Your system of rounding down makes so much sense! The way I explain it, is that if I give a book 3.5 stars and round down, it EARNED the 3 stars, but it didn't earn the 4th, so it makes sense to not give it four stars.
5 is loved and reread is likely 4 is really enjoyed 3 is middle of the road 2 didn’t enjoy/ not for me 1 actively hated the book That’s what works for me
That is exactly how I rate. I don’t base it on whether it was flawless/not flawless, culturally important or any other reason. I just base it on whether I enjoyed reading it or not, regardless of genre or topic.
Cucug83 yeah I don’t really get why you’d do it another way. I guess she is a bigger platform so maybe she just thinks she influences peoples opinions too much
I’m the kind of person that wants reviewers to go: “hey i didn’t like this book for this and that reason but if you like that thing then you might like this book.” I personally hate it when reviewers tell you that “I hated this book so no one should read it.” It works the other way too if it is a book they enjoyed.
YOU'RE SO RIGHT! First of all, I think we can share our negative opinions in a positive, more polite way. So when people go, "um this books was shit, idk why people like it so much" I'm like??? You're not the only person in the world, dude, your opinion is not the only valid opinion?? I like it when people explain what they like and dislike in a book, that just makes the review ten times better. Also, people who think negative reviews are the only honest reviews- I don't even know what to say to them. They frustrate me so much. Anyway yeah, I agree with you. People should definitely explain why they like/dislike a book when reviewing it.
I just wanted to note that I really don't like Goodreads reviews that contain a book synopsis. Like, dude, we're on Goodreads, we can all read the official synopsis. A perfect review for me goes straight to the point. Also! I think a book doesn't have to be offensive and unreadable to get only one star. If there's not a single thing in it that grabbed my interest it definitely gets one star from me.
Sometimes I think it's bloggers cross posting. When my friends and I had a review blog, he wanted to follow what Amazon requested for ratings to contain and we then cross posted on all platforms. It was easier than trying to fix the review for each one.
I completely agree with you on people writing out the whole synopsis. It's like, dude, I know what this book is about, don't just repeat what goodreads has already told me.
I vividly remember you expressing your love for The Chalk Man, whereas I normally would definitely forget a single star rating. You definitely are not as bad as you think you are when it comes to talking about the books you read, Kayla!
This!! I didn’t notice she didn’t rate them but I clearly remember how she felt about all three of those books, specifically The Chalk Man. I never would’ve remembered if she said 4 stars or 4.5. Even now I don’t remember lol
Lol sameeee! I love all the things she has to say about all the books she reads, we don't really like the same things so I don't really care for the rating
I’ll be honest, I didn’t notice the lack of stars in your videos. I enjoy watching you because it does feel like sitting down to chat about books with a friend. I finally noticed no stars on your goodreads reviews - which I loved reading and thought were well written and thoughtful. I also enjoyed the spoilers on your three thriller video.
I actually like your reviews because you can discuss people who may like books that you didn’t and whether or not people will like books that you did. You and I do not have very similar reading preferences so hearing things like that helps me determine if I should pick something up or not.
I rate books based on personal enjoyment and i have a pretty good set up for how i do that. I don't base any book on how important it is culturally or literary world wise because i think every book can teach somebody something, and to say one book is automatically more important because it uses bigger words and has more themes is bullshit to me. I rate like this: 5 stars= literally no flaws, will love this till i die, will reread 4 stars= maybe has a few flaws, still amazing but didn't blow me away, would reread 3 stars= pretty good, not set up to be a favorite but it was fun and i enjoyed myself, or i thought it was pretty average, would maybe reread 2 stars= bad, more flaws, boring, would never reread 1 star= so awful i feel i must protect other readers, would never ever ever reread i do .25, .5 and .75 ratings as well, and that's mainly because it was however much better than my base rating AND so I can round up (in the case .5 and .75) on goodreads. I love other people's take though on my system.
Mine is essentially the same. I use 5 stars rather sparingly, most "amazing, but not flawless" books get 4 stars and are those I would reread. I get confused when someone says they "only" gave a book 3 stars, because that to me is still an enjoyable read, that I might reread at some point. I think I've only given two books one star and both of them are ones I'd throw in a pit and watch burn with no sweat. They're both by rather unknown Swedish authors though, so there's not much worry about anyone wasting their time.
I'm similar except 2 is more avergae/ok/don't really care and 1 is simply anywhere from disliking to actually hating the book. That and I never use decimals because I CANNOT be bothered
Your 4 stars is my 5 stars. My 5 stars are books I noticed flaws in (how can you not?) but I love and had so much fun reading and considers as one of my favorite books. I agree with you, though. I rate books based on personal enjoyment.
This is really funny because I haven't been giving star ratings the last two months in videos (still on Goodreads though) and I have a discussion video going up in the next week or two 😂😂 this was really fun, I loved the video!
I do agree with that one person saying you should rate books on how you liked them and not on how you think other people will like them. With that being said, please don't let anyone tell you how to and how not to rate your books. Everyone has different systems on how they rate their books and if you don't want to give a book less than 2 or 3 stars then that's totally fine. I personally struggle with the star system as well so I usually just do a rant review (on goodreads) and hope that properly conveys how I really feel about the book instead of taking the rating at face value without knowing why exactly I gave a book the stars that I did. Sorry for the rant, I just hate when people try to force things (rating systems in this case) that work for them on other people. I honestly didn't even realise you weren't giving books stars tbh because I usually read the reviews to see whether or not I would like a book or not. Anyway. Loved the video!
I seriously didn’t notice 😂 I guess that either says something about my observation skills or you did a great job reviewing without ratings (both. It’s both)
I didn't notice the lack of stars, clearly, thats not what I'm here for! If your review sounded like you liked it, and it sounds like a book i would enjoy, it automatically goes on my TBR ;)
I'm glad that you won't ever make a planned out and scripted book review. That's honestly what I like about your reviews. It's like we're just sitting down and having a chat about books. I feel you about the decimal ratings and I feel the exact same way! Lol I round down too.
I like the chatty style as well and I think it's part of the medium. If I wanted a huge in-depth discussion, I would want an individual video for that book or read a blog. We are reading people here, so it's not like I don't have the attention span to read.
You say that you aren't good at reviewing books, throughout this whole video I found myself talking back to you like, "Yes you are!" I actually prefer your reviews over any others. If I were a booktuber, I feel like this would be my style as well. I like that your reviews are a bit 'stream of consciousness'-like and non formulaic. It feels truthful and like having a chat with a friend about the book. Also, I loved your section in this where you discussed how you "should" be using the star ratings. I feel like you actually helped me get a little clarity for my own future ratings. As always, thank you for creating such amazing content.
