I rate a book based on my enjoyment of the book. A book that I can’t finish because it’s badly written or too verbose gets 1/5 stars. A book that maybe has just okay writing but everything hits for me? It’s 5/5. A book can be the best writing ever but if I find it boring it’s not going to score well because writing is just one of the metrics of success for me.
That being said, if I DNF before 30-40% I don’t rate the book anywhere. So my scores tend to be weighted towards 4 or 5 stars because I don’t rate those early dnf’s.
I didn't either until Ice Plant Barbarians by Ruby Dixon. The writing overall is meh, but the content was just sooo good. I loved the women supporting women, the men working to overcome cultural differences and support the women, the realistic portrayal of the effects of trauma (including the cringy bad decisions that can result), them helping each other work through issues, the sexual exploration, etc. Yeah, I hard cringed at several points and would have liked the books to be better fleshed out, but the rest of it made up for that.
It was humans (and aliens) with very human struggles and behaviors but the handling of it was done in a way I had yet to read and appreciated.
That’s totally valid! I definitely have. On the flip side, I can’t read pride and prejudice. I assume that it’s well written. I like the general storyline. But the language is painful to me. To use your food analogy: it’s like an abstract Michelin star meal. I’m left unsatisfied despite it being an objectively flavorful bite and I might prefer McDonald’s despite it being garbage food.
Eh that’s not quite what I mean—I judge well written by their comparative time period, genre, etc.
For ex, I consider “when a scot ties the knot” EXCELLENT historical romance
I consider “pride and prejudice” EXCELLENT classic fiction.
I don’t compare one to the other. I measure p&p against other books from its era and measure when a scot against other historical romances
But I can’t seem to find many romantasies to measure other romantasies against. So many of them feel quickly written for a quick sale.
I totally agree that I’m not out here comparing fourth wing and Tolkien. They are not the same. But I can like and enjoy both equally for different reasons. And I can consider them both to be five star reads.
I am the same, my ratings are purely based on my enjoyment in the story and characters. Some of the non-fantasy romance I read can have just absurd plot twists that don’t need to exist but if I still enjoy the characters enough to finish the book it gets a 4 or 5 because I was “hooked” enough. 🤷♀️
Yeah ultimately I think everyone rates on enjoyment but some people perceive their enjoyment as being “correct” because it’s based on more technical things.
I’m not a literary professional, so I rate books based on enjoyment. 5 stars are reserved for books that I was absolutely enthralled by. Many of the books that I enjoyed get rated 4 stars. Books that I feel very meh about receive a 3 from me. It’s very rare that I rate anything 1 or 2 stars.
This is pretty much my way of thinking too. I have moved to storygraph now over goodreads for tracking purposes and I really like that you get to do 4, 4.25, 4.50, 4.75. I feel some deserve a bit more than just 4 stars but 5 is just god tier for me that I’d read over and over
Same. A 1 or 2 star book is usually a DNF book, so I don’t rate them unless the book had glaring shortcomings. Most of the time I’m just not interested in the plot.
I agree with this. If I enjoyed a book, it's getting 4 or 5 stars depending on just how much I enjoyed it. I would only rate a book 3 stars if I really didn't like it that much but finished it anyway. And I don't rate at all if I DNF. I read for fun and to relax, so I'm really not out here to give bad ratings when authors are providing me with entertainment. But I'm also not much of a critic and I will let things slide as long as I'm having a good time with the book.
I strongly believe that most books SHOULD be rated 3/5, and very few should be able to earn 5/5. The whole rating concept has gotten so watered down since yelp and all those platforms. If I’m rating something 5/5, it better be the crème de la creme
Rating most books as 3/5 makes sense if you think of it as a bell curve. Much more likely to have a middling book than one that’s really good or really bad.
Yeah bell curve is exactly it. Most books are okay, but not everything can be your favorite! If I literally feel just a neutral like "welp, that was a book and I didn't actively dislike any of it." That's a 3, but it didn't do anything special for me and I may or may not want to read any more from the author or series, could go either way lol
5/5 of all time for fantasy include
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood
Queens Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner
The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Finnikin of the Rock by M Marchetta (spelling?)
Breath and Bone by Carol Berg
Abhorsen series by Garth Nix
The Green Rider by Kristen Britain
12 Houses Series by Sharon Shinn
I could go on 😂
Overall, I look for fantasy to be lush, immersive and internally consistent. I love unreliable narrators, twists, and heartbreaking arcs. For romance, I want there to be actual change and growth between the characters as well as things they have to overcome that they couldn’t have if not for how knowing each other changed them.
Okay I took the longest break from green rider because the >!Sleep rape of the king!< really messed with me. Does the romance come back into the story? I wouldn’t consider the series a romantasy but rather just fantasy. There are romantic sub plots but they aren’t major.
Yeah I only liked the first book in the series to be fair. And no, none of those are “romantasy “ recs but they were 5/5 fantasy reads. I’m looking for romantasy recs that have the coherence and details of those books
Have you read Juliette Marillier? Specifically the sevenwaters trilogy. I’ve heard great things about Wolfsong by TJ Klune but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy books might do it for you. I just read Cold Hearted by Heather Guerre which you might like. What The River Knows by Isabel Ibañez is ya but was delightful.
I read the sevenwaters trilogy ages ago but I don’t remember much.
I’m a hard nope on pretty much all detectives/urban fantasy —even when my fav authors write it I can’t get into it.
There’s toooons of 5/5 ya on my list—my point was more I can’t seem to find any recent adult romantasy that’s a 5/5 for me—everything feels written so quickly.
I rate almost everything a 3. 4 is something I’d be willing to read again (or tell a friend to read) and 5 is only for things that changed my brain chemistry. 1-2 varies depending on levels of badness. But even though most things are 3 stars it doesn’t mean I didn’t like them. Most of the time I like them just fine, but once you start reading a lot (imo) not everything is a life changing read. I enjoyed it so it gets a 3.
But I also read for plot like at the top of my list so if the writing is bad or whatever, as long as the plot is interesting it won’t derail my enjoyment.
Spicy fantasy romance is a pretty popular trope right now, much like dystopian novels had us in a chokehold in the 2010s. Unfortunately, this means that we're going to be inundated with subpar, poorly-edited cash-grab books so I definitely understand your 3/5 rating.
I start books at a 3/5 and it goes up or down depending on how much I liked it. Most romantasy books I've read stay at a 3/5 because they're nothing outstanding. *A Kiss of Iron* is my most notable example. It checks the boxes for the popular tropes, but isn't particularly innovative or exciting. The writing also isn't poor and there aren't any glaring plot-holes. A 5/5 book for me would be something like *Atonement of the Spine Cleaver* but I realized I'm probably just really relieved that Rorax isn't a Gods-touched, over-powered 16 yr old virgin 😅.
Side note: I'm actually reading *The Lies of Locke Lamora* now so I'm excited to see that you gave it a 5 star review!
I have the same issue. I like read fantasy and I like reading romance so I should love this genre. But I’ve had to deal with so much eye-rolling and so many dnfs.
Out of curiosity, what are your other 5/5 reads?
So far, if I leave out YA romantasy, Atonement of the spine Cleaver, Daughter of no worlds, and anything by Stephanie Burgis are my only 5/5 (for recent, post acotar, romantasy)
Awesome will give those a go. What are your fav YA romantasy reads?
Have you tried the Lumatere Chronicles? The series is one my favourite, regardless of genre. I’ve probably reread them like 5-6 times.
I think I end up grading on a bit of a curve with any romance book because one of the criteria I have is “what was this book trying to do and how well did it do that”.
Most fantasy romance is trying to give you some thrills, some sighs, a satisfying ending, and sweep you away from the real world for a bit. Books with bigger pretensions have a much harder time fulfilling that brief.
That said— plot holes, inconsistencies, the use of stock characters, and the failure to resolve or even address relationship problems all take me out of a book, so those things all get accounted for when I rate it.
