give 2 five-star ratings a month. Hehe, and I thought I was being too tough. XD Buuuut, it makes the 5-star rating more coveted and special right?! So I’m okay with not having so many top-reads (I was pretty miserable about it a few months ago tho. I DON’T WANNA BE A CRABBY BOOKWORM.) Zomg, I’m going to start Queen of Shadows soon. I AM SO FREAKING NERVOUS.
I don’t have many negative reviews on my book, mainly because I often DNF a book I really don’t like. (I hate writing negative reviews.) But 5 stars… Well I rate a book with my feels. I don’t calculate anything. So sometimes it happens that a book with flaws has 5 stars because it just floored me with feels. And sometimes a perfect book of which I can’t immediately note any real flaws ends up with 4 stars because that’s how it feels to me. :p There’s no logic in it really. XD
Good for you though!! DNF’ing sure saves time (and leaving ranty reviews, hehe) I always finish my reads. Well, ALMOST always. 🙁 I kinda wish I did DNF more because I’ve got a slew of 1-star reviews these days. >_> Ahem, ANYWAY! Feels are a perfectly awesome way to rate a book though. XD
There are books that get 5-stars from me because I just loved how I felt while I read the book. I was entertained, I cried, I raged…feeling all sorts of emotions. Even though it is not perfect, if it evoked different emotions from me, it gets a 5!
YESSSS. FEEEEEELS. I like a book to give me feels. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy having their heart stomped on and shattered into a million pieces? Best part of being a bookworm. *nods*
Sometimes even books with less stars can be very interesting. Having said that 5 stars for a book would mean near perfection in terms of writing and how engaging the story and characters are. My most recent read is Jeffrey Archer’s Clifton Chronicles, and for me I’d give it 5 stars.
Greetings!
Oh that’s totally true! I don’t deny it! And I’ve picked up low-rated books anyway just to see what all the growling was about. 😉
I mean, objectively speaking, I don’t believe any book can be perfect. But there are some books which I love so much I will refuse to register any criticism about them (coughADarkerShadeofMagiccough) and there are books which I love enough to overlook its flaws. And then there are the books whose flaws need a star deduction but then they were scoring like 7.5 stars before so I still give them 5. When I really desperately can’t decide, I cop out and give them 4.5 stars. HALF STARS ARE SO IMPORTANT.
WELL THAT’S TRUE. Except for mine. Of course. *hides list of things that need changes in more edits* MY BOOK IS PERFECT FOR SURE. SHUUUUUSH NOW, ALYSSA, DON’T BRING ME DOWN TO EARTH. I LIVE IN FANTASY LAND.
ahem.
What even was I saying?
Oh yes. I NEED READ A DARKER SAHDE. It’s on my kindle!! Gah! I have no idea why I haven’t started it yet.
Darn you Goodreads for not letting us have half stars. *shakes fist*
I probably give too many 5 star ratings…… the last I gave one to was Heartless (Tales of Goldstone Wood, #1) I think I give my stars more on how much I would recommend them despite their faults. I certainly give non perfect books 5 stars.
But that just makes you a happy bookworm, right?! 😀 And you definitely make authors happy. 😉
Indeed yes, I am a happy bookworm, and If I do give a book lots of stars I will always be careful to list problems with it in my review… then again I always try to write of both good and bad aspects in all reviews.
For me they don’t have to be perfect for 5 star. Perfection is subjective and I don’t want to read as a teacher who is grading a book. So I give stars based upon how I feel at the end.
I do read by logic, so I will hunt down and analyse plot holes and loose ends. But if the book either explains them or covers well by the end it’s all good.
The problem we have is that what is good for one book isn’t good for the next. Giving it a rating based upon what I feel that book deserves at the end, without comparing it to other books feels right to me. My biggest issue is not marking up so I don’t upset the author. It’s so hard to say “I didn’t like the thing you spent months losing sleep and grinding your fingertips to the bone to give me. Have 1 star.” Does anyone else feel mean when they simply don’t like a book?
I think that’s ginormously fair. *nods* And I mean, what even is “perfection”?!?! It’s such a broad term. I don’t like being the person who’s uber picky, but sometimes mY BRAIN JUST DOES IT ANYWAY. I think I used to be a lot freer with my 5-stars. But I’ve read so much so I really know what my tastes are!
*whispers* I totally do feel mean when I just DON’T like a book. But then I remind myself that there are a ton of people out there who DO so I can’t feel too squishily bad.
I usually give a 5 star rating to books which have emotionally impacted me so damn much and one example is The Color of Our Sky by Amita Trasi, a book I strongly believe everyone should read because it has diversity, beautiful writing and amazing characters!
Okay so now I seriously want to read The Color of Sky!! I LOOOOOVE BOOKS THAT GIVE YOU EMOTIONS. And beautiful writing? Zomg *dashes for goodreads*
READ IT NOW I BEG YOU
I give a book 5 stars if it makes me feel a lot of emotions. If, once I’m done reading, I feel happy or sad or understand the world more and I loved the characters and the dialogue and pretty much everything about the book, then it gets 5 stars! I give out 5 stars pretty easily, actually haha!
YAY FOR 5-STARS THOUGH. I feel soooo good when I give a book top ratings. A HAPPY BOOKWORM IS A FABULOUS THING. <3
I’ve become increasingly stingy with my five star ratings this year. Last year? 35 books out of 275 got a five star rating. This year? I’ve read 251 books so far, and only 12 of them have been five stars. And four of those were rereads.
Sometimes I give books 5 stars even when I don’t like the characters and I kind of hate that they exist (Gone Girl or All The Rage) because they’re just so stinking good/important. As a general rule, a book has to blow my mind for me to give it five stars. And if it makes me cry, that bumps it up a little bit.
The only one I can think of that was ACTUALLY perfect was Alysia Gray Painter’s Fairwil, which I adore with all my heart.
SAME FOR ME. Well, not exactly the same numbers, you know what I mean XD I kind of wondered if last year’s books were better?!? or just more unusual and shocking and fabulous? This year, things have REALLY struggled to impress me. I even looked at my best-of-2015-shelf and realised there were several books that really shouldn’t be on there. >_> But I put them on because I felt like I was being too stingy. Heeh.
I use half stars on my blog and very often rate a slightly flawed book 4.5 stars, but I’m usually a little generous with ratings. I’ve only read a handful of five star books this year, though. All the books I re-read were five, but the new ones? My average is probably about three and a half for those. I don’t think there’s a perfect book out there, at least not that I’ve read, but if I find it I will make absolutely sure the entire world is aware of my discovery.
Hehe, that’s how I feel when I read Maggie Stiefavater’s books because they’re soooo perfect in my opinion AND I JUST WANT EVERYONE IN THE UNIVERSE TO READ THEM! 😀 But yes, I mean, truly, “perfect” is something no one can really attain, right?!
I think I give out a lot of 5-star ratings, actually. But I’m also very picky about what I read. If a book doesn’t look amazing, I don’t read it. So I guess that’s just my weirdness.
And my 5-star this year book list?
Resistance by Jaye L. Knight
The King’s Scrolls by Jaye L. Knight
Half-Blood by Jaye L. Knight
Anything else Jaye L. Knight will ever write
Water Princess, Fire Prince by Kendra E. Ardnek
Speaking of Maggie, I’m in the middle of The Scorpio Races right now. Hehehe.
SO I GET THIS FEELING YOU REALLY LIKE JAYE L. KNIGHT. XD hehe, that’s awesome though! I LOVE the authors that just give the epicness without fail. THEY ARE SPECIAL. (Are you liking The Scorpio Races?!?! I ADORE THAT BOOK.)
Hmm, I think I do really like Jaye L. Knight. Maybe. XD
I am liking it. It’s so unique; I’ve never read anything like it.
I rate books based on how much I enjoyed them, so if I thought a book was perfect because I enjoyed it a lot, then I would certainly rate it five stars. I don’t think I’ve ever described a book as perfect because there’s always that unspoken flaw, either that or someone would end up raining on my parade anyway. The last book I gave five stars to was Silent Alarm by Jennifer Banash–it was just so beautiful. By the way, you’re not the only one who struggles with rating books five stars, I can be pretty picky myself!
WELL! We shall be picky pickers TOGETHER THEN. I think I have read a perfect book…basically all of Maggie Stiefvater’s. :’) *sniffles with happiness* I’m SO Biased about her books it’s becoming a problem. XD
I WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO WRITE A POST ON WHAT MAKES ME GIVE A BOOK FIVE STARS. WEIRD. But yeah, I really rate “in the moment,” so even if I look back and think maaaaybe it wasn’t worth five stars, I think it deserves it because of how I felt while reading it 🙂
CLEARLY GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE. I WANNA READ YOUR POST THOUGH. You’ll still post it right?! RIGHT!? eep! I do rate in the moment too, though. Like I’ve actually changed a few ratings, but I feel bad about doing that too! OMG ANOTHER DISCUSSION. Is changing ratings okay? x)
Ooh Cait this post made me THINK. My brain feels a little mushy now (ew). I think giving 5 stars to a book is a bit of a gut feeling… I too am rather analytical but I think if, no matter what reason, you feel entirely in love with a book it is 5 stars. My problem is that I read a book, love it, 5 stars straight away and then a month later I’m like… that wasn’t worthy of a 5. Great post ♡
YOUR POOR LITTLE BRAIN. SO OVER THUNKED. (That’s a real word, don’t question me now.) I occasionally give books 5-stars that I think, eh that probably didn’t deserve it…but I’m SO TORN between life is short! Be happy! Give 5-stars! To...I want my 5-stars to mean something. I’d rather give out less, I think. *nods* Although I HAVE gone back and changed ratings…oops.