Clearly you cannot please everyone. I didn't even notice the lack of star ratings and usually love your short reviews that explore the both 'good' and 'bad' 😂 Do whichever makes you happy darlin
I honestly didn't notice and your thoughts on The Chalk Man were what made me want to read it! Your words always convince me more than the rating because I find ratings are super personal, but thoughts explain more and I've never had a problem with how you did that.
I only noticed the lack of stars on Goodreads when you finished a book, but so many booktubers wait to assign star ratings until after their videos go live that I didn't think anything of it. I knew Middlegame was a 5 star based on your review, but I thought The Chalk Man was too. It's very interesting! For me, I try really hard to stick to the Goodreads descriptions for the star ratings. I feel like if more people did, the Goodreads rating for a book would mean a heck of a lot more. But when some people view 1-3 stars as "bad" but others rate any book they didn't like as 1 star, the resulting overall average rating means almost nothing. I also prefer the Goodreads rating descriptions because it allows me more freedom to differentiate between good books. Books I don't like are 1 star, then I have 2-5 stars to really distinguish between books that were okay and books I absolutely loved everything about.
I didn’t notice your lack of rating. I really just love listening to you chat about the pros and cons of the books you’ve read! I have NEVER thought about you “not being good at reviews” or “poorly spoken.” You’re such a real/honest person and that is so refreshing to watch!
I *love* that you give reasons why I may like a book when you didn't, or vice versa. That is one of the major things that initially kept me around watching your videos. You're right that it's different than what most people are doing - it separates you in an incredibly positive way! Please don't stop doing that. It's honest and helps me gauge whether I would personally like something or not, regardless of how you may have felt about it. (It's also simply part of your natural flow, and that's great! I love youtubers who just chat with [to lol] me about books and things. This is one of the [many] awesome things that sets you and your channel/brand apart. Love it!) Also, if it makes you feel better - I always round down on my ratings too. I write in my review that it was a 3.5 or whatever (when my stars say '3'), but I believe that if a book wasn't good enough on it's own to reach that next level, then it wasn't good enough to reach that next level. It shouldn't get a boost there "because maths". That makes no sense to me. (If anyone disagrees, I would love to hear your reasons why!)
I actually find how you discuss books to be exceptionally well thought out. You pick up on things I don't notice and you are very well articulated! I find you amazing at reveiwing books.
I really enjoy your experiment videos. You just never know what you’ll come up with next. 😊I noticed you didn’t do star ratings in your wrap up but I don’t care. I just like hearing your thoughts.
I really like the new rating scale...it feels more in line with the thoughts and feelings you actually seem to have for the books you read...great and thoughtful video 👍🏻
why are you not rating the books the way YOU want? i mean, f*** everybody that complains. they should go to their page and rate it themself. it's just stars. the stars should be for you. not someone else ;) well that is my opinion.
Here’s the deal. I watch your videos BECAUSE you don’t blab on for hours about you review and rating. I LOVE your short reviews. You rock. End of story.
Okay but I like how you review books! I like that you give what your thoughts on it were but that you also acknowledge why someone might have a different opinion.
I actually like the way you give the goods and bads of every book. Although tbh I figured out pretty early on in watching your videos that we have very different bookish tastes, so when you say you don't like something I'll often still give it a try.
I have a couple of book tubers I watch that are like that as well... lol... if they hate it I know I will love it and if I love it I know they will hate it, so I'll cringe in advance if I know they are reading a book I love.
You are one of the more unique booktubers out there and one of the few I actually subscribed to. I hate that you feel like you have to turn your reviews into something else because it’s shouldn’t be a negative. I actually think youre great at explaining or in some cases not explaining a plot and then telling us the good and bad in a book. That’s what I want in my review. You’re so genuine and that’s even more valuable to me in a review than some who has scripted out their videos. I haven’t finished the 45 minute video yet but I hope the end is that you keep doing you because that’s what I’m here for.
I like how you explain things you like and then throw in things readers may not like. It makes you reliable because you’re being honest and considering others when you’re talking about books.
Yes, LaLa! Very cool experiment. Some thoughts I had watching this video: 1. I feel you on your rating scale shifting. I am actually about to do a video on how mine has changed through the years. 2. I think you did a really great job with your reviews this month and making clear your thoughts as they would relate to a star rating. 3. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving critiques to your 5 star reads! As long as you are doing it because you want to recognize that there are some "flaws" or things that would be problematic but that it is still a perfect book FOR YOU, as opposed to giving criticsm because you fear others will take it too seriously and then come back and be like "WHY DID YOU RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ME, LALA, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" lol 4. You are such an inspiration for making creative, innovative, and engaging booktube content! I could listen to you talk about basically everything and I'm here whether you decide to rate your books or not!
people always tell me that im not good at rating and reviewing books and the fact that you also dont have strong opinions and can see the good and the bad in a book makes you so relatable for me. and that s why i love your videos
I definitely didn't notice most of the time until I watched your wrap-up, and even then it was only because I saw some comments about it. I'll say that I really clearly remember a lot of your descriptions of your experiences while reading the books, and your thoughts, etc, and that made the books stand out (or not) to me this month. I don't think that was a huge difference from how I normally experience your reviews, but I thought I'd mention it. This was a super interesting video though! Thank you for sharing all your thoughts on this subject.
Honestly I love your reviews, and not giving star ratings freaks me out. 😂 But this totally gives me the vibes of "my reviews are more than just a number!" 😂😂
I feel like when I watch your videos, even without a rating, I understand better how you feel about a book and what you might have rated it. As opposed to your written reviews without a rating. I feel like you word those in a way that blurs how you felt. Either way, I love your content! And my brain would definitely melt if all my fave reviewers stopped rating books 😂
I noticed in your wrap that you never put ratings with the books, but i liked it because personally I find myself not wanting to pick a book up even if the person rated it a 4 because I would feel like that it isn’t high enough, even though clearly a 4 is a really high rating. So I definitely enjoyed this losing the number for a better review is alright with me ❤️
First of all, I LOVE that you say why you like or don't like a book, then say why others may like/dislike a book. I think you give very well rounded reviews. Also I don't like when people just give a recap of the book as their review on goodreads. I just want to know what you thought and why in a review. Keep being you Lala! I'm here for it! 💗📚📖
ok I am one of the unobservants here that didn't notice the lack of star raitings lol, but I did pick up the test because of your review so that says something? I enjoyed it
I actually really enjoy the way you explain books because I really gets me hooked on them. I also really enjoy that you see all the different sides because it helps me decide if it’s something I think I myself would like, and not something I would like because you liked them. I really like how not “structured” your reviews are
The existential crisis about rating books is too real!!! I find myself sometimes recommending books to certain people that I gave 2 or 3 stars because I have a feeling they would enjoy it and when they ask for my rating I tell them to just read it and then later check out how I rated it. Because I do think seeing other people's rating impacts a lot even when we don't want it to and like you said, a book might not work for you but works for others and I respect how much you value the platform you have the influence you have on us viewers especially in certain sub-genres. I love rating books because it helps me put things in categories, that's basically it. Sometimes I'll very clearly remember a 2-3 star read and might talk about it in a positive manner too and barely remember a 4 star read. It's something that fluctuates and my feelings towards a book changes so much as time goes on and it's hard to keep revisiting books and changing my rating so I just stick with my initial number. There's so much that goes into a rating and I try so hard to write reviews and I just wish the rating itself wasn't the only thing that was taken into consideration. Even though you started by saying you don't do discussion videos you do experiments, I think this video involved both and it was great.
