Thoughts of a Bookworm #4: The Two to Three Star Controversy

There has been a lot plaguing my thoughts for the last few months. Despite having quite a lot of things go off in my real life it seems like I’m still pulled back to the same thoughts about the book community. It is the one thing I keep seeing every time I log back into my social media and if I’m being honest, I’m not pleased.

When did the book community feel so much like a kid's playground?

To put into context it seems like there has been a great divide by what should be considered a good book. let me explain...

If you read a book and think that it is amazing, brilliant, rate it five stars and give a good review. But what about the books that you really didn't like? Surely you should be able to give it one or two stars if you feel like this is required? Nope, this is blasphemy. According to some, this counts you as a coward. You should have stopped reading it as soon as you realised that you hated the book.

Well, I'm sorry but I strongly disagree.

You can't really call yourself a reviewer if all you do is praise books. That is not really reviewing at all. That is stroking the ego of the Author. Or how I like to call it mates rates.

You may think that I’m ranting about something that might sound insignificant but really just think. What would happen if we rate everything as good? No one would know the difference between a good and a really great book that changes your point of view entirely.

The reviews are for the readers. For everyone, whether they like a certain genre, are of a certain age or only have enough to buy only one book at the store. So of course a review has to count. Not be biased.

You wouldn’t ask a film or food critic to give a good rating because it was by a certain director or cooked by a famous chef. What makes books any different?

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