I don’t know what kind of bookworm I am then if I have an average rating of 2.95 stars on Goodreads…
Look this something I feel pretty passionate about. When I rate a book, I do it with 100% honesty. It doesn’t matter if emotionally a book felt like a five stars to me when, objectively, it was super, super flawed book. I cannot give it a five stars. I just can’t. I’ll probably end up give it a three stars – right in the middle – instead. And because of that I come across as a bit of harsh rater/reviewer. I don’t MEAN to be picky or anything but, I don’t know, when I find a book that knocks me senseless I think that book deserve to have a special rating to show how absolutely bloody brilliant I found it. I very, very rarely give out five stars rating. In the last two years, I’ve probably given out four or five for the 300+ books I’ve read. I just think 5 stars are super special… They do seem to indicate that the book was perfect (100% rating and all) so I have to be careful what books I give that high honour to. So no, I am not a reviewer that doesn’t rate books below three stars because they are “scared to upset the author”. I like to be honest. It really matters to me. Great discussion though, Cait!
HA. YOU ARE A MEAN BOOKWORM, CLEARLY. XD hehe, I’m juuuuust kidding. You are a tough marker. 😉 It means your 5-stars are worth a LOT, though, right?!? Like if you do give a book 5-stars, we need look and pay attention. *nods* I don’t want to be the “scared” reviewer either, although I have rated books higher in the past because I felt guilty. NOT ANYMORE THOUGH. Gah. I looove reading library books because I feel totally in control of the rating and absolutely zlich guilt. XD I KNOW I’M WEIRD BUT YES THIS IS HOW IT IS.
Ha ha, maybe just the teeniest bit mean… but not on purpose! And definitely right! My five stars are very much worth their rating – well, I think so anyway. 🙂 That’s exactly why I love reading library books too. I am SO glad that this is not just a me thing. Library book do not get angry at you if you don’t enjoy them, review copies on the other hand get a bit upset and their publishers even more so. Understandably, I so guess but still the PRESSURE. :/
For me, a book doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’ to be a 5-star read. I reserve my 5-star for the books that really had an impact on my life. Or if I just absolutely fell in love with it, flaws and all. I know there are some of my 5-star reads that are not without issues, but because they just completely blew my mind or made me so happy or destroyed my heart, they all deserve all the stars I can give. 😀 The most recent ones I’ve given a 5-star rating to are DANGEROUS GIRLS by Abigail Haas and THE ONE THING by Marci Lyn Curtis. 😀
Whyyyy is it that the books that DESTROY OUR SOULS AND MINDS AND HEARTS are the ones that are so so good?!? Zomg, I will neeever recover from Dangerous Girls. *collapses screaming*
Why oh why?! Haha.. 😀
I don’t give out 5 star ratings all that often, but when I do, I’m a mixture of emotional 5 stars, and logical 5 stars too. 5 stars to me is a favourite book, one that swept me away, impressed me, made me feel, made me smile even thinking about it, that I would reread in a heartbeat. That can be because of practically perfect writing, or how the book made me feel, or both. I give out quite a few more 4 and 4.5 stars, because those books were still good, or even great, but for whatever reason, usually a personal preference, it just didn’t hit the full firework display. I’m selective with those 5 stars 😉
I’m trying to resist sucumbing to 4.5 star ratings BUT IT’S SO HARD.!! (The only reason I don’t is because Goodreads doesn’t use them and if i have to round up…then I might as well start by rounding up?! hehe) I totally have my “perfect 5-stars” and just “fjadkslfjds flail 5-star” ratings too. There are like different LEVELS of 5-stars, right?! XD
Thanks for the discussion, Cait. So I think of it this way: If I love a book enough, then I don’t see it’s imperfections. Love for a book is emotional whereas seeing imperfections is analytical. I have given like 20 books this year five stars, but several of them were rereads. I guess books aren’t perfect so much as some work really well for you and some don’t. I literally gave We All Looked Up five stars, because I couldn’t find anything wrong with it (and I was such a mess of emotions when I wrote the review. Maybe it would be different the second time round?) I’m pretty sure my last five star book was Vivian vs. The Apocalypse.
Oh oh but that is true! The imperfections being the analytical side, I mean. Whereas if the feels win the battle…they’re liable to do anything. xD I have read what I’d call “perfect” books, but, eep! Mostly I just give out my 5-stars for feels. XD Ohhh I’m so glad Vivian is that good! I REALLY WANT TO READ THAT ONE. Because. Apocalypse.
I am somewhere between a logic and feels reader too and it’s HARD WORD! For me, to get 5 stars, you can’t just have perfect world building, beautiful character devolopement, you have to make me FALL IN LOVE! If I fall in like, I’ll give it 4 stars, maybe 4.5 (rounded down on GR). I have given books 5 stars even if I sometimes had to squint at them to try and change certain things (and failed of course. Apparently, squinting disapprovingly at words do nothing to change them…) but just LOVED THE FEELINGS THE BOOK GAVE ME! If a book makes me feel like I’ll never resort to drugs because I already have my high, it gets 5 stars.
Great post as always! (Though, I must say. While Raven Boys and Scorpio Races got 5 stars from me, Shiver was pretty bland. *hides behind stack of cake*)
*drags you out from behind stack of cake*
*smushes cake in your face*
HOW DARE YOU THO. DID YOU NOT APPRECIATE SAM’S UTTER ADORABLENESS? DID YOU GET TO COLE? COLE IS MY BABY. COLE IS MY HORRIBILE MEANIE LITTLE BABY WHOM I SHIP SO HARD WITH ISABEL I MIGHT EXPLODE.
ehhehe. Juuust kidding. I told you I was biased to love aaaall Maggie Stiefvater’s books! 😀
Ahem. But yes! I don’t use half stars much, just because it’s too hard to figure out whether I round up or down. But I want to be in love with a book before it gets 5-stars too. *nods*
I don’t give out many 5 stars either. I’ve never thought about my criteria, but since I started blogging, unless a site requires me to give star, I don’t. And then at the end of the year, I go back and add stars comparing the books against each other. Last year was the first year I did that and it worked pretty well.
Terri M., the Director
Second Run Reviews
Oh really? No stars for you? WELL GO YOU, TERRI, FOR DOING YOUR OWN THING! 😀 I love my stars too much to quit them, buuuuut, they’re so flawed! I try to have “word ratings” underneath my stars to help explain what a certain-star-rating means to me.
No stars on my own site (just thumbs up/thumbs down) and on GoodReads (at least till the end of the year). I have to do stars on Amazon.com and BN.com and I take the image tags VERY seriously when I leave a review on those sites.
I hope that my reviews convey my feelings more that the star ratings! 🙂
I’m like you. I don’t hand out a lot of 5 stars. That’s the highest rating I can give a book and I want my rating to mean something to me and to readers who read my reviews. I know some bloggers have a 6-star rating system but that doesn’t really translate well to Goodreads or Amazon. No book is perfect, but I typically reserve the 5-star rating for books that have excellent writing, great character development and a plot that works. Usually, those books will be a all-time favorite of mine and will have left an impression on me in some way. I think I’ve only given out 2 or 3 5-star ratings this year. (Though, this year hasn’t been a great reading year for me. Lots of duds).
Yup, I am the same. I stick to the 5 stars, and no half stars, just because that’s what goodreads/amazon do. >_> Even though I’d reeeally like half stars. ehheheh I feel like a book has to pound me in the face before I give it 5-stars. ALTHOUGH. An epically fabulous finale can make me forget my annoyances at a book’s beginning. XD
I give five star ratings quite a bit on Goodreads, although with my cumulative rating at 3.45, I must give a lot of twos, too. Ha ha! I blame this on reading so many ARCs with some self pubs. I don’t blink at 5 stars on GR because, I read many many books that what I call the “general” reader doesn’t “get”, and I feel it helps a tad with its overall rating, especially if it has only a few ratings. I hate it when I read a great book and the first and only rating is a two because of some assinine reason like not enough romance, or they didn’t like the MC’s boyfriend’s name, ugh. Anyway, frequently my fives on GR and Amazon, only translate to fours and four and a halfs on my blog. But yes, I give five stars even on my blog to immperfect books because some seem to have an aura about them like an extra self generated energy. You know the old addage, the whole was more than the sum of its parts. I have a huge pet peeve about coincidences being used to move the plot forward, but this also seems to be the thing I most frequently forgive in an otherwise terrific story. My one criteria for fives on my blog is if I think it is capable of becoming a classic in years to come, and there are tons of imperfect classics. Fab discussion question. 🙂
I feel WEIRD when people rate books badly for strange reasons…like “Not having enough romance”. That’s a completely subjective thing. D: I mean, but then again, books ARE subjective but what can you expect? I did see someone rating a book that said it wasn’t about superheroes really low because…it wasn’t about superheroes and that’s confusing. hUMANS ARE WEIRD YET WE LIKE THEM OCCASIONALLY.
I haaate coincidences solving too many problems too! 😀 *hi fives*
You must be nicer than me in the book department. I think I gave less 5 stars this year than last year – I’M STILL AT TEN AND LAST YEAR I HAD… fifteen. I think. But it was more than this year. I honestly give out 4.5 more than a 5.
I don’t know. Ask a not reader?
I only have 10 “best of the year” books. >_< And I've read 200 so that's preeeeetty stingy of me. BUT HEY. I do know what kind of books I like now, so that's great. XD
One of the great things about being me is that I am so very easily impressed. Which basically means I love everything.
Which means that I rate books 5 stars quite regularly.
And while some days that does make me feel like I’m not being critical enough, in the end I just don’t care. I love books, and I will flail about them forever.
Of course, there is the occasional book that doesn’t get 5 stars…but they are few and far between.
This is also probably due to the fact that when I rate books, I go in with 5 stars for it, and then something has to happen to make it lose stars.
So, for me, four stars is actually a somewhat low rating.
So…yeah. I give 5 stars to everything.