I seriously just thought I was going CRAZY! I thought to myself several times during your videos this month, “why do I keep missing the rating she’s giving these books?!”
This is probably one of my favourite challenges you've ever given yourself, and I do think it has resulted in you giving much more comprehensive reviews of books this month, which I have also really enjoyed. I like hearing the ins and outs of the things you read and from watching this I really agree with you about the whole 'spoon feeding' thing. As a society we've gotten so used to things being instant and people telling us how we should feel about something, which is basically what a star rating does, but I think it's way more beneficial to actually take in a full review and then look at how that person's feelings/likes/dislikes line up with our own, and choose what we read from there. Keep it up Kayla, your content is always so interesting and thought provoking, while also being relatable af and funny as hell.
Oh now the 24 hour Dewey’s reads Thon makes so much more sense! I rewound the video like 3 times thinking I missed your star ratings and then just figured you forgot and continued on. Now it makes sense in watching this. I love the star ratings but will keep watching your channel even if you don’t go back to them.
I think you are the best at letting me know if I’ll like a book or not! You are my absolute favorite and do the best reviews. You can tell who will love a book and what people might not love. It’s all amazing and always has been!
I think some people you trust their ratings more than others like for example we have a similar taste in thrillers so I trust your ratings on thrillers more than other booktubers. I personally only rate books a five star or not at all because my five star books are my all time favorites.
I didn't even notice! I like hearing you talk about the books you read and I feel like you express yourself well enough for me to understand how you felt about the book.
Ok so many comments from me through this video but I just want you to know how wonderful you are! You put so much thought into how you rate and review books, along with the impact you make as a booktuber. THIS is why people value your opinions so much!! ❤️
When I first started actively reading again, almost everything was 5 stars because I just enjoyed it and that was that, but the more I've read and the more I've become aware of problematic content in some books, my own enjoyment of certain genres, what I connect with more etc., the way I rate things has definitely changed. Now the majority of the books I read are between 3 and 4 stars, and there are a lot of books that I rate 4.5 or 4.75 that are perfect for me because of how much I enjoyed/connected with them or what I gained from them, but I can see some technical flaws they have that would make them less enjoyable for people if these specific aspects that elevated that book for me don't do the same for them, so I feel the need to point those out in way of the star rating, even if it's technically a new favorite/5 star book for me. I think the star ratings are very helpful and convenient, especially for someone like me who buys/reads books mostly based on reviewer recommendations (tho that is also something that took a while to build up, I know whose 5 star books won't be more than one star off from my own rating and whose 5 stars won't probably be that for me at all), because it helps me gain a better overall feel for how the book is received by people whose opinions I take into consideration when deciding which books to dedicate my time (and money) to. I really enjoyed this video and I hope the new rating/reviewing system works for you in the long run!
I've watched almost all your videos last month and I didn't even notice that you didn't give any ratings. I'd rather just hear a person's thoughts, feelings, and experience with a book because that will help me determine if I should even pick up that book in the first place. see this is why i love your channel and reviews. They're honest, informative, and real--like i'm talking to a friend about books (which is why i love booktube in the first place). This video made me go wtf so many times. I can't believe people criticize your reviews as if there's a standard to follow or that every reader should know how to construct professional reviews? And that they still look for ratings as if your vlogs, three thriller videos, wrap ups, IG posts, and goodreads reviews aren't enough? Ratings are so subjective in the first place and its interpretation changes a lot. Heck, when I go back and see my Read list, i find myself disagreeing with some of the ratings that I gave for certain books 😂 i don't think ratings are that important because in the end, it's just up to me/the reader if i enjoy a book or not. If i find that a book sucks, I don't care if the rest of the world thinks it's amazing cause my experience is not theirs. And that's okay!!!
I actually really enjoy that you can give objectively say why someone else might enjoy a book that you did not necessarily enjoy. It shows that you know what type of reader you are and how sometimes, when we don't like books, it has nothing to do with the actual book and everything to do with our own taste.
I didn’t even realize you weren’t rating them! I think you do a good job of explaining why you give your rating when you do and I focus more on your descriptions than your ratings anyway.
Honestly never noticed you weren’t rating books this month. For me your enthusiasm, opinions and overall thoughts are what I go on as to whether I may pick up the book you are discussing versus just going off of your rating. I appreciate that you give us your opinions on what was good and what was bad. For me if you thoroughly enjoyed a book regardless for your overall rating I add it to my possible TBR for when I’m in the mood for that king of book. I’m sorry you are stressed about all of this. I would be good whether you rate or not. You do you!
"why isn't it 4.88 stars" omg Lala I cannot believe that I didn't notice that you didn't rate last month! I watched your vlog and everything 😲 I vividly remember your three thriller reviews
this is such a great experiment! your process working through how to rate a book and the pitfalls of it was something i could seriously identify with. before booktube, or even just using goodreads, i didn't think much about how i would rate a book. i either liked it or i didn't, and it's something that's followed me as a bookseller as well. a customer doesn't want to know my rating, they want to know what there is to like about it, maybe some comp titles, but that's about it. not rating them feels so freeing, but ratings are also kind of useful sometimes for my own purposes, even if there are times that i agonize over why i'm rating something 4 stars or 5.
If I give a novel an extra half star ... I usually rate down on Goodreads as I didn't give it an extra full star for a reason. Well done with this challenge. =0)
please, use star ratings! They don't take away from the reviews, but rather feel like a fun addition. Also I like your statistics and it's a part of that
For me 5 stars is how I feel and if I have that 5 Star feeling so it often happends that I rate a "flawless" book 4 Stars because I just didnt feel like 5 🤷♀️
I like that you advocate for both sides when reviewing a book. Instead of making it super negative, you’re more open minded about why people would and would not like that book. Sometimes, when people say, “This book was absolutely terrible. No one should like this book.” It automatically skews my opinion of the book even if I don’t want it to.
I love that you usually say why anyone would or wouldn’t enjoy a book! I feel like I really Know if I will like something since you talk about the good and bad about them! ❤️
My scale is: 5 stars: blown away, written exceptionally well, the plot is either interesting or surprising 4 stars: quality book, enjoyed but not blown away by it 3 stars: good books, not anything crazy 2 stars: okay, could do with some work but not entirely terrible 1 star: poor, not well written or interesting I personally only use .5 when doing decimal ratings. However, if I use the .5, I always round down on GoodReads because it deserves the star below it but not the one above it. For example, if I rated a book 4.5, it was definitely a 4 star book but didn’t make it to 5.