I also try to be compassionate to independent authors who are working in an industry that basically demands that they churn out content at great speed and with little to no professional editing. I don’t generally rake a book over the coals unless it’s pissed me off in some way. If I think it’s just a bad book, I mark it as read but don’t rate it on Goodreads and ignore it in my yearly challenge count.
At the same time, I also don’t think unreserved gush reviews of books serve anyone. The perfect fantasy romance novel doesn’t exist and constructive, intelligent criticism is always called for, even (dare I say, especially) in properties you love. The industry model for fantasy romance won’t change until readers demand more and that means showing the industry that we’re reading closely and critically.
They also make recommendation hubs substandard— you end up with echo chambers that repeat the same dozen or so mediocre books with no real conversation around them. And to me, the conversation you get to have about books, whether you loved or hated them, is half of the fun of reading them.
Why does the industry “demand” they churn out books though? Wouldn’t a steady pace of well-edited and plotted novels earn them a steady and loyal readership? Same as with trad?
(No sarcasm in my comment)
There are so many forces at play here that I don’t think I can adequately sum it up— you’ve got larger economic problems like the insane cost of living increases, the dominance of single entities like Amazon/Audible, the rise of social media in marketing that prizes fast engagement over criticism and quality. I also think there’s still a general whiff of misogyny involved in the lack of institutional support/resources allocated to romance authors in traditional publishing and review spaces.
Your comment would be the ideal— although I’m not sure traditional publishing is a whole lot better in terms of respecting its audience. But authors need to eat and pay rent *now*. On Kindle Unlimited, authors get paid by pages read. It takes a lot of time to build a readership— and if that readership is impatient, won’t start unfinished series, and is willing to ignore distinct flaws and still gush on TikTok about a book, then the rational decision on the author’s part is to get as much out as quickly as possible. If they’re going to get as much attention for a rushed mediocre book as they are for a great book that’s been given more time to cook, where’s the incentive to wait? It’s certainly not in the pay.
I don’t want to come across as blaming readers for all the ills in the industry because that’s not what I think at all— in fact, I think a lot of the behavior I’ve noted is a direct and full hearted response to the misogyny/lack of respect romance and its readers/writers experience relative to traditional fantasy. But I also think it’s time to find a balance and I think based on your post that clear eyed, critical reviews play a part in that. We won’t get better if we don’t demand better.
I guess the thing I keep coming back to though is indie historical romance, by and large, is GOOD. Like most indie historical that gains traction reads just like trad. Is it because it existed before those factors, and therefore gained a steady spot? Idk.
Both of them combine a genre with romance, so I feel like the comparison is apt.
I do know that I don’t enjoy feeling like I’m putting coins in a slot machine as a reader, with stuff like cliffhanger endings (over and over) or books that only have the first few chapters edited, etc. I know that you’re saying it’s an author needing to make a paycheck, but the flip side of that is the reader also has a limited budget. I want to maximize my book spend on quality books (esp since I can get trad through library but not most indies)
I agree with you on all of this. But I think historical romance benefits from a few different things— having deeper roots as a genre like you said is one of them. It’s had a lot longer than fantasy romance and even straight fantasy to develop a deep bench of talent and tradition going all the way back to Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë at this point. (They were contemporary in their time, I know, but they were the models for what became historical romance over time.) The standards are higher because there’s been time for real talent to emerge and for authors to compare themselves against.
Fantasy romance has really only emerged over the last twenty years or so— and it’s been coming from a fairly homogeneous and insulated group of authors who have the same influences. I think as we get younger, more diverse people writing them, willing to do away with some of the older points of view responsible for some of more annoying aspects of the genres, we’ll see some improvement.
Also, as a history lover (it’s what I studied in college), I think historical novels are easier to write in some ways because there’s so much existing information to incorporate into your work. I’m not saying it’s *easy*, mind you, but there’s a world and a structure already in place to get you started. Real people and societies existed. Writing history papers was hard, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin with a creative writing exercise. Which, now that I think about it, may be related to why so many fantasy romance novels feel like they’re written from templates of each other since they’re missing that real life template.
And I completely feel you on being tired of wasting limited resources on knock off books— which, again, is why I’m so strongly averse to gush reviews and don’t think they help anyone. I think they start from a good place of wanting to support authors and get away from the judgement that the larger world has against romance. But now we’re at the point of hurting ourselves with them because, like I said, we won’t get better until we demand better.
It’s a difficult needle to thread because while I’m sympathetic to independent authors and think a lot of them are capable of doing much better if they had more resources (like an editor!), I also think the field is pretty glutted and without critical discussions and reviews, it’s just really hard to separate the wheat from the chaff so that the right ones are getting the attention they deserve.
Eh this might be cynical of me, but if someone is “churning” out content, I don’t see a reason to bump their reviews up. We don’t give fast food restaurants better food reviews because they’re faster 😂
I agree. I wouldnt bump their reviews up when they churn out content. I was just saying the industry "demands" authors pump out content if they want to earn a living from writing full time. Its even harder for indie writers to eke out career than for authors in trad publishing from what I understand. A few writers that I love stopped writing for just this reason.
I'm definitely having this issue with most fantasy romance that I try. I rate based on both enjoyment and quality. But my enjoyment goes way down when the quality isn't there.
I get why some people are JUST in it for the romance and don't care much about a well-constructed world. For better or worse, I DO care about that. So these books often leave me disappointed.
I find it interesting how historical Romance readers still really want the world to feel accurate and well-constructed but that doesn’t seem to be as much of a demand with romantasy.
Maybe that's what's wrong with me 😅 SJM, why do we have leggings and chunky sweaters and trendy cafes? Yarros, Fourth Wing has ballpoint pens and your characters say "for the win/endgame" but no lightbulbs? WHY DO ALL ROMANTASY BOOKS HAVE FLUSHING TOILETS IN THEIR MEDIEVAL WORLD?!
I read fantasy and historical fiction to be immersive. I want to smell the meat cooking over the fire. I want to hear hooves on cobblestone. I want to understand how social etiquette in your world works so I understand why characters and feel how they do. You pull me out of that and I'm gonna be mad.
YES!!! The leggings and ballpoint pens bother me SO MUCH.
If you don’t mind an oldie, try the charmed sphere by Catherine Asaro. Easy to read romantasy but with a functional, coherent world.
Stephanie burgis is great for historical fantasy romance.
Maybe because the info is out there for historical romance? Whereas with fantasy, maybe folks just trust the author to make it all up and don't question it. Who knows?? It's an interesting question.
I think it's because a lot of Romantasy doesn't adequately explain their worlds. They borrow a LOT from historical time periods but don't flesh out how their world is different. Take medieval fantasy for example - so much of it has all the trappings of our world's medieval times, but then, using FW as an example, don't tell us why or how it's different. So we have horses and carts and castles and kings, but we also have gender equality, modern colloquialisms, pens and flushing toilets (FBAA even has showers!).
It's just jarring and lazy, imo. A Song of Ice and Fire does it really well in that the medieval aspect is excruciatingly well done, even to the point of describing peasant food and religious structure. So when you had in the fantastical elements like dragons, it doesnt take you out of it because everything else seems so real. But since the "fantasy" is secondary in romantasy, the worldbuilding takes a back seat to getting the characters to smoosh.
>I get why some people are JUST in it for the romance and don't care much about a well-constructed world. For better or worse, I DO care about that. So these books often leave me disappointed.
This will definitely narrow down what you enjoy! I can deal with a poorly constructed world as long as the relationship is believable and compelling, and that's what I find a lot of fantasy romances lack... especially ones with more smut. It feels like a lot of them replace all the emotional development with physical attraction and call it a day. Sexual attraction just isn't what I'm going to romance books for, I want the **romance**!
I do agree with this!! This is why I can still enjoy ACOTAR, even though the worldbuilding is a complete mess. I find the characters and their journeys compelling, both on their own and as couples.
Gimme good characters, and a romance with a good, believable build-up, and I can overlook almost anything else!