*twirls off into the distance*
YAY FOR LOVING EVERYTHING THOUGH! 😀 It makes being a bookworm very exciting, don’t you reckon?!? I think it’s okay not to be too critical. Plus, I’m balancing you out by being MEGA critical. AHAHAHA OMG JUST KIDDING. SOMEONE MAKE ME EAT A RAINBOW OF HAPPINESS, I SEEM TO HAVE SWALLOWED A CRAB.
I think I go into every book waiting to be impressed? Instead of waiting to be disappointed? I am a cynical melon.
I used to give 5 stars more than I do now, for all the reasons you listed. I don’t give many 2 or 1 either, so I guess I’m riding the middle of the road. 5 stars means that I think a year later I will still love the idea of the book and recommend it to others. My usual rating on a good book is a 4, which to me means “excellent, what I expected.” 3=”good but ordinary”
My ratings mean basically the same!! I know a lot of people who think 3-stars is AWFUL, but for me, it’s just a good read that didn’t excite me, but I still liked it!
I never realized rating books would be so hard before I became a book blogger. For me, Five Stars used to come too easily, and then when I’d read more I realized it and was too picky. Like, it had to have absolutely no flaws. Now, I’d just looking for a certain feeling. Like the feeling of amazement I got from Gone Girl or the feeling of complete solace I got from reading Fairest. (Solace might not make sense considering the book, but I felt it!) I guess I should have some sort of formula, but it just ends up being a total heart thing.
SAMEEE!! Before I was a blogger, I either liked it or I didn’t. *shrugs* I didn’t really have so many deliberating grey areas. hehe
Solace from Fairest?! I WANTED TO CRY. I really felt for Levana…poor bby, she just wanted to be loved….
Haha, now I feel like a horrible person! It was more like “This is just everything I wanted. This is all I wanted from a book.”
I don’t think I’ve ever read a perfect book. even when i love Love LOVE it, there’s usually at least one factor that i was iffy about.
normally, i just go with how i felt about the book afterward to determine how many stars i give it. however, since that leaves a lot of books with 5 stars, i also have a top 20 list, and while there are honorable mentions, i never include no more than 20 books on that list (well, technically 20 series since one series of books takes up one spot. otherwise every spot would be taken by Rick Riordan)
my last five star book i read was the monument series by Emmy Laybourne. its number 8 on my list.
That’s mostly me too. XD Except…for Maggie Stiefvater’s books. I literally love everything, even ever comma. :’) YUP. I HAVE PROBLEMS. But in 10 books she hasn’t let me down one. 😀
I used to be very stingy in my five star ratings, but this summer/winter I’ve read so many great books. They’re not perfect, but they make me think and I love them. I’ve given five stars to every book in the Little House (Laura) series so far (8). They are not perfect, and they’re not all equal, but I love them all. I think now I’m probably too generous in my five star ratings, but if I love a book SOOOO MUCH that’s what I’m gonna give it!
I grew up reading those Little House books! I wonder what I’d think of them now…hehe. I used to love them a lot (particularly Farmer Boy ALL THAT FOOD, OMG I GOT SO HUNGRY READING THAT BOOK)
I think my only major criteria for a 5-star rating are 1) I just loved the book a lot and 2) any flaws seem minor when weighed against the rest of the book. But if I give a book max points, I believe it’s on me to justify why I like it so much. I can’t just say OMG THIS IS AWESOME READ IT NOW, I have to define what made me love it.
Oh oh I agree with that! If I don’t want to recommend the book, then it’s not getting 5-stars, FOR SURE.
I was thinking about this recently. I quite often finish a book and then have a breakdown trying to decide if it’s 4 or 5 stars. I don’t think many books are perfect and providing the amazingness was consistent then I think it is fair to give full marks. I round up if a book made me laugh out loud or cry, and if the twist at the end blew me away. I round down if I was bored. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell was very nearly 5 stars but there were a few chapters where it lost its way so I couldn’t justify the full 5 even though I absolutely loved everything else.
I feel like if I’m hovering over the 4 or 5 then, it’s probably a 4. ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES I WANNA GIVE OUT FIVES TO EVERYTHING, THOUGH. *sigh* no one can say being a bookworm is easy. I always round up if a book makes me laugh. I’m such a sucker for being made to laugh. xD
totally agree. Only one perfect book exists. 😛
But my favorite fiction series, The Peleg Chronicles, is totally riddled with typos, and I still love it to teeny bits. 🙂 I mean, ITS THE MOST AWESOME EPIC PLOT EVER WHO CARES ABOUT TYPOS?!
Hehe, my brain would probably go nuts picking at the typos, but SOMETIMES IT’S TRUE: AWESOMENESS CANNOT BE STOPPED BY A FEW MERE TYPOS!! 😀
For me, a book needs to be life-changing to get 5 stars. If it is, I can turn a blind eye to one or two problematic things.
YESSS. I love the life-changing ones! I like the ones that stick in my brain and I just am still thinking about them weeks and months after. :’)
Perfection is overrated. How are we grumpy bookworms supposed to complain if an author gets it 100% right? I rate on gut instinct, awesome characters, snarky dialogue and pretty metaphors. Give me a book that’s just two characters sat in a void, snarking at each other and it’ll probably get five stars from me.
That said, I think I’ve only given five star ratings to 6 of 66 books I’ve read this year…ouch.
IT ‘TIS TRUE. And, I mean, a writer can’t please everyone. So they’re probably only going to be perfect to the people who are really similar to the writer, right!? If that even makes sense…it probably does not. -_-
I feel like I rate my books on the fourth dimension of storytelling, I guess… Like, if the first dimension was words, that are just said and kind of the inventions/fantastical imaginings of mankind, paper gave width in the second dimension, an entire book gave depth in the third dimension, then the fourth dimension in my metaphor, rather than time, would be the book’s presence outside of the book. There are some books I read that are nice but I never think about again—maybe a three star book. But for a book to be five stars, it requires SO MUCH THINKING on my part and probably gives me an unprecedented emotional, mental, or physical reaction that stays with me for maybe weeks, or months, or years.
That being said, I don’t give out five stars that often because I want to be very picky with how I compare those books. If it isn’t, I don’t want to say that it is. Likewise, I don’t think a book needs to be perfect for me to give it five stars. I hear about the failings of one of my favorite book stories every other time I enter the blogosphere and that is fine, because reading is a preference-based exercise. My last five-star book, though? That was probably back on July 1st when I read The Opal Deception graphic novel. *headdesk* I have read like TWELVE BOOKS since then and maybe three were even four stars. I am sad about that.
Oh oh that is a really interesting way to look at it. 0-0 SERIOUSLY. THAT IS QUITE COOL. I know a ton of books I’ve liked…loved even! But they’ve seriously slipped my mind a week after reading them. So I guess they don’t deserve the top-ratings. A book does need to be memorable. LIKE I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT THE WRATH AND THE DAWN, DARN IT. SO AKA IT DEFINITELY DESERVES IT’S 5-STARS. *hyperventilates in memory*
I feel like last year was a better reading year for me. XD I had a TON of new favourites and this year…? Just nope.
I’m not afraid to give a book 5 stars if I feel it’s worthy ;]
I am also a feels good/ logical reader. I mix the 2 in a beautiful way!
There have been many books that have a great plot but I just couldn’t connect with the characters so I just had to knock it down a star.
Then their are books that had a few plot errors but I was so connected to the characters that I couldn’t stop reading. Those are the ones that I fight my urge to give 4 stars because the connection was totally worthy of 5.
Gah. The struggle is real.
Rarely is there a book with a solid plot and a real connection with the characters, but they are out there and so worth 5 stars! ;]
Am I right?!
YAY FOR FEELS/LOGIC MIXERS!! 😀 I lean more to the logic side, but I do RATE in the moment. So like, I literally finish a book and then rate it…so sometimes I feel like it would’ve been a different rating if I’d waited a bit? But bah. It’s done now. XD We bookworms have SO MANY STRUGGLES. I hope the world appreciates the pain we go through for books.
Wonderful characters = marvellousness. SO YES YOU ARE RIGHT.
I totally agree with you, Cait. Even if the book has some flaws I will still rate it 5 stars. If it made me have so many feels and left me wanting more (in a good way) at the end even with some imperfections throughout it will get all the stars. I’m always on myself to grade harsher, but I just can’t. If a book makes me happy and all giddy inside why shouldn’t it get five stars? I’m like Oprah on her Christmas special when it comes to five stars — THEY DESERVE THE GIFTS, THE BOOKS DESERVE THE FIVE STARS. YOU GET FIVE STARS, YOU GET FIVE STARS…EVERYONE GETS FIVE STARS!
I’m always telling myself to grade nicer! 😀 But then…well, if half of 5-stars is technically 2.5 stars….why is 3-stars such a bad rating!?!? hehe
I do think it’s fun and nice to give lots of 5-stars, though. XD
I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect book, at least not for me. There are a lot of books that I’ve rated five stars and have absolutely loved, but there’s always going to something, some small thing, that keeps it from being completely perfect. Books are written by humans (sometimes also satan but, you know) and humans aren’t perfect. Maybe I got too philosophical there?
What do you mean sometimes?! Like 70% of the books I read are probably written by satan. I’m a little dubious about Sarah J Maas, I mean, C’MON. SHE’S QUEEN OF DESTRUCTION AND FEELS MANIPULATION. *collapses sobbing* Ah, but humans aren’t perfect, for sure. UNLESS THEIR NAME IS MAGGIE STIEFVATER. <3
I don’t tend to give books stars in general, but I DO have some books on Goodreads that have 5 stars and those are just ones that I absolutely love. I’m sure they aren’t perfect; I’m not sure any book could be especially since I might think it is and another reader would be all “heck no, you’re crazy” so you know, subjectivity! haha But yeah, 5 stars are good but you can’t shove it on every book!