Unrelated, but I like that you're showcasing your aesthetic boards in this video, because I love them a lot! You got me to start doing aesthetic boards for books I finish as well (I'm even thinking of branching out to movies and tv!). so thank you! back to topic, I love these experiment videos over discussion videos, that's why I think you're my favorite booktuber.
I was thinking, “I didn’t notice at all!” But then I realized I don’t read the same books as you so I guess star ratings don’t matter to me... Loved this video though. And I totally feel the ‘rounding down’ thing.
I definitely feel that star ratings shouldn't be the end all, and I always think you convey how much you love or hate a book or if it was just meh. You're honestly the only booktuber who if I see a book you loved I'll pick up and try. you got me to read more thrillers and contemporaries this year where I was only interested in high fantasy for the past couple years.
Are you kidding me girl I love that you give all the reasons why a book is bad/good and why someone may or may not like it!! I don't really trust reviews fully to determine whether or not I read something since opinions are so individual, so your out of everyone I rely on your reviews the most!
While I absolutely love the normal types of videos , the book hauls, the monthly wrap ups, the tbr's, I absolutely love the amount of thought and dedication you put in to making unique videos like this!
Really didn't notice and I watched all your videos! I think you did a great job having us focus more on your actual review and feelings of a book. The only time I would have probably been bothered is when I need to refresh what you thought about a book and referencing back to goodreads and not find a rating would have been so confusing.
I enjoy listening to everything you have to say. What would make me happiest is what gives you confidence and makes you happy. I didn’t actually notice that you hadn’t rated anything...
I LOVE the way you review books. The way you give your opinion on the positives and negatives, regardless of rating makes me really happy. A lot of booktubers rant about how bad a book is and your style of rating/reviewing is a refreshing change.
I love you AS A FRIEND too. 🤣 I personally like the number system/star rating. Also I’m really loving the decimals too. Especially when you’re stuck between stars because your emotions are everywhere.
I didn’t notice your leaving out the ratings. I watch your videos for your thoughts on books even though 90% of those books aren’t my preferred “genre” . I hope that makes sense! I watch for you and because every now and then you talk about a book that piques my interest and motivates me to read outside my comfort zone. Great video!
I didn't notice the lack of ratings but the explanations you gave and what I thought you would rate things were pretty spot on. The struggle you had with challenger deep and again but better are doesn't surprise me and your first instinct of old lala is what I thought you would rate them.
I know I’m really late but I love the way you rate books. We have very similar yet different tastes in books so it’s helpful to know why you liked a book but why I might not or the other way around. It’s honestly really helpful
okay i love this because sometimes for me i’ll rate a book and then a few days later i’ll feel like i should rate it lower and it makes me feel very flip floppy
I didn't notice your lack of star ratings really, because I *do* feel like you explained your thoughts well enough that I could get a sense of whether you liked it or not. I don't think I really missed out on anything by not getting the star review, other than a quick reference guide. GREAT EXPERIMENT BY THE WAY!!!
Your rounding down and rating chat was so damn valid and relatable. I get it, for sure. Such a fun experiment for yourself and your viewers and a way to look at reading/ratings differently.
I really enjoyed this experiment. It gave me a lot to think about when it comes to how I read books, but not just in the number I give them but how I feel about them.
You know lala, the only thing i enjoyed about this video is the comments, people love you, and support you, i think we all see your channel cuz you somehow make our day better, so do you, be you, dont rate books if you dont like it, and it you sharing how you felt about a book and why it's what we care about.
This was a really interesting video. The most interesting part for me was that I didn’t even notice the lack of ratings on your “trash my tbr” video until you mentioned it here. I think you’ve always been better at actually expressing your “rating” of the book with words than you think, because I’ve noticed that your star ratings didn’t always seem to align with what you said about the book/your overall enjoyment. I personally try to think of star ratings like letter grades in school. A is anything from 80%-100% (in Ontario, anyway... I know there are differences between provinces) so even the highest rating something can achieve has a lot of variation. For me, 5 stars is anything that I LOVED, that blew me away, that touched me deeply, etc. EVEN IF there may have been a couple little things I didn’t like. I wish I could give some books 10 stars... but they still get a 5, so words express my level of enjoyment. 4 stars is a really, really good book but there are a couple things I would have improved/didn’t like... kind of like a B. 3 stars is like a C... a book that got its point across and I liked well enough but it didn’t blow me away and could have been better. 2 stars is a book I didn’t like but did have some redeeming qualities...kind of like a D, I guess. 1 star is everything else... it’s technically a book because it has a front and back cover with pages covered with words in between but other than that... it was not worthy of the tree that gave up its life to create it.
I love how thorough and detailed this video was, and your thoughts upon star ratings, and reviewing. I think maybe if there was a point star rating on Goodreads, or even make the ratings out of 10, that would clear a lot of things up for people. But there isn't. Reviews are what I want to know about a book, but it initially is the star rating that draws my attention. You've definitely given me food for thought here! Love you as a friend, too. =)
Your system of rounding down makes so much sense! The way I explain it, is that if I give a book 3.5 stars and round down, it EARNED the 3 stars, but it didn't earn the 4th, so it makes sense to not give it four stars.
This makes so much sense
makes sense
i actually really agree with this and think i'm going to do this with my own ratings from now on
oh yeah i agree with that. i usually just rate it towards whether it was closer to 3 or 4 even if i put a 3.5. ill do that from now on.
5 is loved and reread is likely
4 is really enjoyed
3 is middle of the road
2 didn’t enjoy/ not for me
1 actively hated the book
That’s what works for me
I think this is how i rate books too xxx
me too
That is exactly how I rate. I don’t base it on whether it was flawless/not flawless, culturally important or any other reason. I just base it on whether I enjoyed reading it or not, regardless of genre or topic.
+
Cucug83 yeah I don’t really get why you’d do it another way. I guess she is a bigger platform so maybe she just thinks she influences peoples opinions too much
I’m the kind of person that wants reviewers to go: “hey i didn’t like this book for this and that reason but if you like that thing then you might like this book.” I personally hate it when reviewers tell you that “I hated this book so no one should read it.”
It works the other way too if it is a book they enjoyed.
YOU'RE SO RIGHT! First of all, I think we can share our negative opinions in a positive, more polite way. So when people go, "um this books was shit, idk why people like it so much" I'm like??? You're not the only person in the world, dude, your opinion is not the only valid opinion??
I like it when people explain what they like and dislike in a book, that just makes the review ten times better. Also, people who think negative reviews are the only honest reviews- I don't even know what to say to them. They frustrate me so much.