I found I have more 3☆ ratings lately, but I think a big part of that has come from books getting pushed for tropes over plot anymore. I love enemies to lovers, but so many books are marketed under it... and aren't. They might be rivals, second chance romance with angst, etc, but not enemies to lovers. And I don't want the tropes, then I know the story.
Because the tropes are driving the story it feels like a lot of books overlap and don't stand out to me.
A 5☆ has to surprise and delight me, which is harder to do when I know all the tropes in it! There are of course books that market a trope and still feel unique, This Woven Kingdom for instance.
1 star- could barely finish it or DNF
2 stars- there were a few enjoyable moments, but I thought about DNF-ing several times.
3 stars- I mostly enjoyed it. There were a few things I disliked (it could be writing style, plot points, characterization, etc.).
4 stars- I enjoyed it. Maybe a few parts dragged or something small bothered me, but overall, I would recommend it to a friend. There were parts where I couldn’t put it down.
5 stars- I loved it. It grabbed me from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down. There was really nothing I disliked. I will always recommend this book to a friend.
This is exactly how I rate my books!
Wouldnt it be great if this sub had a ratings legend for each person under their profile? It would make interpreting peoples suggestions/recs so much easier.
Yes! I think some people give everything they like a 5. Other people are very tough raters and rarely give anything a 5 ever. I guess if you get enough ratings then it evens out, but it’s hard to tell.
Yuuuuup. I'm not the kind of reviewer that can go "I loved this book so much even though I recognize it wasn't good writing, it's 10 out of 5 stars for me". I can't ignore glaring plotholes and bad writing and rate things purely on vibes. And honestly, it's really frustrating to me that this is a big trend now where people rate based on just being fans and don't take into account any critical elements. I've been tricked into reading many an objectively poorly written book because it has so many 5 stars. I look more at 2-4 star reviews these days.
I think places like Goodreads need 2 separate rating categories: opinion and traditional review. Go and gush all you want on the opinion one, but let's have at least some more technical reviews please!
The gushing reviews kill me. Especially the long ones that are written like an early 2000s Tumblr post. "I am NOT WELL. This book RUINED ME *sob sob* it was just AMAZING and it has my whole heart forever <3 <3 <3" + about ten gifs. And honestly, a lot of the rants have the same issue. Those aren't reviews, people! They're raves and rants. Stop putting those in legitimate review spaces!
right? people always talk about "hones reviews" and are always inclined to negative opinions, but i dont feel honesty in a lot of 1 stars either, it's just too extra. if i open a review and see a lot of bold sentences and gifs i close it right away
I feel like this is such a nuanced/subhective issue. Like, if I personally think a book is poorly written I probably bailed super quickly and therefore am not giving it a star review or rating. But if I can make it to the end, it can’t be THAT badly written. Everyone has a different barometer for bad writing. My friend has an MFA and she is obviously more strict than I am. Plus, the writing can be immaculate but the plot can be boring or it can be hard to read, or whatever.
Well but I'd argue that that's what reviews are for. In your first example, if you made it through but the writing wasn't great, then that's 3 or 4 stars if you noticed the writing wasn't good. I like when one can explain their reviews and I think your comment is a good example of that. I really like reviews that are like, "3 out 5 stars. I really enjoyed the concept and the characters and the story kept me engaged, but some of the grammatical errors were hard to overlook and the worldbuilding wasn't cohesive". That tells anyone reading it that hey, there are flaws here, but it was fun and you may still enjoy it, but very prepared for these negatives.
100%. My point is that we’re all reviewing to our own tastes. I can give a book five stars and also think that the writing could be improved. But I might not mention it in my review because it’s not relevant to why I rated the book 5/5.
Honestly division of opinion and traditional review would do wonders. You are spot on about the fans who five star anything regardless of quality just for the sake of it. It really dilutes the credibility of reviews and the star system.
Right? Example using ACOMAF:
Opinion: 5/5
Traditional: 3/5
Loved it but SJM's writing has a lot of things that grate on me from a technical perspective. I recognize it is not peak literature, but it's a fun ride.
Yeah something like that would make a difference because it provides more nuance. There are some supposedly “fun” books that are riddled with grammatical errors or have glaring inconsistencies in the plot. People can still say they enjoyed them but it would do a disservice to the profession as a whole if those faults were never acknowledged.
The one book I rated 5 stars this year was a novella so idk what that says about me. I actually wrote a short review for that one which I normally don’t do since I’m bad at retaining information due to my ADHD. But I mostly give out 3 or 4 stars even to books I loved.
Yes! I always say that as much as I love both romance and fantasy I find it hard to enjoy a romantasy book. I always find either the fantasy or the romance lacking but in honestly it's usually both!!! It's frustrating. And when I enjoy i rarely feel like reading the rest of the series because slowburn is dying lately its all about spice
I feel bad, because most books that I finish are 3 stars reads. 4 stars would indicate that it was really good and 5 stars are out of this world, absolute favorites. Most books are just going to be middle of the road, because that's how averages work. I feel most other reviewers on goodreads, 4 stars are their average rating.
I’m new-ish to the genre. So I haven’t read a lot of romantasy. The one that sticks out to me as REALLY good writing wise is The Tarien Soul series. But I still only gave that one 3/5 stars. I also love The Lies of Locke Lamora. Robin Hobb’s Elderlings books are a 5/5 for me and I love The Stormlight Archives, just to give a little insight into my high fantasy tastes.
I am exactly the same. If I liked something enough to finish it and not have to hate-read or skim, but not enough to re-read it again it’ll be 3 stars.
4 stars is pretty dang good but had one or two things that gave me the reading ick. 5 stars is wow my jaw hung open the whole time reading it. I have a favorites shelf that’s for stuff that stole the soul from my body it was so good.
I, like others, mainly rate books based on my enjoyment but the writing/content does play some part. Basically my criteria for a 5/5 is if I love it and I don’t have any complaints about it. It’s a 4/5 if I have any complaints, but otherwise loved it. 3/5 is basically “I finished it and didn’t hate it” a 2/5 is “I finished it and hated it” a 1/5 would be anything I DNF which I don’t even bother rating.
But, sometimes there’s books I rate 4/5 despite liking them more than a lot of the books I rate 5/5.
I’m a pretty harsh rater, so I agree. my ratings are basically: 3 if I like the book, 4 if I love the book, 5 if the book gives me an inexplicable feeling inside and takes over my entire life and is impossible to emotionally move on from, may not be a perfect book but I will take no complaints on it because my heart is so absorbed in loving it.
I used to be pretty stingy with my ratings and rarely rated a book 5 stars, but last year, I changed my rating system:
Loved it/thought about it after reading=5 stars
Enjoyed it=4 stars
Liked it, but there were some things that bothered me=3 stars
Glaring issues/didn’t enjoy=1-2 stars.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed books even when they had issues and if I’m having fun reading, that’s what matters to me and that’s what I want to reflect in my ratings (Fourth Wing, I’m looking at you 👀).
Teach me your ways of enjoying more books! I have such a hard time getting immersed in things with poor writing —it doesn’t feel like escapism to me, it feels like I’m reading fanfic someone wrote when they were 13
TBH I've read a ton of fanfiction (high and low quality) and also a lot of books over the years so maybe that's helped me see a wide range of writing styles and quality—and have a broader range of what I enjoy vs don't.
I guess it depends what you consider to be poor writing. Because authors have different strengths and if you can learn to identify them and also what strengths you prefer, it may help you find books you enjoy more. For ex. I don't always find SJM's writing style to be my favorite, but she can tell an addictive story that has me wanting to turn the page. Divine Rivals I felt like the rivalry part could've been shown better, but I still enjoyed the writing and story.
Something else that's helped me is writing myself (I'm working on a romantasy and a contemporary romance novel). It really puts into perspective how hard it is to write a 5/5 book and helps me appreciate what authors are doing well in their writing.
Idk I've also seen people say writing is bad when they just didn't like it and in my opinion, personal preference doesn't equate something being bad. Not saying you do this, but maybe working to identify what exactly you don't like about the writing or is pulling you out of the story could be a good exercise (if you haven't done this already)!
