Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group discussion

I know that some people only rate books and not write a review for them, even if they gave the book five stars.

Do you think that some books only deserves a rating and not a review?

I am the worst for not giving reviews. my reason is the fact I can't often find the words that can describe my feelings about the story. sometimes I will have a nice little paragraph written out and then I delete it because I'm not happy at how I worded it. sometimes there are so many reviews on a particular book I find its not necessary to add mine.

It depends on the book how long my review will be. It also depends on the book, if it makes it to my book blog.

You know, it really depends on the book and how I react to it. Sometimes I finish reading a book and I feel the need to say something about it, either to friends or in a review or on my blog, etc. Sometimes I finish a book and I can acknowledge that I either enjoyed it or I didn't, but it doesn't really inspire anything more and/or I feel unable to express my opinion adequately. In those cases, I'll just rate the book and be done with it.

I used to be a drive-by rater, but I started thinking that it really isn't fair to the author or the future readers to rate without reasons. Sooooo, my New Years resolution is to always write a review for each book I read, at least explaining why I rated it as I did.

I have committed to write reviews for the books I read, from now on. But I like writing reviews, very much. I think it's therapeutic for me, like journaling. I don't keep a personal journal, but I do for books, and my Christian studies. I try to make my review personal and talk about my thoughts and what I liked about a book. Like Harper said in another thread on HR group, reading is subjective, so my review won't be exactly like anyone else's review.

I don't judge people who don't write reviews, but I wished that more people who read interracial romances would write reviews. I've gotten burned buying books that were out of my comfort level, and a nice little review would have warned me. I find reviews with content warnings very valuable.

I have of books I remember well or have read since I started with Goodreads. Now I'll have to re-read the books before Goodreads and rate those. Some of those I'm looking forward to reading again though.

Same here, Carolyn. I do write brief reviews for books I read before, as much as I can remember thoughts on the book.

I hardly ever do a review. I have done reviews but not many.

To anyone I may have offended with my comments regarding reviewing books, I apologize. I didn't mean to criticize those who don't write review, I was only commenting on my reasons for writing reviews.

I'm not offended, hon.

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "To anyone I may have offended with my comments regarding reviewing books, I apologize. I didn't mean to criticize those who don't write review, I was only commenting on my reasons for writing reviews."

I love your reviews Dhestiny and use them for new books I want or have in my stack to read. I will sometimes see that one of my Goodread friends has read a book that I'm going to read or had read and they will only note that they read it. I'll often wonder if they liked the book or not. I, however, usually just write a thumbs up/thumbs down review. I just don't know what to say most of the time.

Thank you, Carolyn. I try to write them to help people understand what the issues might be. I try to focus on the sexuality level compared to a strong storyline, etc. Character development... you know what I mean.

I know that not everyone has the desire or the time to review each book. I'm a disabled stay home mom, home schooling my 16 year old son. I have LOT's of time on my hands! And because I can't get out on my own much, Goodreads is my link to the outside world and I feel like I'm making a contribution to my friends when I write reviews. Writing reviews meets MY needs and I'll be honest, if it didn't, I'd probably not write them.

Thank you, Debbie. I wasn't addressing any one certain person, just in general. I very, very seldom criticize people publically, so I often times stick my foot in my mouth with my comments because I'm addressing my own thoughts or feelings about myself, not others. I don't know if that makes sense.

UniquelyMoi, I haven't seen anything you have said that was offensive. You were speaking about yourself.

I'm glad that came across, Arch. I would never speak badly of someone who chooses not to write reviews or anything else for that matter. I just always question myself and worry that I've offended someone.

Danielle will vouch for that. She gets messages from me all the time asking "do you think I offended xxxx..." LOL

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "Thank you, Carolyn. I try to write them to help people understand what the issues might be. I try to focus on the sexuality level compared to a strong storyline, etc. Character development... you k..."

I too enjoy ur reviews and wish I had the talent for writing them that u and several ppl here do. They help me a lot in choosing future reads. I'm not offended by any of ur remarks. I wish I could be more vocal in my reviews. Several times I've gone to check out a review for specific info and can't find it. I have good intentions but can't seem to carry through with them :(

I also try to help when someone is looking for a book but can't remember the name. I come here and go through so many and get frustrated that so many don't have the reviews that could tell me if they could be the one. Then I give up and hope that someone with a better memory than me can step in :)

Thank you, Pamela! I understand about good intentions. I have plenty of them that never see the light of day. LOL I know everyone appreciates all you do to help!