Anyway yeah, I agree with you. People should definitely explain why they like/dislike a book when reviewing it.
I just wanted to note that I really don't like Goodreads reviews that contain a book synopsis. Like, dude, we're on Goodreads, we can all read the official synopsis. A perfect review for me goes straight to the point.
Also! I think a book doesn't have to be offensive and unreadable to get only one star. If there's not a single thing in it that grabbed my interest it definitely gets one star from me.
Sometimes I think it's bloggers cross posting. When my friends and I had a review blog, he wanted to follow what Amazon requested for ratings to contain and we then cross posted on all platforms. It was easier than trying to fix the review for each one.
I completely agree with you on people writing out the whole synopsis. It's like, dude, I know what this book is about, don't just repeat what goodreads has already told me.
Agreeeed
Yes thank you!
I vividly remember you expressing your love for The Chalk Man, whereas I normally would definitely forget a single star rating. You definitely are not as bad as you think you are when it comes to talking about the books you read, Kayla!
This!! I didn’t notice she didn’t rate them but I clearly remember how she felt about all three of those books, specifically The Chalk Man. I never would’ve remembered if she said 4 stars or 4.5. Even now I don’t remember lol
Wow! I didn’t even notice. I have watched every video you posted. I just like you as a person.
Lol sameeee! I love all the things she has to say about all the books she reads, we don't really like the same things so I don't really care for the rating
same
Ashley Joyes I feel like she explains why she does or doesn't like a book perfectly well. I didn't notice the lack of her star ratings at all.
same
Same
I’ll be honest, I didn’t notice the lack of stars in your videos. I enjoy watching you because it does feel like sitting down to chat about books with a friend. I finally noticed no stars on your goodreads reviews - which I loved reading and thought were well written and thoughtful. I also enjoyed the spoilers on your three thriller video.
Mary Writes LOVED the spoilers
^^^^ Same!!
Same here!
I feel dumb for not noticing the lack of number rating
ME TOO
Same
Azyef same lol
Same I never notice
Same
I actually like your reviews because you can discuss people who may like books that you didn’t and whether or not people will like books that you did. You and I do not have very similar reading preferences so hearing things like that helps me determine if I should pick something up or not.
Just wanted to say I agree with this! I love your reviews Lala!
YES!! exactly
You know every single video this month I’ve been like ‘oh she’s forgot the stars’ and I never connected it together in my mind. *facepalm*
Hallie Hurst same. Lol I feel like I should know her better by now and should have known she was up to something! 😂
I rate books based on personal enjoyment and i have a pretty good set up for how i do that. I don't base any book on how important it is culturally or literary world wise because i think every book can teach somebody something, and to say one book is automatically more important because it uses bigger words and has more themes is bullshit to me. I rate like this:
5 stars= literally no flaws, will love this till i die, will reread
4 stars= maybe has a few flaws, still amazing but didn't blow me away, would reread
3 stars= pretty good, not set up to be a favorite but it was fun and i enjoyed myself, or i thought it was pretty average, would maybe reread
2 stars= bad, more flaws, boring, would never reread
1 star= so awful i feel i must protect other readers, would never ever ever reread
i do .25, .5 and .75 ratings as well, and that's mainly because it was however much better than my base rating AND so I can round up (in the case .5 and .75) on goodreads.
I love other people's take though on my system.
This is pretty much how I rate books too.
I can agree with your rating system.
Mine is essentially the same. I use 5 stars rather sparingly, most "amazing, but not flawless" books get 4 stars and are those I would reread. I get confused when someone says they "only" gave a book 3 stars, because that to me is still an enjoyable read, that I might reread at some point.
I think I've only given two books one star and both of them are ones I'd throw in a pit and watch burn with no sweat. They're both by rather unknown Swedish authors though, so there's not much worry about anyone wasting their time.
I'm similar except 2 is more avergae/ok/don't really care and 1 is simply anywhere from disliking to actually hating the book. That and I never use decimals because I CANNOT be bothered
Your 4 stars is my 5 stars. My 5 stars are books I noticed flaws in (how can you not?) but I love and had so much fun reading and considers as one of my favorite books.
I agree with you, though. I rate books based on personal enjoyment.
YES thank goodness-on your wrap up I was like “where are the stars??”
AmyImogeneReads now we know why!! I wondered that in her wrap up too!
Same!
This is really funny because I haven't been giving star ratings the last two months in videos (still on Goodreads though) and I have a discussion video going up in the next week or two 😂😂 this was really fun, I loved the video!
I love that! Can't wait to watch 💕
I do agree with that one person saying you should rate books on how you liked them and not on how you think other people will like them. With that being said, please don't let anyone tell you how to and how not to rate your books. Everyone has different systems on how they rate their books and if you don't want to give a book less than 2 or 3 stars then that's totally fine. I personally struggle with the star system as well so I usually just do a rant review (on goodreads) and hope that properly conveys how I really feel about the book instead of taking the rating at face value without knowing why exactly I gave a book the stars that I did. Sorry for the rant, I just hate when people try to force things (rating systems in this case) that work for them on other people. I honestly didn't even realise you weren't giving books stars tbh because I usually read the reviews to see whether or not I would like a book or not. Anyway. Loved the video!
I seriously didn’t notice 😂
I guess that either says something about my observation skills or you did a great job reviewing without ratings (both. It’s both)
I didn't notice the lack of stars, clearly, thats not what I'm here for! If your review sounded like you liked it, and it sounds like a book i would enjoy, it automatically goes on my TBR ;)
lol I didn't notice either.... but I'm just not very observant.
Same. A book doesn't have to receive a 5 from any BookTuber to go on ny TBR. It doesn't even have to be liked necessarily.
Lala: *uploads*
Me: my skin is clear, my grades are up, I am THRIVING.
How are y'all
same
You should of got Robbie to rate the books based off the reviews you wrote for them to see if they came across as you intended. Another great video :)
I'm glad that you won't ever make a planned out and scripted book review. That's honestly what I like about your reviews. It's like we're just sitting down and having a chat about books.
I feel you about the decimal ratings and I feel the exact same way! Lol I round down too.
I like the chatty style as well and I think it's part of the medium. If I wanted a huge in-depth discussion, I would want an individual video for that book or read a blog. We are reading people here, so it's not like I don't have the attention span to read.
You say that you aren't good at reviewing books, throughout this whole video I found myself talking back to you like, "Yes you are!" I actually prefer your reviews over any others. If I were a booktuber, I feel like this would be my style as well. I like that your reviews are a bit 'stream of consciousness'-like and non formulaic. It feels truthful and like having a chat with a friend about the book. Also, I loved your section in this where you discussed how you "should" be using the star ratings. I feel like you actually helped me get a little clarity for my own future ratings. As always, thank you for creating such amazing content.