YES!! Subjectivity is SUCH A BIG DEAL. And perfect for one person isn’t perfect for another, so how can an author EVER write the “perfect” book?!? hehe But that’s cool that you don’t do stars too! 😀 I would be lost without my stars, but they do complicate things a lot.
Great points!! 🙂 I try to really be critical of my five star ratings. I want those books to be the best of the best. I want those books to really stand out as my absolute favorite books. I do seem to be biased on my favorite authors too. I have given 5 stars to books that are less than perfect, but they made up for it in enjoyment or by having creative moments in the book. Great post!!
Hehe *hi fives for loving authors too much* I CAN’T HELP IT. I just get so excited about my favourite author’s books that I just automatically rate them high. I’m not ashamed though. xD LIFE IS SHORT. ENJOY ALL THE BOOKS.
No, I don’t think a book has to be perfect to get A five star rating. I think the last book I have a five star rating too was Magonia and it wasn’t perfect. But it was really, really good, and I loved it. I think my ratings really come down to personal preference. Okay, this book has problems but I adore it. This book has pretty much nothing wrong with it but a hate it. Stuff like that.
OHhhh I want to read Magonia! I’m probably going to read it for my bookclub challenge next month BUT IT SOUNDS SO EPIC AND I’M EXCITED. Ahem. So I think most ratings are just personal preference, right?!? I usually rate on how well I think the book did, so, like, logically. BUT. Feels getting into it a lot too these days. *nods*
I’ve given 4 books 5 stars this year, which is really disappointing, but I feel for many reasons, when I’ve read a lot of really good books this year, I’ve just felt NOTHING.
The last book I gave five stars to was Nimona by Noelle Stevenson – but it isn’t a favourite – it had some very minor flaws but I really really enjoyed it.
Five stars doesn’t necessarily mean favourite – the favourites are on a whole other scale to other books.
I TOTALLY HEAR YA, HOLLY. I feel like last year I had a million favourites and this year…meh. I’m reading good books, but not many of them are doing anything for me. *shrugs* I WANT TO READ NIMONA SO BAD!
Interestingly, if you’d asked me this question last year, I’d have said it had to be either perfect to me, gave me the feels or just felt complete. Now, I feel so much differently. Previously, books that felt like they were missing a little something weren’t given the 5, and yet, this year, I’ve done the opposite – if there’s been a small issue, sod it, everything else was amazing, so it gets the 5. I almost want to go back and change the ratings, but I’m sure about doing it, it would seem.. wrong? I have a lot more favourites at this time in the year in comparison to last year too, and that feels amazing, so it makes a nice change. This is a super duper post! 🙂
So you’re being a real softie in your old age, eh, Amanda? 😉 HEHE JUST KIDDING. I’m opposite though!! I feel like I read a lot more better books last year. BUT STILL. I’m trying not to be too stingy with my 5s. Or even with my 4s! I’m just trying to get away from the bland 3 area. XD
Absolutely not! As long as I love a book, it’s getting 5 stars. Let’s face it, there are hardly any “perfect” books out there. I have maybe read one or two in my lifetime that I considered perfect.
TRUE! And “perfect” is such a tricky term to even narrow down, too, right?!? Life is short – rate books however you like. xD
Great topic!
Okay, so I’m your opposite, Cait. *shifty eyes* MOST books I read get 5 stars! In fact, normally, if it’s a four star, it means there was something that annoyed me enough to not give it 5, instead of that it was better enough than a 3 to give an extra star. I rate from 5 DOWN, whereas I think you rate from 1 UP. Does that make sense? I do decide on my favorites every year, and I’ll have certain 5-stars that are better than others, but most books I ENJOY and don’t have a major complaint about tend to get 5. I’m a friendly pumpkin like that. I’m probably the ONLY person who does this, I don’t know, and sometimes I feel bad that I’m being too nice BUT I JUST KIND OF ENJOY BOOKS OKAY? O.O I don’t even know. -_-
On my Goodreads, I’ve got 20 one-stars, 50 2-stars, 100 3-stars, 200 4-stars, and 300+ 5-stars; my average rating is 4.04. AM I TOO NICE? D:
I’ve only read like four books this year though that were PERFECT… So yeah, that’s kind of rare. NOW I WANT TO MAKE A LIST OF ALL THE BOOKS I’VE EVER READ THAT WERE PERFECT. YOU INSPIRE ME SO. XD
BUT HEY, AT LEAST YOU’RE ENJOYING THE BOOKWORM EXPERIENCE, AMIRITE?!?! I think it’s totally fine to be a high rater. xD I don’t rate from 1 up though, I rate from 3 up. xD but you’re right though…it’s a completely different mentality. hehe, I’m more cynical and skeptic? I’m waiting to be impressed instead of starting off being impressed?!? YOU ARE CLEARLY A WAY MORE NICER PERSON THEN ME.
I agree that there are plenty of books that are not necessarily “perfect” yet still deserve five stars in my eyes. And my eyes are the only ones that matter (besides yours, of course!). I do not think that it matters if a book is technically, textbook perfect while rating. I am a very moody rater, so my emotions basically drive my rating system. And I see nothing wrong with that. Books are written to make humans feel things, so isn’t that what we should be rating them on instead of literary stuff like foreshadowing, allusions, and air-tight plots (which are all good things, but not necessarily the definition of perfect). I read so that I can learn and feel things. So that I can live in another world for a while and meet new people (who might not be real, but who really cares?). If a book accomplishes that, I think that it deserves five stars. I know that sound kind of lenient, but that feat is actually hard to achieve. I mean, not many books can make you completely forget about real life and just submerge you into someone else’s story while teaching you something about your own story in the process. That is the definition of a perfect book to me, regardless of any flaws or quirks.
I think that’s epic though! 😀 And yessss, if a book, which is like ONLY A DEAD TREE AND INK can make a human feel aaaall the things, then that’s just suitably incredible.
A book doesn’t have to be perfect for me to give it five stars, but it has to be pretty close. My rating system ends up with decimal places so I have to round up or down to the nearest half star. Very few of my reads have gotten an actual five stars. There have been a number of four-and-a-halfs… but very few fives. In fact, I only have five five-star reviews on my blog! The last one was a wordless picture book. LOL The last book with words that got five stars was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.
I have noticed you do decimal points!! Do you find that gives you, like, a better/more clear system? I’m seriously thinking of caving to half stars BUT I’VE REMAINED STRONG FOR SO LONG. hehe I have a ton of 5-star reviews, but some are more 5-starrier than others if that makes sense.
Sometimes it makes things clearer, and sometimes it doesn’t. Is that clear? LOL
There are books where I wish enjoyment counted for more or originality counted for less… but yeah, having half stars does seem to make my reviews more reflective of how I felt about a book. No system is perfect, though…
UM, YOU HAVE A SPREADSHEET OF ALL THE BOOKS YOU’VE READ? Cait, seriously, what, how, when, who, why, where.
I don’t rate my books, which saves me all the trouble that this post explains, BUT, in my head I rate books by who I react to them, aka, usually books that I feel are five stars will be re-read by me/book-pushed onto EVERYONE I LAY MY EYES ON. I definitely agree with the whole author thing, if I see an author i have freakish adoration for it WILL be five stars before i’ve even read it, irrational and illogical yes, BUT WHO CARES.
DOESN’T EVERYONE HAVE SPREADSHEETS? MINE IS COLOUR-CODED OF COURSE AND VERY DETAILED BECAUSE THAT’S HOW I ROLL. I have a thing about spreadsheets and lists. :’) And I’m glad I’m not the only one who just has author-love-biases. XD I CAN’T HELP IT. SOME AUTHORS ARE TOO FREAKING FANTASTIC AND I CANNOT HELP BUT LOVE EVERYTHING THEY WRITE.
For me I only give a book a 5 star rating very VERY rarely. lol I’m super duper picky about 5 stars. So for me, most books that I really like are only going to be 4 stars.
5 stars is reserved for the mind-blowing, life changing, book that I will read once a year because it was that good. 😀
That said I find that my rating changes, something that had five stars a year or maybe even two months ago will suddenly become a 4 or a 3. Consistency is something that I should work on. 😉 😛
But t hat is still awesome, because it means your 5-stars mean sO MUCH. More than mine. XD Although I’m kind of a hybrid between being super tough and not tough enough. It depends on my mood. XD
lol yeah. I hear you on the mood thing. 😀 I am sometimes harsher or less harsh depending on my mood. Oh well. 😀
I’m pretty certain that I NEED to see this spreadsheet.
HAHAH. Is this not a normal thing to do?!? Can I admit now that it’s also colour coded. xD
Absolutely not! I don’t think that any story can ever be PERFECT – I mean, everyone makes mistakes! I reread my favorite short stories I’ve ever written and… I’m proud of them, but I can totally still see mistakes! And little things I would do differently!
But I do think some stories can come extraordinarily CLOSE to being perfect. 🙂 I’m super stingy with my 5-star ratings, so when I DO give a book that rating, it means sooooo much because I think it’s really really hard to be even almost perfect. 🙂
Response To The Comment On The Blog: Thanks for visiting, Cait. LOlL, yes, I have discussed this beore a little bit, and I have an outlined discussion post which I willt ype and schedule soon discussing the gaps in YA, and part of why i think YA has failed us. I have discussed this before with other community members in twitter chats, but obviously i don’t expect you to go scrolling through hashtags. And when I say us, I mean teenagers and young adults, the target audience, rather than older adults that choose to read YA. Here are some links you can freel free to peruse on your own time: 1. Here is my first guest post on banned books: https://bookishbabes.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/banned-books-guest-post-most-teenagers-do-not-live-in-the-teenage-dream/ which only discusses a fraction of what i feel in regards to the negatives in YA literature, and I was in an apoplectic state. I will definitely expand publicly in the future.
