the ask@AAR: What do you think about grading books?
I so enjoyed Caroline’s thoughtful and in-depth post about how she grades books here at AAR. Like many readers, I came to AAR because of our Power Search system and its unparalleled ability to sort, in many ways, the proverbial wheat from the chaff.
When I began seeking out good romance novels, I relied on AAR’s grades. Back then, historical romance was my genre of choice. I began with all our DIK reviews of European Historical Romances that had at least a warm rating. I bought pretty much everything we’d raved about by Lisa Kleypas, Jo Goodman, Stephanie Laurens, Liz Carlyle, Elizabeth Hoyt, and others.
I literally first bought all the books we’d given As to, then the A-s, and then, somewhat reluctantly, began to work my way through the B+s.
In 2002, when I began reviewing here, I chose lots of HRs and gave hardly any DIK grades. Things I’d not cared about as a reader, caught up as I was in the joy of reading, as a reviewer, I gave weight to. To this day, I’ve never given any romance an A+ and I’ve only given out 18 straight As.
I adore our Power Search and continue to rely on it–and the grades AAR reviewers give–a great deal of credence. However, as sites like Goodreads and Amazon have given readers the ability to rate books, I now look at those too. One reason is that I don’t always care–see every discussion here about historical accuracy–about the same things other reviewers do. I also love and loathe different things than other reviewers do.
Furthermore, a review is not a factual accounting–it’s one person’s informed opinion. And as such, everyone has the right to accept or reject it.
Don’t worry–grades aren’t going anywhere at AAR. I’m just curious how you use them.
Grades are very useful for me. If a webpage or a blog does not grade a book, I will not read that page. I follow around 30-35 blogs and webpages of romance novels. And each month I look for the most appreciated novels. It’s the only way to see if something is really good. If a book receives an A or 5 stars in more than three pages, then I know it ‘s worth trying to read it, and I put it in my data base. It has worked for me for years.
I also put prizes and best of the year lists, but mainly the data come from reviews.
One of my main concerns with Spanish blogs is that they tend not to grade the novels. They don’t usually say anything bad about a romance novel written in Spanish, either. So the authors are happy but they are not useful to readers. That’s one of the reasons why I read very few romance novels written in Spanish, because it’s very difficult to find the good ones.
When I was new to the romance genre, I would go straight to the power search feature and filter according to genre (Historical Romance) and grade. I worked my way down the A grades, to A- and finally to the B+ reviews. Once I started getting a sense of who my favourite authors were, I would read most of their books, even if they received a B or C grade at AAR.
On the whole though, I definitely rely on the grades, particularly if they are by reviewers whose reading tastes generally align with mine. I do read the reviews pretty thoroughly and will occasionally read books lower than a B+ if they are (as mentioned above) by my favourite authors, or if it involves a trope that I enjoy and the reviewer makes clear that the writing is generally good. I love angsty books in particular, so if the reviewer’s grade is low because they didn’t enjoy the angst, I might still pick up the book.
In regards to others’ grading books, either on AAR, on other review sites, “booktube,” wherever, I appreciate them very much as long as there is a review accompanying the grade which lays out the reasons for the grade. That’s what AAR does well, so I’m quite happy with the system. Whatever the grade, justify it and let me decide if I agree with that justification or want to take a chance based on your pluses and minuses.
If I really like an author’s past work, if the plot sounds very compelling to me, I will read a book no matter reviewers’ grades. The only way I would skip the book is if so many reviewers gave the book a low grade that it just pushes me into the “no” camp. There are just too many books to read and I’ll catch the author next time. On the other hand, if I’ve never read an author, a book is in a genre or sub-genre I generally avoid, or the plot isn’t one I’m usually drawn to, BUT the book has been given excellent grades by multiple reviewers, I might pick it up out of curiosity.