Clearly you cannot please everyone. I didn't even notice the lack of star ratings and usually love your short reviews that explore the both 'good' and 'bad' 😂 Do whichever makes you happy darlin
I swear. You come up with the coolest ideas 🔥🔥❤️
A 2 is like "meh." A 1 is like, "eek gad that was bad."
It's midnight, I'm babysitting my neighbours kids and I just want sleep but Lala uploads and I answer the call.
lol I love how people were so shook that you weren’t giving ratings
I honestly didn't notice and your thoughts on The Chalk Man were what made me want to read it! Your words always convince me more than the rating because I find ratings are super personal, but thoughts explain more and I've never had a problem with how you did that.
I only noticed the lack of stars on Goodreads when you finished a book, but so many booktubers wait to assign star ratings until after their videos go live that I didn't think anything of it. I knew Middlegame was a 5 star based on your review, but I thought The Chalk Man was too. It's very interesting!
For me, I try really hard to stick to the Goodreads descriptions for the star ratings. I feel like if more people did, the Goodreads rating for a book would mean a heck of a lot more. But when some people view 1-3 stars as "bad" but others rate any book they didn't like as 1 star, the resulting overall average rating means almost nothing.
I also prefer the Goodreads rating descriptions because it allows me more freedom to differentiate between good books. Books I don't like are 1 star, then I have 2-5 stars to really distinguish between books that were okay and books I absolutely loved everything about.
I didn’t notice your lack of rating. I really just love listening to you chat about the pros and cons of the books you’ve read! I have NEVER thought about you “not being good at reviews” or “poorly spoken.” You’re such a real/honest person and that is so refreshing to watch!
I *love* that you give reasons why I may like a book when you didn't, or vice versa. That is one of the major things that initially kept me around watching your videos. You're right that it's different than what most people are doing - it separates you in an incredibly positive way! Please don't stop doing that. It's honest and helps me gauge whether I would personally like something or not, regardless of how you may have felt about it.
(It's also simply part of your natural flow, and that's great! I love youtubers who just chat with [to lol] me about books and things. This is one of the [many] awesome things that sets you and your channel/brand apart. Love it!)
Also, if it makes you feel better - I always round down on my ratings too. I write in my review that it was a 3.5 or whatever (when my stars say '3'), but I believe that if a book wasn't good enough on it's own to reach that next level, then it wasn't good enough to reach that next level. It shouldn't get a boost there "because maths". That makes no sense to me.
(If anyone disagrees, I would love to hear your reasons why!)
I actually find how you discuss books to be exceptionally well thought out. You pick up on things I don't notice and you are very well articulated! I find you amazing at reveiwing books.
lala: i dont do discussion videos
lala: posts a 45 minute video that is mostly discussion
I really enjoy your experiment videos. You just never know what you’ll come up with next. 😊I noticed you didn’t do star ratings in your wrap up but I don’t care. I just like hearing your thoughts.
I really like the new rating scale...it feels more in line with the thoughts and feelings you actually seem to have for the books you read...great and thoughtful video 👍🏻
why are you not rating the books the way YOU want?
i mean, f*** everybody that complains. they should go to their page and rate it themself.
it's just stars. the stars should be for you. not someone else ;)
well that is my opinion.
Here’s the deal. I watch your videos BECAUSE you don’t blab on for hours about you review and rating. I LOVE your short reviews. You rock. End of story.
I knew something felt odd watching your wrap up... now I know why 😂😂
This is why you’re my favorite booktuber, you always have the best video ideas!
I round down on Goodreads, too. I wish they would allow for decimal points in their rating scale. That would make rating so much easier!!!
Okay but I like how you review books! I like that you give what your thoughts on it were but that you also acknowledge why someone might have a different opinion.
I wasn’t paying attention to star ratings, I’m genuinely here to hear you talk about books and your interesting video concepts.
I actually like the way you give the goods and bads of every book. Although tbh I figured out pretty early on in watching your videos that we have very different bookish tastes, so when you say you don't like something I'll often still give it a try.
I have a couple of book tubers I watch that are like that as well... lol... if they hate it I know I will love it and if I love it I know they will hate it, so I'll cringe in advance if I know they are reading a book I love.
You are one of the more unique booktubers out there and one of the few I actually subscribed to. I hate that you feel like you have to turn your reviews into something else because it’s shouldn’t be a negative. I actually think youre great at explaining or in some cases not explaining a plot and then telling us the good and bad in a book. That’s what I want in my review. You’re so genuine and that’s even more valuable to me in a review than some who has scripted out their videos. I haven’t finished the 45 minute video yet but I hope the end is that you keep doing you because that’s what I’m here for.
I like how you explain things you like and then throw in things readers may not like. It makes you reliable because you’re being honest and considering others when you’re talking about books.
Yes, LaLa! Very cool experiment. Some thoughts I had watching this video:
1. I feel you on your rating scale shifting. I am actually about to do a video on how mine has changed through the years.
2. I think you did a really great job with your reviews this month and making clear your thoughts as they would relate to a star rating.
3. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving critiques to your 5 star reads! As long as you are doing it because you want to recognize that there are some "flaws" or things that would be problematic but that it is still a perfect book FOR YOU, as opposed to giving criticsm because you fear others will take it too seriously and then come back and be like "WHY DID YOU RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ME, LALA, IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" lol
4. You are such an inspiration for making creative, innovative, and engaging booktube content! I could listen to you talk about basically everything and I'm here whether you decide to rate your books or not!
people always tell me that im not good at rating and reviewing books and the fact that you also dont have strong opinions and can see the good and the bad in a book makes you so relatable for me. and that s why i love your videos
I definitely didn't notice most of the time until I watched your wrap-up, and even then it was only because I saw some comments about it. I'll say that I really clearly remember a lot of your descriptions of your experiences while reading the books, and your thoughts, etc, and that made the books stand out (or not) to me this month. I don't think that was a huge difference from how I normally experience your reviews, but I thought I'd mention it. This was a super interesting video though! Thank you for sharing all your thoughts on this subject.
Honestly I love your reviews, and not giving star ratings freaks me out. 😂
But this totally gives me the vibes of "my reviews are more than just a number!" 😂😂
I feel like when I watch your videos, even without a rating, I understand better how you feel about a book and what you might have rated it. As opposed to your written reviews without a rating. I feel like you word those in a way that blurs how you felt.
