My Take | On Changing Your Book Ratings

I’m not gonna hide the fact that this has happened to me. I’ll like (or dislike) a book right after I read it and rate it high (or low) on Goodreads. But then. Then I consider it more, maybe read a few reviews that oppose my initial take on the book. And slowly but surely, my opinion begins to change. I rush back to Goodreads and quickly change my rating (hopefully before anyone sees I initially rated it something else)! Phew! That was close!

This has happened to me on several occasions, but I’ll give you two main examples.

The first example is of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. When I first read it, it wasn’t my favorite. I rated it maybe a 2.5, 3 stars out of 5. But slowly (and I mean, like, over months) I found myself changing my mind. As I read more contemporary books and compared them to Fangirl, I found myself realizing that Fangirl was actually really good. More than that, other people’s love and enthusiasm for the book seeped into me. If I went back and reread Fangirl today, I think it would probably get a 3.5 or 4 stars from me. It even ended up on my favorite books of 2015 list!

My second example is of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. When I first read this book I was *in love* with it! I raved about it! It was incredible in my eyes! Immediate 5 stars! But over the following months, as the hype died down, I began to see more and more negative reviews for the book. The final nail in the coffin was probably Marines’s (from My Name Is Marines over on YouTube) review of ACOTAR. She made some really good points against ACOTAR. Now I don’t hate the book, but it’s no longer a book I’d rave about. If I read it today, I’s probably give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

So you can see, even I’m not free of rating changes (though usually they occur over months versus hours). Why does this happen? I think it’s a product of being a rational human being, honestly. Being reasonable means being flexible and being flexible means being willing to change your opinions if an opposing argument is sufficiently compelling.

What do you think? Have you ever changed your rating of a book? Why? Do you think it’s okay to change your rating of a book? Also, if you change your opinion on a book you reviewed, do you rewrite/write a new review?

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Lila is a 27-year-old college student studying physics and a lover of literature. When she's not busy reading or saving the world through science, Lila can be found singing jazz and blues and obsessing over hedgehogs (a.k.a. the cutest animals in the multiverse!)

15 thoughts on “My Take | On Changing Your Book Ratings

  1. This happens to me too! You have no idea how relieved I am to see someone else with the same issue.
    I read Red Queen last month, I think, and after reading it I was ready to give it 3/3.5 stars. The thing is I can’t get the book out of my head and now, it seems like a 4 star book. Rating isn’t the most important part of a review to me, but it is effected by my opinion of the book (strengths and weaknesses), which seems to change a lot with time.
    I agree with you as to why this happens. When you’re willing to see things in other people’s perspective, your stance on something can be changed.
    This is a great post! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Yes! Once you start on a genre especially! I thought I wouldn’t like YA books, but now I dont mind them after much debate. I think we need sometime to process it in relation to all the other books in the world. Also its a process of growing, I disliked Emma by J.Austen 5 yrs ago but now I understand why its so well loved, and I wouldnt be ashamed to change my review.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I do this all the time, too! Sometimes I even hold out a while on rating a book to let everything settle in my mind. A lot of the time I get so caught up in the ending and how much excitement and love I had for it that It clouds my opinion of the book. Once the heat of the moment kind of feelings wear off though I can remember exactly what was good and not so good about a novel and I think that helps a lot. 🙂 Glad to see I’m not the only one who’s opinion needs time to settle!

    Liked by 1 person

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