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To Star Or Not To Star
I have a GoodReads account that is sorely neglected.
It’s on my to-do list to make better use of it. Believe it or not, one of the reasons I’ve not used it as much is the pressure of the stars. You can rate books on one to five stars: didn’t like it (one), it was OK (two), liked it (three), really liked it (four) and it was amazing (five).
THE PRESSURE.
What if I think the structure is amazing but the characters average? In my review, I’ll talk about the plot mainly and not touch on the characters because it’s the plot that engages my interest. How does that fit with stars? What if I don’t think its amazing but I know other readers will –which, again, I can address in a review but not in stars.
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And yes, I know this is all internal, inside my head, issues with stars. It’s not anyone shoulding me about what to do or how to do it. But, to be honest, in reading up on stars like this, I have read some people react to three stars as if it’s not good. Since three is “liked it”, it just confused me all the more. And by “confused” means “takes up too much time to decide on a star.”
Of course, I since found out I didn’t have to use stars.
Here’s my questions, especially for GoodReads users:
Thoughts on the stars?
If I start taking my GoodReads account more seriously, what suggestions do you have for me? Repeat what I have here? Something shorter?
Links: Monica Edinger over at Educating Alice also posted in The Thing About Stars; and Teri Lesesne also did at Seeing Stars and Seeing Red.
Filed under: Reviews
About Elizabeth Burns
Looking for a place to talk about young adult books? Pull up a chair, have a cup of tea, and let's chat. I am a New Jersey librarian. My opinions do not reflect those of my employer, SLJ, YALSA, or anyone else. On Twitter I'm @LizB; my email is lizzy.burns@gmail.com.
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