Response To The Last Comment (re: ALLY CAKE FOR CAIT): 1/4 Italian, anxiety?Okay, cool. Totally sorry for the assumption xD #hypocrite.
Oh yes, I totally agree with what you’re saying in regards to diversity being the normal thing, I guess what I really mean is in regards to reviews. I don’t want someone in a review to portray something as non-diverse when it is, I feel it’s extremely disrespectful, and I wish had the link to a case of this happening when Tumblr straightwashed a quote discussing a girl’s bisexuality in a book written by a bisexual author who was very upset, and rightly so because it would explain clearly what I really mean.
I don’t want diversity to necessarily be a big deal, but I also don’t want it painted over in reviews if that makes sense. It’s quite a difficult thing to balance. So, I definitely don’t want it to be painted over, but I also definitely wouldn’t want..for example, in the case of me being a black, queer (although I’m definitely not public about it, at all) female and you being a mostly white female with anxiety. It’s really a thing that people should react to as, “Okay, cool.” It shouldn’t be this big phenomenon. Like, “WOWWWWW. YOU?” This was my exact reaction when you told me… the “Okay, cool.”, not the “WOWWW.YOU?” because that’s just bitchy (although I am sorry if I forced it out of you) and I wish it was the same for everyone, although that may be unreasonable. *goes to read your post*
Response To This Comment: I’m jumping between paragraphs to respond to this. so, Cait, you are the avid book fan QUEEN. I mean, who else devours A BOOK PER DAY, that’s…when i heard it, I was in awe like all hail…ALL FREAKING HAILLLLL. In my opinion, (and my opinion is right because I am the law), you are an avid book fan no matter how low you rate your reads, because your reading skills…damn…where do you find the time to breathe? THE STRUGGLE IS REAL FOR BOOK PEOPLE. I dunno how often, honestly. I think it’s occasional. Criteria: good quality writing (like NESSSSS, I recently read A Monster Calls, and loved it), characters I can connect to, the ability for me to be fully immersed in the world (re: good writing.) I’m definitely going to be more critical after that read, in fact, I was with Everything, Everything. Ness makes all other books seem inferior. Spreadsheet? Damn, Cait. DAAAAMN. That sounds pretty good, your frequency to give 5 stars. I don’t think it’s fair because NOBODY’S PERFECT. EVERY BODY MAKES MISTAKES. Hm, there have been times when books were perfect for me. when while writing the review, and considering it, I found nothing wrong. For example, A Monster Calls, and Fans of The Impossible Life. The last book I gave five stars to was A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, the review went up this past Saturday, I read it Thursday night, and Friday. What’s a bilge snipe?
DAAAMN, this is a long comment. Buut less work mobving between places to reply so YAAAY, I’m going to keep doing this. Especially since you said you like long comments. *cackles*
OMG I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS. THEY’RE LIKE ENTIRE EMAILS, TBH, AND THEY’RE AWESOME. <3
I shall, firstly, go snoop at that post you linked to and then wait impatiently for your upcoming post about it. 😀 I mean, I don't think YA is perfect and I think their are flaws in which books get published and how it's sometimes not fair....buuuut, on the whole I love it too much. I LOVE IT A LOT MORE THEN ADULT. Why do adult books waffle around so much? omg. So annoying.
HAHA DON'T BE SORRY. I like to claim my Italian heritage because pasta. But otherwise, I'm about as Italian as a vegemite. I'm possibly related to a notorious convict who stole a hanky tho. Just for interests sakes. *nods*
Oh oh and I TOTALLY get what you mean about diversity and I wish it was like that too. I wish all books just WERE diverse and we didn't have to have a hue and cry about it. But I feel like we kinda need to right now, to raise awareness that the world need fix this. You know? I think a lot of people don’t even notice that it’s not balanced/fair. *shrugs* BUT YEAH. I DO’NT EVEN KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT 90% OF THE TIME SO HEHEE. I shall return to my posts about dragons and cake. 😛
I LOVE A MONSTER CALLS, BTW. IT BROKE MY HEART AND I WASN’T EXPECTING IT. And yes yes a spreadsheet. DON’T ALL THE BOOKWORMS DO THIS?!??!
I usually average a 4 star rating for book I rate. I let my feels get the best of me sometimes. I read a book that I have certain issues, then one part will blow me away. I start being very generous with my stars lol.
Last book I have 5 stars was Perfection by R.L. Mathewson, not exactly a book I think is your bag though. BUT this was definitely one where the feels came in and how I related to a character.
Letting feels get the best of you? YES I UNDERSTAND THIS LANGUAGE. XD I’m like more inclined towards being logical, buuuuut, never underestimate feels. XD
Solution: don’t to stars – you are forcing yourself to push books into 5 categories. I do percentages and find myself agonising over whether one book is worth 1% point more than another I’ve read. Like anyone really cares!
I save my 90% and overs for the ones that really give me the feels. Over 90% equals a well written, well paced story that gives me the feels. I can’t imagine ever giving one 100% – is it possible to be perfect? And how do you know you won’t read another you prefer?
I have NEVER heard of anyone doing percentages, but omg, THAT IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA!! Soooo much more to work with. 😀 GO YOU.
Errgg, it’s so hard sometimes to decide on whether or not to give a five-star rating. Like you said, I don’t want to give it too much and make a five-star rating meaningless, but I don’t want to be a grumpy, eccentric curmudgeon all the time, unwilling to dole out more than three or five stars. So it’s hard to strike a balance, and I want to rate books honestly, not just so I can have a pretty track record. I agree with your reasons for choosing to give five stars. For the most part, I go by those and also just the general rule of thumb that, if I don’t want to live without a certain book, then that book should get five stars. Even with faults, if I can easily overlook those for all the other things I love, then it deserves the five stars–at least the author was able to make me ignore his or her weaknesses, which is true talent if you ask me. Example: There’s this great 43 minute video on YouTube called Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, and even though there are like, three inappropriate bits, and even though the title is a wee bit lame, I still freaking love that show. Like, I would stab a puppy if I had to (not that I go around looking for small, innocent animals to shank). It gets five stars, hands-down, no questions asked. And just to include books, the last five star book I read would be The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness because it is just as brilliant and beautiful as The Knife of Never Letting Go (if not more, but like you, I need more stars). And honestly, I don’t think I could ever find a book that is completely flawless, because, like you said, reading is so subjective, and there’s always going to be something I would have done differently were I the writer. I wouldn’t even give my own novels five-star ratings if I had to rate them, maybe. (Aww, who am I kidding? I would feed them chocolate cake for breakfast if they were real children–of course I would give them five stars.) But yeah, I’m too perfectionist to please completely–but fortunately, all authors have to do is distract me from a book’s flaws with awesome stuff.
FINDING THE BALANCE IS SO TOUGH. I think people underestimate how tough a bookworm’s life is, tbh. Although I just apprecaite this comment 10000% because you use words like curmudgeon. #justsayin
We need more stars for sure though. there seriously just ARE NOT ENOUGH to convey how much I love books. Althoooough, tbh, if we had 10 stars, I’d probably be whingeing still.
Pfft, I’d totally give my novels 5-star ratings. I’M PERFECT, OBVIOUSLY.
This year I’ve given slightly more 4 than 3 stars (65 to 50), but only three 5 stars. And one of those three was a picture book I read to my kids. (The other two were The Scorpio Races and Challenger Deep.) I have very few 1 star books, because if I’m reading for myself, and I hate it, I stop reading. There are a few books I read in school or for book clubs that I highly resented, so I gave them 1 stars despite their literary fame. Likewise, there are many 5 star books on my list that I simply adored as a kid, so they get my highest rating even if they’re of dubious literary quality. I’m rating things based on how I responded to them, not on some objective scale. Many times “perfection” means not that the book is perfect, but that it was the exact right book for the reader at that point in time.
Zomg, I already approve of your 5-star tastes because THOSE ARE TWO OF MY MOST FAVOURITE BOOKS EVER. <3 I'm going to reread The Scoprio Races because I love it so so much and I like never reread. XD hehe. AHEM. I really don't like giving books 1-star because I feel SO guilty about it, but...I do give them out occasionally. >_> I can be a snarky little ‘worm, I know.
I’m a wee bit liberal with my five stars. I love reading, so if I loved a book, I’ll slap on a five star, sometimes ignoring some glaring issues. Basically, I require a combination of witty conversation/humor, relatable characters, brilliant plot twists, beautiful writing, high concept, and epic worldbuilding. If you score on at least three of those, I’ll probably give you five stars.
Which means that about half the books I’ve shelved have been five stars. *shrugs* It makes authors happy.
Things that will detract from stars: Scenes I’m uncomfortable with (ranging from overthetop romance scenes to kids who rebel without reason), unrealistic dialogue, and clunky prose that’s like swimming through peanut butter. And cliched worldbuilding that I’m supposed to take seriously.
5-stars DO make authors very happy, don’t they?! XD Life is short! I say if you want to be a liberal 5-star giver then you’re a super nice bookworm, right?!
I’ve been feeling burnt out lately, so I’m sorry for my lame comments this week. I will try to do better! But in answer to your question: Lol, NO, books definitely don’t have to be perfect for me to give them 5 stars. I rate books immediately upon finishing them, and as a result my ratings are wildly inaccurate. I should really wait until my feels have settled down and I can think about a book logically, but…that has yet to happen. I think Harry Potter is pretty darn perfect. As are the Sevenwaters Trilogy, Tamora Pierce’s Tortall novels, and Fangirl. But those are rare exceptions. Let’s see…*checks Goodreads* the last book I gave 5 stars was The Flight of the Silvers. However, I’ve only added 4 books to my “favorites” shelf this year, and FotS wasn’t one of them. We really need half- and quarter-star ratings on GR. That would make everyone’s like so much easier. *sighs dramatically*
DUDE DO NOT APOLOGISE FOR ANY COMMENTS. YOUR COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS FAB. *sends you chocolate cake of recovery*
I rate (AND REVIEW) books exactly when I finish, so I usually find myself kind of thinking, “Eh, maybe I was too hasty” afterwards. -_- Usually I lower ratings in retrospect, but sometimes I raise them. I put A Girl of Fire And Thorns up to 5-stars. I LOVED IT SO MUCH IT COULDN’T STAY AT 4-STARS. XD
I agree that books don’t have to be perfect, even most 5 star books have some thgins I liekd less or even didn’t like and that’s okay. The 5 star rating partly is a feeling, that feeling that it’s a great book and I love almost everything about it and couldn’t stop reading and want the next book now. They need to be outstanding and feel better than most books I read. I average about one 5 star books for each 10 or so books I read, which is nice. I do give out a lot of 4 stars, but those 5 stars are rare. They don’t have to be perfect, but they have to be really really good.