As for *my* grading books, which I do on Goodreads since they ask us to, I think giving a book five stars or one or two stars is “easy,” meaning that if I’m enjoying a book thoroughly, pick it up at every opportunity, and finish it relatively quickly, a five star grade is easy for me, no matter what other people think. Alternately, if I’m not having a good time with a book, the writing isn’t flowing, the plot is all over the place or totally absent, or something offends me about it, giving a book one or two stars (if I haven’t DNF’d it) is no problem. What *is* a problem are the ones in between — the books that are maybe four stars or three stars. That’s when I jump on review sites and check to see what other readers thought about it. If they reinforce my feelings or bring up issues I hadn’t thought about, that helps me to come to a conclusion.
So, bottom line, grading is useful but not a deal breaker.
How do I love thee, reviews? Let me count the ways……
First, Genre. There are some I just don’t feel at home in and/or avoid. Does that make me unadventurous? Maybe but, hey, life’s too short and I know I will never love, say, a vampire romance. I have tried most genres and honestly tried to like what I read but they just didn’t hit the right note for me.
Second, Author. There are a few who are auto-buys so a less than flattering review is a red flag so I must investigate.
Third, Grade. And, like others here, I ADORE reading the D/F grades because to write a bad review is really difficult and often they are the most entertaining to read. I spent nearly 15 years writing reviews at Amazon and the hardest ones to write were the 1 and 2 star reviews so I know (1) it is hard to write one; and (2) a dollop of humour is almost always a “must have”. The heat level is only marginally important to me. I have read real steamers that I loved and others where the bedroom door is firmly closed. A well-written book either way can be catnip.
Fourth, A and B grades in the genres I particularly enjoy and, like others have said, I tend to skip over the C grades because I most likely won’t read the book anyway. If, however, a C grade is given to one of my auto-buys I will wonder why and read it carefully before going to my fifth step.
Fifth, Check Other Sites – usually Amazon, GRs and sometimes Dear Author. SBTB occasionally gets a look in but the site isn’t my shoe size. At other sites, I check thoughtful 3 star and lower reviews because often they are the most interesting and helpful. It seems sometimes that ARC readers sometimes are just fangirls in disguise and unless they can write at least more than “I loved this book – you must read it” I will ignore their review.
And, a final note, I have no preference for who reviews a book whatsoever. That makes no difference. I would really like to see more reviews, though, from AAR members who read something they want the rest of us to know about – for good or ill!
On AAR, for each new book in the Reviews section, I always check the grade, the author, and the genre. This will usually be enough to tell me whether I want to read the extended review.
Carrie G said:
On GR, It seems to me that the initial flurry of reviews for a new and highly rated romance comes from ARC readers (who often, though not always, seem to be fairly charitable in their reviews) as well as from readers who state that they are big fans of the author. In addition, as Carrie noted, many reviews don’t explain why the reader liked/disliked the book. So I, too, look for 2- and 3-star reviews if I’m checking GR. And yes, those reviews have to be more than just “This book didn’t work for me.”
That last point about GR holds for Amazon, too. As someone who does receive ARCs via publicists or reviewing teams I can say that the big push is for reviews on Amazon (or BookBub) and then on GR. (I hope it goes without saying that no matter where I get the book from my reviews and grades are honest – if someone only wants me to post a review if it’s positive, then I’m not interested.) There are a lot of authors who have their own review/street teams and who do a great job of generating Amazon reviews in large numbers – good luck to them, writing is their career and knowing how to market your books is important if it’s your livelihood. But a slew of 4 and 5 star “squee” reviews is always going to make me suspicious and seek out the lower grade reviews at both Amazon and GR to see if I can find some more information before I make my decision.
The fact that one can review a book at Amazon one hasn’t bought has opened the door to useless reviews. I know of many cases where reviewers were paid, given swag, etc…. It’s depressing.
