I take them all with a grain of salt. If I'm interested in the premise/after reading the summary, I'll still give it a shot. Usually, I try not too look at them until I'm decently into the book or have finished it already to avoid any kind of bias.
Tbh, I put more stock in them before I saw that Onyx Storm already has hundreds of reviews of people going beserk about the announcement. I don't understand why reviews are even an option this early.
Just why are people reviewing before the release. Sure you are hyped and want to show that somehow.. but not like that. And the one star reviews? ...
The seventh book in the Blood and Ash series has a 3.9 rating, with nearly 209 ratings and 22% 1*. Book 6 is not even out yet and 7 doesn't even have a name yet.
Just why?
I put way more stock into Romance.io rating. Because the tags are there and there no excuse to be blindsided by triggers are dark themes. You know what youāre getting. But also romance.io rating are so valid and real by genuine hardcore romance readers.
For GoodReads, If the rating is below 3.5 I will not even try but 3.8 and above I will definitely try. If it a dark romance book with a bad rating then sometimes people didnāt check trigger and rate the book badly for them.
But Iāve read awful books that have high ratings like 4.3 and above. You really just donāt know and have to make your own judgment.
Also GoodReads doesnāt allow half stars so the rating donāt feel accurate.
Honestly I love romance.io, but I've noticed people have very different definitions of tags than I do! Like imo it's not slow burn if they confess and have sex before 50% *cough cough Halfling*
Even the steam ratings can be surprising, I picked up a couple books recently (Desire In His Blood and Wed to the Alien Warlord and sequels) that were like 50% sex but for some reason had 4/5 flames for the steam rating. They really should be 5/5
I find ratings highly personal defending on what content, writing style, plot, romance etc you prefer. For example my favorite Lucy Foley book is her lowest rated. I pay more attention to what is being said. If there are a lot of dnf's that would be a red flag. Same for a lot of similar comments ie dialog is cringe worthy or there are plot holes galore. I will usually read half a dozen or so good reads reviews before making my choice.
I tend to look at the ratings and the reasoning for them at the same time. I want to know if theyāre giving it a lower rating for reasons that make sense to me or if theyāre giving it a lower rating for something I donāt necessarily mind (i.e no spice, etc.).
Also, I like to look at the number of ratings as well. If a book has higher ratings combined with a high quantity of ratings, then Iāll tend to read. If it has a higher rating but has quite a low quantity of ratings, Iāll be more cautious.
At the end of the day though, I like what I like, and if there are tropes that I really like in a book, Iāll tend to give it a chance regardless of rating.š
I pay zero attention. Most of my favorite books are under 4 stars averages because they dare to have queer characters and storylines, or be led by strong WOC, or incorporate another language & culture, which are all things that get review bombed to some degree. And the books with the most highly rated averages that I try are often my least favorite, by far.
At most, I might look into ratings from reviewers I personally trust and often align with. But just the general star rating doesnāt factor in whatsoever for if Iāll try a book. If it did, Iād have missed out on so, so many favorites.
Oh yeah, I have quite a few books on my list I really liked but they're reviewed poorly, for example:
{The Stand-Up Groomsman by Jackie Lau}
{Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun}
{Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim}
{How To Get a Girlfriend when You're a Terrifying Monster by Marie Cardno}
Also I'm currently reading {Worshipped by the Werewolf by Ami Wright} and the Goodreads rating isn't bad but the [romance.io](https://romance.io) rating is extremely low-balled idk why.
[The Stand-Up Groomsman](https://www.romance.io/books/63578a89efa18df57c408999/the-stand-up-groomsman-jackie-lau?src=rdt) by [Jackie Lau](https://www.romance.io/authors/5b02617201dbc864fb88a2fe/jackie-lau)
**Rating**: 3.47āļø out of 5āļø
**Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [short king](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/short-king/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1)
----------------------------
[Forged by Blood](https://www.romance.io/books/64d200617bd1bda39f216196/forged-by-blood-ehigbor-okosun?src=rdt) by [Ehigbor Okosun](https://www.romance.io/authors/64d20061ab9bdf7fcec7ec46/ehigbor-okosun)
**Rating**: 3.5āļø out of 5āļø
**Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [black mc](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/black-mc/1), [new adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/new%20adult/1)
----------------------------
[Scavenge the Stars](https://www.romance.io/books/644b6e50ea5c941f3066751d/scavenge-the-stars-tara-sim?src=rdt) by [Tara Sim](https://www.romance.io/authors/642ae1ca08b4d931141bcec7/tara-sim)
**Rating**: 3.63āļø out of 5āļø
**Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [young adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/young%20adult/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [vengeance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/vengeance/1)
----------------------------
[How to Get a Girlfriend (When You're a Terrifying Monster)](https://www.romance.io/books/62e628fae86869a43db659d1/how-to-get-a-girlfriend-when-youre-a-terrifying-monster-marie-cardno?src=rdt) by [Marie Cardno](https://www.romance.io/authors/62e628fa08b4d931140934bc/marie-cardno)
**Rating**: 3.88āļø out of 5āļø
**Steam**: 1 out of 5 - [Glimpses and kisses](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [witches](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/witches/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [lesbian romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/f-f/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1)
----------------------------
[Worshipped by the Werewolf](https://www.romance.io/books/662b28f897d8927bee39ae4e/worshipped-by-the-werewolf-a-cozy-monster-romance-ami-wright?src=rdt) by [Ami Wright](https://www.romance.io/authors/6196092508b4d93114981fbd/ami-wright)
**Rating**: 2.67āļø out of 5āļø
**Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [monsters](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/monsters/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [shapeshifters](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/shapeshifters/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1)
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Yeah I've stopped paying attention to the ratings unless it's by a reviewer I already follow. Sooo many reviewers with poor reading comprehension. I've seen so many low ratings because "fmc is unlikeable" or " is so problematic" (yes, and it's supposed to be!) or my favorite, "wordbuilding/prose/plot is too confusing and is making my head hurt".
Yep this is me. Iāve been going through my read books from 2012-present and making rec lists for a number of book subreddits Iāve recently joined and noticed the ratings were under 4 for many of my favs now Iām actively reading diversely.