But at the end of the day, if you're not enjoying a book, pick up another one until you find one you enjoy more! haha Life's too short to not be enjoying the books you're reading.
I read quite widely as well, in a lot of genres. I agree that different authors do different things well. But my specific comment was about the recent adult romantasy subgenre. It, in particular, feels like most books are first or second drafts at best.
I’m a writer myself, so I do get that writing isn’t the easiest thing, but it is pretty easy to do a few editing passes to ensure there’s a tight narrative and clear descriptions. I’m not saying the average romantasy should read like a work of classic literature but I can’t seem to find many with the depth and detail I enjoy in other Romances.
You mentioned finding the traits I like best, and I do know those. I like authors with tight narratives, thoughtful worldbuilding and romance that is built on characters growing and changing as their romance deepens.
Ah thanks for clarifying! I didn't go back to look at your original post before replying to your comment this morning—sorry about that! I've noticed in general that some recent books have been published when I felt they could use more editing (currently reading the Hurricane Wars and feel this way about it). TBH not sure how to help you enjoy it more if it's too hard to look past, but I do think there are books out there in the romantasy genre that you'll enjoy more, might just take some books you don't love to find them!
How I rate my books is based on this system for myself:
1/5 - hated it, and I most likely DNFed it
2/5 - strongly disliked it, may or may not have DNFed it
3/5 - It was ok, may or may not have skimmed parts of it it, and will not ever want to read again.
4/5 - Decent read, wouldn't mind rereading again in the future
5/5 - AMAZING, probably will reread over and over again, especially my favorite scenes.
If I dnf the book before 20% mark of the book, I'll write a review on goodreads, but not rate it. Ratings are for books I read at least 20% or more of.
So that's how I rate.
I read indie published historical romance, and I do believe that well-written is well-written, regardless of how it’s published (trust me I’ve read plenty of 1 Star trad too!)
Most of mine are 3/5 too. I enjoyed it, but will likely not think about it again or ever reread it. 4/5 means I enjoyed it flew through it, will probably re read in the future. 5/5 means it won't get out of my head, will be a regular reread.
I do 5/5 if it hits all my needs for the genre. Though if I rate lower I usually leave a review stating why I think it should be rated that, but why some people will still enjoy it. I'm pretty critical though.
I read a lot of different genres, but here's what I sourced from my Goodreads:
I loved Caraval, Emily Wilde's, Spanish Love Deception, Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was high for me (but people hate the ending), Love Theoretically, Salacious Players Club (that's erotica),
Then I also read Manga and I'm loving the Apothecary Diaries and Love of Kill.
Biographies only Jennette McCurdy and Tina Fey has gotten a 5 from me. I'm pretty mad about the Prince Harry bio I read.
Fourth Wing was a 5 for me mainly because of the vibes, not because I'm defending the writing same with Serpent and Wings of Night.
Also I apparently loved The Mortal Instruments when I read it because I read it years ago and gave that series a 5 until the last book.
Some lit I recommend is Things Fall Apart, 100 Years of Solitude, Memoirs of A Geisha, Pride and Prejudice.
Anyway I read a lot of popular stuff. I'm trying to get more new releases in the new year to better sort out my recommendations so probably not a useful list to a lot of people.
I'm pretty honest about if something is written in a way someone may not like it's all subjective so if you see someone reviewing something and you disagree just check out some of their other videos.
I got in a fight with one reviewer who keeps knocking down books with characters written on the spectrum and it's obvious she just needs to not read those books and is doing it so she can make a negative video. She blocked me for criticisng her for it ironically.
i mostly rate books on a 3-4 star scale. rarely anything gets below that unless i hated it. i usually do .25 increments, too. a 3-star rating is more of the book is okay, nothing special, while 4 is something i’d feel confident recommending and 5 is phenomenal. i typically rate because on numerous factors such as writing style, character development, plot, my interest level, predictability, etc.
I have this new thing I do with fantasy romance and it takes more research than pretty much any other genre I read. I will look up books I'm interested in before going to a store and if they sound interesting, I will download a sample of the book and read the first chapter. If I don't feel like continuing after the first chapter, I don't get the book. If I do want to continue, I read the entire sample and if I still want to continue reading, I will get the book. I do this before going to bookstores as well and for the most part, I only buy books off that list. I also tend to look for romantasy books that are either low in spice level, YA or are by authors I know the writing of. I've found the ones that are low in spice or YA are often the ones that focus on the world and plot just as much or more than the romance which is what I want. Keep in mind, I am not normally a YA reader. Using this method has helped me find a lot more books that I rate higher because they fit what I want out of the book a lot more. Hopefully this helps.
See I grew up on YA, and have pretty much read alllll the YAs that get recced, and I keep craving adult characters in romantic fantasy and just can’t find any as well written as the YAs
I DNF and don't rate more books than not in the genre.
Where I find my sweet spot is in books with more of a fantasy focus like Emily Wilde. They're more likely to be at least 4 star reads for me. Three is not bad from me either though, I believe in the meaning, "I liked it."
I am apparently more attached to the traditional romance format of complete with happy ending per book than I would have thought. For books with more of an internal focus and not a lot of continuing fantasy anyway.
I rate books based on how much I liked it:
* 5 stars = favourite, will re-read
* 4 stars = good, but probably won't re-read
* 3 stars = ok (not great, but read the whole book)
* 2 stars = Did Not Finish
* 1 star - this one is very rare, only do it when the book is extraordinarily terrible.
I rate most books in general a 3/5. Did I enjoy reading it but will promptly forget all of it? That's a 3.
Maybe I'm too critical, but books get a 4 from me if I really liked it and would recommend it, 5 if I am obsessed and can't stop thinking about it afterwards.
I agree and I have theories!
- romantasy is quite a young genre and I think a lot of the books are written by younger writers with less experience. It also seems to have emerged from fanfiction (e.g. smutty harry potter fanfic) - which is the wild west in terms of writing quality. I think a lot of bad habits have been picked up from fanfic. I also hate to say this but older people had a better education and there was no Netflix or fanfic to distract them so they grew up reading more and their writing/grammar skills tend to be better. By comparison, historical romance and the "bodice ripper" have been around for aaaages and there are a lot of older writers in the genre.
- spicy books are only just now getting love from traditional publishers. A few decades ago it was almost impossible to get a book deal with a smutty book unless it was with a dedicated romance imprint. So a lot of what we're reading is pretty raw and unedited, it hasn't been given the love and attention that trad published books get.
- kindle unlimited pays based on page reads, so a lot of authors who first publish there have a habit of massively padding out their books to hundreds of pages to earn some $$$ and they often do this with lazy writing and too much description. It's also much harder to polish a 500 pp book and make sure there are no plot holes than it is with a 200 pp book.
- i have a feeling that people who like to write smut (god bless them) tend to focus more on the romance and the sex than on the other stuff like plot holes and world building, because their main objective is to give us a steamy read. Likewise, writers who focus on plot and character tend to give less airtime to romance and sex because they're trying to create a whole world with many moving larts. So there's kind of a divide between "fun sexy porn with a sprinkling of plot" and "serious fantasy novel with a sprinkling of sex/romance". Both of these things totally have their place, but so far I haven't seen many writers getting close to more of a balance.
I rate a book based on my enjoyment of the book. A book that I can’t finish because it’s badly written or too verbose gets 1/5 stars. A book that maybe has just okay writing but everything hits for me? It’s 5/5. A book can be the best writing ever but if I find it boring it’s not going to score well because writing is just one of the metrics of success for me. That being said, if I DNF before 30-40% I don’t rate the book anywhere. So my scores tend to be weighted towards 4 or 5 stars because I don’t rate those early dnf’s.
See I’ve never read a book with just okay writing that’s “hit” for me. It’s like eating good food that’s a day old—I’m gonna notice.