Also depressing is how Amazon has cracked down on KDP-published authors writing reviews of other authors’ work, even if those reviews aren’t squealy 5-stars from ARC readers. There was an incident some time ago where a bunch of erotica authors were striking deals with each other saying, “Hey, you give me a 5 star on my book, and I’ll give you a 5 star on your book.” Once Amazon got wind of it and terminated those accounts, they’ve been on the alert ever since. And that stinks for authors who genuinely want to give feedback to fellow authors’ work on large visible platforms like Goodreads and Amazon. Yeah, I can see why there are policies not to respond to reviews of your own work to prevent threats, fights, and other unpleasantness. But it’s definitely not fair that self-published authors like me are strongly cautioned by those in the know to not review any book on Amazon or Goodreads, regardless of genre, because of that cheating debacle that’s still fresh in the company’s mind.
One more behind-the-scenes fun fact about reviews: There is a site called “Booksprout” that may be responsible for a lot of the fanboy/fangirl vague 5 star reviews floating around out there. Basically, it’s an ARC distributing site that allows authors to give out copies of their book before publication in exchange for reviews. As far as I know, there’s very little if any vetting involved. So pretty much anyone can sign up to give out or receive free books as long as they leave a review that states they received the book free from Booksprout in exchange for an “honest review.” And, what do you know, most of those reviews end up being gushy 5-star accolades.
I don’t want to clog up this thread any more than I have, but I did want to bring up some of the shadier industry stuff that could be behind these frustrating “reviews” outside of AAR and other reputable sites.
The Goodreads reviews which don’t work for me are the ones which are all or mostly gifs. No matter how funny or apropos the images are, I want to read about why a book is good or not.
I HATE THEM. They literally give me a headache.
YES!
And me. Really don’t see the point.
Argh! Yes!I generally pass over all the gif heavy reviews, and even the ones with photos. I don’t really want to know what you think the character looked like. If I’m on a author’s page on FB, I don’t mind the posts of “This is what I think X looks like.” It can be fun and flirty, and it’s a group of fans already interacting about the books they love so it feels like the appropriate place. But not when I’m trying to read a review.
I really appreciate grading books. Please don’t stop that practice.
We have no plans to!
When I first started reading romances and AAR reviews (about 15 years ago) I paid a lot of attention to the grades. With some experience, I discovered there were lots of authors that regularly got A and B grades that were just not my cup of tea.
These days, I spend more time noticing the author (familiar to me or not?) and type of book (HR and Romantic Suspense preferred), and then opening the review to see 1) who has reviewed the book and 2) the review itself. As noted in the other discussion, reviews are just one person’s impression – but because AAR reviewers explain their reaction to the book, the content of the review (and the comments from other readers who’ve read the title!) is more useful than the grade in figuring out whether or not a book is likely to work for me.
What a great question for this week’s ASK! Like you, Dabney, I really enjoyed reading Caroline’s comprehensive article about her grading system too.
How do I use AAR’s ratings? For starters, anything rated “D” or “F” = “I must read this review.” Yes, I admit taking a somewhat meanspirited pleasure in reading humorous reviews about novels that are the equivalent of a train wreck. Am I going to read the book in question? So far, I haven’t read anything that scored below a “C” at AAR, because I know “D” and “F” grades aren’t given out lightly. Unlike some review sites that will slap an “F” on something for one stereotypical line in the whole book, I trust AAR to acknowledge both the positive and negative aspects of a novel and give grades accordingly. To me, slapping an “F” on a book for containing one problematic comment would be like giving a student an “F” for one spelling mistake or a single wonky sentence.
When it comes to “A” and “B” ratings, I read the review carefully to see if the plot appeals to me. Also of great importance is the heat level. So please, please, please, don’t drop this feature! For romance, I rarely pick up anything below a “warm” rating. I make exceptions if the book is more historical fiction than HR, but generally, I don’t want build-up without payoff. ;-)
I’ll look at what the other reviewers at AAR grade books and likely wouldn’t pick up something if they’ve given it lower than a C, especially if their tastes align with mine. Like you alluded to Dabney, I don’t care as much about historical accuracy in my hist roms so that wouldn’t deter me from picking up a book by an author even if it was something noted in a review. (It’s also why I rarely review HR here as I don’t feel I’m much of an expert on historical time periods and conventions).