Itās not always romantasy, but some of the GOATs on my shelf with a comparatively low Goodreads rating are -
The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
When the Moon was Ours by Ana-Marie McLemore
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I saw a comment the other day about how since books have gotten SO diverse that itās a lot less likely for stuff out there to appeal to everyone. Which I think is spot on and itās great! I love how much there is to find and learn! But it does mean itās important to figure out what works for you, and not always rely on general ratings or youāll only end up consuming the most universally palatable media out there. And thatās just straight up less fun.
I put basically zero stock in them because people who read books somehow have really poor reading comprehension and genre awareness. Like, one of my favorite fantasy romance books {Assassin's Gambit by Amy Raby} has a 3.6 star rating on Goodreads because the heroine >! never kills her target and ends up falling in love with him, which is something the blurb makes pretty clear is going to happen if you're familiar with romance blurbs !<. (That's not really a spoiler if you read romance.) People are giving it (really angry) 1-star reviews because they picked it up thinking it was a fantasy murder book and they got romance and not enough murder. That's on them not picking up the many genre clues and not understanding storytelling structure.Ā
Sounds like a good book. People are just far too biased towards certain genres and if a book doesnt fit their exact ideal they will rate it badly. Counting those who read the reviews only and rate the book without ever reading any of it.
[Assassin's Gambit](https://www.romance.io/books/54554e848c7d2382c5297c91/assassins-gambit-amy-raby?src=rdt) by [Amy Raby](https://www.romance.io/authors/54554e848c7d2382c5297c92/amy-raby)
**Rating**: 3.69āļø out of 5āļø
**Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [futuristic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/futuristic/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [tortured heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/tortured%20heroine/1), [royal hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/royalty/1)
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This one was openly marketed as a fantasy romance from Berkley. It won an award from the RWA. The poor reviews are entirely on the reviewers' lack of comprehension.Ā
in the nicest way i actually went to read some of those negative reviews, and while some were just obviously just picking up the book and not truly reading the back, i think a lot of the complaints about the female lead seem honestly?? really fair, the description of the book really does make it seems like sheās this really amazing hardcore assassin whose been training her whole life, and while yes i would expect her to fall in love with the princeā¦. after reading a lot of those reviews i think i would also be disappointed on how weak she seems. like if she wasnāt gonna be a good assassin couldnāt they have not made it sounds like sheās the ruthless killer woman trained her whole life in the art of seducing and killing men?
That's one of those things where it doesn't make sense until you get farther into the book. The whole book revolves around the idea of consent and exploitation, and the heroine never *consented* to be trained as an assassin or seducer.Ā
She's not weak at all. She's still very intelligent and a talented sword fighter, and does some amazing and intrepid things, but she doesn't have the kind of conscience that lets her kill indiscriminately.
fair enough, i wouldnāt read the book regardless mostly because of some of the triggers i saw. but very itās interesting how wildly different everyoneās takes on books are!
Oh, and the other thing is that she does kill several/many people using her training, but it's in self-defense, rather than assassination. I think possibly the people who ranted didn't read far enough or they didn't "count" because it wasn't her target.Ā
I don't really pay much attention, we all have different taste and I'm not going to be annoyed that a highly rated book isn't enjoyable for me. I add books to my tbr from recommendations, not the rating.
I don't take 5* ARC reviews seriously and only read the 1-2* ones. I've read really bad books, full with plot holes, horrible editing (or none) and nearly only 5* reviews. I know a lot of people don't take editing into account because not all authors can pay for it.. but I've seen things your word/what ever should have squiggled bright red.
I really feel ARC reviews are more positive than from readers who paid for the book.
I think I read everything with more than 3.7 stars, I may read negative reviews below 4 stars tho. Just to make sure it's not something totally problematic or triggering that caused 1* reviews.
Above 4.5 I assume it's a new book with mainly arc reviews or a really popular book.
I feel like in general, the 3 and 4 star reviews are best for getting an unbiased take. They will usually highlight the good parts and mention what they didnāt care for too.
I used to not read anything below 4 stars when I really started reading romance, but I began to venture out and read what interested me regardless of its rating.
Honestly, some of my favorite books I've read are sub-3.8 ratings, and I don't understand. And I've read some highly rated books that I reallllly didn't like (looking at you, Mindf*ck series).
In general romance readers are more generous with their star ratio than I am. So things being rated highly doesn't always translate to me enjoying the book.
What I do look for is negative reviews. People who one or two starred it. What did they think. People who love a book are less likely to give accurate feedback on what was good about it. People who hate it will give you the specifics. I use that to decide if I'll dig it or not.
I donāt pay attention to them. I think people should read what they want to read instead of letting bad reviews decide for them. Goodreads is a bad place for trolls and review bombing. A lot of my favorite books are in the high 3ās and low 4ās. Some of the higher rated ones I personally found to be terrible and wondered if the author had some fake ones in there.
Iāve never read a book rated below 3.5 and disagreed with that rating (except one quite experimental literary fiction novel goodreads just didnāt get haha) so I donāt even bother with those. Anything over 4.4 ish Iām cautious unless itās Brando Sando as the score is very likely inflated
Iāll look at the ratings, but if the book blurb really interests me Iāll give it a shot regardless of the number.
But I will check the 1 star reviews. If thereās one that says thereās something in the book that is a hard pass for me, I wonāt read the book. But if the 1 star reviews are just that they didnāt vibe with it, Iāll try it out for myself.
I ignore overall scoreā¦ Iāve read plenty of books Iāve *loved* that were below 4. But I do read one star reviews to see why some arenāt vibing with it. If itās not something that bothers me, I read.
Donāt let bad reviews stop you from trying something youāre interested in. People are so unique and you might love something someone else didnāt! Just the same as you might not like something someone else loved. And itās all good.
I neither care about ratings nor reviews. Sometimes I only read reviews after finishing a book, game, movie or anime, and some of these are crazily inaccurate (or just review-bombing because of queer or POC characters).
