Seeing as I write a blog where I review books, it feels appropriate (and slightly meta) to discuss book reviews and what purpose these reviews really serve.
When I reach for a new book, I often look up the Goodreads page. I’ve done this ever since I found out about the website, and I find it’s a pretty useful tool to help me understand what I’m getting into. I do not, however, think it’s a great metric for a book’s actual worth.
The system of reviewing on websites like Goodreads (and my own blog) is highly subjective. In general, people review based off what they personally liked or disliked about the book, and not necessarily based off of the writing prowess of the author or the literary merit of the book. This rating system can make it difficult to understand why books that are poorly written, riddled with plot holes, or otherwise subpar are given ratings in the three, four, or even five star categories.
It’s not necessarily about whether the book is a quality book, it’s about whether or not the reader personally liked and engaged with the book. Understanding this concept is integral to navigating review pages like Goodreads and figuring out how to use them to your benefit.
As a fairly prolific reader, I do like to look up information about books before I read them to get a general sense for the book. The main reason I do this is because there are so many books in the world that I want to make sure I’m picking up a book that I’ll be at least somewhat invested in. If the Goodreads summary sounds interesting or mentions an intriguing plot, good writing, well-written characters, etc., then I will probably read (and enjoy) the book.
However, if I see that the summary/reviews heavily discuss genre tropes I dislike, mention a poor writing style, or point to content that I’m supremely uninterested in, then I’ll pass on it in favor of something else. I have pretty eclectic tastes when it comes to reading, so I’m not often dissuaded, but I would simply rather spend my time on a book that I’ll gain something from reading rather than on one I’m fairly certain I’m going to dislike.
That is how I use the Goodreads review system, and I think it’s the most effective way for everyone to use it. It is essentially a measurement of how well the book appealed to its audience, rather than how high quality the material is. Many of you might understand this already, but I do want to spend a little bit of time discussing why it’s not a great measurement of quality.
A webpage I found has a really good breakdown of the average Goodreads score, which is between 3.5 and 4.2. According to the data used here, the average score is around 3.8, with most “poorly rated” books averaging a 3 and most “highly rated” books averaging 4.5. This means that even the worst books are receiving what would normally be considered an “average” score (3), while well-regarded books rarely reach the coveted 5-star rating.
While I can’t personally vouch for the data here, I will say that based on my experience with Goodreads I find it extremely believable. The site-runner also mentions that they’ve filtered out books with less than fifty ratings (because too few ratings would be an unreliable score), and even the less-popular books are still falling within the 3.5-4.2 average.
As you can see, most ratings are skewed to the higher end of the 5-star scale, meaning that even books that receive very low critical acclaim are still receiving mostly 3 or 4 star reviews by the average reviewer.
Part of this could be because many readers who have heard a book is critically panned will simply not read it, so the people who ARE reading it may have lower standards. Another reason could be that many people would consider that if they can read a book fairly easily and finish it, then it must be at least average. If they personally enjoy it, then the enjoyment makes it above average.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, people usually rate based on whether or not the book performed to their personal expectations. For example, many people who read romance novels might not be expecting stellar writing. Their rating may be based solely on how believable the romance was or how much they connected with the book, so their threshold for the actual writing is lower than it would be for a supposed classic. This would lead to a romance novel having a higher score than a book that is generally more well-regarded.
To give a specific example, let’s talk about cultural phenomenon, Fifty Shades of Grey.
On Goodreads, this book has a 3.7 rating. For comparison, some other books just under this rating are Moby-Dick (3.5), The Scarlett Letter (3.4), The Magicians (by Lev Grossman, 3.5), New Moon (3.6), and The Pearl (by John Steinbeck, 3.5). These books are not in the same genre, but they’re all generally more well-regarded than the Fifty Shades saga. However, many people expected a certain thing (sex) from Fifty Shades, and it delivered. Thus, a book that, critically, should probably be rated around 1.5-2.5 stars is actually rated a 3.7.
Honestly, in what world is ANYTHING by John Steinbeck “worse” than Fifty Shades of Grey? Even if you don’t personally like Steinbeck’s style or material, even considering that these two books are wildly different genres and topics, even understanding that people really (really) like sex, it’s still hard to argue that any of his work should be rated lower. This is a really great example, I think, of how subjective these reviews are.