I really appreciate both reviewers and other readers comments about historical accuracy (or any other issue(s)) that jump out at them. It doesn’t necessarily keep me from picking up a book, but I appreciate the guidance. It’s like having a teacher say “pay attention to x, y, and/or z in the material and we’ll discuss next class”. It adds to the reading experience for me.
As a newer romance reader, the reviews are critically important to me. When I first came to AAR, I did not know most of the authors or the genres or have a framework for choosing a good romance novel. I had read some Georgette Heyer, loved her humor, and Amazon suggested some other authors to try (Mary Balogh, Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas), but it was really hit or miss, regardless of how many stars the books had. So I started looking for a better source of reviews and found AAR.
I really appreciate the thoughtful reviews and the grades! Like Dabney when she started out, I am focusing on books graded A- and above. I figure I will do a survey of “the best of romance” to figure out what I like, and then I can branch out from there. That being said, I’ve already found a few authors I really enjoy, such as KJ Charles, and I’ve read their books more widely.
My reading/buying is totally based on your reviews. I even love to read the D’s for their humor. I read all the daily reviews for HR and CR, some YA but generally (OK, always) skip Psych. Thriller. You’ve guided me since a friend left Jennifer Crusie’s “Welcome To Temptation” in her gift shopping bag of mysteries for me. And I was off – almost never returning to cozy mystery land. Not that I always agree but I’ve found that my taste is similar to that of a few of you. Right now, with so many of your great reviews and comments, I’ve just picked up the first three books of Sebastian St. Cyr series. If it weren’t for you I’d have missed them entirely. One confession. If there’s a review that’s a tad too angst-y sounding with a mention of “a huge problem” I do hit up Goodreads because those folks can always be depended on to spill the beans (Beth dies….).
I’m not a psychological thriller fan either so I skip those too LOL
And see, I am so I am currently reading books that our reviewers have given DIKs that are, which I glean by reading the review, 1) not full of gore and 2) do not involve the rape/torture/murder of children.
I love that you found modern romances via a Jennifer Crusie book! I so respect her impact on the genre when she began writing.
I enjoy having the books graded even if I am obviously not going to agree with every reviewer 100% of the time.
Really high grades and really low grades naturally grab my attention as I want to see what specifically is so outstanding or horrible to merit the grade.
What I enjoy most is the detail and care put into the reviews. AAR seems to hit that perfect spot for me between not enough information and the rambling reviews that go one for pages and pages, pretty much recapping the whole book. Like the bed Goldilocks ends up choosing, “it’s just right”.
I’m also a review comparer if the book interests me enough. I will read AAR’s take then look to see how the review at another site is. I think it’s so interesting that something that wasn’t really an issue for a reviewer here can be the main focus of a review somewhere else.
I also have some reviewers here that I have read often enough to know that I enjoy their taste or trust their opinions enough to put my money behind their recommendations.
If it was just a matter of slapping a grade on a book it wouldn’t be terribly helpful, but the reasoned and nuanced reviews are very valuable to me even if my conclusion about the authorial choices ends up being different from the reviewer.
I don’t rely on grades. By the time a book I’m interested in is reviewed here, I’ve usually already bought/read it. :-)
The top few lines of a review (the part I can see on the home page) will generally tell me if the book is in a sub-genre of interest, so I might click into the review regardless of the grade if I’m not familiar with the author. First paragraph of a review is usually enough.
‘DIK’ is not meaningful to me. If every book I loved was genuinely a ‘desert island keeper’ the whole island would be made of books, and many books rated such here are not books I’d put in that class, i.e. ‘will happily read over and over again to the exclusion of other great books.’ Some books graded C here, I’ve liked very much; some books graded A, I’ve liked not at all. Individual readers, individual tastes. :-)
Side note: I don’t belong to Goodreads – there is only so much time to be discussing books; I do it here, at SBTB, in the QueeRomance Ink FB group, or on Jenny Crusie’s blog. Four places is enough!