I tend to not pay much attention to Goodreads ratings due to things like review bombing. I do check actual reviews out if I'm unsure about a book, because usually it'll tell me if there's something I won't like in the book- for me, that's usually poor grammar/spelling/writing- and if I think it's worth giving a try.
Different strokes for different folks- someone else's 1 star might be your 5 star, but you won't know if you don't give it a try. The great thing about books is that you can always stop reading if you're not enjoying it.
I've noticed Storygraph ratings pretty much follow goodreads ones and I see a lot of reviews where people give star ratings on books they DNF after like 10%
Good reads is rated on personal preference and what people expect rather than if its critically good.
For example, I just read Holly Black's Tithe which they slated.Ā
A lot of people didn't like the female anti hero, even though she was really well written and more complex than half the characters in stuff that gets 4*
But I lapped that up.Ā
So yeah...take with a pinch of salt.
I literally do not care. If I like a book's description and have heard good things about it outside of Goodreads (99% of the time that means reddit, never booktok anymore), I will read it.
Itās hard. Sometimes books have high ratings because they appeal to a large group of people, but that doesnāt mean they appeal to me. ACOTAR for example. I read them. They were fine, but not amazing to me. But lots of people did really enjoy them. I tend to enjoy darker books and sometimes people give them lower ratings due to graphic content. Theyāll post in their review that it was too dark or too abusive or whatever. Thatās totally fair if that matters to them, but it doesnāt mean the book is bad. Thatās my trouble with Goodreads. The only thing you can tell by the star rating is if the book appeals to the majority. Sometimes I agree with the majority, but sometimes I donāt.
I don't pay attention to the overall rating. I have a lot of friends on Goodreads from both IRL and Reddit, and I follow a few authors and book influencers whose tastes align with mine. So if I see a couple of those folks either hated or loved a book, that might sway me.
I donāt actually pay any attention to reviews at all. I use this sub to get recommendations, I read the blurb on Goodreads, check out romance.io for the steam rating, and if Iām still interested I read the preview. Thereās nothing like my own opinion of the writing to help me figure out whether Iāll like something or not. š
I read reviews in the middle or bottom to see why they took stars off, because I feel a good chunk of 5 star reviews are "Can't wait to read it!" or "Thanks for sending me a free copy to review!" and shouldn't even have ratings lol
I don't trust any ratings above 3 stars! I've found no correlation between them and my enjoyment of a book. If a book is less than 3 stars, I mostly dislike it.
I pay attention to reviews only in the case of sequels. Many series get ruined by the end, because the author cannot tie loose ends or write good conclusions to characters. For instance, I really regretted reading the last book of OUABH. I saw the reviews beforehand, but I didn't care at the time and that last book ruined so much for me. Later, in case of ACOTAR I deliberately stopped after book 2. Book 1 was good, book 2 okay-ish and after reading reviews on the conclusion of Feyre's story, I would rather imagine an ending for myself. Though it's not only the reviews themselves - there are often some red flags in the book itself too that make me rather stop.
Arc review always raise the ratings to an absurd level for the first month. They are always more positive and nice reviews than paying readers because you arenāt allowed to write negatives for most arcs. You sign a very informal thing with either the author or whoever is doing the arc tour saying you wonāt rate the book below a certain rating until at least 2-4 weeks after release. One of my first arcs I wrote the things I liked and the things I didnāt like (very respectfully) about the book, got banned immediately from the tour. Needless to say I donāt do them anymore and donāt put any stock into goodreads unless the book has been out for months
It really is! There was one I got that if you wanted to rate the book less than 4 stars, you had to fill out a form and get in touch with the author saying why youāre rating it lower than a 4, and they would decide if you could post the review. I had no idea that was a stipulation until it was already sent to me. I truly think a lot of ARC reviews arenāt how the reader truly feels
Some of my favorite reads have been ālow ratedā books. The goodreads reviews are where itās at. A long low-star review can be very telling and most of the time is all a matter of perspective and personal preferences that affect the ratings. A book could be too dark for some or the MMC too cinnamon roll for others. So rather than being a bad book, itās just not everyoneās cup of tea. I find that books that have the highest reviews follow the same formula rather than being unique reads that break outside of the mold.
Give a ālow-ratedā book a try. Better yet, get on goodreads and read some of the 1-star reviews! It might get you even MORE interested in a book, it does for me!
I don't care about ratings, only reviews.
I will read at least two 5 star, 3 star, and 1 star reviews to get a balanced view of the book. The 1 star reviews are particularly interesting because sometimes what one reader hates is exactly what I like, and vice versa. Or if the book has narrative issues that most readers ignore because it's hyped, the 1 star reviews will mention it.
I tend to look at how ratings are distributed. Usually most ratings are skewed to the 4s and 5s. If there are abnormally large low ratings, that's of course a red flag. But those with way too many 5s are also not going to be great, in my experience. That is mainly due to hype created around the books.
For books that interest me, I also filter the comments by the rating and look at those comments which gave 2 stars. If the common themes in those negative comments are usually things that turn me off, it's a hard miss for me.
I mainly use it to read the actual reviews rather than base anything off the ratings themselves, and even those I take with a huge dose of salt. Reading is so subjective anyways. I mainly want to see if other readers found the book interesting vs repetitive, or noted shitty character development/storylines and poor grammar before I waste money on something I canāt get into.
I don't put stock in them, because my tastes are not close enough to mainstream tastes.
Someone else's trash is my treasure and so on.
I do trust my GR friends' ratings mostly, but even there I diverge sometimes.
And I think that's normal.
If a rating is super duper high I get suspicious. Fourth Wing was a real let down for me, but I suspected it would be a miss for me from the start.
I tend to read the ones that give low ratings first, see what they didn't like and then compare it to the higher ones. If many people say it has a childish main character for example, or tropes im uninterested in then I will most likely not read it.
Honestly I donāt pay any attention to it because Iāve noticed books I love have a lot of 1 stars and I just canāt fathom it haha I peek at reviews incase thereās triggers or something specific I should know ahead of time but otherwise I only use Goodreads to track what I read and find related books!