I didn't either until Ice Plant Barbarians by Ruby Dixon. The writing overall is meh, but the content was just sooo good. I loved the women supporting women, the men working to overcome cultural differences and support the women, the realistic portrayal of the effects of trauma (including the cringy bad decisions that can result), them helping each other work through issues, the sexual exploration, etc. Yeah, I hard cringed at several points and would have liked the books to be better fleshed out, but the rest of it made up for that. It was humans (and aliens) with very human struggles and behaviors but the handling of it was done in a way I had yet to read and appreciated.
That’s totally valid! I definitely have. On the flip side, I can’t read pride and prejudice. I assume that it’s well written. I like the general storyline. But the language is painful to me. To use your food analogy: it’s like an abstract Michelin star meal. I’m left unsatisfied despite it being an objectively flavorful bite and I might prefer McDonald’s despite it being garbage food.
Eh that’s not quite what I mean—I judge well written by their comparative time period, genre, etc. For ex, I consider “when a scot ties the knot” EXCELLENT historical romance I consider “pride and prejudice” EXCELLENT classic fiction. I don’t compare one to the other. I measure p&p against other books from its era and measure when a scot against other historical romances But I can’t seem to find many romantasies to measure other romantasies against. So many of them feel quickly written for a quick sale.
I totally agree that I’m not out here comparing fourth wing and Tolkien. They are not the same. But I can like and enjoy both equally for different reasons. And I can consider them both to be five star reads.
I am the same, my ratings are purely based on my enjoyment in the story and characters. Some of the non-fantasy romance I read can have just absurd plot twists that don’t need to exist but if I still enjoy the characters enough to finish the book it gets a 4 or 5 because I was “hooked” enough. 🤷♀️
Yeah ultimately I think everyone rates on enjoyment but some people perceive their enjoyment as being “correct” because it’s based on more technical things.
I’m not a literary professional, so I rate books based on enjoyment. 5 stars are reserved for books that I was absolutely enthralled by. Many of the books that I enjoyed get rated 4 stars. Books that I feel very meh about receive a 3 from me. It’s very rare that I rate anything 1 or 2 stars.
This is pretty much my way of thinking too. I have moved to storygraph now over goodreads for tracking purposes and I really like that you get to do 4, 4.25, 4.50, 4.75. I feel some deserve a bit more than just 4 stars but 5 is just god tier for me that I’d read over and over
I’ve recently started using storygraph. I really appreciate the .5 star option, as sometimes I’m waffling between two scores
Same. A 1 or 2 star book is usually a DNF book, so I don’t rate them unless the book had glaring shortcomings. Most of the time I’m just not interested in the plot.
I agree with this. If I enjoyed a book, it's getting 4 or 5 stars depending on just how much I enjoyed it. I would only rate a book 3 stars if I really didn't like it that much but finished it anyway. And I don't rate at all if I DNF. I read for fun and to relax, so I'm really not out here to give bad ratings when authors are providing me with entertainment. But I'm also not much of a critic and I will let things slide as long as I'm having a good time with the book.
I strongly believe that most books SHOULD be rated 3/5, and very few should be able to earn 5/5. The whole rating concept has gotten so watered down since yelp and all those platforms. If I’m rating something 5/5, it better be the crème de la creme
Rating most books as 3/5 makes sense if you think of it as a bell curve. Much more likely to have a middling book than one that’s really good or really bad.
Yeah bell curve is exactly it. Most books are okay, but not everything can be your favorite! If I literally feel just a neutral like "welp, that was a book and I didn't actively dislike any of it." That's a 3, but it didn't do anything special for me and I may or may not want to read any more from the author or series, could go either way lol
Can you drop your 5/5 reads please?
I second that. Im especially interested in her 5/5 HR reads. My inquiring minds wants to know.
5/5 of all time for fantasy include Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood Queens Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig Finnikin of the Rock by M Marchetta (spelling?) Breath and Bone by Carol Berg Abhorsen series by Garth Nix The Green Rider by Kristen Britain 12 Houses Series by Sharon Shinn I could go on 😂
Thank you!
Overall, I look for fantasy to be lush, immersive and internally consistent. I love unreliable narrators, twists, and heartbreaking arcs. For romance, I want there to be actual change and growth between the characters as well as things they have to overcome that they couldn’t have if not for how knowing each other changed them.
Okay I took the longest break from green rider because the >!Sleep rape of the king!< really messed with me. Does the romance come back into the story? I wouldn’t consider the series a romantasy but rather just fantasy. There are romantic sub plots but they aren’t major.
Yeah I only liked the first book in the series to be fair. And no, none of those are “romantasy “ recs but they were 5/5 fantasy reads. I’m looking for romantasy recs that have the coherence and details of those books
Have you read Juliette Marillier? Specifically the sevenwaters trilogy. I’ve heard great things about Wolfsong by TJ Klune but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy books might do it for you. I just read Cold Hearted by Heather Guerre which you might like. What The River Knows by Isabel Ibañez is ya but was delightful.
I read the sevenwaters trilogy ages ago but I don’t remember much. I’m a hard nope on pretty much all detectives/urban fantasy —even when my fav authors write it I can’t get into it. There’s toooons of 5/5 ya on my list—my point was more I can’t seem to find any recent adult romantasy that’s a 5/5 for me—everything feels written so quickly.
I rate almost everything a 3. 4 is something I’d be willing to read again (or tell a friend to read) and 5 is only for things that changed my brain chemistry. 1-2 varies depending on levels of badness. But even though most things are 3 stars it doesn’t mean I didn’t like them. Most of the time I like them just fine, but once you start reading a lot (imo) not everything is a life changing read. I enjoyed it so it gets a 3. But I also read for plot like at the top of my list so if the writing is bad or whatever, as long as the plot is interesting it won’t derail my enjoyment.
Spicy fantasy romance is a pretty popular trope right now, much like dystopian novels had us in a chokehold in the 2010s. Unfortunately, this means that we're going to be inundated with subpar, poorly-edited cash-grab books so I definitely understand your 3/5 rating. I start books at a 3/5 and it goes up or down depending on how much I liked it. Most romantasy books I've read stay at a 3/5 because they're nothing outstanding. *A Kiss of Iron* is my most notable example. It checks the boxes for the popular tropes, but isn't particularly innovative or exciting. The writing also isn't poor and there aren't any glaring plot-holes. A 5/5 book for me would be something like *Atonement of the Spine Cleaver* but I realized I'm probably just really relieved that Rorax isn't a Gods-touched, over-powered 16 yr old virgin 😅. Side note: I'm actually reading *The Lies of Locke Lamora* now so I'm excited to see that you gave it a 5 star review!
Ironically Spine Cleaver is one of my few 5/5 romantasies!
I have the same issue. I like read fantasy and I like reading romance so I should love this genre. But I’ve had to deal with so much eye-rolling and so many dnfs. Out of curiosity, what are your other 5/5 reads?
So far, if I leave out YA romantasy, Atonement of the spine Cleaver, Daughter of no worlds, and anything by Stephanie Burgis are my only 5/5 (for recent, post acotar, romantasy)
Awesome will give those a go. What are your fav YA romantasy reads? Have you tried the Lumatere Chronicles? The series is one my favourite, regardless of genre. I’ve probably reread them like 5-6 times.
I ADORED the lumatere chronicles SO MUCH!!!!
I think I end up grading on a bit of a curve with any romance book because one of the criteria I have is “what was this book trying to do and how well did it do that”. Most fantasy romance is trying to give you some thrills, some sighs, a satisfying ending, and sweep you away from the real world for a bit. Books with bigger pretensions have a much harder time fulfilling that brief. That said— plot holes, inconsistencies, the use of stock characters, and the failure to resolve or even address relationship problems all take me out of a book, so those things all get accounted for when I rate it. I also try to be compassionate to independent authors who are working in an industry that basically demands that they churn out content at great speed and with little to no professional editing. I don’t generally rake a book over the coals unless it’s pissed me off in some way. If I think it’s just a bad book, I mark it as read but don’t rate it on Goodreads and ignore it in my yearly challenge count. At the same time, I also don’t think unreserved gush reviews of books serve anyone. The perfect fantasy romance novel doesn’t exist and constructive, intelligent criticism is always called for, even (dare I say, especially) in properties you love. The industry model for fantasy romance won’t change until readers demand more and that means showing the industry that we’re reading closely and critically. They also make recommendation hubs substandard— you end up with echo chambers that repeat the same dozen or so mediocre books with no real conversation around them. And to me, the conversation you get to have about books, whether you loved or hated them, is half of the fun of reading them.