Books are too subjective to look for perfection, right?! I mean, I literally think we’d have to write them ourselves before they were perfect. (Although THAT is a tricky one too, because I, for one, never think my books are perfect either. hehe.) Oh oh! But you have a lot of 5-stars, so that’s epic! You also could have insanely good book-picking skills. 😉
If I love a book, I automatically give it 5 stars, even if it isn’t perfect.
YOU ARE SUPER NICE, CLEARLY.
I hardly EVER give a book 5 stars. Even The Ocean at the End of the Lane and The Darkest Part of the Forest each only got 4.5 out of 5. But books like The Night Circus and We Were Liars made the list because both are stunningly written and I ALSO had an overwhelming love. If there is a lack in either enough to not make the 5 star list, the book usually receives a 4.5. In all honesty, I have become more picky since I started blogging. This was an intriguing post, Cait–keep them coming!
*flails around you like a psychotic brussel sprout* I LOVE WE WERE LIARS and I neeeed the Night Circus. And I gave The Ocean 4-stars, but seriously?! It was incredible and has stuck in my head. :O And the Darkest Part of the Forest actually hit my favourite-of-the-year-shelf. XD IT’S SPECIAL. Blogging made me pickier too. BLAME BLOGGING.
I sort of have two ways a book gets five stars from me:
1. I practically do a happy dance when I think about it. These books are the ones that aren’t perfect. They don’t have the perfect writing, or there are some plot holes but you just beyond all reason love it.
2. It is objectively perfect. When you know that the book absolutely could not be improved upon. These are the books that are written perfectly. Even if you don’t get super excited by them, you still know that they are something truly special and that there isn’t a single word you could change to improve it.
Those are the books that get 5 star ratings from me.
YES I LOVE YOUR TWO WAYS, ACTUALLY. I LOVE THEM A LOT. I’m pretty much the same with #1. That’s where most books fall into for me. Like, there are things that could be better? BUT I’M FLAILING TOO HARD TO EVEN THINK ABOU THEM TOO MUCH. XD
In my four years of blogging, I’ve only given one book five stars (and I just wrote about it recently too). But, maybe my way of rating books is weird compared to everyone else? See…a “meets expectations” gets a book three stars. Of course, this creates problems when I read a hyped book– if everyone raves about it, and by the end I don’t understand why, then the book might end up with two stars. But then there are the really, really good books, the ones that exceed expectations– they usually end up with four stars. What does it take for a book to get five stars? It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to resonate with me. It has to make my heart feel heavy and achy or it has to make me feel giddy or infinite (or other some such abstract feelings). Or it has to be Harry Potter.
WOW YOU ARE TOUGH. XD But that can be a good thing, right?! Because readers will know to drop EVERYTHING and run and get a book you give 5-stars to because it’s so special, right!?
hmm this is a really interesting question cait! obviously i could go with the NOTHING IS EVER PERFECT WHAT IS PERFECTION ITS UNATTAINABLE route but that’s so annoying so I WON’T. i will say though that i understand what you’re talking about here. for someone who rates books MOSTLY on their level of enjoyment it’s not rare when i’ll end up rating a book five stars that maybe wasn’t TECHNICALLY perfect. i guess the most recent example of that was the wrath + the dawn which DON’T GET ME WRONG is an amazing book but i definitely felt like there was a bit of a clunky transition from shazi HATING khalid to all of a sudden wanting to kiss him. but i thought the writing and everything else was so well done and i loved the book so much so i gave it five stars anyway. and of course THE FEELZ. like so many shazi + khalid feels just straight to the chest. by the last page, i didn’t even care that it was a quick jump between the two emotions for shahrzad, i just cared that khalid and shahrzad would end up together because i don’t think i’d bear them not?
ok wow look at me turning everything into a discussion about khalid and shahrzad again. but anyway, lovely post cait! i definitely understand your feelings here.
I LOVED THE WRATH AND THE DAWN AND WILL HAPPILY FLAIL ABOUT IT FOR ETERNITY. FJADKLSFAD I SHIP THEM SO HARD. I didn’t know that about the transition…oops. hehe. I think I was too busy inhaling the food and all that fun stuff. >_> AHEM. Anyway. 5-stars from me too for that one. I JUST ADORED IT. <3 But it doesn't freak me out with excitement the way the Throne of Glass series does. SO YEAH. It's interesting. There are like different levels of 5-stars, right!?
I give out a lot of 5s. For me it’s if I’ve loved a book and it’s genuinely moved me in some way. A 4 is a book that I really liked, but either just didn’t click fully with me or was lacking in some way. 3 is average. I rarely give less than 3.
Ratings are so subjective, I always take other people’s ratings with a grain of salt.
Oh oh! I am the same with what my ratings mean! 3-stars is like a “meh/good/average” sort of book. It’s not something I’m flailing over, but I still thought it was okay. 4-stars is a very solidly good book but not quiiiiiite there yet. I feel like I need a 6th stars for just purely incredible books though. xD BUT YES RATINGS ARE SUBJECTIVE. And they mean different stuff! Like I have a friend whose 3-stars mean “great”. So her 3 is my 4. GAH CONFUSING, RIGHT?!
A book definitely doesn’t have to be perfect to get a 5 star- I just have to love it enough 😉 Like okay- The Sin Eater’s Daughter, which I know you did not love (sorry!) I DID love, and yes, there were some things that I totally get why others wouldn’t like, but I didn’t care because I DID like it. I explained WHY I liked it, and I gave it 5 stars because it made me happy. Bottom line. There are books I have read that I have given five stars and they were basically flawless, but there are books I have given 5 stars to that DO have issues, they were just issues that didn’t make me like the book any less. Because really, a rating is MY opinion of the book- so if I loved it, how do I give it 3 stars? That wouldn’t even make sense.
Am I too free with my 5 stars? Eh, probably, a little, which is why I have my little “favorites” rating. I used to give out five stars like candy, before blogging, and I have toned it down. But still, I am always more likely to round up than down. Rounding down is never fun.
OH OH I UNDERSTAND THAT REASONING THOUGH.! I am the same. I’ll have books that have a few little quibbles, but stillll. Like Demon Road?! I LOVE DEREK LANDY. But there was like 50-pages in there that bored me half to death. But the rest was incredible so I still gave it 5-stars. no regrets.
I have a best-of-the-year shelf on Goodreads and there are like only 10 books on it, OUT OF 200. SO YEAH. I FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT.
I no longer “formally” review books the way I used to, but like you, I’m fairly discerning these days and won’t lob a 5-Star rating to just anyone. Right now from the tons of novels I’ve been reading this year, in my head I’d give maybe 11 books out of 100 that rating, but a few of those books happen to have been written by the same author. To protect the not so innocent, shall remain nameless at this time. Have a super Monday! Hugs…Ro
I used to lob those 5-stars eeeverywhere. I guess the more we read, the more careful we get!??
I don’t think I give out 5 star ratings too often, though I’ve certainly given out quite a few this year because I’ve been reading more and I’ve been reading more that I know I’m going to like. For ages I felt that, as a book blogger, I should be reading what everyone else is reading, but I don’t really read a lot of YA and when I tried to force myself to read the books everyone else was reading it just bummed me out.
Like you, I give 5 stars to books that I absolutely love, but also to books where the plot impresses me and books that I just thoroughly enjoy reading, regardless of whether or not it’s the most amazing book ever. Also, I think it’s not like a rating system works exactly the same for every single book we read. Three books I’ve given 5 stars to have been: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, and Blood Red Road by Moira Young, but I didn’t give Blood Red Road 5 stars for the same reason I gave The Goblin Emperor 5 stars. Our ratings apply in different ways depending on the kind of book we’re reading. 🙂
Awk, but you should read the books you want to read, not just waht everyone else is reading. xD I’m lucky in that I LOOOOVE YA and I just want to gobble all the things, so I stay pretty up-to-date. hehe. Except for this year. I wandered off to finish older series and now I’m SuPer behind on new releases. BUT I DIGRESS.
Ahem.
I totally agree! 5-stars doesn’t always mean the SAME thing. Like I’ll give a book 5-stars that I adored a billion percent and just ajfldkasf I cannot fangirl enough. And then there’ll be another one that’s STILL 5-stars, but I’m nowhere near as excited about it. WE NEED MORE STARS.
I’m like you! I don’t reserve 5 star ratings for perfectly perfect books, because that would just mean there would be so very few 5 star ratings! The last book I gave 5 stars (that I read for the first time – I just reread Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Matilda and GAH THE FEELS THE NOSTALGIA – INSTANT 5 STARS) was To Kill a Mockingbird and it’s not as if that book hasn’t got its flaws. But it impressed me SO MUCH and I felt it was still so relevant that I didn’t really have a choice! And before that was Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and ommggggg that book is pretty much as close to perfect as it gets.
I have lots of different reasons for giving a book 5 stars, but mostly I just go with my gut. If a book leaves me all happy and tingly – pretty sure it’s gonna be a 5 star read. Or if it leaves me ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED (in a good way) chances are it’s a 5 star read as well. ALL THE EMOTIONS.