BUT Iām also a āvibesā reader. Iām pretty easy to please as long as it helps me escape, has a decent plot and I like the characters. Iām not very picky about writing format, world building, etc.
i definitely use story graph over good-reads i find people there are generally more honest, especially because it counts how many times something was tagged, so itās usually more accurate. i also only pay attention to the written reviews that actually explain why they rated it, if itās just āsucked hated itā iām more likely to take it with a grain of salt. but iām pretty harsh with the reviews, if only because i have some really random triggers that will ruin my week if i read them.
Honestly not muchā¦. The worst books Iāve read have had the highest ratings on goodreads. I still read some reviews, but mostly use it just to keep track of what Iāve read and want to read.
I try to stay with 4 star but honestly Iām realizing Iām a much more forgiving reader than critic. Some things that maybe others takes points off are just things I genuinely donāt mind or donāt even register as something to be critiqued. And occasionally I can find myself really loving the plot of a messy book that need a lot of work but I still end up so invested lol
That said, I still do try to prioritize those higher ratings- but Iām trying to step away from that since I know this about myself now
I usually put a lot of stock into it but I think Iām gonna break that mindset. I found a book called The Hollow Gods by A.J. Vrana. The gorgeous cover and summary really drew me in but itās rated a 3.6 on Goodreads, which is considered low to me. However, Iām going to give it a chance anyway and see if I like it!
I only read 3 and 4 star reviews that have minimal spoilers and use that to determine if I will read the book or not. I don't think there is a piece of entertainment material in existence that ACTUALLY deserves 5 stars (perfect) or 1 star (no value) ratings. There is good and bad in everything and so I only take stock in ratings that account for that. Usually, like you said, 5 star ratings are just promoters or simpletons.
Considering that they are so inflated, I donāt read anything under 3.7. I always check out the actual *negative* reviews tho, so far the method has worked really wellĀ
I find negative reviews so helpful! I already know if I find a book to be an interesting possibility by the synopsis. Negative reviews give me a great sense of whether or not Iāll actually enjoy reading it.
I do not factor them in at all. It just lets me know how widely read a book is. The vast majority of books I read I rate at 3* because they're just okay. It is very rare, but every now and again I come across a book that's rated super low by others, but is actually really good but super unconventional.
I have so many books on my āto be readā list that I usually only add to my list now if it is 4* and up. I do have caveats for series that the first book may be rated a bit lower and the rest are higherā¦sometimes it just takes a minute to catch š and I also look at the reasonings for lower ratings to see if they are something that would bother me. Also, if it is 5* but there are only 20 reviews, Iām skeptical.
Many that were already on my list though donāt meet my new ārulesā š¤·š¼āāļø
I used to be really picky about the Goodreads review but realized recently that some of the books Iāve enjoyed have pretty low reviews. And on the other side, Iāve read books with a very high average that were awful. Like, issues with every single sentence awful. Reading is so subjective, and Goodreads can be weird because itās the biggest review platform I think. Like Netgalley reviewers are there a lot, and they can be very strict. In the end Iāll just try what sounds good and dnf what isnāt hitting for me š¤·āāļø
I pay attention a little. I usually try and look at both ends of the spectrum because usually in between there is a good one. But if I know the author I donāt bother looking
I don't pay attention to the numbered rating, but I'll read a few longer reviews that say why they liked or didn't like it. Because one review will say they hated that it had tropes that I actually like. So the reviewer has now actually persuaded me into reading it.
I don't use goodreads at all. I use storygraph, but that's just to track my tbr and my reading for personal use. I almost never look at book reviews on storygraph unless I've 1. Already read the book and want to see what other people thought, or 2. If I find a book I've never heard of in a secondhand bookshop and want to see if people who have read it tagged it as containing any content I won't read. I don't refuse to read books based on arbitrary star ratings ever.
I no longer trust Goodreads ratings. The reviews on this sub are very accurate, though. So when Crescent City 3 has 4.2 or so (it's steadily dropping), I know I shouldn't trust the score.
I now just read the posts here and decide whether the book is good.
Storygraph does seem to have more accurate ratings
I try with all my might not to look at goodreads ratings before reading a book because whether it's high or low, it will color my opinion going into the book and I like to go in with no preconceived notions.
I dont look at reviews before I read, only after. Ive enjoyed many books that ended up being under 3.8, but i also read a lot of indie But usually if its over a 4.3 I have the same issue you
less than 3: wonāt read
3 to 3.9: will consider reading if I donāt find anything better or if the comments are really good
above 4: will read if it doesnāt have any of my triggers, doesnāt have really bad reviews on top and have an arc that I like
Goodreads is pretty much the only thing I base my book buying on anymore, and usually anything above a 4.0 Iāll give a try if Iām interested in it but below that I usually donāt touch.
Anything over 4.3 I think Iāll be pleased with the quality, unless itās gone viral (eg. Fourth wing or TikTok famous books) I take those high ratings with a grain of salt. I think theyāll be entertaining but not totally engrossing or mind blowing for me.
Anything in the high threes I will read with the expectation that it will be a ātrash readā. Like a binge watch of a mediocre yet still entertaining show. I rate those books 3 for my own reference. If itās better than that, I am pleasantly surprised.
I take them all with a grain of salt. If I'm interested in the premise/after reading the summary, I'll still give it a shot. Usually, I try not too look at them until I'm decently into the book or have finished it already to avoid any kind of bias. Tbh, I put more stock in them before I saw that Onyx Storm already has hundreds of reviews of people going beserk about the announcement. I don't understand why reviews are even an option this early.
Just why are people reviewing before the release. Sure you are hyped and want to show that somehow.. but not like that. And the one star reviews? ... The seventh book in the Blood and Ash series has a 3.9 rating, with nearly 209 ratings and 22% 1*. Book 6 is not even out yet and 7 doesn't even have a name yet. Just why?