Either way, I love your content! And my brain would definitely melt if all my fave reviewers stopped rating books 😂
I love that you give both sides I love the way you review. You’re the only booktuber who I regularly read book recommendations from
I noticed in your wrap that you never put ratings with the books, but i liked it because personally I find myself not wanting to pick a book up even if the person rated it a 4 because I would feel like that it isn’t high enough, even though clearly a 4 is a really high rating. So I definitely enjoyed this losing the number for a better review is alright with me ❤️
First of all, I LOVE that you say why you like or don't like a book, then say why others may like/dislike a book. I think you give very well rounded reviews. Also I don't like when people just give a recap of the book as their review on goodreads. I just want to know what you thought and why in a review. Keep being you Lala! I'm here for it! 💗📚📖
ok I am one of the unobservants here that didn't notice the lack of star raitings lol, but I did pick up the test because of your review so that says something? I enjoyed it
I actually really enjoy the way you explain books because I really gets me hooked on them. I also really enjoy that you see all the different sides because it helps me decide if it’s something I think I myself would like, and not something I would like because you liked them. I really like how not “structured” your reviews are
You're definitely my favorite booktuber and I like the way you review books.
The existential crisis about rating books is too real!!!
I find myself sometimes recommending books to certain people that I gave 2 or 3 stars because I have a feeling they would enjoy it and when they ask for my rating I tell them to just read it and then later check out how I rated it. Because I do think seeing other people's rating impacts a lot even when we don't want it to and like you said, a book might not work for you but works for others and I respect how much you value the platform you have the influence you have on us viewers especially in certain sub-genres. I love rating books because it helps me put things in categories, that's basically it. Sometimes I'll very clearly remember a 2-3 star read and might talk about it in a positive manner too and barely remember a 4 star read. It's something that fluctuates and my feelings towards a book changes so much as time goes on and it's hard to keep revisiting books and changing my rating so I just stick with my initial number. There's so much that goes into a rating and I try so hard to write reviews and I just wish the rating itself wasn't the only thing that was taken into consideration. Even though you started by saying you don't do discussion videos you do experiments, I think this video involved both and it was great.
I seriously just thought I was going CRAZY! I thought to myself several times during your videos this month, “why do I keep missing the rating she’s giving these books?!”
This is probably one of my favourite challenges you've ever given yourself, and I do think it has resulted in you giving much more comprehensive reviews of books this month, which I have also really enjoyed. I like hearing the ins and outs of the things you read and from watching this I really agree with you about the whole 'spoon feeding' thing. As a society we've gotten so used to things being instant and people telling us how we should feel about something, which is basically what a star rating does, but I think it's way more beneficial to actually take in a full review and then look at how that person's feelings/likes/dislikes line up with our own, and choose what we read from there. Keep it up Kayla, your content is always so interesting and thought provoking, while also being relatable af and funny as hell.
Oh now the 24 hour Dewey’s reads Thon makes so much more sense! I rewound the video like 3 times thinking I missed your star ratings and then just figured you forgot and continued on.
Now it makes sense in watching this. I love the star ratings but will keep watching your channel even if you don’t go back to them.
I think you are the best at letting me know if I’ll like a book or not! You are my absolute favorite and do the best reviews. You can tell who will love a book and what people might not love. It’s all amazing and always has been!
I think some people you trust their ratings more than others like for example we have a similar taste in thrillers so I trust your ratings on thrillers more than other booktubers. I personally only rate books a five star or not at all because my five star books are my all time favorites.
Georgia Lees my rating is the same as yours! I don’t really see many other people who don’t rate books
“if i continue to read books”
me: *heart skips a beat* uhhh whoa.
I am such a fake fan 😂 I watched all of April videos and didn’t notice!
I didn't even notice! I like hearing you talk about the books you read and I feel like you express yourself well enough for me to understand how you felt about the book.
Ok so many comments from me through this video but I just want you to know how wonderful you are! You put so much thought into how you rate and review books, along with the impact you make as a booktuber. THIS is why people value your opinions so much!! ❤️
Middle game and the chalk man were the only books I thought you gave 5 stars
These and the Test!
When I first started actively reading again, almost everything was 5 stars because I just enjoyed it and that was that, but the more I've read and the more I've become aware of problematic content in some books, my own enjoyment of certain genres, what I connect with more etc., the way I rate things has definitely changed. Now the majority of the books I read are between 3 and 4 stars, and there are a lot of books that I rate 4.5 or 4.75 that are perfect for me because of how much I enjoyed/connected with them or what I gained from them, but I can see some technical flaws they have that would make them less enjoyable for people if these specific aspects that elevated that book for me don't do the same for them, so I feel the need to point those out in way of the star rating, even if it's technically a new favorite/5 star book for me.
I think the star ratings are very helpful and convenient, especially for someone like me who buys/reads books mostly based on reviewer recommendations (tho that is also something that took a while to build up, I know whose 5 star books won't be more than one star off from my own rating and whose 5 stars won't probably be that for me at all), because it helps me gain a better overall feel for how the book is received by people whose opinions I take into consideration when deciding which books to dedicate my time (and money) to.
I really enjoyed this video and I hope the new rating/reviewing system works for you in the long run!
I've watched almost all your videos last month and I didn't even notice that you didn't give any ratings. I'd rather just hear a person's thoughts, feelings, and experience with a book because that will help me determine if I should even pick up that book in the first place. see this is why i love your channel and reviews. They're honest, informative, and real--like i'm talking to a friend about books (which is why i love booktube in the first place). This video made me go wtf so many times. I can't believe people criticize your reviews as if there's a standard to follow or that every reader should know how to construct professional reviews? And that they still look for ratings as if your vlogs, three thriller videos, wrap ups, IG posts, and goodreads reviews aren't enough? Ratings are so subjective in the first place and its interpretation changes a lot. Heck, when I go back and see my Read list, i find myself disagreeing with some of the ratings that I gave for certain books 😂 i don't think ratings are that important because in the end, it's just up to me/the reader if i enjoy a book or not. If i find that a book sucks, I don't care if the rest of the world thinks it's amazing cause my experience is not theirs. And that's okay!!!
I actually really enjoy that you can give objectively say why someone else might enjoy a book that you did not necessarily enjoy. It shows that you know what type of reader you are and how sometimes, when we don't like books, it has nothing to do with the actual book and everything to do with our own taste.
I didn’t even realize you weren’t rating them! I think you do a good job of explaining why you give your rating when you do and I focus more on your descriptions than your ratings anyway.
Honestly never noticed you weren’t rating books this month. For me your enthusiasm, opinions and overall thoughts are what I go on as to whether I may pick up the book you are discussing versus just going off of your rating. I appreciate that you give us your opinions on what was good and what was bad. For me if you thoroughly enjoyed a book regardless for your overall rating I add it to my possible TBR for when I’m in the mood for that king of book. I’m sorry you are stressed about all of this. I would be good whether you rate or not. You do you!
"why isn't it 4.88 stars" omg Lala
I cannot believe that I didn't notice that you didn't rate last month! I watched your vlog and everything 😲
I vividly remember your three thriller reviews
this is such a great experiment! your process working through how to rate a book and the pitfalls of it was something i could seriously identify with. before booktube, or even just using goodreads, i didn't think much about how i would rate a book. i either liked it or i didn't, and it's something that's followed me as a bookseller as well. a customer doesn't want to know my rating, they want to know what there is to like about it, maybe some comp titles, but that's about it. not rating them feels so freeing, but ratings are also kind of useful sometimes for my own purposes, even if there are times that i agonize over why i'm rating something 4 stars or 5.
