Hi guys, just checking in quickly here. I'm still alive! I've got some reviews coming up soon and my A Court of Thorns and Roses blog tour stop is happening week after next I'M SO EXCITED.
April has been an exceptionally slow reading month for me - it took me 3 weeks to read The Hero of Ages, the last book in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. Not because it was bad, on the contrary, solid 5/5 but because I just had too much going on. I'm only on my 3rd book for April (another Sanderson book) so maybe I'll squeeze in 1 more before month end... hopefully.
Anyway the real reason for this post is a question for you: do you change the rating you've initially given a book?
Are you the type of person that thinks, if that's what I gave it at the time I read the book, then that's the rating. And then you might re-rate after a re-read because giving a new rating could be biased without re-reading. Or for whatever reason. But basically you don't change the rating.
Or are you like me and go back and re-rate books after a while because I think back and go "actually... it really wasn't that great/bad". I do this since I'd have read more books since then, and have more to compare to. I don't re-read, so re-rating is based on what's stood out for me for that book and what I remember as time goes on.
I have a tendency for dropping ratings after a while. I've been known to drop a book from 5 stars to 3 and from 3 to 1 lol! And I've been doing this a lot more recently and wondering how many of you do it too.
Thoughts?
Omg yes I feel you girl. I've had such a slow reading month as well! Well, two months, to think of it. I'm just in a huge slump but I feel like I'm coming out of it now because my new blog design is making me feel pretty motivated, heh.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I am like you! I tend to go back and rerate books because sometimes I under/overrate in the spur of the moment, y'know? And it's true that I have more to compare to, so maybe that book wasn't as good as I thought it was.
Great post, Jaz <33
BUT YOU WENT TO THE US that's an excellent excuse. That blog design <3
DeleteI feel less about re-rating now haha!
Oh yeah, I do it on occasion. If I come across a book I read awhile ago and I give it a thought, I decide if I wanna keep it at the rating it is or change it based on how I feel about it at the moment. Most of the time it stays the same, but every now and then it'll go up or down a star.
ReplyDeleteYes this is me exactly! I usually leave it after the re-rating.
DeleteI definitely do think about it buttt I can't remember most things I read anymore and even while I think as I read something amazing "actually blah blah is practically the same but this executes so much better", I don't actually remember for long enough to go and change it, you know? If I didn't procrastinate, so many things would have been changed by now.
ReplyDeleteI do however rerate when I reread. That's because I'm definitely conscious of it, because lol time's being wasted HAHAHAHA so I definitely go rerate!
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL JESS. I'm more like stumbling through my GR shelves and then I see a rating and be like "ehhh why so high? Needs a drop."
DeleteMy problem is that I rarely ever re-read but I do pick out scenes from my favourite books!
Most of the time I don't change my rating, but if I've been pondering about a book for ages, sometimes I actually will if my feelings change on it. Can't wait to see your upcoming reviews!
ReplyDeleteAhhh I see, it's a rarer occasion for you. I can't wait to post my reviews!
DeleteI've changed ratings before, especially once some time has passed and I've read books so much better on a similar rating. I think it tends to be once I've thought more about the book that I start to realise I disliked a lot more than I'd originally thought
ReplyDeleteThis is me as well. Once I've distanced myself from the initial intensity of emotions after finishing the book then it's like I'm finally lucid and realise how I really feel about the book.
DeleteOoh! Definitely the latter! It's mostly now I have more to compare it to and what might've seemed incredibly unique about the book really isn't, or my tastes change a bit or such reason. I, too, have dropped a book from 3 to 1 star! ;P *shrugs* 4 to 2 stars have happened as well.
ReplyDeleteUsually I rate it higher than I think it deserves cuz I like to give all the stars. It's not oh, this one's actually pretty awesome but more like, "wait, why is this rating so high?"
Great post!
~Fari 0:) @ My Little Corner for Books
I used to give all the stars back in the day and nowadays I'm like, there's so much better stuff out there I need to save the 5 stars for the really amazing ones and the 4 for the ones I love so *drops everything down*
DeleteYeah, I do that, but only sometimes. And only in the week or so after reading it, only by one star. I like to stick by my ratings because it also shows me how I've changed as a reader/blogger :) Now I'm definitely a lot harsher with my ratings, just because of how MANY books I read.
ReplyDeleteOooh yes that's an interesting perspective. I'm so much harsher now too. Those 5 stars are RARE.
DeleteI used to do this a lot, actually. Not anymore. But when I first joined Goodreads I literally gave everything I read five stars; I have no idea whether that was because I just loved everything at that age, or felt like I HAD to rate it higher. Going back through the books I've read year and years ago I've re-done the star rating to what I think it should've been. Now I don't do it. Maybe, like Emily, I might have second thoughts about my rating and change it slightly, but really, that's it. :)
ReplyDeleteAhhh I see. And yes in recent times I've gone back to the books I read ages ago and given 5 stars and re-rated them. I still re-rate the ones I've read in the past year or so too though...
DeleteI pretty much don't do it BUT I WANT TO. I want to so so badly right now. There was one book I gave 4-stars and it really ought to be a 5. XD I usually want to change when the book is an odd one and it just sits in the back of my brain maturing and my thoughts chaaange and then CAN I CHANGE THE RATING?! IS IT LEGAL?! lol I've changed 3-stars down to 2-stars before, though.
ReplyDeleteLOL CAIT. DO IT! The rating is whatever you want it to be (:
DeleteWhenever I do change my rating, it's usually a very small change! It doesn't happen all that often, but when it does, I do feel comfortable doing it since my thoughts on a book are always changing as I'm changing. I do definitely change my rating after a reread too, though as with changing my ratings right after a read, it's a very minor change :)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you said about a person changing. That's why I'm frequently changing ratings for book.
DeleteI definitely change my ratings sometimes. :) Sometimes I'll read a book and then instantly declare it "the best thing ever" and rate it five stars; and then later on I'll read another book that I also declare is the "best thing ever", and then realize the first book might not have been as amazing as I thought it was. It all depends on perspective I guess. The more you read, the more you have to compare to and the more your mind is open for new ideas and opportunities. Thanks for sharing and, as always, wonderful post! <3
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Zoe! And yes completely agree. Although, the funny thing is, there are books I've given 4 stars which I love more than 5 star reads. The 5 star book had all the ingredients for perfection while the 4 star was flawed in ways that kept it from being a 5 but I love the story more somehow...
DeleteThis is one of the reasons I stopped rating books all together. Every time I thought of giving a book a rating, I'd start thinking about all the other books I'd given that rating to. I know that's kinda the point, but I just felt like it wasn't working for me. Also, I did regret giving some books a certain rating and that made me doubt future ratings. So yeah I just dropped them and it's been working really well for me :)
ReplyDeleteWow no rating a book? That's so cool, what do you use a comparison then? Do you just treat each book uniquely and don't really compare?
DeleteI definitely change ratings! Sometimes when you talk about books with friends and bloggers your opinion changes. Usually I change ratings because I feel like I was too harsh but tbh I don't change them often because my initial feeling after I finish a book is what I go off.
ReplyDeleteOoooh that's interesting! I don't change ratings because of other ppl, while I respect their opinions and it'll be eye opening, I usually stand by my own and change ratings based on more recent reads.
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