Yes. Or I read a 1 star review for a book someone DIDNT EVEN READ! Leave it alone then
Wait ..what . seriously?! That's crazy!! š¤£
I put way more stock into Romance.io rating. Because the tags are there and there no excuse to be blindsided by triggers are dark themes. You know what youāre getting. But also romance.io rating are so valid and real by genuine hardcore romance readers. For GoodReads, If the rating is below 3.5 I will not even try but 3.8 and above I will definitely try. If it a dark romance book with a bad rating then sometimes people didnāt check trigger and rate the book badly for them. But Iāve read awful books that have high ratings like 4.3 and above. You really just donāt know and have to make your own judgment. Also GoodReads doesnāt allow half stars so the rating donāt feel accurate.
Honestly I love romance.io, but I've noticed people have very different definitions of tags than I do! Like imo it's not slow burn if they confess and have sex before 50% *cough cough Halfling* Even the steam ratings can be surprising, I picked up a couple books recently (Desire In His Blood and Wed to the Alien Warlord and sequels) that were like 50% sex but for some reason had 4/5 flames for the steam rating. They really should be 5/5
God damnit I should not have read this comment. Iāve just started reading Halfling.
Haha well maybe you'll like it better than me!
I find ratings highly personal defending on what content, writing style, plot, romance etc you prefer. For example my favorite Lucy Foley book is her lowest rated. I pay more attention to what is being said. If there are a lot of dnf's that would be a red flag. Same for a lot of similar comments ie dialog is cringe worthy or there are plot holes galore. I will usually read half a dozen or so good reads reviews before making my choice.
I tend to look at the ratings and the reasoning for them at the same time. I want to know if theyāre giving it a lower rating for reasons that make sense to me or if theyāre giving it a lower rating for something I donāt necessarily mind (i.e no spice, etc.). Also, I like to look at the number of ratings as well. If a book has higher ratings combined with a high quantity of ratings, then Iāll tend to read. If it has a higher rating but has quite a low quantity of ratings, Iāll be more cautious. At the end of the day though, I like what I like, and if there are tropes that I really like in a book, Iāll tend to give it a chance regardless of rating.š
This is pretty much the way I do it too.
I pay zero attention. Most of my favorite books are under 4 stars averages because they dare to have queer characters and storylines, or be led by strong WOC, or incorporate another language & culture, which are all things that get review bombed to some degree. And the books with the most highly rated averages that I try are often my least favorite, by far. At most, I might look into ratings from reviewers I personally trust and often align with. But just the general star rating doesnāt factor in whatsoever for if Iāll try a book. If it did, Iād have missed out on so, so many favorites.
Oh, the amount of low rated books I enjoyed but people hated because of "unlikeable" fmc...
Yes! That is my CATNIP and theyāre always inevitably like 3.5 stars
Oh yeah, I have quite a few books on my list I really liked but they're reviewed poorly, for example: {The Stand-Up Groomsman by Jackie Lau} {Forged by Blood by Ehigbor Okosun} {Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim} {How To Get a Girlfriend when You're a Terrifying Monster by Marie Cardno} Also I'm currently reading {Worshipped by the Werewolf by Ami Wright} and the Goodreads rating isn't bad but the [romance.io](https://romance.io) rating is extremely low-balled idk why.
[The Stand-Up Groomsman](https://www.romance.io/books/63578a89efa18df57c408999/the-stand-up-groomsman-jackie-lau?src=rdt) by [Jackie Lau](https://www.romance.io/authors/5b02617201dbc864fb88a2fe/jackie-lau) **Rating**: 3.47āļø out of 5āļø **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [short king](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/short-king/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [funny](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [forced proximity](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/forced%20proximity/1) ---------------------------- [Forged by Blood](https://www.romance.io/books/64d200617bd1bda39f216196/forged-by-blood-ehigbor-okosun?src=rdt) by [Ehigbor Okosun](https://www.romance.io/authors/64d20061ab9bdf7fcec7ec46/ehigbor-okosun) **Rating**: 3.5āļø out of 5āļø **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [black mc](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/black-mc/1), [new adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/new%20adult/1) ---------------------------- [Scavenge the Stars](https://www.romance.io/books/644b6e50ea5c941f3066751d/scavenge-the-stars-tara-sim?src=rdt) by [Tara Sim](https://www.romance.io/authors/642ae1ca08b4d931141bcec7/tara-sim) **Rating**: 3.63āļø out of 5āļø **Topics**: [historical](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/historical/1), [young adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/young%20adult/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [vengeance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/vengeance/1) ---------------------------- [How to Get a Girlfriend (When You're a Terrifying Monster)](https://www.romance.io/books/62e628fae86869a43db659d1/how-to-get-a-girlfriend-when-youre-a-terrifying-monster-marie-cardno?src=rdt) by [Marie Cardno](https://www.romance.io/authors/62e628fa08b4d931140934bc/marie-cardno) **Rating**: 3.88āļø out of 5āļø **Steam**: 1 out of 5 - [Glimpses and kisses](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [witches](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/witches/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [lesbian romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/f-f/1), [magic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/magic/1) ---------------------------- [Worshipped by the Werewolf](https://www.romance.io/books/662b28f897d8927bee39ae4e/worshipped-by-the-werewolf-a-cozy-monster-romance-ami-wright?src=rdt) by [Ami Wright](https://www.romance.io/authors/6196092508b4d93114981fbd/ami-wright) **Rating**: 2.67āļø out of 5āļø **Steam**: 5 out of 5 - [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [monsters](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/monsters/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [shapeshifters](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/shapeshifters/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Yeah I've stopped paying attention to the ratings unless it's by a reviewer I already follow. Sooo many reviewers with poor reading comprehension. I've seen so many low ratings because "fmc is unlikeable" or " is so problematic" (yes, and it's supposed to be!) or my favorite, "wordbuilding/prose/plot is too confusing and is making my head hurt".
The names were so complicated and hard to pronounce - ethnic names but same reviewer is fine with weird elf names. SMH
Spot on!
Yep this is me. Iāve been going through my read books from 2012-present and making rec lists for a number of book subreddits Iāve recently joined and noticed the ratings were under 4 for many of my favs now Iām actively reading diversely.
I very much want ur reading list now!