If I give a novel an extra half star ... I usually rate down on Goodreads as I didn't give it an extra full star for a reason. Well done with this challenge. =0)
please, use star ratings! They don't take away from the reviews, but rather feel like a fun addition. Also I like your statistics and it's a part of that
For me 5 stars is how I feel and if I have that 5 Star feeling so it often happends that I rate a "flawless" book 4 Stars because I just didnt feel like 5 🤷♀️
I absolutely love your book reviews because they’re on the spot and super honest! I appreciate them and your videos in general! They’re great :)
I like that you advocate for both sides when reviewing a book. Instead of making it super negative, you’re more open minded about why people would and would not like that book. Sometimes, when people say, “This book was absolutely terrible. No one should like this book.” It automatically skews my opinion of the book even if I don’t want it to.
I love that you usually say why anyone would or wouldn’t enjoy a book! I feel like I really Know if I will like something since you talk about the good and bad about them! ❤️
My scale is:
5 stars: blown away, written exceptionally well, the plot is either interesting or surprising
4 stars: quality book, enjoyed but not blown away by it
3 stars: good books, not anything crazy
2 stars: okay, could do with some work but not entirely terrible
1 star: poor, not well written or interesting
I personally only use .5 when doing decimal ratings. However, if I use the .5, I always round down on GoodReads because it deserves the star below it but not the one above it. For example, if I rated a book 4.5, it was definitely a 4 star book but didn’t make it to 5.
Unrelated, but I like that you're showcasing your aesthetic boards in this video, because I love them a lot! You got me to start doing aesthetic boards for books I finish as well (I'm even thinking of branching out to movies and tv!). so thank you! back to topic, I love these experiment videos over discussion videos, that's why I think you're my favorite booktuber.
I was thinking, “I didn’t notice at all!” But then I realized I don’t read the same books as you so I guess star ratings don’t matter to me...
Loved this video though. And I totally feel the ‘rounding down’ thing.
Feeling so insanely honored and giddy you used of my videos. Also loved this video and the idea of not rating books. Such an interesting topic!
I definitely feel that star ratings shouldn't be the end all, and I always think you convey how much you love or hate a book or if it was just meh. You're honestly the only booktuber who if I see a book you loved I'll pick up and try. you got me to read more thrillers and contemporaries this year where I was only interested in high fantasy for the past couple years.
Are you kidding me girl I love that you give all the reasons why a book is bad/good and why someone may or may not like it!! I don't really trust reviews fully to determine whether or not I read something since opinions are so individual, so your out of everyone I rely on your reviews the most!
While I absolutely love the normal types of videos , the book hauls, the monthly wrap ups, the tbr's, I absolutely love the amount of thought and dedication you put in to making unique videos like this!
Really didn't notice and I watched all your videos! I think you did a great job having us focus more on your actual review and feelings of a book.
The only time I would have probably been bothered is when I need to refresh what you thought about a book and referencing back to goodreads and not find a rating would have been so confusing.
I enjoy listening to everything you have to say. What would make me happiest is what gives you confidence and makes you happy. I didn’t actually notice that you hadn’t rated anything...
I LOVE the way you review books. The way you give your opinion on the positives and negatives, regardless of rating makes me really happy. A lot of booktubers rant about how bad a book is and your style of rating/reviewing is a refreshing change.
I love you AS A FRIEND too. 🤣 I personally like the number system/star rating. Also I’m really loving the decimals too. Especially when you’re stuck between stars because your emotions are everywhere.
I didn’t notice your leaving out the ratings. I watch your videos for your thoughts on books even though 90% of those books aren’t my preferred “genre” . I hope that makes sense! I watch for you and because every now and then you talk about a book that piques my interest and motivates me to read outside my comfort zone. Great video!
I didn't notice the lack of ratings but the explanations you gave and what I thought you would rate things were pretty spot on. The struggle you had with challenger deep and again but better are doesn't surprise me and your first instinct of old lala is what I thought you would rate them.
I know I’m really late but I love the way you rate books. We have very similar yet different tastes in books so it’s helpful to know why you liked a book but why I might not or the other way around. It’s honestly really helpful
okay i love this because sometimes for me i’ll rate a book and then a few days later i’ll feel like i should rate it lower and it makes me feel very flip floppy
I didn't notice your lack of star ratings really, because I *do* feel like you explained your thoughts well enough that I could get a sense of whether you liked it or not. I don't think I really missed out on anything by not getting the star review, other than a quick reference guide.
GREAT EXPERIMENT BY THE WAY!!!
Your rounding down and rating chat was so damn valid and relatable. I get it, for sure. Such a fun experiment for yourself and your viewers and a way to look at reading/ratings differently.
I really enjoyed this experiment. It gave me a lot to think about when it comes to how I read books, but not just in the number I give them but how I feel about them.
You know lala, the only thing i enjoyed about this video is the comments, people love you, and support you, i think we all see your channel cuz you somehow make our day better, so do you, be you, dont rate books if you dont like it, and it you sharing how you felt about a book and why it's what we care about.
This was a really interesting video. The most interesting part for me was that I didn’t even notice the lack of ratings on your “trash my tbr” video until you mentioned it here. I think you’ve always been better at actually expressing your “rating” of the book with words than you think, because I’ve noticed that your star ratings didn’t always seem to align with what you said about the book/your overall enjoyment.
I personally try to think of star ratings like letter grades in school. A is anything from 80%-100% (in Ontario, anyway... I know there are differences between provinces) so even the highest rating something can achieve has a lot of variation. For me, 5 stars is anything that I LOVED, that blew me away, that touched me deeply, etc. EVEN IF there may have been a couple little things I didn’t like. I wish I could give some books 10 stars... but they still get a 5, so words express my level of enjoyment. 4 stars is a really, really good book but there are a couple things I would have improved/didn’t like... kind of like a B. 3 stars is like a C... a book that got its point across and I liked well enough but it didn’t blow me away and could have been better. 2 stars is a book I didn’t like but did have some redeeming qualities...kind of like a D, I guess. 1 star is everything else... it’s technically a book because it has a front and back cover with pages covered with words in between but other than that... it was not worthy of the tree that gave up its life to create it.
Watching your inner struggle I'm so glad I can just read and enjoy. 😅
I love how thorough and detailed this video was, and your thoughts upon star ratings, and reviewing.
I think maybe if there was a point star rating on Goodreads, or even make the ratings out of 10, that would clear a lot of things up for people. But there isn't.
Reviews are what I want to know about a book, but it initially is the star rating that draws my attention.
You've definitely given me food for thought here!
Love you as a friend, too. =)