Let’s talk about anything bookish!
It’s time for book blogger confessions, people!
I’d like to think that I don’t change my book ratings, but actually, I do. That isn’t to say that I cheat on my ratings because I got an ARC, or I’m a part of a tour, or because I’m besties with the author (I don’t have any author BFFs, anyway), but I have my reasons.
Now, I don’t mean that changing a rating is bad per se. I think that finding out the reasons why a reader/reviewer changed a rating is very important. Of course, if you do change a rating for all the wrong reasons then I would question the validity of the other reviews.
Why the heck would I change my ratings?
- When I rate up. Okay, so that doesn’t sound like it’s a good thing right? Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it. But let me tell you this, I have had times where I DNF’d a book BUT when I re-read them again, I absolutely fall in love with the story! You might be asking why I would read a book that I already DNF’d? Simple. I read another book by said author and I loved it, so I decided to give that book another try. I can even give you an example! I read One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean and I LOVED it. So, I decided to go and read Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake, a book which I DNF’d before. AND I WAS BLOWN AWAY! It has now been one of my favorite books by Sarah MacLean and I don’t regret changing my opinion.
- When I re-read. There is something about re-reading a great book that makes it even better. Sometimes, when I re-read the books, I give them an extra half or full heart. One example would be Cinder by Marissa Meyer. When I first read Cinder, I thought it was okay and gave it 3 hearts. I wasn’t even very positive with my review. But then, I read Scarlet and Cress so I decided to re-read Cinder, and I gave it an extra heart! I think it was because I fell in love with the whole Lunar Chronicles universe so when I re-read Cinder, I fell in love. Which reminds me that I have to review Cinder again.
What I haven’t done is rate down. There has never been an occasion to, nor do I want there to be. I mean, that’s basically saying that a book that you liked sucked when you read it again! That hasn’t happened yet, thank God!
Let’s Discuss
Are you guilty of changing your ratings? Share your reasons why below!
[…] I enjoyed it this time around that I added another star to my rating! I normally don’t do this kind of thing but for LK, I will make an exception! I still don’t like St. Vincent, but the book IS […]
Early last year, I went through and changed a bunch of ratings on my blog. I had gone back and read some of my old reviews to see if I could catch typos or make certain paragraphs flow better, and then I would notice how high of a rating I gave a book, and I would think, “Why did I rate this five stars? It doesn’t even compare to Harry Potter” (Harry Potter being a five star book in my opinion). And then I would drop the review from five stars to four stars or even three stars.
I didn’t even re-read the book either. Honestly, when I first started blogging, my ratings were really inflated because I was afraid of being negative. Even if I thought a book was worth three stars or two stars, I would bump it up to four or five stars. So, yes, I change some of the ratings. I don’t feel guilty about it though!
I agree, Jackie! Rating books really is a personal thing. I hardly downgrade books tho, especially when I rated them 5 because I immediately rate books right after reading so that rating may be a tad bit influenced by my current feels after reading the book. That being said, that might not be a great idea! But still. 🙂
I think a majority of reviewers initially give inflated ratings when we first start. I think I was on Goodreads and just started rating the books that I read…and these were books that I haven’t read recently.
Great discussion topic! I have changed my ratings a few times — as in, less than five. I agree that it’s generally for the reasons you stated– picking up a DNF and actually finishing it and/or re-reading and re-evaluating my rating.
Eva @ All Books Considered recently posted…Review: The Big Rewind by Libby Cudmore
I don’t ever re-read so I don’t have this issue. LOL! Sometimes I DO consider changing my ratings later, but so far I’ve stuck to my original ratings!
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction recently posted…The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye – Bookish Backdrop, Review Preview & Giveaway
I no longer rate books, but back when I did there were a few times that I changed the rating after thinking about the book more. Sometimes my initial reaction to a book changes after I’ve distanced myself from it a bit, and in some cases have calmed down lol.
You have a point here! I never really thought about that!
I haven’t changed a rating that I remember but I have re-read books I liked that i didn’t fully enjoy the second time around and lower the rating, which royally sucks because two of those books were books I had adored and LOVED LOVED LOVED! So I picked them up again and was surprised to see they weren’t as great as I believed. I don’t rate books I DNF because as you, I could pick them up again.
As Shannon said in her comment, when I started blogging, I wasn’t very critical. If I loved it, I loved it. I didn’t pay much attention to the characters development or anything critical for a story. Then I started getting more involved in the blogging community and visiting blogs and that made me realize I had to focus on everything while reading because I expect the same back. So that’s when I noticed my ratings going from almost 5 stars average to 3.5 or 4.
Genesis @ Latte Nights Reviews recently posted…Are ARCs the reason behind blogging?
So far, the faves I re-read have still remained faves. I don’t know what I would do if they wouldn’t 🙁
Oh, and I also agree with you and Shannon, the first time I used Goodreads, I just rated books willy nilly, most especially those that I had read before. ha ha
I can only think of a handful of times I rerated up- and they all included finding out that a book was going to have a sequel and I had been stabby about the ending. But I HAVE rerated down. Mostly, it’s because I had been way too lenient back in the day, when I first started rating stuff. And I will see someone’s review pop up on Goodreads or something, and I will see that I rated a book I didn’t even really like 4 stars or something. SO then I get mad at myself, and reevaluate the rating, and it usually goes down. I don’t do it often though, just if it makes me twitchy when I see my rating from years ago 😉
Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight recently posted…Three Book Wishes: A Forbidden Wish Giveaway!
I think the tricky thing is the half star rating. I always ask myself this: should I rate up, or down? But mostly I stick to my gut and rate up or down depending on which way how close they are to the full star. But that’s only because star ratings are crazy! I don’t think I’ve actually changed my ratings down, tho. Unless I rated it by mistake, because damn fat fingers on a tiny screen. LOL
I think the only time I change it is I have done a re read and if I had DNF a book previous and read it again and liked it. I rarely change my ratings. Of if on my blog its for example 3 1/2 stars on goodreads I will round it up to 4 stars.
Same here! But I actually haven’t re-read a book yet that I rated down! I mean, I re-read my favorites, so I know I’m not going to rate them down! My half star ratings on Goodreads actually depend on how much that half star really is to me, so I either round up or round down. I usually think about how close that rating is to the full upper or lower star.
I think on both your examples I could see why you would change the rating. Personally, I don’t rate books that I DNF, for the reason that I might decide to read them in the future or I just didn’t get far enough to give it a 1 star rating. I also don’t re-read books, EXCEPT my favorites which always have a 4 or 5 star rating from me 🙂
It’s funny because I also gave Cinder 3 stars but have loved the other Lunar Chronicles books. Maybe I should take a page out of your book and give it another go! As for changing ratings, I do it very seldom. When I see a book I read five years getting 5 stars and recognize that it had issues I will usually change it. I don’t like to, but I sometimes do.
Alise recently posted…Review: Night Study by Maria V Snyder
Nope. But my ratings are super simple…thumbs up and thumbs down. I won’t re-read a book I gave a thumbs down to. 🙂
Terri M., the Director recently posted…Magic is Real and Comes With Great Responsibilty
Hmm.. well, I wouldn’t say I have changed my ratings, per se, BUT. I know for a fact that there are books I loved & rated high, that if I were to read now I wouldn’t love as much. So I don’t lol I guess that would be considered rating down. haha
But there are books where my ratings have changed. The Raven Boys is one. When I read it, I gave it 3 stars but gave it 4 on audio, about a year later. I don’t reread often, so this usually doesn’t happen often with me 🙂