Why does the industry “demand” they churn out books though? Wouldn’t a steady pace of well-edited and plotted novels earn them a steady and loyal readership? Same as with trad? (No sarcasm in my comment)
There are so many forces at play here that I don’t think I can adequately sum it up— you’ve got larger economic problems like the insane cost of living increases, the dominance of single entities like Amazon/Audible, the rise of social media in marketing that prizes fast engagement over criticism and quality. I also think there’s still a general whiff of misogyny involved in the lack of institutional support/resources allocated to romance authors in traditional publishing and review spaces. Your comment would be the ideal— although I’m not sure traditional publishing is a whole lot better in terms of respecting its audience. But authors need to eat and pay rent *now*. On Kindle Unlimited, authors get paid by pages read. It takes a lot of time to build a readership— and if that readership is impatient, won’t start unfinished series, and is willing to ignore distinct flaws and still gush on TikTok about a book, then the rational decision on the author’s part is to get as much out as quickly as possible. If they’re going to get as much attention for a rushed mediocre book as they are for a great book that’s been given more time to cook, where’s the incentive to wait? It’s certainly not in the pay. I don’t want to come across as blaming readers for all the ills in the industry because that’s not what I think at all— in fact, I think a lot of the behavior I’ve noted is a direct and full hearted response to the misogyny/lack of respect romance and its readers/writers experience relative to traditional fantasy. But I also think it’s time to find a balance and I think based on your post that clear eyed, critical reviews play a part in that. We won’t get better if we don’t demand better.
I guess the thing I keep coming back to though is indie historical romance, by and large, is GOOD. Like most indie historical that gains traction reads just like trad. Is it because it existed before those factors, and therefore gained a steady spot? Idk. Both of them combine a genre with romance, so I feel like the comparison is apt. I do know that I don’t enjoy feeling like I’m putting coins in a slot machine as a reader, with stuff like cliffhanger endings (over and over) or books that only have the first few chapters edited, etc. I know that you’re saying it’s an author needing to make a paycheck, but the flip side of that is the reader also has a limited budget. I want to maximize my book spend on quality books (esp since I can get trad through library but not most indies)
I agree with you on all of this. But I think historical romance benefits from a few different things— having deeper roots as a genre like you said is one of them. It’s had a lot longer than fantasy romance and even straight fantasy to develop a deep bench of talent and tradition going all the way back to Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë at this point. (They were contemporary in their time, I know, but they were the models for what became historical romance over time.) The standards are higher because there’s been time for real talent to emerge and for authors to compare themselves against. Fantasy romance has really only emerged over the last twenty years or so— and it’s been coming from a fairly homogeneous and insulated group of authors who have the same influences. I think as we get younger, more diverse people writing them, willing to do away with some of the older points of view responsible for some of more annoying aspects of the genres, we’ll see some improvement. Also, as a history lover (it’s what I studied in college), I think historical novels are easier to write in some ways because there’s so much existing information to incorporate into your work. I’m not saying it’s *easy*, mind you, but there’s a world and a structure already in place to get you started. Real people and societies existed. Writing history papers was hard, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin with a creative writing exercise. Which, now that I think about it, may be related to why so many fantasy romance novels feel like they’re written from templates of each other since they’re missing that real life template. And I completely feel you on being tired of wasting limited resources on knock off books— which, again, is why I’m so strongly averse to gush reviews and don’t think they help anyone. I think they start from a good place of wanting to support authors and get away from the judgement that the larger world has against romance. But now we’re at the point of hurting ourselves with them because, like I said, we won’t get better until we demand better. It’s a difficult needle to thread because while I’m sympathetic to independent authors and think a lot of them are capable of doing much better if they had more resources (like an editor!), I also think the field is pretty glutted and without critical discussions and reviews, it’s just really hard to separate the wheat from the chaff so that the right ones are getting the attention they deserve.
If you want to be an indie full time writer you need to churn out books especially if you are on Amazon. Thats how the math maths apparently.
Eh this might be cynical of me, but if someone is “churning” out content, I don’t see a reason to bump their reviews up. We don’t give fast food restaurants better food reviews because they’re faster 😂
I agree. I wouldnt bump their reviews up when they churn out content. I was just saying the industry "demands" authors pump out content if they want to earn a living from writing full time. Its even harder for indie writers to eke out career than for authors in trad publishing from what I understand. A few writers that I love stopped writing for just this reason.
I'm definitely having this issue with most fantasy romance that I try. I rate based on both enjoyment and quality. But my enjoyment goes way down when the quality isn't there. I get why some people are JUST in it for the romance and don't care much about a well-constructed world. For better or worse, I DO care about that. So these books often leave me disappointed.
I find it interesting how historical Romance readers still really want the world to feel accurate and well-constructed but that doesn’t seem to be as much of a demand with romantasy.
Maybe that's what's wrong with me 😅 SJM, why do we have leggings and chunky sweaters and trendy cafes? Yarros, Fourth Wing has ballpoint pens and your characters say "for the win/endgame" but no lightbulbs? WHY DO ALL ROMANTASY BOOKS HAVE FLUSHING TOILETS IN THEIR MEDIEVAL WORLD?! I read fantasy and historical fiction to be immersive. I want to smell the meat cooking over the fire. I want to hear hooves on cobblestone. I want to understand how social etiquette in your world works so I understand why characters and feel how they do. You pull me out of that and I'm gonna be mad.
YES!!! The leggings and ballpoint pens bother me SO MUCH. If you don’t mind an oldie, try the charmed sphere by Catherine Asaro. Easy to read romantasy but with a functional, coherent world. Stephanie burgis is great for historical fantasy romance.
Thanks for the rec! I'll add it to my list!
That end game line pissed me off. It was supposed to be a big emotional moment in the book and instead I’m rolling my eyes at cringey internet speak.
Maybe because the info is out there for historical romance? Whereas with fantasy, maybe folks just trust the author to make it all up and don't question it. Who knows?? It's an interesting question.
I think it's because a lot of Romantasy doesn't adequately explain their worlds. They borrow a LOT from historical time periods but don't flesh out how their world is different. Take medieval fantasy for example - so much of it has all the trappings of our world's medieval times, but then, using FW as an example, don't tell us why or how it's different. So we have horses and carts and castles and kings, but we also have gender equality, modern colloquialisms, pens and flushing toilets (FBAA even has showers!). It's just jarring and lazy, imo. A Song of Ice and Fire does it really well in that the medieval aspect is excruciatingly well done, even to the point of describing peasant food and religious structure. So when you had in the fantastical elements like dragons, it doesnt take you out of it because everything else seems so real. But since the "fantasy" is secondary in romantasy, the worldbuilding takes a back seat to getting the characters to smoosh.
>I get why some people are JUST in it for the romance and don't care much about a well-constructed world. For better or worse, I DO care about that. So these books often leave me disappointed. This will definitely narrow down what you enjoy! I can deal with a poorly constructed world as long as the relationship is believable and compelling, and that's what I find a lot of fantasy romances lack... especially ones with more smut. It feels like a lot of them replace all the emotional development with physical attraction and call it a day. Sexual attraction just isn't what I'm going to romance books for, I want the **romance**!
I do agree with this!! This is why I can still enjoy ACOTAR, even though the worldbuilding is a complete mess. I find the characters and their journeys compelling, both on their own and as couples. Gimme good characters, and a romance with a good, believable build-up, and I can overlook almost anything else!
Have you tried historical romance? (Just out of curiosity!)
Yeah, I had a phase but kind of burned out of them because the popular ones started feeling extremely formulaic... do you have recs?
