Most of the books I read are professionally edited and the writing is good to fantastic. The issues I have with most books I read is the story and its appeal–or lack thereof.
Lack of appeal could be: characterization, plausibility issues, too much internal examining by either hero or heroine, or the dreaded, nothing is really going on. But those are taste issues. What appeals to others may not necessarily appeal to me and vice versa. That’s why reviews are subjective.
But if pressed and I had to rate a book that was essentially well written and not to my tastes, I’m not ever going to give it 1 star. If you can write, you will garner at least 2 stars from me on a scale of 1 to 5. Of course, that’s just me. Everyone has their own criteria when it comes to rating books and I’d like to know yours. Specifically, I want to know what would make you give a book 1 star?
It depends what site I’m at. At GoodReads, 1 star means “didn’t like it” and I feel free to not like a book. At paperbackswap, there’s a range from didn’t like it to hated it. A book will have to be truly horrible or offensive to get a one star there — or even a half star if it’s especially egregious.
I don’t think I have ever given a one star. For me to give a one star it would have to have a lot of errors in it that really bothered me or a story that was so totally offensive I couldn’t stand to read it. I agree with you that most of the books I read are well edited and well written, if I give a two star it is because the story didn’t do anything for me. Seems like when I write my reviews I end up with a lot of 3 and 4 star books (recently 4’s), but I like to think thats because I am getting good at picking books I know I will enjoy. hehehe
I can only think of one book that I’ve ever given one star to. It was an ‘old school’ romance, lots of rape, physical and mental abuse, so I felt it was justified. So a book has to be pretty bad to get one star, I can usually find something positive in a book.
Good question. I gave one star to a book once. The storyline was horribly ffensive including the male lead (I can’t call him a hero) inviting the villainess to his wedding to the female lead after the villainess had caused the female lead to be kidnapped and raped by some cohorts of the villainess’. This book was so offensive that I felt like I had to give a one-star review to warn off any other potential readers.
I don’t think I’ve ever given a 2-star review, though because those tend to be my DNFs. If the story was badly plotted, I hated the characters, or the writing was incompetent, I will usually just put the book down. In that case, I won’t review it.
One star is pretty brutal. I can only think of one book that I disliked so badly — poorly written with an incredibly weak plot, from an established author! — that I couldn’t help going to Amazon and warning people off. I was so annoyed that this downright bad book had been published and marketed at a $7.99 price when I know darn well it was only on the virtue of the “big name” author. It made me mad at the publishing industry, too, because I felt ripped off.
I’m usually very patient about rating books —
But there have been some instances when I either don’t finish a book (2 this year) or I finish it but the book leaves me feeling that I wasted my time.
Here are my deal breakers:
1. Heroes and heroines whose actions and decisions defy even the most common of sense.
2. Contrived sex scenes. I think there is an appropriate time and place for this in romance novels. I don’t like it when the authors use every opportunity to have her characters get it on.
3. Unbelievable plots and unbelievable resolutions.
I can only think of one book. It was just no believable. The hero had left the heroine in the dust and never looked back. Then she is in trouble and he comes riding to the rescue and she forgets all the pain he caused her.
I have to agree with Susan, if I am paying good money (upwards of $8 with tax) for a book, there is an expectation that it is going to be readable – especially nowadays when there are numerous books available in ebook versions by not-so-well-known authors that are a ‘steal’ at free-3.99. So now, when I am spending that type of money based on an author’s name or the hype surrounding a book, I have a higher expectation out of the book.
It depends on the site and definition of the stars – like willaful said. If 1 star means I didn’t like it, then I use it if appropriate, hopefully explaining why it got that rating.
I agree with willaful in that the way the stars are defined makes a big difference in whether or not I will utilize the single star rating. My lowest ratings are generally for the “didn’t like it” category and on a site like goodreads that means it gets one star. I do try to explain why not in those situations because while it didn’t work for me it may for someone else. If, however, a one star rating is synonymous with “hated it” I rarely if ever give them out because I can generally find at least one redeeming quality in any book. On the flip side I do tend to be a bit stingier with my five star ratings and save them for books that manage to so thoroughly impress me that I talk them up with random strangers (I work in a bookstore, it’s not as odd as it sounds).
I like books and rate them quite high, but I have encountered some real duds that I have given 1 star. These were books that either insulted my intelligence or really got me angry (with characters that were supposed to be in their 20’s or 30’s and talked and acted like they were 13.) And these books were by established, popular authors.
It’s a rare duck that would earn a one star rating from me. I would have to absolutely HATE it before I’d give 1 star. For the most part, any book that I dislike, I will probably give a 2-star rating.
That said, I will give 1 star to books I straight out cannot finish for assorted reasons:
1) the writing is not in keeping with the time period of the book or
2) there is so many sex scenes in the book that have nothing to do with the story and have no reason for being there that it reads more like pornography or
3) it is so sickenly sweet it makes my teeth ache or
4) the heroine is just TSTL or
5) the hero is TSTL or
6) the writing is so abominably bad I’m slapping my forehead thinking ‘why did I even get this book?’
I don’t give reviews very often. Normally it’s the books that I really love that get me to rate them because then it’s usually a 5 because I’m so excited about it.
