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Have you ever read a book that you didn’t know whether you liked or not? That you didn’t know how to rate on Goodreads? I have. I definitely have. In fact, I just finished one that I don’t know whether I liked or not. Such inner conflict! Ew, no, I hate that last sentence – it takes me back to studying ‘conflict’ in high school English.
I’ve determined a few reasons why I get stuck deciding what rating to give a book on Goodreads. Firstly, and I’m sure I’ve said this before, just know that I rate books for myself. Not for the author. If I want to re-read books, I want to be able to go back and see what ones I liked the first time around.
Here are the main reasons why I can’t decide whether I like a book or not. Can you relate?
I don’t like it but I think the world needs it
Guilty admission incoming… I have left book ratings blank on Goodreads. I do this if I don’t like them but think they’re important books that need to exist. Or if I think other people will love these books and relate to them so strongly, even if I don’t. I don’t want to be the one person bringing the rating of a really important and necessary book down.
I haven’t changed my opinion about these books, but I’ll just keep my not-so-positive opinion to myself. You, dear reader, will never know what books I’m talking about… mwahaha.
It sounds smart but is over my head
Please tell me I’m not the only one who has left a Goodreads rating blank because they didn’t understand the book *hiding behind my massive TRB pile*. I like reading non-fiction – or listening to it – but sometimes I feel so daft. Even though I want Goodreads to show that I’ve ‘read’ the book, I most certainly won’t be sharing my opinion about something I have no clue about.
I always tell myself I’ll go back and read it again sometime. Surely then I will be smarter. Surely then my brain will make sense of it. Then, and only then, will I decide if I like it or not.
It’s well-written but frustrates me
This. This is the book I just finished. I wouldn’t say I was fully enthralled, but the plot was intriguing and it was well-written. The characters though… ok, so by the end I understood why they were the way they were, but for the majority of the book their decisions, concerns, and inner monologues frustrated me so dfvcsjhgefbvks much.
Surely you’ve read a book before where all the problems would be solved if the characters just communicated. “Just. Tell. Them,” you scream internally for 400 pages. Or: “It’s so obvious that it wasn’t your fault so how dare you blame yourself.” Or even: “How dare you be such a horrible human being; I can’t stand to read another sentence of your mind-rambling.” So much indecision – I don’t know if I like it or not!
Does it matter whether I like this book or not?
I don’t know. Just leave the rating blank – it’s as simple as that. Except, as you can probably tell from this blog post, I really don’t find it simple at all.
Honestly, it’s not even about the rating… I just like to understand my own feelings and why I did or didn’t like a book. As a writer, it helps me. I know to avoid certain types of content (or the way content is addressed) in my work, or I learn that I need to read more about certain content I don’t know much about. How a book makes you feel is truly a reflection of yourself… but that’s a deep dive discussion for another blog post. Hmm… maybe I should start a book club with my therapist.
If you’re curious to know about books I have rated, you can go here to see my 2019 list and here to see my 2020 list.