I’m going to say it – I hate using Goodreads, and I hate it with a passion. It’s an absolute pain.

I always feel really thick when I try to use it, because NOTHING MAKES SENSE! It’s formatted like a website from the mid 00s and is just really blocky. I’m not saying that the aesthetics are my main reason for not using it, but they come high up there. I don’t know what it is about Goodreads for me, but I struggle to get my head around using it. And as a teenager (just) these sorts of things usually come naturally to me!

A few people who follow my blog also follow my Goodreads, and they will know by now that I stopped posting on there months ago. It’s too much effort!

I feel like I’m the only bookworm out there who struggles with these sorts of things, but I hope that in writing this I will find a few more of you who relate to this!

So what’s the alternative?

I’m always on the look out for new websites to try that can replace Goodreads.

I love sharing reviews, and a large amount of my reviews are also posted on Amazon but this can’t replace Goodreads. Amazon is definitely not a social media.

A few years ago, I found this little app called Litsy. Imagine a blend of Instagram and Goodreads, and then you have Litsy. I loved it when I first went onto it, because it was so much more straightforward to use than Goodreads! They have stickers you can add to your photos and allowed you to edit your photos inside the app. However, when I got into blogging, I let this app go. Mainly because it didn’t give you enough options to rate how you liked the book – you can either rate it pick, so-so, pan, or bail.

What if you didn’t completely love a book, but didn’t dislike it enough to say so-so? It just didn’t match a star rating system.

Also, if you don’t know anyone on Litsy, good luck at building up your followers! There’s little ways to discover new accounts, and I think that after a year on my first account, I was following close to 400, and only had 20 followers despite being very active on the app. Fair enough, it’s algorithm isn’t as completely messed up as Instagram, and you actually see posts in chronological order. But that wasn’t enough to keep me on it. Every post was like a shout into the void, and I hated that.

The latest app I have tried is Smashbomb.

I’ve got to say, so far I’m loving it! It’s not as badly formatted as Goodreads, and it really easy to navigate! It even gives you the option to import all of your reviews from Goodreads.

You earn points per review, which as far as I can see, allows you to enter more giveaways. You can add a quite in depth bio which lets you add all of your social media and blog links, and it also allows you to add links back to your blog at the end of your reviews.

I think my favourite thing is that you don’t have to just review book on there – you can also review movies, apps, music, and tech. It’s basically like leaving amazon reviews with a social side added to it.

Hopefully I will manage to keep up with this app more than any of the previous ones!


Do you love or hate Goodreads?

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12 Comments

  1. goodreads is definitely almost a necessary evil of being in the book community bc its the most popular. BUT IF THEY COULD GIVE US HALF STAR RATINGS THAT’D BE GREAT IM NOT BITTER ITS FINE

    Liked by 3 people

  2. I love Goodreads, but this is probably because I AM a mid 00’s girl hahaha. It came to me at a time when I saw nothing like it online, and it really helped me discover more books and enjoy reading more. (To the comment above, half-star ratings would be nice that is true! hahaha)

    But your review makes me curious about Smashbomb. Cheers!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. It makes me feel like a fake because I don’t use it! But now I’ve discovered loads of people who feel the same and it’s great

      Like

  3. I hate the format of Goodreads, it’s really clunky. Plus I’m always getting messages updating me on the discussions.. which I guess I should view as a plus, but don’t. And the new paid author giveaways? The old ones were bad enough but the new ones are that with a huge price tag.

    Liked by 2 people

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