The answer would appear to be yes.
If we exclude academics and professional critics, rating books is
opinion-based, and opinions, as we all know, are far from universal,
standardized, or even at times completely rational. Hell, full reviews are
still opinion-based but at least provide more detailed reasons for liking and
disliking a book. (For the clarity of this discussion, rating systems are what
I’m classifying as simplified headings or markers of what a reviewer thought of
a book/story in addition or in place of a more in-depth review such as the five
star rating system seen on Goodreads and many other websites that offer product
reviews). For many, books are a form of entertainment, but when rating
entertainment, can a rating system ever be completely accurate? The answer at
first glance would appear to be no. Entertainment is subjective and hard to
measure or compare. Several issues arise such as rating personal entertainment
vs. quality, ratings from reviewer to reviewer, and the evolution of the
reviewer.
Take Goodreads, a site for book
reviews, giveaways, reading challenges, etc., which operates on a five star
rating system. Many of my books in the same star rating aren’t easily
comparable. The Old Man and the Sea, Beautiful Creatures, and To
Kill A Mockingbird all have the same three star rating (as far as what I
rated them), but they are by far very different books that stars can’t
indicate. By rating each of these books as three stars, I am by no means saying
that Beautiful Creatures is on par with To Kill A Mockingbird.
Huhhhh?
I know, I know. Yet, on a shallow,
cursory level it might appear as exactly that. The issue becomes what does the
rating mean or, to phrase it differently, what exactly are the stars rating?
Personal enjoyment? Literary value? Quality of writing? Characters?
World-building? Many a time I would want to rate a book lower because I didn’t
enjoy it, but I would then feel guilty because nothing is per se “wrong” with
the book other than it wasn’t the book for me. Therefore, it is highly likely
that I can rate Beautiful Creatures three stars for very different
reasons than To Kill A Mockingbird. And I can’t be the only one with
this problem right? So, if one reviewer’s ratings can vary from book to book,
then it’s pretty possible that the nuance of meanings widen when looking from
reviewer to reviewer.
Thus, if one person’s ratings from
book to book aren’t always comparable, how can ratings be in any way measured
from reviewer to reviewer? Do you consider the three star rating as “Good”,
“Eh”, or “Has Some Potential”? That alone could alter dramatically how a
reviewer rates their books and how you view their ratings.
If a reviewer only lists a book as
three stars on Goodreads (versus also having a more in-depth review), is that a
book that you would pick up? Or are fours and fives the only books worth your
time? Suddenly, the very reviews we go to to determine our purchases seem so
arbitrary, if not ridiculous. Yet despite these flaws, book rating systems are
everywhere from Amazon to the blog of yours truly, and many of us still use
these reviews to shape our opinions.
The issue becomes compounded further
if we consider the evolution of the reader/reviewer. There’s no guarantee that
I would rate the books I read in high school the same way. In fact, I know from
rereading those books and my reviews of them that many of my views have
dramatically changed. College classes I’ve taken have changed how I view
science fiction and nonfiction, and there are millions of little experiences
between my high school years and now that have changed how I view certain types
of characters and circumstances. And while I don’t think anyone would doubt
that, I believe we all experience even more subtle changes throughout the year:
reading ruts, preferences, mood changes, and so on. Perhaps the book we didn’t
like a couple months ago was because we weren’t in the mood for that type of
book? Or we would have liked that book if we had had a friend recommend that we
read past the first 100 pages of backstory? Or perhaps we didn’t quite
understand that character or situation at the time? Who knows. Reading is far
more complex and subtle than what we sometimes give it credit for which makes
the art of reviewing so much harder.
I have found this out first hand
with this blog. When I first made my rating system, it seemed clever, funny,
and appropriate for me and the platform. However, as I began to use it, I found
out more and more that instead of it being my tool I was becoming its slave. I
used the American grading system to grade 6 components that I thought were
needed in a successful story to average an overall grade. Over time I found
that my feelings for how much I enjoyed a book tended to conflict with how I
would rate the quality. I might want to rate the components (like
world-building, characters, plot, etc.) B’s, but didn’t agree with the overall
grade it would lead to (B=Must Read). Thus, the component grades and the
overall grades always seemed to struggle for control. To think that I thought
that this rating system would be more accurate and understandable than the
simplified five star rating system seen on Goodreads!
Then why is it that so many people
on Goodreads alone still rate their books? Does it serve as a public, online
reminder of why we liked or disliked a book? Do we have an instinctive need to
measure and rate our experiences and compare? Perhaps, both but I think there’s
something more to it. Sometimes reviews can be experiences within themselves.
Some of my favorite reviewers on Goodreads have amazing wit and snark with a
critical eye. I might not always use their reviews as a gauge on what to read
but as entertainment in and of itself. Other reviewers I read because they are
detailed and balanced with a similar interest to my own. These are the reviews
I look to for my to-read list not because they are universally accurate but
because they are in line with my own interests. In a way, I end up feeling
closer to the reviewer for their personal touch and the overlapping interests
we share and thus the reviews begin to feel more like friendly advice than a
dictation on good or bad literature.
Ratings might be flawed, but I don’t
foresee it going away any time soon. When done well, it can be informative as
well as fun. It gives us insight into each other interests, serves as
entertainment, and can hopefully help us pick a good book. There are millions
upon millions of books and more reviews than we can ever read. Whether its a
star rating from Goodreads or my flawed grading system, hopefully ratings will
save people from some really bad books and direct them toward the good ones.
So how do you guys feel about
ratings and reviews? How do you feel about the five star rating system? Also,
if you have time, please look at the rating system below and let me know if you
would like it better than the one I currently have. If you guys agree that this
one is better, I’ll be doing away with the grades and the components and
instead try to go more in-depth in my reviews. My goal with this rating system
is to be more in line with how I view the book as far as enjoyment without
degrading the ones that just weren’t my cup of tea.
Rating System:
Rereadable
Totally Readable
Readable
Barely Readable
Unreadable
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