Since finding GR I write a review for every book I read. Those that I really like tend to have longer reviews. When writing my reviews I will write enough about the story so you get an idea of what is going on, sort of like the book jacket, but I try not to say everything or spoil the book. I also talk a lot of what I felt about the story in general or the characters. For books that I read before GR I just rate them. If I re-read something I am so so about going back and writing a review. It is harder to do as you know the rest of the history of the series so it usually taints what you think.

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "To anyone I may have offended with my comments regarding reviewing books, I apologize. I didn't mean to criticize those who don't write review, I was only commenting on my reasons for writing reviews."

I don't think anyone took it that way. I know I didn't.

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "Thank you, Debbie. I wasn't addressing any one certain person, just in general. I very, very seldom criticize people publically, so I often times stick my foot in my mouth with my comments because ..."

You didn't stick your foot in you mouth, as I see it. I am the queen of sticking my foot in my mouth! That's why I try to shut up a lot of times.

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "I'm glad that came across, Arch. I would never speak badly of someone who chooses not to write reviews or anything else for that matter. I just always question myself and worry that I've offended s..."

:) Dhestiny, you are one of the most respectful people I've encountered on GRs.

Hey UM I love all your reviews too:)

I try to write a review for every book I read, I feel if perspective readers read a review then check out the reviewers book shelves it can give them a good idea of whether or not they'll enjoy a book too! I think we all have different ideas about what the rating system actually means for us, for instance a 3 for me would be an average read nothing special yet others give a three for books they did like so a review is helpful in these cases. Also some books get ratings right across the board with no consensus of opinion,so a review helps here. Books which are not part of the popular round of books or not commonly read also benefit from a review. I'm not talking about a great long thesis, just why it was the way it was for you (universal), just a few words to persuade me that it's maybe worth the effort to read something you (universal) liked.

Thank you, ladies.

Adrienne, it was in part, you, who convinced me that if I'm going to rate a book I should review it because you asked me about a poor rating I gave a book when everyone else had rated it at least a 3. I realized the benefit of, as you said, just a few words explaining why I rated it the way I did.

Again, thank you all for understanding that I wasn't trying to be critical of those who don't write reviews.

Very good points, Adrienne.

In the Goodreads Feedback group they are talking about the rating system and how it can be improved. One of the suggestions I made was to have a system similar to eBay's feedback where you have it broken down in catagories and you rate each one individually. Other people said that in addition to that it should be required to write a review or your rating won't count. Then other's said that there would need to be a word count minimum.... and it went on and on and on... and before we knew it, it sounded like you'd need a PHD to rate a book. LOL

I think it would be nice if they had buttons within categories that could be clicked to further rate a book, if a reader didn't want to physically write a review.

That's what I was thinking. It would be providing more information than just the overall rating without the rater needing to explain in a review.

I like your idea too Dhestiny.

I usually do, unless I honestly just don't know what to say about a book, which is rare. I enjoy reading what others thought of a book - especially if I know another reviewer and know we have the same reading styles/interests. If you can look at a review and see that a majority liked it or disliked it, it gives you an idea of whether to spend the money or get it used/from the library. My only concern is something that actually happened to me not too long ago. I wrote a review on a book I truly felt was horrible. Probably one of the worst books I've ever read - IN MY OPINION. The author's fangirlz decided to harass me over it and it got so bad I actually had to report them to Goodreads.

That's really scary, Sherri. :(

It was awful Danielle. They even called me names and said maybe I should be reading chick lit since I didn't know a good romance if it were to hit me upside the head. I'm not usually sensitive but that whole fiasco just blew me away.

Sherri, what was the book? I know I shouldn't ask but I'm so curious about it now.

UniquelyMoi *~*Dhestiny*~* wrote: "In the Goodreads Feedback group they are talking about the rating system and how it can be improved. One of the suggestions I made was to have a system similar to eBay's feedback where you have it ..."

lol! A PHD.

Sherri wrote: "I usually do, unless I honestly just don't know what to say about a book, which is rare. I enjoy reading what others thought of a book - especially if I know another reviewer and know we have the ..."

That sucks Sherri.

I know an author who has fans that don't like people saying anything bad about her books.