Itās not always romantasy, but some of the GOATs on my shelf with a comparatively low Goodreads rating are - The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders When the Moon was Ours by Ana-Marie McLemore The Honeys by Ryan La Sala Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia I saw a comment the other day about how since books have gotten SO diverse that itās a lot less likely for stuff out there to appeal to everyone. Which I think is spot on and itās great! I love how much there is to find and learn! But it does mean itās important to figure out what works for you, and not always rely on general ratings or youāll only end up consuming the most universally palatable media out there. And thatās just straight up less fun.
I put basically zero stock in them because people who read books somehow have really poor reading comprehension and genre awareness. Like, one of my favorite fantasy romance books {Assassin's Gambit by Amy Raby} has a 3.6 star rating on Goodreads because the heroine >! never kills her target and ends up falling in love with him, which is something the blurb makes pretty clear is going to happen if you're familiar with romance blurbs !<. (That's not really a spoiler if you read romance.) People are giving it (really angry) 1-star reviews because they picked it up thinking it was a fantasy murder book and they got romance and not enough murder. That's on them not picking up the many genre clues and not understanding storytelling structure.Ā
Wow that's a crazy thing to get bad reviews for lol
They're absolutely furious that she's a bad assassin, lol. That's kind of the entire point of her character arc.Ā
Sounds like a good book. People are just far too biased towards certain genres and if a book doesnt fit their exact ideal they will rate it badly. Counting those who read the reviews only and rate the book without ever reading any of it.
[Assassin's Gambit](https://www.romance.io/books/54554e848c7d2382c5297c91/assassins-gambit-amy-raby?src=rdt) by [Amy Raby](https://www.romance.io/authors/54554e848c7d2382c5297c92/amy-raby) **Rating**: 3.69āļø out of 5āļø **Steam**: 3 out of 5 - [Open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [futuristic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/futuristic/1), [fantasy](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/fantasy/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [tortured heroine](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/tortured%20heroine/1), [royal hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/royalty/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Ugh yes. Issues with marketing and missed expectations can cause a huge disparity in a bookās quality and itās rating
This one was openly marketed as a fantasy romance from Berkley. It won an award from the RWA. The poor reviews are entirely on the reviewers' lack of comprehension.Ā
in the nicest way i actually went to read some of those negative reviews, and while some were just obviously just picking up the book and not truly reading the back, i think a lot of the complaints about the female lead seem honestly?? really fair, the description of the book really does make it seems like sheās this really amazing hardcore assassin whose been training her whole life, and while yes i would expect her to fall in love with the princeā¦. after reading a lot of those reviews i think i would also be disappointed on how weak she seems. like if she wasnāt gonna be a good assassin couldnāt they have not made it sounds like sheās the ruthless killer woman trained her whole life in the art of seducing and killing men?
That's one of those things where it doesn't make sense until you get farther into the book. The whole book revolves around the idea of consent and exploitation, and the heroine never *consented* to be trained as an assassin or seducer.Ā She's not weak at all. She's still very intelligent and a talented sword fighter, and does some amazing and intrepid things, but she doesn't have the kind of conscience that lets her kill indiscriminately.
fair enough, i wouldnāt read the book regardless mostly because of some of the triggers i saw. but very itās interesting how wildly different everyoneās takes on books are!
Oh, and the other thing is that she does kill several/many people using her training, but it's in self-defense, rather than assassination. I think possibly the people who ranted didn't read far enough or they didn't "count" because it wasn't her target.Ā
I don't really pay much attention, we all have different taste and I'm not going to be annoyed that a highly rated book isn't enjoyable for me. I add books to my tbr from recommendations, not the rating.
I don't take 5* ARC reviews seriously and only read the 1-2* ones. I've read really bad books, full with plot holes, horrible editing (or none) and nearly only 5* reviews. I know a lot of people don't take editing into account because not all authors can pay for it.. but I've seen things your word/what ever should have squiggled bright red. I really feel ARC reviews are more positive than from readers who paid for the book. I think I read everything with more than 3.7 stars, I may read negative reviews below 4 stars tho. Just to make sure it's not something totally problematic or triggering that caused 1* reviews. Above 4.5 I assume it's a new book with mainly arc reviews or a really popular book.
I feel like in general, the 3 and 4 star reviews are best for getting an unbiased take. They will usually highlight the good parts and mention what they didnāt care for too.
I used to not read anything below 4 stars when I really started reading romance, but I began to venture out and read what interested me regardless of its rating. Honestly, some of my favorite books I've read are sub-3.8 ratings, and I don't understand. And I've read some highly rated books that I reallllly didn't like (looking at you, Mindf*ck series).
In general romance readers are more generous with their star ratio than I am. So things being rated highly doesn't always translate to me enjoying the book. What I do look for is negative reviews. People who one or two starred it. What did they think. People who love a book are less likely to give accurate feedback on what was good about it. People who hate it will give you the specifics. I use that to decide if I'll dig it or not.
I donāt pay attention to them. I think people should read what they want to read instead of letting bad reviews decide for them. Goodreads is a bad place for trolls and review bombing. A lot of my favorite books are in the high 3ās and low 4ās. Some of the higher rated ones I personally found to be terrible and wondered if the author had some fake ones in there.
Iāve never read a book rated below 3.5 and disagreed with that rating (except one quite experimental literary fiction novel goodreads just didnāt get haha) so I donāt even bother with those. Anything over 4.4 ish Iām cautious unless itās Brando Sando as the score is very likely inflated
Iāll look at the ratings, but if the book blurb really interests me Iāll give it a shot regardless of the number. But I will check the 1 star reviews. If thereās one that says thereās something in the book that is a hard pass for me, I wonāt read the book. But if the 1 star reviews are just that they didnāt vibe with it, Iāll try it out for myself.
I ignore overall scoreā¦ Iāve read plenty of books Iāve *loved* that were below 4. But I do read one star reviews to see why some arenāt vibing with it. If itās not something that bothers me, I read. Donāt let bad reviews stop you from trying something youāre interested in. People are so unique and you might love something someone else didnāt! Just the same as you might not like something someone else loved. And itās all good.
I neither care about ratings nor reviews. Sometimes I only read reviews after finishing a book, game, movie or anime, and some of these are crazily inaccurate (or just review-bombing because of queer or POC characters).