I’ve never given a 1 star. The book would just have to be that horrible and unfinishable (I know it’s not a word lol). It would just have to be a combination of bad writing that just doesn’t flow and a really bad plot. I can deal with a little suspension of reality or characters that I don’t relate to, but if I find myself cringing or getting eye strain from rolling my eyes every other sentence then I’m done. Crossing my fingers that I never have to cross a book that bad, but trying to find something to like in everything I read.
Generally, I like the books I read. Following the Goodreads scale, that puts most of my reads at 3 or 4 stars.
However, in the past three years, there were a small number of books that I did not like. Those were 1-star books for me. I finished the books, but felt very let down in those reading experiences. In one case, the book was part of a series by a popular author who abruptly changed the very nature of the heroine and the series. I haven’t returned to that series. In one historical romance, there was a rape that completely ruined the story.
I’ve never given a 1 star either, but if I did, the book would have to be unreadable. The novel would have to be lacking a cohesive plot; have poor writing; and unlikeable characters. I’ve noticed over at Amazon, that readers are giving one stars because the book is unavailable as an ebook or overpriced. This is an abuse of the rating system.
A 1 star rating for me is when I really dislike the hero or heroin. I just can’t get into story when I hate the lead characters.
An offensive story line and lame characters or plots – those so bad you can’t even finish the book because it is a waste of time. I am pretty selective about what I read, books are just more expensive these days and there are so many to choose from. With many authors offering sneak peaks, first chapters and such,it is easy to screen out what I probably won’t like. In the store I generally read the first chapter. I usually just comment on books I really-really like and even from a favorite author, you get a dud now and then.
I love reading romance novels but I don’t ever remember giving any a 1 star; although some books did get me clenching my teeth in anger, I’ve always found something I liked about it. And I would always want to see it till the end just because of my curiosity. It has to be really, really bad for me to give it a 1.
And the ratings on Amazon just disappoints me because some books I would love to read but the ratings just sucks, and I’m not sure if it helps me at all about choosing which books to read; which makes it stressful when the writers are professionals authors of these books.
I try to read excerpt before purchasing something in my favourite genre. However, I did read one book this year, and was sadly decieived by the excerpts. The entire book was fill with misspell words, poor grammar, and the plot was revealed before I was 1/2 way through the book. It was a total nightmare to be sure. Because the story was poorly done–I would not even rate this book or give my thoughts on this book. A child could’ve done better.
I need to be intrigued with the story, feel the excitement grow as I read further into a great story that will eventually lead into a briliant, clever plot. I want my mind to wonder about all the possibilities of what will happen as I read. Books like I described are worth my time. Those books deserve a 5 star.
I don’t think I could ever give a book 1 star. It would have to be a really horrible book, and the only way for that to happen would be a bad plot and characters. Those two things make the book for me.
I think you’re asking the wrong crowd 🙂 Those who care enough to read blogs or reviews also care about putting time and thought into their own reviews and ratings. But I’ve found that people give books one star reviews online for reasons that I find incomprehensible: the book was too short/the book was too long; there was too much sex/there was not enough sex; the hero was too alpha/the hero was too beta; the heroine was blonde/brunette/redhead or anything else! None of these criteria say anything objectively about a books quality or content in my opinion. I tend to skip both five and one star reviews because I find them untrustworthy.
I must say, I half agree with you there. Especially if I see a book with no 1s, 2s or even 3s, I immediately dismiss all the other 4 and 5 reviews. It’s completely unbelievable that not one single person who wrote a review for said books doesn’t like it.
I would give a one star rating if a book had a good premise, but was an ungrammatical nightmare. I read a book of this type this fall and, after a while, started writing page numbers and what I found wrong. It hurt to read it and I didn’t enjoy it. I was going to send my notes to the publisher, but didn’t. The problem was lack of editing. The author should have been ashamed to put it out with her name on the cover.
This topic was mentioned on another site I visited this weekend. Like you, if the book
I have written reviews of several of the books I have read. These are usually books I have really enjoyed or felt were well done. I have also reviewed books that were OK – entertaining but not great – and rated them that way, usually a 2 or 3 depending on the quality of the characters and the story. Would I write a really negative review? Maybe, but I would try to do it in a positive way. You can point out where the author did a good job, even if it is just good sentence structure. You can then state why the book didn’t work for you, and say that is why you are giving it a 1. There is no need to be nasty about it, even if they do need to keep their day job and get lots of help to develop their writing skills. For me to give it a one, it would have to be very poorly written with flat characters and no real plot. If it were from a sub-genre I don’t care for and mistakenly read, I wouldn’t review it because my opinion would be clouded by my feelings about the sub-genre, not necessarily the quality of the book. I have read a few books that deserved a 1 or lower, but I didn’t review them. No reason to be unkind to the author. Besides, some people out there like the books and are reading them. If not, the author will not have a market and will have to improve their writing or quit.
Poor writing will kill any book and result in a 1 star. Also, poor plot and pacing can result in a 1 star as well. Being unable to connect with a character (as the only fault) will still garner a 2 or 3 star. Usually if I can see the logic, but am not “feeling” the book I’ll do at least a 2.
However, if I walk away from the book, for whatever reason, thinking that not only would I Not recommend the book, I’d actually warn people away from it. It’s headed for a 1 star.
Well it would be impossible for me to give one star to a story since chances are good I am not going to finish a book that I am disliking that much.