I GIVE 5-STARS BECAUSE OF NOSTALGIA TOO. :’) It’s too impossible not to. Ahhh I love Matilda. I WANNA REREAD IT NOW. And sometimes I wonder if the book has “flaws” or just our “preferences” right!??? It’s sooo hard to logically review sometimes. FEELS FTW.
Okay you’re a genius for putting it like that – preferences indeed! 😀
I have to say, most of the time, I give books five stars on Goodreads. Not always, but most. I’ve never really thought about, but doing so now, I guess I start a book with a five star rating in mind, and knock half a star of more off as it disappoints me or whatever. Most of the time, I really LOVE the books I read. Obviously, this is not always. If a book does make me feel meh in any way, it won’t get five stars. It just won’t. So I guess, books that I feel are perfect get the five stars. But it is so completely subjective. I’m not a massively analytical reader. I can completely love a book, then talk to someone who had issues with it and then completely understnad why they had those issues – it just didn’t occur to me when I was reading, or I didn’t see things from that perspective before. I’m sure if I was more analytical I’d have more problems with books, but that’s just not the way my brain works.
HOWEVER! I do think back over books, and think I gave Book A five stars, and I gave Book B five stars… but Book B is nowhere near as good as Book A. And then I think, should I really have given this book five stars? But I don’t think of other books when reading, mostly. It’s just me and that book, and if I love it when I’m reading, five stars. There is no point in me comparing books to the awesomeness of Laini Taylor or David Levithan, and be “Well, really, this book should be more like 2 stars, even though I enjoyed it immensely, because it’s got nothing on Taylor/Levithan.” That’s a bit ridiculous. But I do think about it later, like after weeks go by, and I’m all, huh… Lol.
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU CAIT! Say you read a book by Maggie Stiefvater, and for some reason, it’s terrible. Like, really really bad. So many plot holes. Dialogue that doesn’t flow. Unbelievable characters. Something happened, and Steifvater wrote a bad book that you didn’t enjoy at all. Would your bias still have you rating it high?
The last book I gave five stars to was Life on the Refrigerator door. 🙂
Oh you start thinking it’ll be 5-stars?! I’M SO MUCH MORE CYNICAL. Every book starts out, maybe, around 3-stars for me? And then it climbs or descends into the abyss of doom. hehe I used to be more feels-ish-orientated then I am now. I really focus on plot now. Like if a book doesn’t have a good plot then I’m just all in their, squinting and analysing. IT CAN BE A PROBLEM. But shhhh, no I haven’t read too many books, that can’t be possible. XD
Oh oh and I agree. I think it’s no good to only have one level of 5-star-ness. Like no book reaches Maggie Stiefvater level of awesome for me…but that doesn’t mean NO book can ever get 5-stars. If it was like that, it’d be a pretty narrow way to read/review, right?!
AND UGH THAT IS A HORRIBLE QUESTION. Okay, but, tbh…this could happen. Like my opinion of Sarah J Maas (who was solid 5-stars for 4 of her books) kind of dropped after ACOTAR which I didn’t love. I liked it, but I felt bored a lot. :O And I was so weirded out because fadjklasd ahhhhh I usulaly LOVE her writing. So that hasn’t happened with Maggie Stiefvater before, but if it DID…it could spoil the streak. I feel kind of let down/betrayed when I don’t like a book by a favourite author. XD
I rate according to enjoyment, so if a book made me curl my toes with glee, it’s probably going to get five stars, even if it has pitfalls (like that one book that has a ten page science lesson in the middle of a chase scene, whaaat). There are some books I consider perfect, but that’s more like perfect for me. Everyone’s got their own taste, after all, right?
Prime example: The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison. It just missed out on the Hugo and I cannot understand why because omg I love that book — except I totally understand why, because it’s full of weird vocabulary and the plot is more character-focused than driven and and and… But that gets five stars FROM ME forever and ever.
AGH. YES. I HEAR YA. Like I can write you a list of all the things I didn’t like about Game of Thrones BUT I STILL GAVE IT 5-STARS, I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED. I WAS JUST SOBBING AND IT HAPPENED.
I used to be that person who was afraid to give a book a bad review or rating, even if it deserved it. Up until a few months ago, I rarely worked up the courage to give a book 3 stars. I dished out my first 2-star rating to a book that just completely confused me. Perhaps it deserved even 1-star since it made absolutely no sense to me, but giving a book 2-stars was a huge “accomplishment” for me (for lack of a better word). Perhaps I am not a picky reader, and I am glad I do not have almost impossibly high standards, but I do wish my standards were a bit higher. I think I am finally coming to understand what ratings books I read deserve now, even if I did enjoy them. Nowadays, I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy, dystopian, sci-fi, and historical, so I’ve actually found myself being overly harsh (at times) toward romance/contemporary novels that lack world-building and gorgeous descriptions. I know romance novels and contemporaries do not need these things, but sometimes I crave them too much and it clouds my judgment. However, if any book is written in beautiful prose, has a plot and characters that are intriguing and likable, or the book speaks to me at an emotional level and touches me in some way, I usually give it 4 to 5 stars.
It’s kind of a progression thing, right?! I started off NEVER EVER using 1-star ratings. Like NEVER. And now I use them at least once a month for books I entirely loathe. I used to write almost every book 4-stars..now 3-stars is my average rating. I guess it happens when we’ve read more and have more to compare things with?!?
I think romance/contemporaries still should have solid world-building!! I’m pretty harsh with them too, tbh.
Yep, I’ll sometimes give out 5 stars even if a book isn’t perfect. What is perfect anyway? When I fall in love with a book, no matter what, then I’ll give it 5 stars. But I have to fall in love with the book or characters or just be surprised by the plot. I don’t often hand out five stars but when I do it means I love the book, even if it has flaws.
Exactly! “Perfect” is one of those unattainable things, right?!? SOMETIMES. hehe, I’m completely biased and call all of Maggie Stiefvater’s books perfect, though. She is my favourite. XD
I’m with you on this one entirely. I don’t think a book has to be perfect to get 5 stars. So few books are actually perfect, there are only a handful that jump at to me as perfect, and perfect in itself is subjective.
It’s hard to put into words why I give 5 stars.
– I give 5 stars if I really enjoy reading it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not without faults.
– I give 5 stars if the characters are absolutely adorable and they make me go fuzzy because I’m 90% Vulcan, and that’s hard to do.
– I give 5 stars if I hate that the book ended and I feel like I was ripped away from it and now I have to live in the real world again and book world was better.
– I give 5 stars because a book is in the upper limits of awesome.
A perfect book will get 5 stars, but not all 5 star books are perfect.
I know right?! I mean, humans are all so different and reading is SO subjective…I’ve read a few “perfect” books (aka the ones written by Maggie Stiefvater) but other than that, I always have one or two things I wasn’t entirely happy with. XD
DARN GETTING RIPPED AWAY AND HAVING TO LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD THOUGH. GAH. THAT’S JUST ANNOYING.
I think I only gave five stars to books that were perfect I’d have very few five star reads… Because after all, everything has flaws… Except you of course 😛
I will give a book five stars for a few reasons –
– I loved the book, especially the characters. Often times I’m more about the characters than plot.
– There was a plot twist and it totally threw me a curve ball!
– I see myself rereading said book time, and time, and time again.
I do find I have a lot of four star books because I can’t quite push that rating to a five for whatever reason. It was interesting hearing how you rate a five star.
YES YES EXCEPT ME. If I was a book, I would be entirely 5-star ratings. :’) #veryhumble
I’m more about characters too!! Like I still can’t forgive a dodgy plot, but if the characters are epic chances are I don’t even NOTICE the plot as much because AFDJKASLFD EPIC CHARACTERS. I give a lot of books I utterly adore 4-stars, though, too, because there’s just something stopping me from giving it 5. And I figure, if I’m hesitating, then it probably doesn’t deserve the 5.
I have this same issue ALL. THE. TIME. People see I rate books 4 and 5 stars quite often, but neglect to see how many I actually don’t finish. Which I think is up to around 60 books now. If I’m not enjoying it, I put it down and don’t review it. Life is too short for horrible books, so I don’t waste my time with them anymore. I rate and review books strictly on entertainment value, so don’t really get into the technical side of reviewing.
That’s why I tend to only review books I’ve enjoyed, anything I don’t gets shelved.
Excuse the flu brain, I’m pretty sure I’m not making sense.
And here I thought you were just a nice likeable reader who enjoyed alllll the books. THE TRUTH IS OUT, KELLY. MWHAHAA. *ahem* But still, I admire you for DNF’ing so much! I…I can’t. And therefore I have such a conglomeration of dodgy books to review.
You probably know me well enough to know that I hardly ever give 5 stars. I know a lot of people say that and end up giving 5 stars quite frequently, but I only award that rating to my favorite books of all time. If a book isn’t picture perfect or if it has one little flaw in it, I usually don’t give it 5 stars just because I’m so particular about the books I give that rating to. Thanks for sharing Cait and great discussion! ♥
YES I DO KNOW YOU. XD I don’t even know which books you’ve ever given 5-stars too, apart from Flipped. 😉 I think being cautious with the highest rating does make it mean more. *nods*
I’m a notoriously easy rater, so a book doesn’t have to be perfect in my eyes to get 5 stars. In this respect, it’s almost ALL about the emotions for me — if I just am in love with the book and really passionate about it, it’ll get 5 stars, even if there were some things that I thought could be improved (though they weren’t enough to really hinder my enjoyment). I think maybe Vicious is a good example. And some 4 star reads for me had very minor (and even less than some 5 star reads) problems, but didn’t get 5 stars because I just wasn’t over the moon about it. It’s not logical exactly, but I think it’s a lot truer to how I feel about a book. But it’s also why I don’t rate books on my blog, only on GR — because pinning down good ratings is really hard for me and I think more often than not it might mislead people about my true feelings for a book. Oh and last 5 star book — I’ll Give You the Sun. That one was easy! 😀
I think a lot of my rating depends on how I felt while I read the book. Did I devour it in one sitting? Skip dinner? (Horrifying thought!) Did it make me smile and feel warm and fuzzy, or was I ever bored? I’ve read a few books that, from a purely critical, analytical point of view, were not five star reads, but I LOVED them and couldn’t wait to pass them on to others to read as well, so they got five stars.