If you don't like a book, you don't like a book. Point Blank.

I hope Goodreads handled them.

I've had good luck, but I've gotten into it slightly with someone on GRs that I used to be friends with. She didn't like that my opinion was different from hers. But that's nothing like what happened to you, Sherri.

This is my opinion. I may not always agree with someone else's review. If we can have a pleasant discussion about how we differ in our feelings, I'm game. But if that's not possible, then I don't worry about it. Everyone's entitled to their opinion.

I think it would improve the rating system tremendously just to be able to give half points. Having a "quality" rating and a "liking" rating could be good too, though I've never used such a system. And am not sure most people really make that kind of distinction anyway.

I don't review if I don't have anything much to say. If I rate a book two stars, that pretty much says "eh, it was meh" already. Ditto if I rate it five stars and add "wow, I just loved it." Some books inspire me to review, some books don't.

Carolyn F. wrote: "Sherri, what was the book? I know I shouldn't ask but I'm so curious about it now."

It was an indy author - she's written a few books but nothing mainstream. The book was a historical romance. I simply said that "in my opinion" which I clearly indicated, it was not written well and had no flow. that the characters seemed wooden and the dialog less than inspiring and I wouldn't be reading anything more by the author. And that set off about 5 of her "fans".

Goodreads removed the negative comments and deleted the members who were harassing me. (I had to provide them the messages they sent me)

I also sent the author a message via Goodreads, which of course she ignored.

I think authors need to have a thick skin. It's a fact that not everyone will like you or what you're doing. That's fine. It's really hard to be criticized, but I try to learn from the criticism and see how I can get better at what I'm doing. For an author to start a hate campaign is just wrong and completely unprofessional.

I always speak my mind, in a positive way of course. I agree that author needs to have thick skin. Because, some people will and will not like their work.

I don't have anything against authors. But, I don't like it, when an author wants to befriend me, just to recommend me a book of theirs. I don't read everything and if I do so happen to read a book that an author write and write a review. They shouldn't get offended, if I didn't like thier book. I am not saying that I have had a Goodreads author get offended by anything that I have said about their book.

I like to be truthful in my reviews.

Maybe they're relatives - I read an Amazon review about Cherry Adair's books about how funny, sexy, etc. the book was. I didn't bother reading the reviewer's last name was also Adair and the book I read was just awful (at that time). I've put the book back in my TBR stack and will try again. Sometimes me not liking a book has more to do with what's happening when I'm reading it so I'll give them another chance unless there's no way I would ever pick up the book again - then I'll give it a rating based on what I feeling/reading at the that time. Huh?

I know what you're saying, Carolyn. You have to be in the mood for certain subjects/books, etc.

I really wish I could write reviews. I keep trying but I mostly just give books a rating. This is partly because I write little private reviews in a notebook that I keep a list of all the books I read in and the other part because by the time I go to update goodread I have to list about 10 to 20 books and don't fancy taking ages to update it. I keep meaning to get into a routine where I update goodreads as soon as I read a book and try to write something but I have yet to do this! :(

Well, don't feel bad, Ally. You have to do what works for you. It can feel like a chore sometimes.

I love reading your reviews on your blog and goodreads Danielle even if I've already read the book and one of your reviews pops up on my google reader I'll still read it just to see what you thought! I wish I could get my thoughts out there like you can :)

Ally wrote: "I love reading your reviews on your blog and goodreads Danielle even if I've already read the book and one of your reviews pops up on my google reader I'll still read it just to see what you though..."

Danielle writes good reviews.

Thanks, Ally and Arch. I enjoy doing it. I'm glad others can benefit from my reviews.

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Thanks, Ally and Arch. I enjoy doing it. I'm glad others can benefit from my reviews."

You are welcome.

I actually quite like the way the rating /review system works at the moment. I know that may sound contradictory to my previous comments, but I feel that any change GRs makes has to be beneficial, if it is insisted that a review be made we'll either get flippant comments from those who really can't be bothered to write one or it will put people who aren't confident in their ability to write a review/don't have time/ feel a review is not warrented, off participating on GRs. Also if the system becomes convoluted, with lots of pre~set comments, or pre written speil, well that would really put me off and to be honest if I saw those as a review I wouldn't bother reading them. A review is something that is personal and full of the reviewers thoughts and character, thats what makes them .

Very good point, Adrienne. I can totally see where you're coming from.