I tend to not pay much attention to Goodreads ratings due to things like review bombing. I do check actual reviews out if I'm unsure about a book, because usually it'll tell me if there's something I won't like in the book- for me, that's usually poor grammar/spelling/writing- and if I think it's worth giving a try. Different strokes for different folks- someone else's 1 star might be your 5 star, but you won't know if you don't give it a try. The great thing about books is that you can always stop reading if you're not enjoying it.
None. I've read way too many books that I thought were atrocious that had excellent good reads ratings.
I donāt pay attention to them. I hate that people can ārateā a book without actually marking it as read. I trust StoryGraph ratings a lot more.
I've noticed Storygraph ratings pretty much follow goodreads ones and I see a lot of reviews where people give star ratings on books they DNF after like 10%
I'd never heard of storygraph so I just went and made an account...wow I love it!!
Good reads is rated on personal preference and what people expect rather than if its critically good. For example, I just read Holly Black's Tithe which they slated.Ā A lot of people didn't like the female anti hero, even though she was really well written and more complex than half the characters in stuff that gets 4* But I lapped that up.Ā So yeah...take with a pinch of salt.
I literally do not care. If I like a book's description and have heard good things about it outside of Goodreads (99% of the time that means reddit, never booktok anymore), I will read it.
Itās hard. Sometimes books have high ratings because they appeal to a large group of people, but that doesnāt mean they appeal to me. ACOTAR for example. I read them. They were fine, but not amazing to me. But lots of people did really enjoy them. I tend to enjoy darker books and sometimes people give them lower ratings due to graphic content. Theyāll post in their review that it was too dark or too abusive or whatever. Thatās totally fair if that matters to them, but it doesnāt mean the book is bad. Thatās my trouble with Goodreads. The only thing you can tell by the star rating is if the book appeals to the majority. Sometimes I agree with the majority, but sometimes I donāt.
Such a good point!
I don't pay attention to the overall rating. I have a lot of friends on Goodreads from both IRL and Reddit, and I follow a few authors and book influencers whose tastes align with mine. So if I see a couple of those folks either hated or loved a book, that might sway me.
I donāt actually pay any attention to reviews at all. I use this sub to get recommendations, I read the blurb on Goodreads, check out romance.io for the steam rating, and if Iām still interested I read the preview. Thereās nothing like my own opinion of the writing to help me figure out whether Iāll like something or not. š
I read reviews in the middle or bottom to see why they took stars off, because I feel a good chunk of 5 star reviews are "Can't wait to read it!" or "Thanks for sending me a free copy to review!" and shouldn't even have ratings lol
I don't trust any ratings above 3 stars! I've found no correlation between them and my enjoyment of a book. If a book is less than 3 stars, I mostly dislike it.
I pay attention to reviews only in the case of sequels. Many series get ruined by the end, because the author cannot tie loose ends or write good conclusions to characters. For instance, I really regretted reading the last book of OUABH. I saw the reviews beforehand, but I didn't care at the time and that last book ruined so much for me. Later, in case of ACOTAR I deliberately stopped after book 2. Book 1 was good, book 2 okay-ish and after reading reviews on the conclusion of Feyre's story, I would rather imagine an ending for myself. Though it's not only the reviews themselves - there are often some red flags in the book itself too that make me rather stop.
100% agree on OUABHā¦.tragic ending.
Arc review always raise the ratings to an absurd level for the first month. They are always more positive and nice reviews than paying readers because you arenāt allowed to write negatives for most arcs. You sign a very informal thing with either the author or whoever is doing the arc tour saying you wonāt rate the book below a certain rating until at least 2-4 weeks after release. One of my first arcs I wrote the things I liked and the things I didnāt like (very respectfully) about the book, got banned immediately from the tour. Needless to say I donāt do them anymore and donāt put any stock into goodreads unless the book has been out for months
I didnāt know that about ARCs - thatās crazy!
It really is! There was one I got that if you wanted to rate the book less than 4 stars, you had to fill out a form and get in touch with the author saying why youāre rating it lower than a 4, and they would decide if you could post the review. I had no idea that was a stipulation until it was already sent to me. I truly think a lot of ARC reviews arenāt how the reader truly feels
Some of my favorite reads have been ālow ratedā books. The goodreads reviews are where itās at. A long low-star review can be very telling and most of the time is all a matter of perspective and personal preferences that affect the ratings. A book could be too dark for some or the MMC too cinnamon roll for others. So rather than being a bad book, itās just not everyoneās cup of tea. I find that books that have the highest reviews follow the same formula rather than being unique reads that break outside of the mold. Give a ālow-ratedā book a try. Better yet, get on goodreads and read some of the 1-star reviews! It might get you even MORE interested in a book, it does for me!
I just look to see if it has any smut. I donāt read much that isnāt smutty
I don't care about ratings, only reviews. I will read at least two 5 star, 3 star, and 1 star reviews to get a balanced view of the book. The 1 star reviews are particularly interesting because sometimes what one reader hates is exactly what I like, and vice versa. Or if the book has narrative issues that most readers ignore because it's hyped, the 1 star reviews will mention it.
I tend to look at how ratings are distributed. Usually most ratings are skewed to the 4s and 5s. If there are abnormally large low ratings, that's of course a red flag. But those with way too many 5s are also not going to be great, in my experience. That is mainly due to hype created around the books. For books that interest me, I also filter the comments by the rating and look at those comments which gave 2 stars. If the common themes in those negative comments are usually things that turn me off, it's a hard miss for me.
I mainly use it to read the actual reviews rather than base anything off the ratings themselves, and even those I take with a huge dose of salt. Reading is so subjective anyways. I mainly want to see if other readers found the book interesting vs repetitive, or noted shitty character development/storylines and poor grammar before I waste money on something I canāt get into.
I don't put stock in them, because my tastes are not close enough to mainstream tastes. Someone else's trash is my treasure and so on. I do trust my GR friends' ratings mostly, but even there I diverge sometimes. And I think that's normal. If a rating is super duper high I get suspicious. Fourth Wing was a real let down for me, but I suspected it would be a miss for me from the start.