To get into the nitty gritty of it all, here are some examples of the writing in Fifty Shades of Grey:
- “His voice is warm and husky like dark melted chocolate fudge caramel… or something.”
- “I must be the color of the communist manifesto.”
- “My hormones are racing.”
- “I steal into the bathroom, bewildered by my lack of underwear.” (What even?)
Again, for comparison, some lines from the other aforementioned novels:
- “All of the time Juana had been trying to rescue something of the old peace, of the time before the pearl. But now it was gone, and there was no retrieving it. And knowing this, she abandoned the past instantly.” (The Pearl)
- “Forbidden to remember, terrified to forget; it was a hard line to walk.” (New Moon)
- “The waves of pain that had only lapped at me before now reared high up and washed over my head, pulling me under. I did not resurface.” (New Moon)
- “We dream in our waking moments, and walk in our sleep.” (The Scarlett Letter)
- “She could no longer borrow from the future to ease her present grief.” (The Scarlett Letter)
- “Ignorance is the parent of fear.” (Moby-Dick)
- “Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I’d strike the sun if it insulted me.” (Moby-Dick)
- “I got my heart’s desire, and there my troubles began.” (The Magicians)
(For clarity, this line can also be found in The Magicians: “The process of learning is a nonstop orgy of wonderment.” I’m not arguing that The Magicians or New Moon are great feats of writing, just that they’re certainly better than Fifty Shades.)
As I mentioned, non of these books are about similar topics or ideas. They all fall into different genres, and comparing them might be a little silly on my part. However, I do think it’s pretty apparent that just based off of the writing style alone, it makes no sense for Fifty Shades to have the highest score of these novels.
If you also take into account the origins of Fifty Shades (it began as a Twilight fanfic, for those who live under a rock), the plot-holes, the romanticizing of a toxic relationship, and the messy (at best) characterization, it’s pretty apparent that it’s just not a good book. How is a book that is so subpar in all categories rated a 3.7? Because the ratings are extremely subjective, and this is such an important thing to consider when you’re using a platform like Goodreads to search for books.
So, how much stock should you put into these reviews, and how should you navigate the platform to find books you’ll like? The answer to the first question is that you shouldn’t be expecting the majority of Goodreads reviews to focus on the quality of the book, so whatever “stock” you should be putting into them should be based on how much (and in what way) people ENJOYED the book.
As far as navigating the reviews and figuring out how to find out which books are right for you, there are a few things you can try.
One great tip I’ve seen is to find people who review books similar to your taste and whose reviews you generally agree with. There are a lot of people who review every book they read on a site like Goodreads, and if you find someone with similar tastes, you can follow their reviews. Then, you know that if they really liked (or really disliked) a book, that will probably be a good (or not so good) book choice for you.
Another tip is to seek out the super low reviews for a book. After looking over the positive reviews and seeing if the book interests you, take a look at the one or two star reviews. In the lower reviews, people often give specific examples of what they didn’t enjoy about the book, and you can see if those are things that would ruin your reading experience.
For example, if several one-star reviews mention the rambling prose, and you also really dislike this writing style, that may be an indicator that you should try something else. However, if you don’t mind a rambling prose, then you know that you’ll probably enjoy the book even with the aspects that some people consider faults.
Using Goodreads in this way creates a much more effective (and less frustrating) experience when deciding whether or not to read a book. It’s not that the ratings are useless, but that they need to be framed differently. They’re not a great metric for the true quality of a book, but they are a good way to figure out if you should spend your time reading one.
I know many people don’t like to read reviews before they pick up a book to avoid being persuaded by other’s thoughts, but for those of us who read for enjoyment, I think it’s a great way to tell if you’ll enjoy a book before reading. I also think, in general, it’s just a good way to see if a book truly appeals to you. Sometimes a title/synopsis can be misleading, and the reviews will let you know what to expect in actuality.
Overall, Goodreads and book reviews/ratings in general are a great tool to see whether or not you’ll enjoy a book. While you shouldn’t rely on a Goodreads rating to judge the worth or merit of a book, I do think it’s helpful to look at the individual reviews to see if that’s the right book for you.
The Lit Wiz