The question from Let’s Talk Bookish for February 18-24 comes from Nicole @ Thoughts Stained With Ink and is…
Do you ever change your rating/review for a book (Nicole)?
Disclaimer:
These are my personal opinions. I do not expect anyone to agree with anything here, and in fact, I’m certain that many will disagree and/or even hate many of the things I’ve written below. Sorry about that, but you are always welcome to express your own opinions – be they contrary or comparable – in the comments section. So, with that out of the way… let the controversy begin!
What made me think about this topic?
This is the topic that was suggested for this week’s #LetsTalkBookish (hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion), so that was my main inspiration. However, because last week I talked about what makes a 5/5 star book for me, when I saw this topic, I thought it would be a good follow-up. So… the prompts are:
Do you ever change your rating/review for a book? When or why would you consider doing so? Do you think people should be allowed to change their ratings/reviews? Is it important to make it known what the previous rating/review was if you’re changing it?
My Thoughts…
Do you ever change your rating/review for a book?
Well, I almost never change my review rating on a book. There was one book, however, that got fairly low marks because of a huge amount of mistakes. However, the author wrote to me and asked me to not mention those mistakes as she felt I was allowing them to cloud my judgement of the story. When she promised to have the mistakes fixed for the paperback version (and I hope she did), I upped my rating by a whole star. Other than that, I don’t think I’ve actually gone back to any older review and changed my rating. I have fixed up some of my reviews, however, but that’s more of an editing process after seeing that some of my reviews weren’t up to the standards I now have for them.
When or why would you consider doing so?
I’ve mostly vacillated with star ratings for books I didn’t care much for, but since I almost never write reviews of books that I DNF, I’m not sure if that really counts. As mentioned above, that one author asked me to revise my review, and since she promised to fix the errors, I agreed. But in general, I think that my gut instinct is usually the one that sticks. That said, I’m guessing if a book I had DNF was revised drastically and I ended up reading the new version, I might change my mind.
Do you think people should be allowed to change their ratings/reviews?
Absolutely! Nothing is written in stone, and it isn’t like writing book reviews is a test where there’s any right or wrong answer. Also, if we re-read a book (something I generally don’t do) we might find that we might not have properly appreciated a book we read when we were younger. We change throughout life, so we see things differently, and our opinions could change.
Is it important to make it known what the previous rating/review was if you’re changing it?
I’m not sure about this. If someone revises their opinion and changes their review, it might be nice to let readers know that this wasn’t their original assessment. That might give insight to readers to know that a book that was loved at one time has not aged well, or that an older book wasn’t appreciated before (maybe because of our age and/or life experiences), but now we can see its merits. Helpful? Certainly. Important? Maybe!
There you have it!
So… what about you?
Do you think book reviewers can or should change their ratings/reviews of books?
This post is my 4th entry in the 2022 Discussion Challenge, hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight!
The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog 
I haven’t rated books for very long and I’ve never changed a rating. However, I think it’s absolutely fine to do it. Sometimes, when rereading, the book doesn’t make the same impression anymore. Some books also improve by being reread. When I write the end-of-year blog post, I often find that some of the books I read during the year and still think about aren’t the books with the highest ratings. Does that mean I should re-evaluate?
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Up to you! I put all my 5/5 star books onto a list and then fiddle around with them until I come up with my “best of” list, so I’m always re-evaluating them in a way.
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I agree with Carol. I write my first review on Goodreads, and when I do a blog post, I sometimes change but it is usually only half a star up or down. One reason I try not to read other reviews until I finish is so they don’t affect my rating. I agree with your comments and thoughts Davida, very well thought out.
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I tend to review the books I read on Goodreads, and of course verbally in our book group. And yes, I do change my mind sometimes. This may be because a discussion – say in book group – has made me think differently about a book, or more usually, that my impression of a book has changed in the weeks since I’ve read it. Perhaps I’ve been mulling it over, and finding the author had more to say than I at first realised. But my gut reaction is most often the one that lasts.
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That’s about the same for me, too!
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I can probably count on one hand the number of ratings I may have changed. One was for an author who went on a major social media rant and who tried to bully me about my 3* review of his book.
I am always cautious of the author who promises to get their errors fixed, without re-reading the new version, how can we tell if they were fixed or her proofreader/ editor caught them all? It may be a big financial outlay to get them fixed and one the author has already skipped on, so I am very wary, especially as my review may influence the paying public. I would prefer to add a line which says ‘the version I read had lots of errors etc, which may be fixed in later editions.’
Looking back, when I first began reviewing, I probably gave more higher ratings than now. The more I read, the more books I have to compare to, so my ratings curves level off.
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Actually, that’s exactly what I did when I changed my review of that book. I said the copy I had had mistakes, but I was assured that with the paperback version they would be fixed.
As for what I did before and what I do now… yeah, my ratings have changed overall.
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Very often I give a star rating on Goodreads as soon as I finish the book and then write my review later……I often change my initial star rating while writing my review! 4s and 5s are usually firm in my mind but the 2.5-3.5 range is murky and I tend to vacillate.
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This reads confusingly boring. Once you’ve rated a book, that should be it; since the first impression is what counts. Yet, having said this; one can always change their mind because it is solely up to you and how you feel about a book. And remember to ask these questions: Did the author make you feel good or bad; what was their aim; and did you read the book or not; skimming does not make for a good read/review.
I am unsure if I have answered this or made it more confusingly such that none will reply.
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No, I see what you’re saying.
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Well, I don’t star-rate my reviews except on Goodreads, but of course it’s okay to change them. The most obvious reason would be that you reread a book and found you had a different opinion of it than the first time. Another reason might be that you were hovering between two ratings and had a thought that made you change your mind about the one you first picked. I don’t think I’d ever change a rating at the request of an author, though, even if she said she’d fix the errors. As far as some way indicating the old rating, no, that seems overly conscientious. What difference does it make how you originally rated a book if you’ve changed your mind?
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Good point!
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