Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, that is hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion, where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts.
I know this is posted on Fridays, but clearly I don’t follow directions very well? Just kidding. Thanks so much to Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den for recommending this weekly meme to me, and I’m excited that I get to start this meme in the beginning of a new month. Links to the main pages are above, so be sure to check that out as well.
A lot of reviewers think 3 stars marks a book as bad, do you? What makes you personally rate a book 3 stars? Do you hesitate to pick up books that seem to get a lot of 3 star ratings? Do you think a 3 star rating is good, bad or neither?
For me, I don’t feel like I have a good or bad opinion of books that I rate 3 stars. While they may have not been my personal favorite and I may not read it again unless I’m having a need to – or I just want to see something again and experience it – but that doesn’t mean that I don’t recommend the book to others who may enjoy it the way that I didn’t!
I personally don’t look at ratings before I read a book because of the same reason why I rate books a 3. While it may not be someone else’s type, it doesn’t mean that it’s not my time. There’s been a lot of times where someone may have hated a book – or even just rated it a 3 because it wasn’t good to them – and then I ended up loving it. So there’s just personal reasons why someone may or may not like a book that has nothing to do with whether the book is problematic or just poorly written, ya know?
It kind of reminds me of how people can be attracted to different people, different things, etc. You know? I may think one guy is hot, but not another guy, and my friend may think opposite. I may think one girl has a bomb ass personality, and my friend thinks she’s a bitch. There’s just different reasons for different people.
Different strokes for different folks.
Me picking my books like I pick my lovers.
Just kidding, but seriously.
What do you think about 3 stars? What is your reason for rating something 3 stars? I know this answer is totally different all across the book community, so I’m curious to see what you think! Feel free to leave your comments below in this post, or even make your own Let’s Talk Bookish post with your full answer. You may have another weekly meme to add to your content…. just saying.
Sometimes Leelynn Reads 
An interesting question! I agree with most of what you have to say about three stars-rated books. I think three stars is a very readable book which even has the potential to become someone’s favourite. I recall my three stars reviews tend to either slide towards negativity or positivity – so they go either way too – you rightly noted that they largely fall into a neutral territory.
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Right? I thought it was an interesting question as well, and I’m glad it was my first question for this weekly meme! I know it’s hard to be truly neutral, but I think a 3 stars for me can go either way, but like you said they can slide towards a negative or positive opinion.
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For me, a 3 star rating is the minimum that I’d go for a ‘positive’ review! Anything below 3 would be negative for me. Funnily enough, I actually go by the tiny little labels Goodreads has hovering over their stars – 2 being ‘it was ok’ and 3 being ‘I liked it’ 😂 kinda simple but that’s how I’ve always done it even before blogging.
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Yes, I agree! 3 is the highest positive review for me as well. I personally don’t see how a 2 can be considered positive so I definitely agree with that! Oh gosh I totally forgot about those labels! “Ok” doesn’t have to be bad though for me, so I couldn’t do a 2 for just okay lol! It’s weird!
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I use a rating scale so I actually consider 3 stars as a good rating and I say so in my rating policy as well. 3/5 is technically over half so I don’t understand how it can be ~bad~. At max it can be “it was okay” but that’s also not really a bad rating, as such.
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I think that’s a good idea, Sumedha! Having a rating scale helps to keep all ratings consistent, and making sure that your followers know how you rate can help them understand the difference between your rating and someone else’s rating 🙂 I also agree that “it was okay” doesn’t mean bad to me, at least.
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Great discussion! I really feel like books I give a 3 star rating are just mediocre! There were definitely some parts I really enjoyed, but als some parts I didn’t!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Thanks Evelyn! I think mediocre is a good reason for a 3 rating! I think that’s a pretty good balance.
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I agree that three star ratings aren’t necessarily bad. I feel like three star reads were just overall meh books, they had a mix of good and bad but that doesn’t mean they were a necessarily bad book. I love the “pick my books like I pick my men” 😀
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I totally agree with that meh feeling, Rachelle. Which I honestly think isn’t super bad at all, like some people probably think. Hahahhaah thank you!
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I usually don’t read reviews before picking a book either- most of the time I end up liking the « generally disliked » ones anyway 😂 so why worry.
I feel like my 3stars are my « neutral » rating – not adored but yet not hated either. Liked when reading it but that’s it, won’t think about that one once over kinda thing.
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That’s me too, Kristina. I usually read reviews after I finished the book, to kind of see whether my thoughts were similar to others that read it, mostly those that I follow or are my friends from the book community. I also like seeing reviews that talk about some aspects that I may not have thought about, or something that I didn’t catch when I was reading it. I think 3 stars as neutral is a good idea!
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Oh yeah same!
This is usually where I get aware of the potential triggers or problematic stuff I overlooked while reading ..
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I’m so happy to see so many people participating this week! I agree with you that 3 stars is sort of an average rating – but I do think my 3 stars can easily be someone else’s 4 or even 5 stars. I try to be very objective but reading is so emotional that being entirely objective is impossible. I know that when a book is about fandoms/cosplayers/bloggers etc. I tend to relate more with the character and story so even if other readers felt it was 3 stars I might rate them much higher.
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yay! i’m so glad there were a lot of people 🙂 i saw your post and did see how many people were on there! so happy for you ❤ ❤ and oh gosh i agree with that too. a 3 star rating isn't the same across the board with every single person and it's so subjective that i feel like people shouldn't just look at the number and assume it's good or bad, you know? at least when it comes to 3 stars, but even like you said, my 3 could be your 5 or opposite!
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