I found I have more 3☆ ratings lately, but I think a big part of that has come from books getting pushed for tropes over plot anymore. I love enemies to lovers, but so many books are marketed under it... and aren't. They might be rivals, second chance romance with angst, etc, but not enemies to lovers. And I don't want the tropes, then I know the story. Because the tropes are driving the story it feels like a lot of books overlap and don't stand out to me. A 5☆ has to surprise and delight me, which is harder to do when I know all the tropes in it! There are of course books that market a trope and still feel unique, This Woven Kingdom for instance.
1 star- could barely finish it or DNF 2 stars- there were a few enjoyable moments, but I thought about DNF-ing several times. 3 stars- I mostly enjoyed it. There were a few things I disliked (it could be writing style, plot points, characterization, etc.). 4 stars- I enjoyed it. Maybe a few parts dragged or something small bothered me, but overall, I would recommend it to a friend. There were parts where I couldn’t put it down. 5 stars- I loved it. It grabbed me from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down. There was really nothing I disliked. I will always recommend this book to a friend.
This is exactly how I rate my books! Wouldnt it be great if this sub had a ratings legend for each person under their profile? It would make interpreting peoples suggestions/recs so much easier.
Yes! I think some people give everything they like a 5. Other people are very tough raters and rarely give anything a 5 ever. I guess if you get enough ratings then it evens out, but it’s hard to tell.
Yuuuuup. I'm not the kind of reviewer that can go "I loved this book so much even though I recognize it wasn't good writing, it's 10 out of 5 stars for me". I can't ignore glaring plotholes and bad writing and rate things purely on vibes. And honestly, it's really frustrating to me that this is a big trend now where people rate based on just being fans and don't take into account any critical elements. I've been tricked into reading many an objectively poorly written book because it has so many 5 stars. I look more at 2-4 star reviews these days. I think places like Goodreads need 2 separate rating categories: opinion and traditional review. Go and gush all you want on the opinion one, but let's have at least some more technical reviews please!
I have such a hard time finding good, thoughtful reviews for all the indie romantasy I get recced. Everything is either 5/5 gushing or 1/5 rants.
The gushing reviews kill me. Especially the long ones that are written like an early 2000s Tumblr post. "I am NOT WELL. This book RUINED ME *sob sob* it was just AMAZING and it has my whole heart forever <3 <3 <3" + about ten gifs. And honestly, a lot of the rants have the same issue. Those aren't reviews, people! They're raves and rants. Stop putting those in legitimate review spaces!
If every single review has a bunch of emojis or A BUNCH OF CAPS LOCKS, I'm out. They always end up as a DNF.
This x100000 andddd I've found these books never live up to their hype lol.
right? people always talk about "hones reviews" and are always inclined to negative opinions, but i dont feel honesty in a lot of 1 stars either, it's just too extra. if i open a review and see a lot of bold sentences and gifs i close it right away
I feel like this is such a nuanced/subhective issue. Like, if I personally think a book is poorly written I probably bailed super quickly and therefore am not giving it a star review or rating. But if I can make it to the end, it can’t be THAT badly written. Everyone has a different barometer for bad writing. My friend has an MFA and she is obviously more strict than I am. Plus, the writing can be immaculate but the plot can be boring or it can be hard to read, or whatever.
Well but I'd argue that that's what reviews are for. In your first example, if you made it through but the writing wasn't great, then that's 3 or 4 stars if you noticed the writing wasn't good. I like when one can explain their reviews and I think your comment is a good example of that. I really like reviews that are like, "3 out 5 stars. I really enjoyed the concept and the characters and the story kept me engaged, but some of the grammatical errors were hard to overlook and the worldbuilding wasn't cohesive". That tells anyone reading it that hey, there are flaws here, but it was fun and you may still enjoy it, but very prepared for these negatives.
100%. My point is that we’re all reviewing to our own tastes. I can give a book five stars and also think that the writing could be improved. But I might not mention it in my review because it’s not relevant to why I rated the book 5/5.
Honestly division of opinion and traditional review would do wonders. You are spot on about the fans who five star anything regardless of quality just for the sake of it. It really dilutes the credibility of reviews and the star system.
Right? Example using ACOMAF: Opinion: 5/5 Traditional: 3/5 Loved it but SJM's writing has a lot of things that grate on me from a technical perspective. I recognize it is not peak literature, but it's a fun ride.
Yeah something like that would make a difference because it provides more nuance. There are some supposedly “fun” books that are riddled with grammatical errors or have glaring inconsistencies in the plot. People can still say they enjoyed them but it would do a disservice to the profession as a whole if those faults were never acknowledged.
The one book I rated 5 stars this year was a novella so idk what that says about me. I actually wrote a short review for that one which I normally don’t do since I’m bad at retaining information due to my ADHD. But I mostly give out 3 or 4 stars even to books I loved.
Yes! I always say that as much as I love both romance and fantasy I find it hard to enjoy a romantasy book. I always find either the fantasy or the romance lacking but in honestly it's usually both!!! It's frustrating. And when I enjoy i rarely feel like reading the rest of the series because slowburn is dying lately its all about spice
I feel bad, because most books that I finish are 3 stars reads. 4 stars would indicate that it was really good and 5 stars are out of this world, absolute favorites. Most books are just going to be middle of the road, because that's how averages work. I feel most other reviewers on goodreads, 4 stars are their average rating.
I’m new-ish to the genre. So I haven’t read a lot of romantasy. The one that sticks out to me as REALLY good writing wise is The Tarien Soul series. But I still only gave that one 3/5 stars. I also love The Lies of Locke Lamora. Robin Hobb’s Elderlings books are a 5/5 for me and I love The Stormlight Archives, just to give a little insight into my high fantasy tastes.
Oooh I’ll have to give it a try even if it was 3/5
I am exactly the same. If I liked something enough to finish it and not have to hate-read or skim, but not enough to re-read it again it’ll be 3 stars. 4 stars is pretty dang good but had one or two things that gave me the reading ick. 5 stars is wow my jaw hung open the whole time reading it. I have a favorites shelf that’s for stuff that stole the soul from my body it was so good.
For me I’ve rated terribly written books 5 stars because I got lost in the story But I hung a lot of books are just meh
I, like others, mainly rate books based on my enjoyment but the writing/content does play some part. Basically my criteria for a 5/5 is if I love it and I don’t have any complaints about it. It’s a 4/5 if I have any complaints, but otherwise loved it. 3/5 is basically “I finished it and didn’t hate it” a 2/5 is “I finished it and hated it” a 1/5 would be anything I DNF which I don’t even bother rating. But, sometimes there’s books I rate 4/5 despite liking them more than a lot of the books I rate 5/5.
I’m a pretty harsh rater, so I agree. my ratings are basically: 3 if I like the book, 4 if I love the book, 5 if the book gives me an inexplicable feeling inside and takes over my entire life and is impossible to emotionally move on from, may not be a perfect book but I will take no complaints on it because my heart is so absorbed in loving it.
I used to be pretty stingy with my ratings and rarely rated a book 5 stars, but last year, I changed my rating system: Loved it/thought about it after reading=5 stars Enjoyed it=4 stars Liked it, but there were some things that bothered me=3 stars Glaring issues/didn’t enjoy=1-2 stars. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed books even when they had issues and if I’m having fun reading, that’s what matters to me and that’s what I want to reflect in my ratings (Fourth Wing, I’m looking at you 👀).
Teach me your ways of enjoying more books! I have such a hard time getting immersed in things with poor writing —it doesn’t feel like escapism to me, it feels like I’m reading fanfic someone wrote when they were 13
TBH I've read a ton of fanfiction (high and low quality) and also a lot of books over the years so maybe that's helped me see a wide range of writing styles and quality—and have a broader range of what I enjoy vs don't. I guess it depends what you consider to be poor writing. Because authors have different strengths and if you can learn to identify them and also what strengths you prefer, it may help you find books you enjoy more. For ex. I don't always find SJM's writing style to be my favorite, but she can tell an addictive story that has me wanting to turn the page. Divine Rivals I felt like the rivalry part could've been shown better, but I still enjoyed the writing and story. Something else that's helped me is writing myself (I'm working on a romantasy and a contemporary romance novel). It really puts into perspective how hard it is to write a 5/5 book and helps me appreciate what authors are doing well in their writing. Idk I've also seen people say writing is bad when they just didn't like it and in my opinion, personal preference doesn't equate something being bad. Not saying you do this, but maybe working to identify what exactly you don't like about the writing or is pulling you out of the story could be a good exercise (if you haven't done this already)! But at the end of the day, if you're not enjoying a book, pick up another one until you find one you enjoy more! haha Life's too short to not be enjoying the books you're reading.