On the flip side, I’ve read a few books that were masterpieces from a technical angle, but they bored me or I didn’t care for the characters, so they got a lower rating. The feels are important!
I feel like if we all waited around to give 5 stars to books that were astronomically perfect, we’d never give books 5 stars!
I don’t give books 5 stars all that often either. Like this year, I’ve read 168 books but have given only seven 5 stars. BUT i have 16 favorites.
I think it’s so hard to give out 5 stars because like you said, if they are overused they lose their value BUT that doesn’t mean books have to be perfect. Usually they just need to make me feel all the feels without the imperfections bothering me. Because no book is perfect but some books are just so good that you don’t even notice that they aren’t! :DDD
Fantastic post, Cait!
In all my years of reading I haven’t actually come across a PERFECT book, but I’ve given plenty of books five stars just because they are so gorgeously written and I loved the feeling they gave me! Sometimes when I see negative reviews of my five-star books that point out perfectly reasonable faults THAT MAKE PERFECT SENSE, all I think is, “BUT THAT DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE THAT BOOK IS SO INCREDIBLE.” My logical side wars with my irrational side ALL THE TIME.
I give a LOT of books five stars because I’m very much a Captain Kirk most of the time. (Not that Kirk is a pushover or anything, but he’s generally more soft-hearted than you cold, logical Vulcans.) ;P
I give books five star ratings for the same reasons you do. If it was a really great experience then I’m going to give a five star rating. Most of the books I rate get a three or four star rating. Four stars if I’m more biased toward the author usually. XD A great book is one that wows me in experience. It doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect.
In my opinion, a book doesn’t have to be perfect for me to give it 5 stars, it has to be perfect for my mood at the time I read it 🙂 I am definitely an emotional reader, however, if the story is full of grammatical or syntactical errors, my reading pleasure is not there. Therefore, if a book is well-written, fits my mood, and makes me feel something (and that feeling can definitely be anger!) I might give it five stars. And I am quite generous, it seems. I didn’t go back and check how many five star reviews I’ve given so far this year, but there have been several 🙂
Great post as always, Cait!
Well, considering the last book I gave five stars to was Eragon 3 YEARS AGO…clearly I don’t give out 5 stars very often. I haven’t given out a single one in a year of book blogging. So all of my 5 stars ratings are from before book blogging and probably totally not in line with what I would give them now. Like Eragon was not 5 stars, I have no idea what I was thinking. Maybe I gave that rating because I was impressed at Paolini’s age at the time or because dragons are cool or because I was trying to not think about the horrible movie and hold on to the book. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve never even finished that series either… But the last book BEFORE that was something I rated in 2010 before I even had a GR account (I knew when I read it because it was while on a vacation) and that was the graphic novel version of V for Vendetta which WAS pretty good, but it’s pretty sad I haven’t had a 5 star-er that I would still agree with in the last 5 years. Am I too picky? Am I too harsh? I feel like I just read a lot of 3 star type books…
Anyways, I think that the beauty of 5 stars is that it’s totally subjective to you. So if you want to give something 5 stars even though it’s a rambling mess but your grandma wrote it and you can’t see beyond that, that’s totally fine even though nobody else likes it. Or if a book was kind of awful but you loved the characters names so much you could overlook the huge pile of crap that the entire rest of the book was and give it 5 stars. I guess my taste is super opposite of that and EXTREMELY discriminating, so my 5 star ratings are like unicorns. I think regardless, EVERYONE knows a 5 star-er in their heart when they see/read it. We just have different criteria. And I for one embrace it.
I am really picky when it comes to 5 stars. To me, a book has to be absolutely perfect and fantastic to get a 5 star rating from me. Even the greatest books only get a maximum of 4.5 stars from me, but only a collective books get 5 stars. For example, I’ve only given 5 stars to a total of 6 books this year – Legacy of Kings, The Wrath and the Dawn, Damsel Distressed, Vicious, Night Circus and A Darker Shade of Magic. Even some of the best books I read this year, like Raven Boys, I knocked off atleast half a star because there was something missing in it for me to give the book the honor of 5 stars.
Also, I rate by instinct. When I sit in front of my computer, after reading a book, the first number that comes to my mind is my rating of the book. Miraculously, that instinct has always worked perfectly for me while rating, and I hope it will stay the same.
I have read 91 books so far this year – as I work full time, I am rather proud of this number! MY GOAL IS 100 AND I AM SO GOING TO BEAT IT!!! – and of those 91, I have given out 25 5* ratings. That is like 27% of the books I’ve read, which I think is quite high. But looking back at those books now, I feel like I’d only consider about 15 of them as 5* reads. Usually a 5* read doesn’t have to be PERFECT. I just have to absolutely love it. It has to make me really feel something. Or I just finish it feeling completely satisfied with it, despite anything I found wrong with it. If there are any issues with it that I can’t get past, but still really loved and enjoyed it, it’s usually a 4 * for me. 3 are for books I enjoyed, but had issues with and wished certain aspects could be changed.
I always feel terrible because I think I give out more 4-star ratings than 5…I’d say I probably give out more five-star ratings now than I used to, but it’s still really super rare. I have to be broken and/or blown the freak away by the novel in some way or another. Preferably: it hits me in the gut and I just CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. Maggie Stiefvater (you mentioned her because obviously she’s a goddess) is one of those writers that I’ve NEVER been disappointed. She goes SO DEEP.
So I like depth. If I enjoyed reading a book but it didn’t have enough depth, it only gets four stars. At some point or another while I read, I have to feel something chiseling away at my stone-cold heart. That’s how I give out five-stars (I mean, in my book, four stars is a really freaking good rating, still. So.)
Great post, Cait! I love your first point: “I love it. Just plain and purely.” It’s usually my heart’s opinion when I finish a book. But them my brain begins to analyze and ruins everything. I rarely give books five stars, I want it to be something amazing and special. I also noticed that the more I read, more critical I become.
I’m not as picky as most people with my five stars, but I think I’ve given less of them since I began blogging. My go-to rating seems to be four stars now. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m reading more, or because I’m thinking more critically now that I’m writing reviews.
Also — I’m so glad I’m not the only one who will give five stars due to author bias. I can read a book and KNOW that the rating might be lower if it were written by a different person, but sometimes my love for the author’s other books makes me think more highly of the one I just read.
Such a great topic. Personally, I feel I have gotten way too picky and give out fewer and fewer five star ratings. I was thinking about doing a post on that soon. It’s like I love a book so, so much but I feel it still hasn’t quite reached that level of 5 star rating. The last book I gave 5 stars to was More Happy Than Not. SO GOOD!!
Honestly, I have rarely come across books that I deem perfect, no need to change a thing, basically NO ONE TOUCH A SINGE WORD ON ITS DARN BEAUTIFUL PAGES (in this case books like Jodi Lynn Anderson’s The Moment Collector and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird come to mind). But even though I rarely give a book 5 glorious stars the lucky books that do get the honour *hair flip* usually aren’t perfect, but I don’t think five stars is about a flawless story, it’s about a book that you LOVED, that you’ll look at fondly once you’re done with characters and a plot and world you didn’t want to leave when you turned the last page, it’s more of a comment on your personal experience with the book than holding it to a universal checklist of what makes a good book.
Really interesting post Cait!
Safah – OH, HOW I WANDER.
My 5 star rating is simple, did I loved it? yes? 5 stars! Did I just liked it? 4. Was it good but not for me? 3. You get the point. Even books people might hate but I loved, I give 5 stars. I think the star rating is always personal. I have found myself enjoying books others rated as 2 – 3 stars while I hated some most rated 5.
This is such a hard question! Most of the time I won’t give out a 5 star read if it wasn’t actually perfect. I think I’m more a logic reviewer rather than an emotional one so that’s why I just can’t do it. I do LOVE books even if I rated them 3.5-5 stars.
And THIS is why I don’t rate books. On my blog, at least. For me, star ratings are subjective – often I’ll give a book a rating depending on how it compares to the book I read before it; or what mood I’m in when I finish it. I’m not adverse to changing the rating in hindsight either – a five star novel is one that makes me think about the characters long after I’ve finished; which sadly most books don’t. The Wrath and the Dawn for instance – I LOVED that when I finished it, but have I spent a moment thinking about it over the past month? No! (This might be because I’ve rediscovered my love for Maggie Stiefvater. And FYI, Shiver is better than the Raven Cycle. There’s more kissing, for one thing!).
(Oh, and also I LOVE your redesign-y thing. I don’t know if it’s new or if I’ve just been too lazy to click over to PaperFury lately, but it’s beautiful.. HEARTS!)
Beth x
Oh, I definitely do not think a book has to be perfect to be five stars! I mean, I gave Scarlet by Marissa Meyer five stars because I totally loved it. But I did struggle with the beginning at first and couldn’t get as into the story as much as I could with Cinder, but it was still ahmazing fabulous and I loved everything about it as a whole. I will still give a book five stars as long as the few issues I have with it aren’t too big ones!
hehe, I get that! I was like that with Cinder. I actually DNF’d it D: omg can you believe that?!? The first chapter just confused me so much. hehe, but that was pre-book-blogging and I didn’t have very much patience for books apparently. AWK. BUT YES IT’S AMAZING AND NOW 5-STARS.
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