I definitely look at the grades here and other sites I check out. I generally read through A and B reviews of books I think I’m interested in. (I rarely do more than skim WF, YA, or thriller reviews no matter what the grade since I’m rarely reading those at the moment.) C reviews I skim and see what things caused the reviewer to grade it this way. At times what bothered the reviewer doesn’t bother me, and if it otherwise looks interesting I may go for it. When I see two really divergent reviews on two different sites,I’ll go to GR or other places to get reader reviews/grades in order to try to understand why the difference.
D and lower reviews I skim because of the “train wreck” effect.
On GR, it’s different. I always seek out at least 2 or 3 negative reviews even if the general consensus is above average. I do this because I have an inborn wariness of anything that is universally loved. I’m as likely to skip a book with all 5 star reviews as I am one with all 3 star reviews, especially if there is no text beyond “So fantastic!!” . I’m just contrary that way.
Interestingly, I pay more attention to B reviews because, like I said in the other thread, I think they now cover a larger group of books than any other single category, and so the reviews are really important to differentiate between them. Since I’ve realized a lot of people give a B- for books I would have given a C to, It leaves the B+ and B grades to cover more ground.
I try a lot of new-to-me authors based on AAR reviews and blog/board discussions. I usually don’t read C or lower reviews, and even in the reviews I read the grade isn’t the important part. I look for mentions of humor, which is still my most important selection criterion for unfamiliar romance authors & books. I’m not a fan of angst, and depending on the reviewer, a DIK book could be an angst-fest.
I record a humor score (http://www.ccrsdodona.org/markmuse/reading/romwhumorlist.html) for the romances I read (which I initially did to help guide my own future reading), but I decided long ago not to record any grades of the whole stories. To me, honestly assigning a grade requires more work than I want in my leisure reading, almost a different kind of reading.
I absolutely look at the grade here at AAR. I trust it to point me to the books worth reading and spending money upon.
I absolutely do not trust the Amazon / Goodreads ratings. People get the books for free to write a review, and they invariably write something positive in order to keep doing the same.
I much prefer the more critical, analytical, and honest thoughts of the AAR reviewers.
I’m less concerned with the grade than what the review has to say about the book. I do have some auto-buy authors (Caitlin Crews, Jackie Ashenden, Kati Wilde, Kate Canterbary, CD Reiss, Zoe York/Ainsley Booth, Skye Warren, among others) and I will read anything they publish, so I don’t care about the grades given to their books. I’m much more interested in reviews/grades of new-to-me authors or especially authors who have written some books I’ve really enjoyed but have also written some books that just didn’t grab me—I’m much more likely to pay attention to an A/B/DIK for a book from one of those authors. When I add a book to my tbr, I will often jot a note by it such as “DIK on AAR” or “Squee on SBTB”. I can’t imagine what someone unfamiliar with the shibboleths of Romancelandia would make of those notes!
Your reading journal notes sound like my reading journal notes LOL! In addition to the ones you mentioned, I also seem to have a lot of “AAR Top 100” and “20xx Best of list”.
I don’t pay much attention to them at all. Just as I don’t have autobuy authors I don’t have fololpThe first thing I consider is the basic scenario of the book and whether it appeals to my romance sensibilities. (One paragraph of a review is usually enough to disregard most books on this basis.) Then there’s a huge cast of authors who I’ve tried before and I now know their style isn’t for me. (I don’t usually read even one paragraph of those reviews.) If I get to paragraph two and start skimming the middle section (which usually includes too much plot detail for me) it’s the overall impression the reviewer gives of the characters, the writer’s skill, humour, emotion, etc. that makes me decide whether to investigate further. That’s when I go to Amazon or Goodreads, where you can skim a mass of reviews to get an overall impression
Well, obviously I was in the middle of editing the above and the iPad (not me!) posted the half baked comment. I don’t have foolproof reviewers is what the second sentence is supposed to say…. Anyway, the final grade on a review is nowhere near as important to me as whether the information in the review makes me curious to read the book, for whatever reason.