jefrye t1_j0xn6aq wrote
Reply to comment by StarblindCelestial in Pro-tip: If a well reviewed book has a Goodread's rating of around 3.5 then it's usually interesting by Proper_Cold_6939
>2 star is supposed to be "it was ok" which is an opinion that should happen relatively often,
I'm not so sure. That 3-star midpoint of "I liked it" is generally the minimum expectation people have when going into a book, because who picks up a book they think they won't even like? And, more so, who keeps reading a book when they've realized it's falling short of their expectations?
>I know a decent amount of people dislike The Name of the Wind for various reasons,
I think this really highlights why the rating distribution seems to skew unnaturally high: books are long and complex, and readers can easily have very specific problems with a book while still having an overall 3-star experience because they're rating the entirety of the book.
Personally, I almost never give out 1-star reviews because it's unusual that I finish a book I actively dislike. 2 stars is typically my lowest, because even if I don't like a book, there usually has to be something interesting about it to keep me reading. And then I'm happy to give 3 stars to any book I liked overall, even if it's not something I'm super enthusiastic about.
StarblindCelestial t1_j0xsa87 wrote
If you've never or very rarely picked up a book you think you'll like only to be disappointed you're very lucky indeed. As for continuing a book that is falling short, I'd say it's quite common for many reasons. Bought it and don't want to feel as if it was a waste of money, nothing else to read, everyone else loves it so there must be something in it somewhere that you'll eventually like, discussion/book club/education purposes, a single compelling plot point hiding amongst the drivel, interesting structure/literary technique that you want to see how it's used despite not liking the story, sunk cost fallacy and an aversion to DNF off the top of my head.
All that about ratings may sound reasonable at surface level, and it's how most people use rating systems, but don't you see how it lowers the range of ratings thus making them less useful? If you don't like a book you give it a 2star, but 1star was literally made for books you don't like. It isn't for books that are an affront to humanity that shouldn't have been published. And while you only cut off 1star it should be easy to see how others cut off 2star as well in the same way making it even worse. If everyone decides for themself what the star means for them personally instead of using the defined meanings they become useless. This post for example uses 3.5 star as an example for a terribly rated book that most people would avoid, whereas to me there's absolutely nothing wrong with a 3.5. That's almost 4 which is a very good score.
I think it boils down to many if not most people thinking 1star means it was a bad book so they don't use it. That's not what it means. It just means you didn't like it and there's nothing wrong with that.
jefrye t1_j0xtt1o wrote
>If you don't like a book you give it a 2star, but 1star was literally made for books you don't like.
I think this is actually the crux of the issue: 1 star is for books you dislike. Dislike is an active negative feeling, not simply the lack of a positive feeling.
2 stars is for books that are "okay" and fall in that gray are between "dislike" and "like."
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