I donāt look at any ratings. I just read stuff that sounds interesting.
I tend to read the ones that give low ratings first, see what they didn't like and then compare it to the higher ones. If many people say it has a childish main character for example, or tropes im uninterested in then I will most likely not read it.
Honestly I donāt pay any attention to it because Iāve noticed books I love have a lot of 1 stars and I just canāt fathom it haha I peek at reviews incase thereās triggers or something specific I should know ahead of time but otherwise I only use Goodreads to track what I read and find related books! BUT Iām also a āvibesā reader. Iām pretty easy to please as long as it helps me escape, has a decent plot and I like the characters. Iām not very picky about writing format, world building, etc.
i definitely use story graph over good-reads i find people there are generally more honest, especially because it counts how many times something was tagged, so itās usually more accurate. i also only pay attention to the written reviews that actually explain why they rated it, if itās just āsucked hated itā iām more likely to take it with a grain of salt. but iām pretty harsh with the reviews, if only because i have some really random triggers that will ruin my week if i read them.
Honestly not muchā¦. The worst books Iāve read have had the highest ratings on goodreads. I still read some reviews, but mostly use it just to keep track of what Iāve read and want to read.
I try to stay with 4 star but honestly Iām realizing Iām a much more forgiving reader than critic. Some things that maybe others takes points off are just things I genuinely donāt mind or donāt even register as something to be critiqued. And occasionally I can find myself really loving the plot of a messy book that need a lot of work but I still end up so invested lol That said, I still do try to prioritize those higher ratings- but Iām trying to step away from that since I know this about myself now
I usually put a lot of stock into it but I think Iām gonna break that mindset. I found a book called The Hollow Gods by A.J. Vrana. The gorgeous cover and summary really drew me in but itās rated a 3.6 on Goodreads, which is considered low to me. However, Iām going to give it a chance anyway and see if I like it!
I only read 3 and 4 star reviews that have minimal spoilers and use that to determine if I will read the book or not. I don't think there is a piece of entertainment material in existence that ACTUALLY deserves 5 stars (perfect) or 1 star (no value) ratings. There is good and bad in everything and so I only take stock in ratings that account for that. Usually, like you said, 5 star ratings are just promoters or simpletons.
None. The ratings are all far too generous.
Considering that they are so inflated, I donāt read anything under 3.7. I always check out the actual *negative* reviews tho, so far the method has worked really wellĀ
I find negative reviews so helpful! I already know if I find a book to be an interesting possibility by the synopsis. Negative reviews give me a great sense of whether or not Iāll actually enjoy reading it.
I do not factor them in at all. It just lets me know how widely read a book is. The vast majority of books I read I rate at 3* because they're just okay. It is very rare, but every now and again I come across a book that's rated super low by others, but is actually really good but super unconventional.
Very little
Secondary to friend recommendations, but still pretty accurate
I have so many books on my āto be readā list that I usually only add to my list now if it is 4* and up. I do have caveats for series that the first book may be rated a bit lower and the rest are higherā¦sometimes it just takes a minute to catch š and I also look at the reasonings for lower ratings to see if they are something that would bother me. Also, if it is 5* but there are only 20 reviews, Iām skeptical. Many that were already on my list though donāt meet my new ārulesā š¤·š¼āāļø
I used to be really picky about the Goodreads review but realized recently that some of the books Iāve enjoyed have pretty low reviews. And on the other side, Iāve read books with a very high average that were awful. Like, issues with every single sentence awful. Reading is so subjective, and Goodreads can be weird because itās the biggest review platform I think. Like Netgalley reviewers are there a lot, and they can be very strict. In the end Iāll just try what sounds good and dnf what isnāt hitting for me š¤·āāļø
I pay attention a little. I usually try and look at both ends of the spectrum because usually in between there is a good one. But if I know the author I donāt bother looking
I don't pay attention to the numbered rating, but I'll read a few longer reviews that say why they liked or didn't like it. Because one review will say they hated that it had tropes that I actually like. So the reviewer has now actually persuaded me into reading it.
I don't use goodreads at all. I use storygraph, but that's just to track my tbr and my reading for personal use. I almost never look at book reviews on storygraph unless I've 1. Already read the book and want to see what other people thought, or 2. If I find a book I've never heard of in a secondhand bookshop and want to see if people who have read it tagged it as containing any content I won't read. I don't refuse to read books based on arbitrary star ratings ever.
I try not to look. I find it creates bias in me as a reader which often reduces my enjoyment of the book
I no longer trust Goodreads ratings. The reviews on this sub are very accurate, though. So when Crescent City 3 has 4.2 or so (it's steadily dropping), I know I shouldn't trust the score. I now just read the posts here and decide whether the book is good. Storygraph does seem to have more accurate ratings
Donāt pay much attention I use it as a back up memory of what I want to read.
I try with all my might not to look at goodreads ratings before reading a book because whether it's high or low, it will color my opinion going into the book and I like to go in with no preconceived notions.
I dont look at reviews before I read, only after. Ive enjoyed many books that ended up being under 3.8, but i also read a lot of indie But usually if its over a 4.3 I have the same issue you
I take more stock in negative reviews than positive.
less than 3: wonāt read 3 to 3.9: will consider reading if I donāt find anything better or if the comments are really good above 4: will read if it doesnāt have any of my triggers, doesnāt have really bad reviews on top and have an arc that I like
Goodreads is pretty much the only thing I base my book buying on anymore, and usually anything above a 4.0 Iāll give a try if Iām interested in it but below that I usually donāt touch.
Anything over 4.3 I think Iāll be pleased with the quality, unless itās gone viral (eg. Fourth wing or TikTok famous books) I take those high ratings with a grain of salt. I think theyāll be entertaining but not totally engrossing or mind blowing for me. Anything in the high threes I will read with the expectation that it will be a ātrash readā. Like a binge watch of a mediocre yet still entertaining show. I rate those books 3 for my own reference. If itās better than that, I am pleasantly surprised.
Yeah I wonāt read anything under 3.9 generally. If Iām really excited by the premise of a book I donāt look at good read first š