I am thrilled about being a part of this event. Many thanks
to Wild About Bones at Bitten By Paranormal Romance.com for putting this
together. I also want to thank all of the bloggers, authors, and publishers
that are participating in this event.
Star ratings are very important. Many individuals base their
book buying decision off of blog reviews. It is important that people
understand what a 3 star review means.
On my star rating key I state a 3 star review as “enjoyable
read, average book.” The important fact there is that it is an enjoyable read.
Some people may enjoy the same book much more than me. The review should be
read to see what was not enjoyed, what aspect brought the rating down.
Just because I do not enjoy something in a book does not
mean that the next person won’t. I can easily compare this to mine and my
husband’s many pizza discussions. He likes his pizza with sauce, meats, and a
ton of cheese. It’s a good pizza. I will eat it and enjoy it. I prefer my pizza
without the sauce, mushrooms and olives. That’s a perfect pizza to me, not him.
Like me though he will eat it and enjoy it.
I expect almost all first books in a series to never be a 5
star book. Sometimes the couple’s romance gets a little lost in the world
building. On occasion a particular character will possess a trait that just
grates against me in some strange way.
There is a book I read late last year. I gave it two stars.
The heroine didn’t work for me in any way. I did enjoy the hero and the author’s
writing. I am impatiently waiting for the 2nd book in the series. I will buy it
and read it. I liked the dark, seedy, gritty world that the author created.
There were enough good traits in the book to make me want to move on with the
series and author.
So my awesome followers, how do you react to 3 star reviews?
How do y’all feel about reading, or the possibility of reading, a book we have
given a 3 star rating to?
Be sure to click the below banner to find on what other book lovers have to say about a 3 Star Rating!
I totally think 3 stars are exactly like you and Mr Jeep Diva's pizza discussions. I can totally not want to read a book again based on the fact that heroin drove me batty or the hero had blond hair. Doesn't mean I didn't like the book but did it have every single element to make it a 4? nope! Does it mean that someone else will love it? YEP! I only gave Divergent a 3.5 and I swear the number of 5 ratings on that book are too many to count. I enjoyed the book but it did have annoying teenage moments. I don't get all gaga over annoying teenage moments. Would those moments bother someone else? Evidently the clear answer to that is nope! I still am counting down to Insurgent because I want to see where the story goes :)
ReplyDeletei think my favorite part about this hop is seeing everyone's analogy's to the rating system... I love your pizza analogy! my pizza was missing the pineapple, so it only gets 3.5 stars, LOL= perfect! I buy books all the time based off of 3 star reviews. I hate how 3 stars have gotten such a bad rap... what might be a 3 star book to me could be a 4 star for you... that's just the way it goes... Book Savvy Babe
ReplyDeleteI love how you compared it to the pizza because it fits perfectly. And if I am considering a book to read and I seen someone gave it 3 stars I will read their review to see why. Sometimes peoples reasoning to only give it 3 stars (like say too much sex) makes me want to read it even more.lol. Its all personal opinions. A star rating is just a quick glimpse to what the reviewers feelings where.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love how this blog hop has made me discover new blogs and the awesome people who run them!
ReplyDeleteAnd I adore the pizza analogy! The issues you discussed are why i have so many problems with 1-5 ratings - I prefer to read reviews and figure out the whys and why nots.
Great post!
I think you have a winner with the pizza analogy! You pretty much hit the nail on the head. I am now wondering if people would prefer no rating, just a write up of the likes and dislikes of a book...
ReplyDeleteI always go for the 3 star reviews first when I'm considering a buy. The 5 stars tend to gush and 2 and 1 stars tend to be either people who didn't get the book or just didn't like the premise. If what's written in the 3 star reviews is something I think won't bother me, I check a couple of 4 star reviews.
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm not saying I just want 3 star reviews for my works. I absolutely love it when I get 5 and 4 stars, but I do appreciate the 3 stars as well and don't look at them as a negative thing. In fact, some are quite funny ^.^
You're so right, it is hard for the first book in a series to be a 5-star book. So much time is taken up with basic worldbuilding.
ReplyDeleteI think a perfect pizza is a Chicago deep dish with either broccoli or spinach, and made in Chicago. I could probably get one in New York. Unfortunately, I live in Atlanta, so not bloody likely. And broccoli pizza is an acquired taste, mostly acquired in Chicago.
But that's what we all mean. We review based on what we like, and what we thought and felt. Taste is individual.
On the pizza, you can always do an "olive-ectomy" (removal of the offending olives). With the review, we say what worked for us, and what didn't.
And let the next reader make their own decision.