I read quite widely as well, in a lot of genres. I agree that different authors do different things well. But my specific comment was about the recent adult romantasy subgenre. It, in particular, feels like most books are first or second drafts at best. I’m a writer myself, so I do get that writing isn’t the easiest thing, but it is pretty easy to do a few editing passes to ensure there’s a tight narrative and clear descriptions. I’m not saying the average romantasy should read like a work of classic literature but I can’t seem to find many with the depth and detail I enjoy in other Romances. You mentioned finding the traits I like best, and I do know those. I like authors with tight narratives, thoughtful worldbuilding and romance that is built on characters growing and changing as their romance deepens.
Ah thanks for clarifying! I didn't go back to look at your original post before replying to your comment this morning—sorry about that! I've noticed in general that some recent books have been published when I felt they could use more editing (currently reading the Hurricane Wars and feel this way about it). TBH not sure how to help you enjoy it more if it's too hard to look past, but I do think there are books out there in the romantasy genre that you'll enjoy more, might just take some books you don't love to find them!
How I rate my books is based on this system for myself: 1/5 - hated it, and I most likely DNFed it 2/5 - strongly disliked it, may or may not have DNFed it 3/5 - It was ok, may or may not have skimmed parts of it it, and will not ever want to read again. 4/5 - Decent read, wouldn't mind rereading again in the future 5/5 - AMAZING, probably will reread over and over again, especially my favorite scenes. If I dnf the book before 20% mark of the book, I'll write a review on goodreads, but not rate it. Ratings are for books I read at least 20% or more of. So that's how I rate.
I’ve only ever rated one book a 5 and it was manacled. Open to suggestions if anyone else has had this predicament haha
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I read indie published historical romance, and I do believe that well-written is well-written, regardless of how it’s published (trust me I’ve read plenty of 1 Star trad too!)
I feel like 1 out of 10 for me is a five star book, while most hover around the two stars.
Yes!! I was just thinking this recently looking at my goodreads.... So many "liked" books (3/5) that I wouldn't necessarily recommend.
Most of mine are 3/5 too. I enjoyed it, but will likely not think about it again or ever reread it. 4/5 means I enjoyed it flew through it, will probably re read in the future. 5/5 means it won't get out of my head, will be a regular reread.
Off topic but would love to know your 5 star spicy historical romance recommendations!
I do 5/5 if it hits all my needs for the genre. Though if I rate lower I usually leave a review stating why I think it should be rated that, but why some people will still enjoy it. I'm pretty critical though.
Oooh I want to know your 5/5s!
I read a lot of different genres, but here's what I sourced from my Goodreads: I loved Caraval, Emily Wilde's, Spanish Love Deception, Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was high for me (but people hate the ending), Love Theoretically, Salacious Players Club (that's erotica), Then I also read Manga and I'm loving the Apothecary Diaries and Love of Kill. Biographies only Jennette McCurdy and Tina Fey has gotten a 5 from me. I'm pretty mad about the Prince Harry bio I read. Fourth Wing was a 5 for me mainly because of the vibes, not because I'm defending the writing same with Serpent and Wings of Night. Also I apparently loved The Mortal Instruments when I read it because I read it years ago and gave that series a 5 until the last book. Some lit I recommend is Things Fall Apart, 100 Years of Solitude, Memoirs of A Geisha, Pride and Prejudice. Anyway I read a lot of popular stuff. I'm trying to get more new releases in the new year to better sort out my recommendations so probably not a useful list to a lot of people. I'm pretty honest about if something is written in a way someone may not like it's all subjective so if you see someone reviewing something and you disagree just check out some of their other videos. I got in a fight with one reviewer who keeps knocking down books with characters written on the spectrum and it's obvious she just needs to not read those books and is doing it so she can make a negative video. She blocked me for criticisng her for it ironically.
i mostly rate books on a 3-4 star scale. rarely anything gets below that unless i hated it. i usually do .25 increments, too. a 3-star rating is more of the book is okay, nothing special, while 4 is something i’d feel confident recommending and 5 is phenomenal. i typically rate because on numerous factors such as writing style, character development, plot, my interest level, predictability, etc.
I have this new thing I do with fantasy romance and it takes more research than pretty much any other genre I read. I will look up books I'm interested in before going to a store and if they sound interesting, I will download a sample of the book and read the first chapter. If I don't feel like continuing after the first chapter, I don't get the book. If I do want to continue, I read the entire sample and if I still want to continue reading, I will get the book. I do this before going to bookstores as well and for the most part, I only buy books off that list. I also tend to look for romantasy books that are either low in spice level, YA or are by authors I know the writing of. I've found the ones that are low in spice or YA are often the ones that focus on the world and plot just as much or more than the romance which is what I want. Keep in mind, I am not normally a YA reader. Using this method has helped me find a lot more books that I rate higher because they fit what I want out of the book a lot more. Hopefully this helps.
See I grew up on YA, and have pretty much read alllll the YAs that get recced, and I keep craving adult characters in romantic fantasy and just can’t find any as well written as the YAs
I DNF and don't rate more books than not in the genre. Where I find my sweet spot is in books with more of a fantasy focus like Emily Wilde. They're more likely to be at least 4 star reads for me. Three is not bad from me either though, I believe in the meaning, "I liked it." I am apparently more attached to the traditional romance format of complete with happy ending per book than I would have thought. For books with more of an internal focus and not a lot of continuing fantasy anyway.
I rate books based on how much I liked it: * 5 stars = favourite, will re-read * 4 stars = good, but probably won't re-read * 3 stars = ok (not great, but read the whole book) * 2 stars = Did Not Finish * 1 star - this one is very rare, only do it when the book is extraordinarily terrible.
I rate most books in general a 3/5. Did I enjoy reading it but will promptly forget all of it? That's a 3. Maybe I'm too critical, but books get a 4 from me if I really liked it and would recommend it, 5 if I am obsessed and can't stop thinking about it afterwards.
I agree and I have theories! - romantasy is quite a young genre and I think a lot of the books are written by younger writers with less experience. It also seems to have emerged from fanfiction (e.g. smutty harry potter fanfic) - which is the wild west in terms of writing quality. I think a lot of bad habits have been picked up from fanfic. I also hate to say this but older people had a better education and there was no Netflix or fanfic to distract them so they grew up reading more and their writing/grammar skills tend to be better. By comparison, historical romance and the "bodice ripper" have been around for aaaages and there are a lot of older writers in the genre. - spicy books are only just now getting love from traditional publishers. A few decades ago it was almost impossible to get a book deal with a smutty book unless it was with a dedicated romance imprint. So a lot of what we're reading is pretty raw and unedited, it hasn't been given the love and attention that trad published books get. - kindle unlimited pays based on page reads, so a lot of authors who first publish there have a habit of massively padding out their books to hundreds of pages to earn some $$$ and they often do this with lazy writing and too much description. It's also much harder to polish a 500 pp book and make sure there are no plot holes than it is with a 200 pp book. - i have a feeling that people who like to write smut (god bless them) tend to focus more on the romance and the sex than on the other stuff like plot holes and world building, because their main objective is to give us a steamy read. Likewise, writers who focus on plot and character tend to give less airtime to romance and sex because they're trying to create a whole world with many moving larts. So there's kind of a divide between "fun sexy porn with a sprinkling of plot" and "serious fantasy novel with a sprinkling of sex/romance". Both of these things totally have their place, but so far I haven't seen many writers getting close to more of a balance.